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In the summer shadows of Reconstruction-era Virginia, Wade Morrison stands at a crossroads—torn between the memory of a broken town and the promise of a boundless frontier. As Christiansburg heals slowly from war, whispers of Texas grow louder, tugging at the edges of his ambition. Farewells are spoken. Crates are packed. And across a thousand miles of rail, river, and red clay, a new chapter begins.

But even as Wade heads west, one quiet question lingers: who was the real Dr. Pepper? This episode unveils a surprising truth buried in the 1880 census—about the man behind the name, and the life he preferred to lead. It wasn’t medicine. And it wasn’t fame.

Featuring heartfelt goodbyes, the mystery of flavored seltzers, and the quiet birth of a legend, this episode traces the journey of a young man who would one day name a drink—but never forget the town that named him.

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Generational Healing Through Family History
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In the shadow of a nation torn by Civil War, a young boy in Christiansburg, Virginia, sweeps the floor of a quiet drug store—unaware that his path will one day lead to the naming of one of America’s most iconic sodas. This episode traces the early life of Wade Brockenbrough Morrison: The forming of his surroundings, childhood, boyhood, the backdrop of a civil war, into the heartbreak of his father’s death in 1866, and his first steps into manhood under the mentorship of a kindhearted physician named Dr. William Pepper. Through the quiet rituals of small-town life—church bells, peppermint drops, and the hiss of hand-mixed seltzer water—young Wade learns how to carry grief, serve others, and look ahead with hope.

As the town of Christiansburg limps through reconstruction, Wade finds a glimmer of light behind the counter of a pharmacy and the kindness of a girl named Minnie Pepper. But with each passing season, the question looms: will he stay where his roots were planted… or follow the call of a future only he can see?

Family History Drama. True Ancestry. Told like legend.

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Generational Healing Through Family History
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The article snippet below is all I could find on the life of an Italian legend in the San Gabriel Canyon, by the name of Bartholdi. No full name is given, and i could not locate him on any census. His arrival is as mysterious as his death was tragic.

“On the mesa above the hogan of Luisenna, an Italian shoemaker, Bartholdi, built a rude shelter of rocks and mud in 1872. Bartholdi had set up a boot and shoe repair shop at The Forks the year before, and had a good business but he, too, got the Gold Fever, and struck out for himself within a year. In later years this old Italian who was called "Bismark" by his friends, became more interested in his bees, to whom he gave the hut which still stands on the hill, and in the garden, vineyard and orchard which he had planted on the flat below. There he built a substantial house from the lumber of the abandoned hydraulic flumes, and developed an Old World atmosphere in his secluded self-sufficiency. He had a dozen varieties of grapes which he mixed to make a light red wine which had no name, but was of an unusual delicacy of bouquet. In the Fall of 1917 Bartholdi was riding his burro along the trail when the animal shied from the whizz of a rattlesnake, unseating the old man, whose foot stuck in the stirrup. The burro dragged him to safety but in trying to release the foot bit him, causing an infection from which he died. Although badly damaged by the March floods this vineyard is still held by Bartholdi's heirs and has been used in recent years as a picnic place for an Italian Club known as ‘Club Baton’”. (Trails Magazine, Summer 1938, Pg 11)

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🚨Are YOU related to ME? Find me on Family Search: Jesse Perse Harmon 🔗 Then click “VIEW RELATIONSHIP” to see if we are cousins.

Joseph and Hyrum Smith are assassinated by those who were assigned to protect them. No one is held accountable. Turmoil continues to increase. Hundreds of home are burned by mobs. The evacuation planned is expedited by rumors of a federal army marching to Nauvoo. Hundreds will die along the way as most are unprepared for the winter elements. Ann Harmon dies at Winter Quarters. Jesse arrives in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake in the autumn of 1848. Work to do in the new land, as Jesse is busy helping to build new communities and put down roots, retirement and death in Holden, Utah. Hindsight reveals why such treachery was allowed to come upon the Mormonites.

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Generational Healing Through Family History
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The year 1844 was a pivotal and tragic time for Nauvoo, marked by rising tensions, internal betrayal & external political divisions. Early in the year, dissent grew within the Church, leading William Law and others to establish the Nauvoo Expositor, accusing Joseph Smith of corruption. When the Nauvoo City Council declared the press a public nuisance and ordered its destruction on June 10, anti-Mormon sentiment exploded. In response to growing threats, Joseph declared martial law and called out the Nauvoo Legion. Seeking to avoid greater conflict, he and Hyrum traveled to Carthage under Governor Thomas Ford’s promise of protection. However, that visit would turn our worlds upside down, and would jostle the snow globes of our realities in a way that took years if not decades for the flakes to settle.

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Memories Are Passed Through DNA From Your Grandparents, Say Scientists
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After the 1842 assassination attempt on Lilburn W Boggs, life in Nauvoo would never be the same. My work as police sergeant became increasingly complicated. Conspirators seemed to come out of the woodwork from the community itself. Protecting President Joseph Smith Jr. became a nonstop task day & night. We rode hundreds of miles in a posse of Nauvoo Legion cavalry to retrieve him from illegal arrest in Dixon, Illinois. The implosion of our community from forces inside and outside of her was imminent. We did our best to enjoy the small moments, as hell was breaking loose and our lives were being sanctified by the persecutions that rained down on us.

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Generational Healing Through Family History
Memories Are Passed Through DNA From Your Grandparents, Say Scientists
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The Mormonite congregations in Missouri had been forcefully evacuated through murder, rage baiting, and violence. President Joseph Smith and Hyrum had made an assisted escape while on a transfer from Liberty Jail, Moving onto the newly named community of Nauvoo in the autumn of 1840 was an apprehensive excitement that just maybe there would be some stability in their family’s future. Street were plotted, property surveyed, homes were built…hundreds of them in a few short years. Community charters were drafted and approved, industry began to thrive, militias were organized to protect the city, laws were drafted, ordinances set, general conferences were held, the Nauvoo Legion grew to over 600 members by the spring of 1841, and temple construction began. Nauvoo was a great place for children to play, grow, and frolick amongst the new surroundings that felt stable & safe, for the moment. Immigrant converts began to flood into Nauvoo from the eastern United States and Europe.
In the spring 1842, former Governor Lilburn W. Boggs is shot in an assassination attempt that will be rumored and ultimately blamed on Joseph Smith’s destroying angel, Porter Rockwell. Even though Porter is acquitted, these trying circumstances will escalate and eventually drag the residents of Nauvoo into one of the most tumultuous times in Illinois history.

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Generational Healing Through Family History
Memories Are Passed Through DNA From Your Grandparents, Say Scientists
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🚨Are YOU related to ME? Find me on Family Search: Jesse Perse Harmon 🔗 Then click “VIEW RELATIONSHIP” to see if we are cousins.

In 1837 Kirtland, Ohio, Jesse Harmon witnesses a community in turmoil after the collapse of the Kirtland Safety Society. His brother Alpheus explains that their struggles are not just financial but a deeper clash of ideas, as Joseph Smith seeks to integrate spiritual principles into everyday life. Amidst the unrest, Jesse learns the importance of faith, loyalty, and courage. As they prepare to leave Kirtland, he embraces his faith, understanding that true strength lies in unity, resilience, and belief in a higher purpose.

PEOPLE:
Jesse Perse Harmon, KWJH-BL8,
Henry Martin Harmon, KWZB-8Q8,
Anna Barnes Harmon, KWJH-BLZ,
Alpheus Harmon (LZ8N-QCH),
Hulda Dimeras Vaughn, KWJR-DPZ,
Caroline Harmon, LLSF-C63, Henry Martin Harmon, KWZB-8Q8, Appleton Harmon, KWJH-BLC, Amos Washington Harmon, LL31-D4J, Sophronia Melinda Harmon, LKVY-8SF, Ansil Perse Harmon, L5DD-YTG, Joseph Smith Jr. (KWJY-BPD), Warren Parrish, LWHS-3BH, Brigham Young, KWJH-9QN, Mary Ann Young, KWJJ-ZL9, Sydney Rigdon (KWV9-HF7), Josiah Butterfield, KWJR-YPV, John Lamoreaux, LHX6-LV4, Elijah Cheney, KWVH-256, Martin Harmon, LL9N-MMP, William Smith, KWJR-TK2, Elizabeth Harmon, LLQ4-DLB, Edgar A. Guest, KVK2-6P4, Samual Tyler, M62F-9G6,

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Generational Healing Through Family History
Memories Are Passed Through DNA From Your Grandparents, Say Scientists
https://www.buzzworthy.com/memories-dna-grandparents/

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INSTAGRAM:
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