Last night I got a copy in the mail of the legislative petition by Robert and William Shanks in 1820. From it I learned that Robert and William were brothers (and had a third brother named John who fought against the British), that their father’s name was James and was still living in Ireland at the time, and that Robert and his wife and three children arrived in America on 21 Aug 1817. I’m in the process of tracking down which ship arrived on that date. Success is not far away.

I found out yesterday that the local Asian market has durian, so today I went down there and got the last one ($6). It’s sooooo good! The taste is the same, which is the best part. It’s the Monthong variety, which means ‘Golden Pillow.’