Japanese Balloon Bomb explosion location

Story Update | By History Detectives Team | August 11, 2008

We were contacted by Les Reese with this question regarding the Japanese Balloon Bomb story that aired July 14, 2008:

During the broadcast, Tukufu referenced Bly, Oregon as the location where one of the war balloons had landed; in May, 1945, it was found by a group of picnickers and killed them. In viewing the write-up of the program, I noticed the word "Bly" was omitted from the location in Oregon where the balloon landed. I recall reading in the newspaper a few years back where 8 or 10 Japanese women who helped make the balloons came to Mt. Hood, Oregon, to pay their respects to the people killed by the balloon. Apparently they had grieved for many years that they indirectly caused someone's death. QUESTION: Are you aware of the exact location where the balloon landed that Tukufu was discussing?

We checked the Medford Mail Tribune newspaper account of May 7, 1945 which listed the location as "about 15 miles east of Bly."
The Japanese women who made paper for the balloon envelopes, not knowing they were to be used as bombs, visited Bly, Oregon in 1996. As a gesture of peace they brought a thousand paper cranes to the relatives of those killed in the explosion. Photographs of the women as school children and as adults visiting Bly can be viewed at On Paper Wings web page.

GAR Photograph Tombstone Question

Story Update | By History Detectives Team | August 7, 2008

Jo Hinds spoke for over a dozen viewers when she wrote us with this question:

The man in your photograph was a member of the GAR which was founded in 1866, but I noticed on his tombstone that he died in 1860. How can that be? Are you sure the tombstone is for the correct person? Thanks for a great show! Jo Hinds

The tombstone is a rectangular piece with names of many family members that are buried in that plot.
The 1860 date refers to Anna L Stevenson, who died in 1860 and was the first to be interred. In fact, the name John Stevenson and the date '1860' appear on different sides of the same headstone.

John Stevenson, George Geder's great Grandfather, and most of his family are indeed buried there.
Thanks to all for careful attention to the GAR Photograph story.

Best method for copying 18th century document

Ask The Detectives | By Gwen Wright | August 4, 2008

Dru Ransdell emailed with a question for Gwendolyn Wright
I have a document written in iron manuscript ink by my ancestor in 1752. It is a pledge of a club of about 50 teenage(!)young men to walk a Christian life. Exquisite, powerful prose and the writing is of course a work of art. A date in the margin says that the club was started in 1715.
I have had this previously folded treasure flattened at an art conservation place. I know that this original document will fade away if exposed to light, but I am unsure how to safely make copies to hang and enjoy. The art folks said a home scanner would be fine, but a friend of mine advised carefully considering the method first so that I only have to expose it to one blast of light. With the right digital image, I could then make copies identical to the original as well as some that are easier to read for sharing.
So, can you advise me as to what is that best method for copying this document? Do I need to have this done professionally?
Also, I wonder if there would be any interest in researching who these other young men were in history? All their names are beautifully signed on the back.
Thank you! I look forward to your input.

Dear Dru Ransdell,

Gwendolyn Wright