Vandalia Native Traces Family Roots Through Poetry
Paul Stroble, a Vandalia native, has published his ninth poetry collection and his 25th book overall, continuing a body of work closely tied to local history and family memory.
The collection, Holy Week, 1847, centers on Stroble’s third great grandmother, Comfort Williams, an Ohio widow who settled with her six children in the Four Mile area of Fayette County in 1840. Williams died during the week before Easter in 1847 while her son, Josiah Williams, was serving in the Siege of Veracruz during the Mexican War. Although telegraphy existed at the time, it was not developed enough to carry news of her death to the battlefield. One of Williams’ daughters later wrote to a sister to share the news.
In the poems, Stroble reflects on the history of Virginia, Ohio and Illinois as Comfort Williams’ life unfolded, from her childhood to her marriage to a veteran of the War of 1812. The collection moves between past and present, blending his ancestor’s migrations with experiences from his own family life.
Some poems place personal memory alongside historical irony. Stroble recalls asking his mother to sew him a British Redcoat costume for Vandalia’s Halloween parade, unaware at the time that one of his ancestors had fought against the British decades earlier. In other passages, he traces Williams’ ancestry to Scotland while recalling a drive through that country in a British made car.
Place remains central to Stroble’s work. Nearly all of his books are set in Vandalia and Fayette County or maintain a connection to them. One reviewer wrote that Stroble “spins many tales forward and backward” from his ancestor’s grave near Vandalia, suggesting that the poems render grief as a landscape while also capturing hopes, triumphs and joys tied to the places where Stroble has lived and traveled with his family.
The collection continues Stroble’s long standing practice of using poetry to reflect on the people and places that shaped his life in Vandalia and Fayette County.
Stroble has written extensively about southern Illinois and its history, using poetry to link personal narrative with broader themes of family, place and memory. Those interested in learning more about his work or background can contact him through his website, paulstroble.com.
