The Cygnus Chronicles were born out of my desire to share stories that I felt might be of interest to others — stories that are near and dear to my heart. This all began as I heard my older relatives talk about life before I was born. I soon began to collect some of my family's oral history by interviewing my relatives on video tape. Then I edited the interviews into a movie titled People of the Family: A Video History of the Swann Family, and gave the film to my extended family one Christmas. A few years later I produced a second film, The Call of the Whistle, about my uncle's steam engine which had been used on the family farm.
I had ideas for other films, but with a young and growing family I didn't have the time to produce them. Rather than let these ideas lie dormant I decided to share them via this web site. This allows me to divide a large goal into small steps as time allows. It allows you to participate as you'd like, coming and going when you please, finding the parts of the story that interest you most while giving you the freedom to skip other parts. So feel free to enjoy the material presented here, knowing that this site will change and grow as it is constantly a work in progress.
The Call of the Whistle
Take a look at how steam traction engines were used on farms in Robertson County, Tennessee, during the first half of the 20th century! This story takes the form of a “biography” of a single engine, called Kay-Gee 1875, which was used for years by the Swann family for threshing wheat, sawmilling, and steaming tobacco plant beds on local farms. In recent decades it has been one of the stars of the Tennessee-Kentucky Threshermen's Association’s annual Threshing Show in Adams, Tennessee. In telling the engine’s story, topics ranging from how old farm machines work to social aspects of agricultural history are covered.
Explore The Call of the Whistle...
Missions of the Star Duster
Millions were called to fight against the tyranny of dictatorship and for peace in World War II. Follow the crew of a B-29 named the Star Duster as they participate in this terrible, global conflict. This story presents World War II from the point of view of this crew, focusing on the B-29 bombing raids against Japan in 1944-1945, the B-29 Superfortress and how it operated, crew duties, and what a typical mission was like.
