I have researched the Ralston Family for 24 years in hopes of eventually publishing a book which would include all the Ralston families that I could. I was the first individual in Georgia to ever hold a Ralston Family Reunion for our branch of the family. That was in 1982 in Augusta, Georgia, and after having searched the Ralston families for a number of years at that time my invitations went out all across the country. We had Ralstons attend the reunion from all across the U.S.A. - from Hawaii to California to Ohio to Florida and everywhere inbetween. After I moved from Georgia back to California, my cousin Ernest Ralston of Calhoun, Georgia continuted the tradition I started until his death. Now it is held in Ellijay, Georgia every year, the last weekend of the month of July with another cousin, Willard Ralston, in charge.

My grandfather was Miles Lee Ralston, the only son of Dr. David Andrew Ralston and Jane McClure Ralston. He had three sisters.
My grandfather burned to death when my father was a teenager so I never knew him. I did learn however, from my parents the importantness of family and close family ties.

For years I searched the genealogical records and archives for my grandfather's eldest sister. The other two, I had met children of and had visited their graves. The only time that I could ever locate her was as a "servant" on a census record where she was living with an elderly couple helping to care for them. I had been told that she had married the brother of one of her brother-in-laws but knew him as Mack and still couldn't locate her.

After 18 years of search of the Ralston family, I drove from Blairsville, Georgia to Bryson City, NC to search the courthouse records for my grandfathers marriage to his second wife. On the way home to a friend's in Blairsville, GA I drove past a cemetery sign at the edge of the road, at the bottom of a driveway desceding down from a high hill. With no reason whatsoever to stop in this part of North Carolina at an unknown cemetery, I still thought, "I should drive up there" and as I rounded the hill there was an entrance road up the hill to the cemetery. I made a sharp turn and drove up the hill. Like many cemeteries, the road went around the cemetery and also through the center. To my right was a small chapel, more like one would use for a very small funeral or if it were to start raining. I thought the chapel very attrative and wanted to take a picture so I drove around to my right and stopped in front of it. However, no matter how far back into the cemetery I stepped, I could never get the complete chapel into my lens frame. I thought that strange but then thought, "Okay, I'll just drive down to the road that cuts across the center of the cemetery. It will be farther back and certainly then I'll be able to photograph the chapel." For some reason, I had a strong urge to photograph this chapel, although it would mean nothing to my genealogy. I drove down the circular road and turned left onto the center driveway. I stopped my car dead center of the chapel so as to get a good picture. I rolled down my window and reached for my camera in the next seat. When I turned and looked out the window, I did not look at the chapel, but was looking directly at the tombstone of my great-aunt, just outside my door. It was, I have no doubt, the Lord that led me to that place as my need to go there was so strong and I had no earthly reason to stop in this place. He led me to the last piece of the puzzle to complete my grandfather's family.
Now, I like to tell people that the Lord waited 18 years to lead me to this cemetery because he wanted to know that I was serious about my genealogy. I can only say that "The Lord does work in misterious ways, and I'm very grateful."