No way would I waste my time looking up people just because of some names on a tombstone.

One person's waste of time can be another person's quality time, Old Fixer.

I know one person who's glad I put some time into interpreting the writing on a gravestone. I received an email last night from a woman thanking me for posting a photo of her husband's great-great-grandmother's grave. She'd been searching for it for five years.

Posting a photo of a tombstone is not the same as getting engrossed in the people whose names are on it. There are billions of dead people I have no time to worry about. No argument how you wish to spend your time. I expressed an opinion, on a public forum. Who cares if you don;t agree. I did once help a KT person research a name, with quite helpful results.

I don't know why anyone who isn't interested in this topic would take the time to post such information but it takes all kinds I guess.

I photographed the 4 remaining markers in the middle of a farm field and researched them; built a tree at ancestry in case anyone was looking for them and posted all to findagrave. Having bloodied my forehead more than once I hoped if anyone was looking for these people I could solve their mystery for them. It's called paying it forward.

Genealogy is like reading a very well written murder mystery. Just one more page, chapter, document, search. I'm following the blog "Hoosier Daddy?". I can't wait for the next chapter of that story!

I have met "cousins" I would never have known without ancestry and findagrave. We have joined forces looking for those brick wall people. My family is not the least bit interested so I rejoice and do the Happy Dance with those cousins on line late at night. Every breakthrough I've ever made has been after 10:10PM. With all of us in different time zones there's always someone to party with!

I got interested in my family genealogy after I retired and my wife was still working. Before that, I had litle interest. What grabbed me was when I discovered a shoe box of old documents in the bottom of Mom's closet. She had been secretly saving these and was wondering to whom she could pass these. She wanted to find a place for them where these would be cared for and saved, After I expressed a good interest, she passed the box to me a few short years before she passed away.

That box contained some letters, birthday cards, prommisory notes, property tax receipts, etc, stuff that at first glance would be junk to others. In the bottom of that box was something rolled up and smashed. It was a legal size, double sheet or ancient paper. It took me the large part of an afternoon to unroll it without tearing the paper. It was my g-g-grandfather's muster roll for the Black Hawk War during the summer of 1832! He had been a captain in that war and this was his copy of the muster roll for his company of men. It was written in his hand and there were faded pencil notes on that could have only been made in the field during the campaign. This was the document that he carried with him during the hunt for Black Hawk's band. That got my attention and I began my search of my roots.

That was a dirty little war and very likely unnecessary since Black Hawk had tried 3 times to set up negotiations, and each try failed. From what little I could gather, my ancestor came back a changed man and was not proud of his participation. He regard it as a necessary evil.

Alisande, I totally 'get' why you submerge yourself into the stories found on a cemetery marker. I am very much the same way.

My Kindle reader had almost ruined my ability to read a biography or autobiography from cover to cover because I find myself looking up the histories of everybody mentioned in the book! I just can't help myself, lol.,

One image leads to another, then a different history and another. Lol.

I know that your life is enriched by your research as are those whom you have touched. I am included in that crowd.

After awhile it starts to feel as though I know these people. Kind of like hanging out at the KT, except you're all alive. ;-)

Funny! :O)

My Dad was big into researching his family tree/history, but the info was all in his head! To my knowledge, he never documented any of it.

After awhile it starts to feel as though I know these people. Kind of like hanging out at the KT, except you're all alive. ;-)

I got interested in my family after I did the history of my house. There were so many interesting stories about the people who had owned my land. It all started with a land warrant for a soldier in the Mexican American War. The whole project uncovered very interesting stories about everyone who ever owned this place.

I still had 2 months left at ancestry when I finished the house project and just out of curiosity I looked for my grandmother. She was the only family I ever knew. I didn't even know names for my mother's parents. And from there it just exploded. So many interesting people. A few brick walls. One breakthrough that other cousins had been looking for for years and years. That's how I got elected chief researcher for that branch. And then I found out that my great great grandparents were uncle and niece. Ewwwwww! After his death she remarried, dumped her 2 kids with her mother, and moved to Dakota Territory with her new family. It took years to sort it all out partly because everyone in that branch of my family is named William and Elizabeth. My 3x grandparents named all their children after my 3x grandfather's siblings. A set of people in England and a set of people in America all with the same names! Drove me crazy until one of the cousins found the source for the will of 3x grandmother's father. Best $25 I've ever spent.

I found out the stories I'd heard as a child but didn't believe were true. Mother's family came on the Mayflower. Dad was related to Jack Bailey, Queen for a Day. Who knew!

The sleuthing includes peeling away the layers of, er, 'embellished' family lore. It's like an old house with centuries of 'wallpaper'. Each layer turns out to be a little different from the way your family described it.

Why had the owners of a large textile operation in northern France sent their sons to America in the early 1800's? What kept some of the family in France? One patriarch sold everything and took his entire immediate family across the Atlantic, down the Erie Canal, over to southern Illinois to farm -- after the Indians had been 'removed'. Why did other Frenchies write home about their thriving 'confectionery' business in Nashville -- when a probate inventory listed everything you needed to make quantities of beer?

Did one of my ancestors really lend his sword to Gen. Washington and receive a replacement from the great man? How was he the only white man to escape an Indian ambush in NE Pennsylvania, where his fellow militia members were scalped by the Indians? All true? Partially true? Patriotic stories? All four of his sons were named for the Revolutionary leaders.

Was it obvious to anyone at the time that the spinster -- and 'caretaker daughter' of elderly parents -- had been in love with her cousin who was serving in France during WWI? Maybe no one else saw what I see in her letters to family.

How did my paternal grandmother go from being the pampered darling of a town's prosperous doctor to wearing the same tired 'best dress' for pictures that spanned a decade? Were those pictures of the seven children playing barefoot in the barnyard 'charming', or didn't they have shoes?

Why did my maternal grandmother speak of immigrating to NYC from Scotland, but never say she, her mother and siblings boarded the ship in Londonderry? (Or that her mother's maiden name was O'Rourke?) Her father was Scots, and she married a Scot. "No Irish" signs were not uncommon in NYC.

Did my mother even know that her father's ancestors served in the Revolutionary War? It would have helped her, socially, to be DAR in provincial Providence, RI. She would have had more respect in my father's ancestor-worshiping family, too! LOL

It's the social history that I find most interesting.

I think having an interest in tracking ancestry is a harmless hobby. But to me it ranks right up there with train spotting and bird watching as an undertaking that people do for enjoyment but for which the value of the outcomes tend to be overstated by the participants.

Everyone had ancestors alive during the Revolutionary War. Or the Civil War. Hypothetically, mine were here and your ancestors weren't. So what? Great great great Uncle Horace was a child molester and stole money from his business partner, does that come out in research?

Those who can refrain from ancestor worship and amateur canonization probably do no harm. As far as the others, searching for some element of distinction in their family tree, as if it had any relevance to them (which of course it doesn't), strikes me as sad. That attitude is common among the genealogy practitioners I've met, that's probably what turns me off to the notion.

I know 'that sort' of genealogist, Snidely. They are collectors of names. They inscribe names on a tree: DOB, DOD, but no 'social history'. Some bask in imagined reflected glory -- emanating from selected ancestors they have, themselves, 'polished up so care-ful-ly'.

That's often the family 'story' one begins with, but I like to peel the wallpaper. It's like populating a novel or playing True Detective.

History isn't as dry or generalized -- "THE Civil War", "THE Napoleonic Era" -- when I 'experience' it by following the lives of specific individuals who were impacted by it.

I am thankful that wonderful volunteers like Alisande exist. The photos that she and others take and document have been the missing link or an added piece to the puzzle to many on their genealogy search. To say it is a waste time is extremely disrespectful and rude.

Thank you, Matti and Rhizo, for the personal comments, and to all the others who "get" the fascination with those who lived before us and have added their thoughts to this thread. I agree . . . the most meaningful part of this work is not the names and dates, but how they lived. Their stories.

Those of us who study the past "probably do no harm," Snidely? Your capacity for judgment is remarkable.

I don't see TV watchers and novel readers getting judged for enjoying those kinds of stories. Imagine an historical novel that spans several generations--and then imagine that it's not fiction; the people were real.

Here's something I came across yesterday that moved me deeply. It was written by Thomas Stockton Clark (1843 - 1902) of Michigan. He and his wife, Permelia, had four children. Three of them died in infancy, and the fourth, a daughter named Grace, died giving birth to her first child, who died as well. Permelia died in January 1894, 10 months after Grace. Here's what Permelia's husband wrote on Christmas that year:

"I am writing these closing lines on Christmas Day 1894. I am alone in the house from which they were carried to their final resting place. The dog which my daughter loved lies at my feet. The clock which Aunt Lucy gave my wife ticks on the shelf. The flowers they cared for so tenderly are sitting on the windows. Much of the furniture is arranged as they left it. Their handiwork is around me wherever I turn my eyes. The passing holidays bring again in review all the years we spent together. I had passed my 29th birthday when I married Permelia, I have passed my 60th now, and although it is never safe to say with absolute certainty, if I had my life to live over again I would do this or avoid that, yet I think "yes" I feel "sure", that if I stood again by her side as I stood the morning of my wedding day, and all my life with her had been revealed as it lies now recorded in the memories of the past, I would take her hand in mine and join my life to hers just as gladly as I did then. With the light of that revelation illumining my path I would welcome the joyous experiences as they come. With a clear understanding of the responsibilities which that relationship involved I would strive to discharge them better than I have done. I would accept the pain and disappointment and sorrow as bravely as I might, but my hand should not tremble nor my response be less clear because of that revelation, than it was then ,when all our future was concealed." T.S. Clark 12-25-1894

Seems gardenweb either won't let me proceed to publish OR publishes it twice. Is it just me?

This post was edited by lov_mkitchen on Sun, Oct 26, 14 at 13:18

alisande, that is just heartbreaking.

My 2x great grandparents left the port of Hamburg Oct 15, 1869 and arrived at Castle Garden Dec. 13, 1869. My grandmother died Jan. 23, 1870 without ever setting foot out of Castle Garden Hospital. She left a husband and 4 young children. I would not have the courage any of my ancestors had to leave everything they knew behind, board a ship and live steerage -in very uncomfortable accommodations and sail out to sea, hoping they got to America. Politically and economically it was bad there and even the unknown of sailing away must have looked better than staying. It would be like me going to the moon. I would still be scrubbing the castle floor on my hands and knees. Unlike most men of that time, my grandfather never remarried.

Every one of my ancestors had a story. They all did more than I ever will.

alisande, if you want to misinterpret my comments, go ahead. Chisue managed to understand what I was saying. Read her first paragraph, that's exactly what I was referring to in my third paragraph.

lov_mkitchen -- I so seldom see that anyone's family landed before there was an Ellis Island! My maternal grandmother and her widowed mother and siblings also came through 'The Castle'. I'm assuming you refer to the Port of New York?

It was wise to start checking immigrants. I don't know if they 'arrived with it' or not, but my grandmother's mother and only brother died of TB a few years later.

alisande -- What a lovely turn of phrase from Mr. Clark: "...when all our future was concealed."

LMK, even though I'm a native NYer I wasn't familiar with Castle Garden, so I looked it up. What a sad end to a journey they must have undertaken with such high hopes.

Of course Chisue "managed" to understand your third paragraph, Snidely. I managed it as well. I'm sure those people exist, but I haven't encountered any here. As several posters have described so well, we're looking for human-interest stories, not famous names. In some cases we might be able to see where certain of our abilities or interests may have originated, but that's a bonus.

Lov_mkitchen said, "They all did more than I ever will." I can certainly echo that, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. The efforts and accomplishments of many of our ancestors are awesome in the true meaning of the word. And most of the time they did it without the benefit of education, automobiles, telephones, etc.

Remembrance is integral to the study of those who came before us. Gravestones, obituaries, diaries, photographs, mementos . . . they're all about remembrance.

We've talked about gravestone photography providing information to the living, but the other reason I do it is for the dead. We honor the dead by remembering them. Those stones were erected for the purpose of keeping memories of them alive, and I want to keep that going.

I hope someday in the future my descendants will be curious about me and my husband and children, and make an effort to learn what they can. And I hope they'll be able to find out more than our names.

Yes, chisue, she died of tuberculosis. Her death certificate said consumption.

alisande, I wish I would have known my family history 60 years ago. I am sure my life would have turned out differently. If they could do that..........I should be able to do _________! But it's never too late so that's the pep talk I give myself now. Whatever I'm contemplating as being too scary I make a mental scale comparing leaving Iowa and traveling to the moon and what the scary thing is. It does put my scary thing into perspective. I'd still rather not speak in public!

And when I think what it must have been like for the Mayflower passengers; how did they find the courage to do that? Defy the king and leave home for a different country from which they also left and sailed to America. I can't even fathom getting on the Mayflower or Speedwell and setting off across the ocean. Can you even think to imagine what it must have been like to decide to do it! And then go ahead and do it! The cost, preparation, backing, leaving everyone and everything you knew for some unknown place. And the accomodations! Ewwwwww! The Mayflower history is more than Pilgrim hats and shiny buckles. In fact, none of those things existed in Plimoth. The Puritans were in Massachusetts, whole different people and place.

I can't even understand why other ancestors came over in 1824 from England. I haven't been able to find anything I would consider impossible conditions. The one thing that could be the reason is inheritance. The first son got everything. I am guessing my 3rd great grandfather was not the first born. He has younger siblings that I've found with him being the oldest but there must have been one older than he was. They left England very young with one son. Why? There was an uncle already here but I can't find him. Got here and died? And if that's the case, why did he leave England and come here? Circumstantial evidence puts the uncle birth order #3 son. That would be reason enough to leave home. So hypothetically uncle comes to America. Life is good. Writes to brother and/or nephew to come to America. Nephew and family set sail for America with uncle waiting to welcome them. Or none of those things are true. Wish I knew.

I may just be the weirdest person ever!!! I cannot go through a museum and pass the 'personal' items that belong to people I don't even know, a zillion years ago. I cannot help but wonder as I look at cutlery, mismatched, bent, ugly - what the people who held those utensils were like, where they lived, what they ate with those forks, spoons, etc. Or the big iron pot, where did it sit - on a hook in the fireplace, on a spit or somewhere else?

I went once with my kidlet on a guided museum tour, and she kept nagging me to hurry and catch up with the rest of the group!

I have to say though, that my curiosity hasn't wained even one little iota....I have traced my family back many generations to the 1700. I, too, hope that future generations (if indeed there is any life left on this earth) will wonder what I ate, where I slept or perhaps what I wore and if only to satisfy their curiosity.

Okay, I'll put the soapbox away for now. LOL

It's good to know you understand the fascination, Justlinda!

Lov_mkitchen, I always think of the people, especially the women, who traveled across the country in covered wagons, their mothers, who had in all likelihood lost one or more children to illness, saying goodbye to their adult children not knowing when, if ever, they would hear from them again. The travelers faced all sorts of hardships and threats.

Tonight I looked up the name on a gravestone, wondering if I was reading it correctly (unusual name), and came upon a newspaper article from 1883 telling how the woman, a mother of three, hung herself in the woodshed. I don't want to sensationalize this woman's death, so I'm thinking I may leave it off her FindAGrave memorial. Any thoughts on this?

On a much lighter note, I photographed this stone for fun. It serves no genealogical purpose whatsoever. ;-)

When I first looked I thought it said "Another Died". Obviously this wasn't a foot stone. Were you able to figure out who she was?

I have 2 suicides in my tree. One was in the newspaper so no secret there. The other is common knowledge with the suicide being attributed to the step children but I don't know..... she was 77. Seems like a long time to put up with evil stepchildren and then drown yourself at 77 but I suppose anything is possible. Her tombstone says it all. Actually, the way they put her name on there, I wish they would have made a seperate smaller stone for her and put their father and mother on the big stone by themselves.

Maybe say death by suicide and let it go at that. I do think it's important to know. Same as death by TB or getting hit by a train. Well, maybe not the train considering how graphic the newspapers were then. But cause of death is important. Mental health and physical health is passed on.

Well that is interesting! Poor Mother! Do you come across that often?

Hmmm...I'd be tempted to leave it off. If someone is searching the name I would think they could find the article? On the other hand, it is a part of her history. Maybe link the article?

This post was edited by matti5 on Sun, Oct 26, 14 at 23:13

I don't know as much about genealogy as some of the others here, so I've never come across this. Since I found the newspaper article, it would be easy for others to find as well. But I'll take Lov_mkitchen's advice and make a brief note on her memorial, thus making it a little easier for people researching that family.

But here's something else: The father is on one side of a 4-sided stone, the mother on another, and on the third I was startled to find Mary, age 15, who died just a year after the mother. I'm thinking she must be one of the teenage girls mentioned in the article. One of them found the mother. I wonder what the story behind this was.

The family name is Mealous, from Prompton, PA.

Was there any kind of disease in that area when the daughter died? Do you know how many other children were still at home? I'll see if anything shows up at ancestry. This is already a findagrave?

I know disease took a lot of people in the county in the 1850s, but so far I haven't heard about anything like that in 1884.

The article said the family had two teenage girls living at home and an older boy who lived in Scranton. The mother and the girls made the noon meal, and she sent one of them to fetch their father to come to dinner. Before they got back, the other girl had found her mother.

I put the parents (James and Ellen) on FindAGrave, but stopped for night after that. I haven't added Mary yet. She was born October 10, 1869 and died November 28, 1884. The mother died October 2, 1883.

James had a daughter, Annie b. 1871. He was head of house, she was living with him; also her son Harold b. 1894. Annie Dutcher is divorced in the 1900 census. Honesdale, Wayne, PA.

And then I find this with the wrong mother.

Name:
Anna Burns
[Anna Mealous]

Gender:
Female

Race:
White

Age:
69

Birth Date:
2 Nov 1871

Birth Place:
Pennsylvania

Death Date:
3 Oct 1941

Death Place:
Newton, Lackawanna, Pennsylvania, USA

Father Name:
James Mealous

Mother Name:
Helen O'Brien

Certificate Number:
91082

Hmm. I was typing while you were but you got back here first. The birth dates don't match. I'm quitting for tonight, too.

Birth dates are often incorrect on death certificates as well as on gravestones. I only trust birth dates on birth and baptismal certificates.

Helen and Ellen very similar names and could be typos or in error.

It is very fascinating and just draws you in like reading a good book, where do you stop.

Thanks to some of the wonderful find a grave volunteers I have found several in my family that I didn't know. I was afraid that information had died with the family members. But it was awesome what I was able to find out and share with my family. None had ever heard of find a grave.

So thanks for what you do, unlike some, there are hundreds of people who greatly appreciate the information that comes from the work of those who are dedicated to providing this service.

The death certificate is not always 100% accurate either. Its a good idea to look at the source that provided the data. Some death certificates names the individual who provided the data. I got the death certificate for my grandfather and found that my dad had supplied the data. He had recorded one error simply because he probably did not know the truth. Grandfather had been reluctant to pass on any genealogical information about his family to his children. Because of this, my Dad did not know that he was related to a group of people living in the next county since their surname had a slightly different spelling.

In this same family, the birth certificate for one of my aunts records the wrong first name for her. Again, looking at the source, I found that it was the midwife who filed the certificates for all 5 of grandmother's children. All of these were home births, Most likely, on the day of the birth, the parents had not settled on a name and the midwife used one of the alternate names. Later, when the final name selection was made, they failed to notify the midwife.

good catch, ravencajun, I should have seen that.

I have two grandmothers that I know of with the wrong dates on their grave markers. From here to eternity it will be wrong. I've written their stories but that will only be passed on by those who didn't throw it away the same day they got it. The next generation of genealogists will have to discover everything I know all over again.

Perhaps Anna couldn't face her 70th birthday. (I didn't think about mine, and now it's too late! LOL)

You seldom see anyone in a cemetery today unless there's a service going on. Cemeteries were made to be beautiful parks for the living, who regularly 'visited' their deceased family members. One of the goals of early public transportation was to enable people to get to their family's 'resting places'.

I have ancestors in Merryall, PA. Wouldn't you love to be merry forever after?

How frustrating, LMK!

Raven, I didn't think of the Helen/Ellen connection either. Thanks!

Annie, the younger daughter, was the one who was sent to tell the father to come home to dinner. I'm guessing divorce was unusual in 1900. But of course it happened.

For those who would like to read it, here's the newspaper article

The article says Ellen was "nearly 48," and the gravestone says she was 55. As a former newspaper reporter, I tend to believe the stone. :-)

Hence the term it was written in stone lol I would believe the stone also.

I was looking on find a grave for my nephew that was a twin and died shortly after birth. I finally found it but the find a grave person had made an error and put another name other than Ronald as his first name, something similar. Which is what made me think of the possibility of error.

Sure would be nice to have a genealogy forum. I am going to suggest it again. Should be more active that some of the ones we have now.

Alisande, thanks for the link to the newspaper article. The article just above it about the impending wedding is quite amusing

Gosh! What a cheery rag, allisande! Today's TV mantra, "If it bleeds, it leads," has nothing on the newspapers of the 1880's.

Truly fascinating articles alisande! How and where do you get to see such things? So many things I liked in them.

... though death throws its mantle of charity over the faults of men.

Wow. Well spoken!

The article says Ellen was "nearly 48," and the gravestone says she was 55. As a former newspaper reporter, I tend to believe the stone. :-)

You should have known my great grandmother! Her age depended on the age of her present husband!! The one that makes me howl is the last one when she is 15 or 17 years younger than he is but she has adult children living right there in the same town. I was born and raised in that town and believe me, EVERYBODY knew EVERYBODY!

My other thought about Mary was that she found her mother and couldn't get over it. AND if her mother was unstable, maybe Mary was, too. Her death a year later could also have been suicide.

Justlinda, I feel the same way when going through a museum. I also put myself in the place of the people who lived in that time, and wonder what they were like.
I was so overcome with emotion when I visited Ellis Island. My Grandmother came over from Europe when she was about 12...I can't even imagine making a journey like that and leaving most of my family behind while others waited for me in America.
I love to discover the facial features and characteristics that have been passed down through generations...I find that fascinating!
Alisande, I think you are doing wonderful work.

I was examining the record of a small cemetery where several of my ancestors are buried. I was trying to get an idea of how old that cemetery might be, and the years it was active. Someone had walked the cemetery and posted the data through one of the local genealogical societies. I entered all the data on a spread sheet and re-ordered it by death/burial date and saw a surprising trend. Originally, this cemetery had been private and then became part of a pioneer country church. There were 2 burials ca 1835 and then no more until about 1848 with burials at expected intervals after that. I wondered why? The early date was critical to my searches since I was looking for the grave of an ancestor that none of us have been able to locate. The early date made it possible that she could have been in there in an unmarked grave. However, that early gap in burials did not make sense.

Later, I did find more about the persons of the early burial. The reported dates were birth dates, not death dates! The time gap dissappeared after the correction was made and the cemetery had begun operation about 10 yrs later than first indicated.

Knowing the age of a cemetery can be helpful because for person to have been buried in it , the cemetery had to be in existence. I have been able in some cases to narrow the search of pioneer burials by eliminating cemeteries that were too young.

-- The search goes on ... .

I was thinking the same thing about Mary's death. I knew a woman who discovered her mother's suicide (also by hanging), and she was definitely not a stable person. Her friends said she never got over it, but I suspected she had inherited some instability on top of it. She died last year. I don't know the cause, but several people suspect she took her own life.

FindAGrave honors various of the deceased with a small photo changed several times a day. Occasionally one will catch my eye and appeal to me in some fashion, and I'll click on it to read the memorial. That's how I found Permelia and her husband, and his beautiful, heartbreaking diary entry.

Here's one from today. Emil, the sole surviving child after his two older brothers died in infancy 20 years earlier, fell and broke his back when he was not yet one year old. Because of weather conditions, he couldn't receive medical care. Read on......

I hadn't ever followed those links, mostly because I was there for a purpose and I get distracted so easily I have to keep my blinders on all the time. That changes today!

Oh, no--it's all my fault! In case it isn't obvious, I'm easily distracted as well. ;-)

I also get sucked into genealogy, running down leads and finding the unexpected. Here's a short story about my ggrandmother Ella.

In 1904, she had 6 young children (including 2 year old twins, one of which was my grandmother). For some reason I have not been able to discover, her husband died. Several months later, she was "compelled," a newspaper story said, to surrender three of the children as she couldn't provide for them. The article was called, "A Mother's Sad Thanksgiving." The twins were split up, each going to one of their deceased father's sisters.

Now, here's where it gets REALLY interesting. Apparently ggrandmother was living with a gentleman who was nearly 30 years older than her, keeping his house, I assume. I found a news story telling of, as it said, "A Dastardly Plot" by a young man and 2 of his friends who were quite fond of my ggrandmother. They conspired to kill the man she was living with, shooting both him and his dog. The man did not die, and subsequent newspaper stories claimed the shooter was convicted of the deed BY THE DOG, who growled and was very aggressive toward the shooter. LOL!!!

Anyway, to make a long story short, ggrandmother married the older gentleman. 7 months later, she gave birth to another child.

I remember ggrandmother Ella - she died when I was 10 or so. And she remained active in my grandmother's life, even though she didn't raise her. She was quite feisty and full of life. Now I know at least SOME of the rest of her story.

I am looking for still more on her. How every interesting to learn these things!

I understand the interest in dead people and their lives. ( : I love old cemeteries...so does my daughter, Lauren. I used to do the Find-A-Grave thing but haven't in a year or so. I may pick it back up next Spring, though.

I just finished reading a fictionalized story of George Mallory, the climber who's body they found in the 90's. He died on Mt. Everest in the 20s. Very interesting, and then I had to google him to find out more. I loved that book because it was based on real people and a real event in time. The best part was the very end where the writer told the readers what happened to all the main characters in the book. Death dates and how they died. Very interesting and sad too.

I hate books or movies where you don't know what happened to the people afterwards. They just leave you hanging. Lauren and I went to see Fury Sunday and we both sat there and wanted to know more. I don't know if the movie was based on real people, a book or what. I need to google it but we both were kind of frustrated at the end of the movie.

Going off on another subject, sorry.

littlebug5, are you searching half the night? Or all night?

Been there, done that. But what a happy dance when you find the answers!

Here is a link that might be useful: Creatively Combine Names to search

Littlebug, what a story! Gotta love those smart dogs. LOL

I can't imagine having to give up any children. Sometimes if a father died back then, the wife and children were left with nothing. It's good that she stayed in their lives, and I hope the twins spent lots of time together.

Yes, I was really REALLY surprised to find those 2 newspaper stories about my ggrandmother Ella. I had no idea of any of that - all I knew was that my grandmother, one of her twins, was raised by an aunt. And her twin brother lived fairly close by with another of their aunts. Sadly, he died when he was about 20.

Ggrandma Ella came to visit us several times before she died - she lived in upstate New York, and we live in the Midwest. And I have several pictures of her with the daughter she had to give up - my grandmother - as adults.

I just LMAO at the "Dastardly Plot" story. Justice 100 years ago was quite a bit different than today. And what a wild and crazy thing to learn about your own ggrandmother! A deranged man trying to win her heart by shooting her boss and his dog!