Our
main program on Saturday, November 5, 2011, consisted of members’ accounts of
researching family skeletons. Thanks to Ginger Goodell for putting together the
very-professional-looking Power Point and contributing the
following recap of the individual presentations.
 |
| John W. Davis |
Cheryl
Storton
described how she discovered the truth about a family tradition claiming her
grandfather, John W. Davis (see photo), went to prison for making moonshine, but walked away and never went
back when he tired of being there.
Martha Crosley
Graham
read a family story her grandmother wrote, describing Martha’s Danish great-grandfather’s
colorful background and death. Martha’s
research separated “truth from fiction.”
Greg Pisaño described his
discovery of a family skeleton while going through newspaper microfilm in
Arizona’s Sedona/Prescott-area public libraries. His grandfather’s name
appeared in headlines as having murdered his wife’s brother at the door of
a local saloon. Greg demonstrated how
additional research led to more details about this family secret.
Jan Cannon told how
she’d asked her grandmother about her great-grandmother, only to be told she’d
died young and that her grandmother had no memory of her. After Jan enlisted
the help of a professional researcher and another family member doing
genealogical research, she learned her great-grandmother’s name and that she’d
died in an “insane asylum,” having lived there the last 45 years of her
life. Jan described her visit to the
institution where she was able to view her great-grandmother’s file, see the grave
(a numbered brick), and arrange to have a proper grave marker installed.
Carole Ann
Davis began seeking clues about when and how her grandfather came from Germany to the
U.S. and eventually won medals for his Spanish-American War participation. Using both Ancestry.com and the LDS Family History Center
in Utah, she documented his military service, but was taken aback to discover
him on the 1900 US census as an inmate at San Quentin. From there, she tracked
down his offense--burglary--and even found his mug shots.
Julia
George’s research
into collateral ancestors led to a family skeleton who appeared to be an
adulterer and a counterfeiter. Looking
at censuses and several cities’ newspapers fleshed out more information on this
black sheep’s criminal activities.
Lynn Storrs
stumbled across news of her father’s previous marriage when her aunt shared
with her a prized possession, Lynn’s great-grandfather’s Bible. In it Lynn read
a strange woman’s name, a name not found in the family Bible. After talking
over her discovery with her mother, Lynn made peace with this upsetting bit of
family history, as most of us have likely learned to do with the family
skeletons we’ve stumbled across.
Janet Grummit shared the booklet
she recently ordered from the Mason City,
Illinois Area and Family Historical Society. In it she found a three-and-a-half-page
article on a great-uncle charged as an accessory to armed robbery. This was the
first she’d heard of this family skeleton.
She’s doing further research to learn what became of him.
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