Small World

 In 1900, the last representative of the 4th generation of one of my husband's branches lived in the village named for/founded by my 5th great grandfather. Small world.

Marriage one....marriage two

So, it's not unusual for someone to be married more than once.  Even back in the days when divorce was taboo.  Heck, my grandparents were divorced and I didn't realize it until I was in high school.  They divorced before I was born (dinosaur days).  Both remarried which meant Grandma had a different last name than Grandpa.  Still didn't put it together.  So I wasn't the brightest grandchild.  It is what it is.

Ernest married my 5th cousin.  This twig on the family tree interests me as (1) they are my family and (2) the geographic locations fascinate me.  

Helena was born in New York.  This is an unusual location for this branch of the family.  She died in California. One coast to the other.  This is from a mid-westerner who traveled to California several times as a child, but never east until her oldest was in the Navy.  My motto became have your child join the Navy to see the US.  I went to New York, Virginia, and Florida thanks to this child.  Sorry, off topic.

Yesterday, Ernest and Helena were the lucky recipients of my research to locate more details about them and their lives.  Ernest was born in Alabama and died in Hawaii.  Helena, well, I already told you about her.  I still haven't figured out how and when she met Ernest and why she went to Hawaii and married him.  I'll probably never know.  Maybe I am being too nosy.  

I know Helena and Ernest have a daughter. 

A newspaper article mentioned a girl child for Ernest.  But, the mother's name was different.  So a little more research and  Ernest was married twice.  He had two children with the first wife and one with the second.  It doesn't appear the three children were either aware or had contact with each other.  There is no proof so far either way.  The first two children are not mentioned in Ernest's obituary.

I am fascinated the first wife at the young age of 18 traveled by ship with a four month old by herself.  What courage. 

The two children from the first marriage are important in my research because they are related to the daughter of the second marriage who is related to me. 

Seven Cousins...One Yearbook Page

 Between my husband and I we have several family lines in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania and the area.  I stumbled across a page from Northern Lehigh High School and thought it would be fun to run the names through my genealogy database.  Seven from that page are related.  One is related to my husband, three related to me, and the final three are related to both of us.  That was fun.  If I didn't have a list of things to accomplish today, I would check another page!

Fifth Cousins and World Wars

A fifth cousin was killed in Germany in 1945 at the young age of 22.  This young man was recognized for his ability to shoot Nazi tanks in the dark with his sharp-shooting skills.  Another fifth cousin died at the young age of 25 in France on November 10, 1918...the day before the armistice was signed.  

It makes me sad to see a life gone as a result of war.  I'm working hard to keep my fingers from getting political. 

Follow that!

My grandfather's (dad's side) aunt on his mother's side was married twice. I have always assumed the first husband would be related to my grandfather's dad's side as the names are the same and we seem to be related to everyone in the area with that name. I have struggled over the years to make the connection. I made the connection tonight. To recap, she is my 2nd great-great aunt on my grandfather's mother's side. He is my 2nd cousin 4 times removed on my grandfather's father's side. Here is the kicker. The 2nd cousin's 2nd wife is my 3rd cousin 5 times removed on my MOTHER's side. Did you keep all of that straight? So the kids from the first marriage are related to my dad (twice) and the kids from the second marriage are related to both of my parents.

Birdie

A very distant cousin named Birdie lived in California and she owned a house in an exclusive area in Chicago. She decided she was going to sell her house in Chicago to Negroes. The neighbors were upset. Keep in mind, this was in 1915. Terminology was different and racism (sadly much like today) was rampant. She announced her plans and they were published in the paper. Now, was she going to do this because she was against the inequality of life between races or did she do this simply to irritate her neighbors. I am thinking the latter. She had no takers so a month or so later she decided to donate her home to Florence Prouty. Florence was the founder of a crippled children's home. I would like to think Birdie had the best intentions at heart to help the children, but the article goes on to quote Birdie describing the children who would live there and it wasn't complimentary. The final part of the quote was 'they (the neighbors) will be sorry they ever went up against Birdie' and 'charity may be sweet, but revenge is sugar.' I wonder what the story is behind all of this. It makes me sad to think Birdie would use people in this way and it also makes me sad to think the world isn't that much different today.

Let me amend the above. She offered her Chicago home in the Hyde Park district "to any colored or Italian" purchaser. She tried to sell the home previously and was unsuccessful. So she broadened her possible base and then finally her husband sent her a telegram telling her to donate the house to charity.

Time to Quit (for the day)

I googled Susan to find her obituary.  I found a Susan in California who could possibly be her.  She was born in Pennsylvania.  Her year of death is before her mother's.  The name matches.  It must be her!  I think I'll put her in my database and post it for the world.

No, I won't.  It is not the same Susan and I won't post it for the world to see for numerous reasons.  The main reason I'm not putting her in my database is because the Susan in the obit was born  in 1910.  The mother of the Susan I am looking for was born in 1925.  Do you see why Susan is not the Susan I am looking for?

Why would I post this?  Because I'm tired and the lack of respect for facts is nauseating.  Because of the fatigue my frustrations toward people who post ANYTHING (true or otherwise) because they found it on the internet are enhanced.

A part of me wants to place the wrong Susan as the daughter in a tree on Ancestry and see how many people will copy it.

But I won't.

I'm off to do something else.