I took a walk around the Park to (hopefully) improve the health of my unhealthy legs, ankles, and feet. My reward was in the mailbox in the form of a big white envelope with the 155-page high-quality publication of Mennonite Family History. I’m privileged to be a contributing editor. Frankly, I’m never certain which story “they” publish. To my delight, it is “Where’s Charlie?”  The topic fits the messages I’ve published on my blog recently. To my further delight, “they” published the “Prayer for Genealogists”  on the same page.

Where’s Charlie?

How many readers do genealogy “the old fashioned way”? I did–many years ago! Now I confess to “armchair research.” Do you ever ponder over individual family members? Do you linger awhile and speculate about their life? I do. I become “invested” in the person I am researching. I am meticulous about documentation and curious when “too little” information. Recently, I spent hours searching for a twelve year old girl in 1930 Federal Census.

Speculation (because I do not have verification) but I suspect she was the result of a rape. I’m calling her “Charlie” and her mother was only fourteen when she was born. No marriage record to be found and the father identified as a man the age of her grandfather. Charlie’s mother married at age sixteen and gave birth to four more children. She died at age twenty-eight shortly after birth of fourth child.

The 1930 Federal Census shows the step-father and her four half-siblings living with his parents. Where was “Charlie”? I diligently searched all 1930 Census records; I checked to see if she might be listed with grandparents. She was not with her biological father and his family. I checked the “neighboring families” of her relatives. Perhaps she was living with one of her four uncles? No record of her living with those families.

This eighth cousin touched my emotions so I used every available resource (on Ancestry.com) to develop her branch of the family tree. Woefully little information; no stories nor newspaper items listed on Ancestry. But I like to think “Charlie” was a strong woman who overcame tragedy and hardships. She lived to be one-hundred-one.

Smile as you read this short story because this genealogist is working simultaneously (feverishly?) with two computers. On one, the individual (“Charlie”) in Ancestry Lorraine Frantz Family Tree while “researching” on second computer. So many records! We just need to “search” and not rely strictly on “hints.”

This morning the NBC Today Show introduced the viewers to “virtual travel.”

I’m going to explore our National Parks. Perhaps I’ll (virtually) revisit the Eiffel Tower and Sacré-Cœur. (Yes, I lived in Paris, France, for several years.)

Oh no!! As if we don’t have enough problems with Coronavirus. Now we have Saharan dust called “Godzilla.”  A picture of air quality in my area of Waco, Texas. Here’s a link to check your air quality.

A couple of days ago, Dallas, Texas, was in the TV-news due to spike in Coronavirus cases. I’m living less than one-hundred miles from Dallas and may never visit that city. But I remember the time when I was a faithful viewer of the TV-series by that name. Remember that famous line “Who killed J.R.?”  Whatever happened to Larry Hagman?

Hypothetical: If I lived in the Dallas area, I would attend First Baptist Church of Dallas. I’m a follower (on TV) of the pastor: Robert Jeffress. (I’m a believer in the saving grace of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Yesterday, I heard someone say “happy trails.” It reminded me of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Their home, in Apple Valley, California, was less than one-hundred miles from my home in Lancaster, California. For many years, a museum displayed artifacts–and Trigger–in Victorville.

When I walked to the mailbox (at 2:30), I sensed that there was something wrong with my legs. I looked down and was surprised to see that my legs and ankles are swollen. Simultaneous with that observation, the word “edema” came to mind. Yes, I’ve been “health-conscious” half my lifetime but I don’t remember learning about edema. I give God the glory because He put the word in my mind. I quickly went to the computer and did a Google search. OMG, the causes are scary!! I went from website to website reading about edema. I may be wrong but I think my answer is in the first paragraph of this article.

Fluid buildup (edema): It happens when the tissues or blood vessels in your legs hold more fluid than they should. This can happen if you simply spend a long day on your feet or sit for too long. But it may also be a sign that you’re overweight or don’t get enough exercise, or of more serious medical conditions.

Lately (as I have confessed in earlier blog messages), I’ve been sitting at the computer for ten to fourteen hours a day. I’d only move (occasionally) to prepare a second mug of coffee or second or third glass of iced tea. Truthfully, sometimes three days would pass before I’d walk to the mailbox. I seldom spent any time in the yard. I haven’t gotten enough exercise!!

Alarm bells are ringing and I am listening.

P.S. I walked in a circle around the RV Park but I felt compelled to get back to the air-conditioned trailer. The thermometer says 91 degrees (at 4:00) but the humidity makes it “feel like” 100 degrees. I used my brain and took my “walking stick” and had to rely on it a couple of times. The “walking stick” was purchased at a street Fair in Winter Harbor, Maine. I was driving toward Acadia National Park (2010) and saw the sign (on the highway) indicating Winter Harbor was having their Lobster Festival. I made the detour and had a marvelous day browsing the vendors, eating a “fundraiser” breakfast and lunch in the civic center. At five PM, I watched the hometown individuals in an old-fashioned hometown parade. A local couple put their lawn chairs near mine (watching the parade) and plied me with questions. (Obviously, I was recognized as a visitor.) “Where are you spending the night?”  Answer: “I’ll just continue driving until I get to a Walmart.”  I was invited to spend the night in their driveway. The next day the man showed me his boat and his lobster traps, and we shared more conversation. ~~ My travels—in 2010—through the New England states, and Canada, were inspiring!! I’m still in contact with a lady I met in Exeter, New Hampshire. (Thanks, Deb!!)  🙂

Within Ancestry.com, I find so many careless errors in Member Family Trees. Sometimes I spend hours searching for and documenting the accurate information. Frequently I write a polite message to a Member asking for details about one of their entries. “Please share your source with me.”  I seldom receive a reply. Yesterday, I used “print-screen” images to prepare a “preponderance of the evidence.” I felt obliged to “show” other researchers what I “saw”—what I “saw” without illustration. The 1940 Federal Census lists my eighty-one-year-old grand-uncle as “widower.” Members list his fifty-two-year-old daughter as his wife. First, I searched for the marriage while questioning “Why would a woman marry a man thirty years her senior?”  No marriage record. Furthermore, no marriage record for the daughter (my first-cousin-two-times-removed) and the man identified as her “husband” who was married to a well-identified (lots of records) wife.

Here is the “story” I wrote and attached to a man in my Ancestry database. Yes, I have a lot of things I should be doing but I love being a detective. (I prefer “detective” to “janitor.”) I’ve attached the “cousin marriage” chart. I love to create “pictures” for the benefit of fellow researchers. (This reveals Lorraine in “Depression Aggression.“) Yes, “Stuck in a rut” is about the cousin whom I now accept as the wife of Francis Irvin Deal.

Quite frankly, upfront, I confess to being obsessive about accurate documentation in my Ancestry database. I entered the name Francis Irvin Deal because the World War I Draft Registration Cards 1917-1918 identified him that way. Likewise, in the World War II Draft Cards Young Men 1940-1947. Furthermore, the Social Security application says Frances [sic] I. Deal. Honestly, I had to locate verification that the man used the name “Irvin.” That verification can be found in 1910, 1920, 1925, 1930 Census records where he is listed as “Irvin” and “Ewin.” Additional information came in marriage records for his son, John Edwin Deal.

It was with reluctance that I accepted that “Irvin” looks like “Irving Deal” on the death certificate for his wife Anna Wagoner Deal born 25 Mar 1885 and died 5 Jul 1960. When did they marry? I spent hours searching for a record using alternate spellings and various locations. One Ancestry Member Family Tree lists the marriage on 20 Jul 1947 but no source. (I want “sources.”) I’m accepting that date because it came from a grand-nephew who probably has “inside information.”

In the Gallery find a chart illustrating the “cousin marriage” of Francis Irvin Deal and Anna Etta Wagoner.

ADDITIONS & CORRECTIONS APPRECIATED

“It’s a small, small world.”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love being a detective. I spent many hours researching and documenting Anna Etta Wagoner. Daylight turned to twilight and then it was dark. I continued to search for verification of a marriage between Anna Etta Wagoner and Francis Irwin Deal. I looked at other Member Family Trees and found the 20 Jul 1947 date. So I went to his “tree” hoping to find a “source.” A new phenomenon: Ancestry told me this is a third or fourth cousin. Ancestry DNA made the connection; how interesting! So I explored his “tree.”

Remember my earlier blog message about “showers of blessings”? A name appeared in “cousin’s tree” that brought wonderful memories. His aunt entertained me in her home in about 1991. I was a long way from Lancaster, California; I was in Delphi, Indiana, doing research. That day, I was enjoying the extremely valuable information I was finding in the card files in the Delphi library. I would “ooh” and “awe” out-loud as I studied the information. When I said the name “Wagoner” the librarian (Phyllis) said “Oh, that’s Margie’s family. She only lives a couple of blocks away. Here’s her phone number; call her.”  I phoned… and Margie invited me over. More specifically, she invited “us” over because I was with another relative.

My “other relative” lived in the same community but the two ladies did not know one another. Before the afternoon was over we discovered that we three are cousins through the Wagoner family. (Margie was born a Fisher, Rosa was born a Hufford, and Lorraine was born a Frantz.) It was a revelation and an awesome experience!! Margie produced several pages of hand-written genealogy—family history prepared by one of her ancestors. (I have a copy somewhere in my boxes of family history.)

This was, indeed, a “shower of blessings.” The memories are my reward for spending hours “climbing the family tree.” ~~~ Most of my genealogy cousins have left this earth and I’ll see them someday in Heaven. I have such a sense of urgency to get families accurately documented before my eyesight fails and my number is called. ~~~ Counting my blessings!! ~~~ I could expand this message for a story in Mennonite Family History but I haven’t the time. I’ve got to get back to the ladder (computer) and “climb the family tree.” (I’m a contributing editor for Mennonite Family History. Clone me so I can accomplish all my projects.)