The Beginning

Like most people interested in genealogy, I have a love of family, history and solving a good mystery. My journey down this present path began many years ago with the passing of my father. After we lost him, I decided to do a scrapbook in his honor. It was at that same time, that I decided to do one for my mom as well. Their books came together rather easily but I quickly discovered how much about them I didnt know. I sat looking at pictures that had names written at the top or on the back but I had no idea who they were or how they fit into our family and I wanted to know. So I began making phone calls, asking questions and documenting any little story anyone would tell me. I found that the more the puzzle took shape, the less pieces I seemed to have. This intrigued me. So there began my journey. Just like anyone new to genealogy, I immediately went to Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, Rootsweb...and the information started flowing in. For a while I seemed to be skipping along my merry path...adding a piece here and a piece there...quickly compiling my tree. I thought for sure I would have all my family history from both sides solved, written and understood in just a few months. Well, that was many, many...many years ago...and here I am...still searching.

The one person in my direct line that is the most intriguing and the most "found" is probably also the one who is the most elusive. I know that sounds like a total contradiction but I have found that statement to be the most accurate. He is my great great grandfather--loving father, brother, son, friend and physician. What makes him so interesting is that he seems to have simply disappeared from the world only when it comes to his profession. He has literally done a "Houdini". I have searched and searched for years to find any documents from schools, hospitals, family, friends...any of his old medical files...anything that I could hold and study and say, "This is my great great grandfathers document. He held this...he wrote that..." But as of the writing of this blog, I havent met lady luck just yet but I would like to believe that eventually our paths will cross...prehaps sooner rather than later.

You see, I recently found an article written in 1956 on GenealogyBank.com, by his daughter, posted in the Ohio Plain Dealer, regarding her father. The article was full of interesting tidbits that I never would have known but one piece of information stood out. She mentioned that her father had cared for 150 typhoid patients on Catawba Island and that all of them survived....ALL OF THEM. Until this piece of information, I had no idea my great great grandfather ever worked on Catawba Island. The article also stated that her father drove a horse drawn carriage to earn money for his medical school, that she had worked for the American Beauty factory in Kalamazoo MI at the tender age of 17 and was now the secretary, treasurer and a newspaper reporter for the Goodrich Golden Age Club. This small article was a goldmine! My heart raced! All I could think of was the records and possibilites!! There was so much that could be out there that I never once thought about or knew to think about. I immediately started on my hunt for information about Catawba Island, the Goodrich Golden Age Club and the American Beauty factory. I also started looking for information on what carriage companies were in business at the time he would have been studying to become a medical doctor. If I could hunt down these carraige companies I might be able to follow their path to where the employment records are now housed--that is if the records are still in existence. Even if the records were destroyed, the history of the company from books, maps, tax records...all of these things could offer a clue. I am still searching but each day, with each email response, with each phone call, I am one step closer to filling in the puzzle...to understanding my great great grandfathers life. At least now many new doors have opened and I can peer in to see whats on the other side...all thanks to one tiny article written 54 years ago!