Down the Research Rabbit Hole

I have said before that old Br'er not only scampers around the headstones in person but also online. Sometimes that is the only option available. Much as he might prefer to go where the graves is, when they are several hundred miles away, going there just ain't an option. So he is left with researching the family tree and when the folks is buried all on the webs.

Such was the case recently. Pushing out on some distant cousin lines ended up revealing an interesting story, and one, I daresay would have been utterly lost to history had Br'er not stumbled over it and pulled all the parts together.

It all started when Ancestry (an online genealogy research service for anyone who has been living in a cave or the deep Amazon basin for the past 10 years or so). One of the 'features' of the service is what they call "Hints." Essentially what happens is that certain algorithms and searches are automatically executed by the site for each person you have in your family tree. Potential records - census, tax, birth/death/marriage, and other resources - that may match the person are presented for you to review. These may or may not actually match your entry, so you need to evaluate each one carefully. Part of the background algorithms factor in what other people have selected and applied to what may be the same person in their tree. All too often, those trees are horribly wrong.

For women particularly, these hints can present a challenge. A significant number come up with her married name when you may not have a marriage and spouse in her tree. For example, you have Mary Smith in your tree, and hints start coming in for Jane Jones. Sometimes you can quickly determine that the hint is just plain wrong. Other times, though, you have to really dig in to figure out if the hint is or is not correct for your person. In this example, you find a marriage license with Mary Jane Smith, daughter of Sam and Lisa Smith (the parents of your Mary Smith), marrying John Jones and appearing in later census records as Jane Jones. Bingo! The hint was correct.

So much for the necessary background.

I was working down a branch because a name fascinated me: James Leonidas Lanham. Who names a child Leonidas? Granted, he was born in 1850 when 'classic' names were still popular, even among those of more modest backgrounds. Nevertheless, I was hoping there might be a family story about the name either for him or, if the name was handed down, for a descendant. Short version - neither happened.

But looking at one of his sons, I saw several hints for wives with the same first but different last names. Thinking 'that can't be right,' I start delving deeper. He first appears with a wife on the 1920 census along with a daughter and step-daughter.

Well! That explains that! His wife was either a widow or divorced. Both options are intriguing, considering her age and the period. She was only 31 in 1920, already married twice, and having two children. If widowed, there has to be a story there (if I can find it). If divorced, then there has to be a story there (if I can find it). That her daughter by the first husband is in the household with her second husband speaks to both of them being upstanding people.

Continuing my digging, I slowly start piecing the puzzle together. Very slowly.

The woman was born Carrie Elizabeth Helmick in 1888. As anyone who has done family research learns the hard way, the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire. So she doesn't show up until the 1900 census in her parent's home, age 12.

Carrie appears in the 1910 census, still in her parent's household. But now she is a widow! And with a one-year-old daughter to boot! That is a lot of changes in a decade.

While that answers the question of whether she was widowed or divorced, it raises the question of who was her husband? What happened to him?

More digging means more questions.

Right off the bat, his name is problematic. Steel. Steel? Seriously? But wait! It gets better!

I find where they married in 1907. He gave his name as Steel McDonald. Ok. That seems to be a fact. 

Next, I find an obituary index where he, Carrie, and their daughter, Ethel, are all noted. This is obviously for Ethel as it gives what I later confirmed to be her married name. His name? Steel Rail McDonald. 

You have to be kidding me. Steel Rail? Just damn. Still, things get better!

The only census record he appears on is the 1900 census, where he is listed as Steel B McDonald, 15 years old. Unfortunately, he died before the 1910 census was enumerated in the area they lived.

Now I am left to wonder how accurate his name on his daughter's obit index is. He died in 1910 when she was a year old, so she could not possibly remember him. She died in 2004. 94 years is a long time. I can easily accept that memories 'shift' over that many years.

I find his Find A Grave entry for Steel, complete with a photo. The name on the stone? Steel B McDonald. Guess that settles the question of whether his middle name is "Rail" or not, eh? He is not linked to either Carrie or Ethel in FindAGrave. Add that to the To-Do list if all this pans out, and I confirm the relationships.

More digging uncovers a photo. I would say a photo of young Steel, but considering that he died about age 25, that would be utterly redundant.

Brake. The person who shared the photo gives his name as Steel Brake McDonald. Brake does match the B initial. So, Brake it is. I looked for his death certificate in West Virginia records by searching for the first name Steel. Four results. None of them this Steel. Who would have expected that many men named Steel? 

Meet Steel Brake McDonald.

If I were to be a betting man, I would say that the photo was taken when Steel and Carrie married in 1907. Kinda looks like Alfafa from The Little Rascals to me.

In the end, I was able to link him to Carrie's and Ethel's Find A Grave memorials, and I reunite the family, so to speak, by linking all the memorials. I even get Steel's name updated to Brake.

Try as I might, I cannot find what happened to Steel. Someone shared a photo of a lumber mill, stating that it is where Steel worked there and dating it 1909. Given the snow on the ground, if the date is correct, then the photo had to be taken mere months before he died. All I can posit is that he likely fell victim to either an accident at the mill or illness. Though I can imagine any number of much more lurid possibilities.

From there, I moved on to Carrie. Where Steel left a minimal paper trail (Minimal? Damned near non-existent!), Carrie left a much more extensive record, two daughters, and a son from her second husband, my kin, Dennis Lanhan, including more photos.

Carrie, probably in the late 1910s to mid-1920s

Carrie, later in life

Cousin Dennis Lanham, Ethel McDonald (Steel and Carrie's daughter), and Carrie. I suspect that the Model-T is a prop in a photographer's studio because the background is obviously a screen. Look at it as it is pulled back in the lower right corner.

I did continue researching the branch down into the children Carrie bore by Dennis. But to be frank, that became even more sad and bizarre. One daughter, clearly hopeful, purchased a headstone intended for a married couple and left space for a husband, yet she died a spinster. The other daughter ended up marrying twice herself. And her second spouse already had married twice, making her his third wife.

Makes me wonder if bad luck (or bad choices) runs in Carrie's line. And it tells me that I should stop there, declare victory for the moment, and revisit this branch another time.