Colleen’s Ancestors – Page 7 – Colleen & Jeff's Roots

#52Ancestors: King’s Soldier and Alta California Ranchero Manuel Nieto

Drawing of a soldado de cuero. Cavalry Uniform Design Drawn by Ramón Murillo, August 26, 1804. Public domain image via Wikimedia. Drawing details via the New Mexico History Museum. — Drawing of a soldado de cuero. Cavalry uniform design drawn by Ramón Murillo, August 26, 1804. Public domain image via Wikimedia. Drawing details via the New Mexico History Museum.

My 2nd entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge for 2015.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

Amy’s 2015 version of this challenge focuses on a different theme each week.

The theme for week 2 is King — January 8 is Elvis’ birthday. January 15 is the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Do either of these “Kings” remind you of an ancestor? Or, taken another way, do you have a connection to royalty? Did you ancestor flee from an oppressive king?

My 2nd ancestor is someone whom I am not sure is even related to my family at all — Jose Manuel Nieto (1734-1804). Nieto was part of the Gaspar de Portolà expedition of 1769 into Alta California, which was the first recorded Spanish land entry into and exploration of present day California. In 1784, Nieto was awarded one of the largest Spanish land grants in Alta California — what would become Rancho Los Nietos, located in present day Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Rancho Los Nietos Map, National Park Service — Nieto land grant. Courtesy of the National Park Service. Click image to view a larger copy.

The king reference? Nieto was a soldier (soldado de cuera, “leather jacket soldier”) in the Royal Army of Spain. His efforts in the 1769 expedition helped expand the Spanish Empire. And his name is revered almost like royalty among Southern Californians who descend from these Spanish/Mexican founding Alta California families.

Nieto Family Claims

My father is a Nieto, through his paternal grandmother Maria Nieto (1887-1974). My entire life, I have heard his family claim that we are descended from THE Manuel Nieto, this Manuel Nieto. There is still a huge population of Nietos — including many of our cousins — living in Southern California. The obituary for my 2nd great grandmother — Maria Aurelia Compean (1858-1963), the mother of Maria Nieto — makes claim to this heritage through marriage to my 2nd great grandfather Rafael Nieto. There is a big Nieto reunion in Long Beach, California every year (I have not yet attended), where I am told everyone there claims this same heritage. Any time I talk about family history with my grand aunt (married to Maria Nieto’s last living child), she is adamant that we are descended from Manuel Nieto, and she always seems a bit annoyed (rare for her, she has the sweetest more cheerful disposition) that I don’t just accept this “fact”. I have to gently explain that as a historian and librarian, while this connection may be true, I cannot accept things as historical facts until I can verify through actual documented evidence. We repeat this conversation every year at our family’s big annual Christmas tamale party.

So, after this past December’s conversation with my grand aunt, I decided that I am going to try to prove or disprove our connection to the famous Manuel Nieto — to once and for all verify if we are directly descended from or related to, via a common ancestor, Manuel Nieto.

Robledo-Nieto Christmas 2014 — Christmas 2014 wine tasting with my grand aunt and grand uncle. Left to right: My sister-in-law and brother, my grand uncle and aunt, me and my husband, my parents. The Nietos are my grand uncle, my dad, me, and my brother.

Proving Famous Lineage

If you are a regular reader of Colleen & Jeff’s Roots, you will recall that I did this last year with my husband’s family’s “cousin claim” to Revolutionary War hero Major General Nathanael Greene — I was able to verify through documented evidence that my husband is a 3rd cousins7x removed of the hero. The Nathanael Greene project was a laborious one, but was fairly quick and easy due to how heavily documented Nathanael’s own family history is in various print and online publications. This saved me from having to research and create Nathanael’s family lines myself. I “only” had to continue my existing work of researching and building my husband’s Greene genealogy, then find concrete matching connections with Nathanael’s genealogy. Once I found those key matches, I was able to easily trace back to a shared common ancestor.

I am starting from scratch with Manuel Nieto. I have not yet found a published documented family history for this famous Nieto, only references to the names of his wife, their children, and the spouses of those children. So in all of my “spare time” I now have to build Manuel Nieto’s family tree as a starting point for my investigation into a shared connection with my Nieto family. I have created a new Manuel Nieto tree in my main Family Tree Maker and on Ancestry, on to which I am adding his relations as I discover them. When and if I do find a shared ancestor, I can them merge that Manuel Nieto tree into my own main family tree.

To make matters more complicated on this new Manuel Nieto Project, much of the records and publications are in Spanish, whereas the Nathanael Greene Project files were all in English. I don’t speak, read, or write Spanish — my 2 years of high school and 2 years of college Spanish were so long ago that I can now only ask where the bathroom is located or order a drink at a bar in Mexico. This is where my Spanish-fluent father, who is now retired and has the time to help, will need to be of big time assistance to me.

My hope is to complete the Manuel Nieto Project while my sweet wonderful grand aunt is still alive. And I do hope that my investigations uncover confirmation that my aunt and the family are correct…that we are indeed descended from our related to Manuel Nieto. Because they have believed and been proud of this “fact” for generations. If my investigations prove otherwise, I think it will make me a bit less popular at Nieto family gatherings.

The Manuel Nieto Project

I plan to write about my efforts and discoveries on this blog, under the title “Manuel Nieto Project”. Who knows, maybe I’ll even get a journal article out of this work.

If you are a Nieto who has proven this documented connection to your own family, are a historian who is aware of an already published documented family history for Manuel Nieto, know of any leads for me to trace Manuel Nieto’s family history, or are just an expert in Spanish/Mexican records from the Alta California period, please let me know. I welcome any and all help!

#52Ancestors: A Fresh Start for Immigrant Great Grandfather Jose Robledo (1875-1937)

My 1st entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge for 2015.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

Amy’s 2015 version of this challenge focuses on a different theme each week.

The theme for week 1 is: Fresh start — Seems appropriate for the beginning of the year. What ancestor had a fresh start? What ancestor has been so confusing to research that you’d like to have a fresh start?

My 1st ancestor is my great grandfather Jose “Joe” Robledo (1875-1937). Great Grandpa Joe was the 8th ancestor I profiled in last year’s challenge.

I discussed in that post how he was my biggest brickwall at that point in February 2014. That remains true today. It is incredibly frustrating that I have made no further real progress on his history.

I also mentioned in that post that I had recently ordered a DNA kit to test my dad in hopes of identifying some cousin relationships that might provide clues about my great grandfather. It’s even more frustrating that the DNA relations Ancestry has identified for me have no as-yet identified connection to the Robledo surname — just to the Nieto and Compean side (Joe’s wife’s ancestry). I suspect that I won’t make progress on Joe unless I go down to the small town of Armadillo de los Infante in which the family lived in the state of San Luis Potosi, Mexico…which I am hoping to do with Dad this year.

So, what’s with the fresh start?

A New Country

Jose Robledo, his wife Maria Nieto (1887-1974), and Maria’s extended family immigrated to the United States with nothing, after losing everything — including the family hacienda — during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920). According to Jose and Maria’s children, the family had been well to do in Mexico. I have no idea if the family were supporters of President (and dictator) Porfirio Diaz, or if they were simply guilty of being members of the landed class. But, the family was forced to escape Mexico and start over.

Wife Maria in 1915 crossed over the Laredo footbridge on 27 October 1915 with their infant son Refugio Rafael “Ray” Robledo (1915-?). Husband Joe is not listed as traveling with Maria, and I still have not been able to find a border crossing record for him.

Home in California

According to Joe’s WWI draft registration card, by 1 September 1918, Joe and his young family were living in Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California at 123 E. 4th St. (rear house) where Joe worked as a laborer for the San Pedro Habor Department. They were still here at the time of the 1920 U.S. Census, living with five families all in the same rear house (all seemingly related), with great grandfather Joe employed as a laborer doing day work. At time time of the 1930 U.S. Census, the growing family lived on their own in Los Angeles city, but did not own the home, and Joe — previously a laborer in a pottery factory — was unemployed. City directories list Joe and Maria living in Glendale, Los Angeles County from 1931 until 1936, with Joe still identified as a laborer. Joe died on 4 July 1937.

Dad, born after his grandfather died, says that his father (Joe’s son) told him stories about traveling with Joe as a child working as migrant laborers.

Fresh Start Legacy

Although Joe died — according to family — never recovering from losing everything and having to juggle poor sporadic menial work, he did indeed provide his family with a successful fresh start. Joe just didn’t live long enough to witness most of these successes. His wife and oldest daughter became U.S. citizens. His wife and most of his children would go on to own their own homes. At least three of his sons served in the U.S. armed forces and fought for his new country during wartime. My dad (Joe’s grandson) became the first in the family to graduate college, and most of Joe’s great grandchildren are college graduates. Among Joe’s great grandchildren are educators, a nun and pastor, a nurse, and business professionals. Many of his grandchildren, great grandchildren, and now great great grandchildren remain a tight close loving family.

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My Most Valuable Christmas Ornament

While decorating our Christmas tree earlier this month, I came across a box ornaments from when I was a child. This box had been at my parents’ house for decades, but Dad dug it out and gave it to us last year. I wasn’t quite sure which of my childhood ornaments were in that box (we had a lot). But I was hoping one special ornament was still there. And it was…my most valuable Christmas ornament.

This cheap little plastic Snoopy ornament was given to me by my great grandmother Maria “Nana” Nieto (1887-1974) when I was a toddler. I can remember this ornament as far back as I can remember Christmas. Every year, it was the first ornament I hung on our family tree. Nana died when I was only 4 years old, so I don’t have many memories of her, but I always remember this ornament.

Nana raised my father. She immigrated from a small mining town in San Luis Potosi, Mexico in 1915, with her husband and two small children, fleeing the persecution of the Mexican Revolution and hoping for a new life and freedom in the United States. She had 6 more children born here, was widowed when the youngest was only about 7 years old, and then raised 4 grandchildren.

Nana never had material riches to share with her children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren. There was no money for fancy Christmas gifts (Dad talks about using an Oatmeal box as a football, because they had no money for toys). But she had an unlimited amount of love, which she showered on all of us. She taught the importance of family, of doing right, and of tradition. Every time I talk about Nana with my Dad, his cousins, and Nana’s one living child and his wife, their faces light up from love and joyful memories.

I asked my mom more about this ornament just before Christmas. She said it came in one of those red plastic net Christmas stockings that the Knights of Columbus handed out to families. Nana had found the ornament inside the stocking and wanted her toddler great granddaughter to have it. So, although this is just a cheap plastic ornament that is losing most of its black accent paint, Snoopy is my most valuable Christmas ornament. It is one of those treasures I grab if the house ever catches on fire.

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#52Ancestors: Great Grandfather Patrick Thomas Flanagan Dies of TB Two Days Before Christmas 1928

Flanagan Brothers GRCOH Family Sheet — Family card from the German Roman Catholic Orphan Home in Buffalo, noting Patrick’s date of death. Click for a larger view. Family files, provided by Catholic Charities of Buffalo, New York.

My 51st entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

My 51st ancestor is my great grandfather Patrick Thomas Flanagan (abt. 1897-1928). I have written about Patrick in the past, but not as part of the 52 Ancestors project. I have selected him for this week because he remains one of my major research brickwalls. Also because of timing.

Patrick allegedly died from tuberculosis just two days before Christmas 1928. Leaving behind wife Sarah Kennedy (1898-1930) who would die one and a half years later of the same disease, as well as three stepchildren (ages 18, 12, and 11), two older children from a previous marriage, and three younger children from wife Sarah (ages 8, 3, and 1-1/2). My grandfather Michael John Flanagan (1927-1997) was the baby, who at just 1-1/2 years old never got to know his father.

The family was extremely poor, so I cannot imagine that there was ever much in the way of gifts or fancy meals at Christmas time in the Flanagan household. But it breaks my heart to know that these children lost their father/stepfather and Sarah lost her husband right before Christmas. After watching him grow increasingly ill from TB. Sarah kept home, so she (and Patrick knowing the seriousness of his illness) had to be frantically worried about how she would provide financially for her children after Patrick’s death. Sarah died in June 1930 from the same illness, so it is very likely she contracted it from her husband, probably while caring for him.

Sarah’s fears were justified. By 1930, possibly even as early as 1929, the minor age children had to be committed to an orphanage because Sarah was too ill to care for them. The children would lead hard unhappy lives in foster care, getting split up and losing touch with each other. Patrick had an older brother and a sister who lived nearby in Buffalo. The parents of both Patrick and Sarah still lived back in their hometown in Ohio. But none of these families were well off and had lots of other mouths to house, clothe, and feed. So Patrick and Sarah’s children grew up alone, without family. This Christmas of 1928 was the last Christmas the family would ever spend together.

My grandfather lived the the rest of his life trying to heal this hurt by growing a big family of his own and showering his children and grandchildren with affection and love. He made us each feel like the most wanted loved child on earth. It breaks my heart to know that he never experienced anything close to this feeling himself.

I say that Patrick Thomas allegedly died in 1928 of tuberculosis. This is because I have no real proof of his date or cause of death. I have been unsuccessful in obtaining a death certificate from Erie County or the city of Buffalo, or in finding one at the Family History Library. There is no obituary. And I cannot even locate his burial site. Patrick does not appear to be buried with his wife Sarah or with his older brother Michael, both buried in Buffalo. The only record I have of Patrick’s death is from the orphan records I obtained for the children from the German Roman Catholic Orphan Home in Buffalo. The orphan records note that Patrick died on 23 December 1928 from tuberculosis.

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#52 Ancestors: Uncle Joe Deaguero, ALS Took Him Way Too Young

My 49th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

Joe Deaguero - High School Yearbook — Pioneer High, 1965. Courtesy of Ancestry.com.

My 49th ancestor is my Uncle Joe Deaguero (1947-1983 ).

ALS and Death

Uncle Joe died of ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, when I was in eighth grade. I hadn’t thought of him in years, but the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge had Uncle Joe on my mind quite a bit this year, and got my cousins and I talking about him on Facebook. His was the first close family death of my life. I still vividly remember the day he died. I had stayed late at school to make signs for our upcoming junior high dance, and knew something was wrong as soon as I saw my Mom, who broke the news to me.

Uncle Joe was only 36 years old when this horrible disease took his life and finally spared him from suffering any further debilitating effects. I cannot remember how many years he lived after his diagnosis, but I remember that the diagnosis shocked our entire family, and devastated his wife, my Mom’s middle sister (I’m not identifying her by name since she is still living).

It hit us cousins hard to watch our robust playful uncle wither away and lose his ability to speak, as well as all other motor skills. At first, it was a cane, then a wheelchair, then he was bedridden at the very end. But, he participated in family life as actively as he could for as long as he could. Mom, my aunts, grandma, and I took Uncle Joe everywhere with us in his wheelchair. I remember us popping wheelies and making him laugh, and me often jumping on the back of the wheelchair for a ride while pushing him around. I also remember his tears of frustration when trying to speak, when his mouth and vocal chords no longer obeyed his brain. Or when he couldn’t get his hands and arms to move. I remember my tiny aunt being able to lift him in her arms towards the end, because he had lost so much weight and muscle.

Life with Uncle Joe

Fortunately, though, most of what I remember about Uncle Joe are happy funny memories.

He and my aunt were married less than a decade, and although we did not attend their wedding (they eloped in Vegas), I do remember when they got married. Because I wasn’t too happy about it at first. He was taking my fun playmate auntie away…she was a big kid herself who loved to play with her nieces and nephews.

But, Uncle Joe soon grew on me. He was a big kid himself too when it came to his new nieces and nephews. I loved spending the night at their beautiful refurbished old home filled with antiques (including an old fashioned toilet with the pull-down chain handle to flush it). They had old pin ball machines and a juke box that I never tired of playing with. Uncle Joe’s passion was restoring antique cars, and I loved to drive around with him in those — especially riding in the rumble seat of his Ford Model A. The three of us went camping in his restored Willys-Knight. Uncle Joe was an avid woodworker, who made us cousins the coolest toys, including an awesome fort for the bedroom of some of my boy cousins. And every trip to the movies with my aunt and uncle resulted in tons of over-priced junk food that Mom never let me have.

My aunt and uncle never had children of their own, but they showered us nieces and nephews with love and attention.

Family History Discoveries

While on Ancestry.com last week, I got a shaky leaf record hint for Uncle Joe, which is what inspired me to write about him. These hints led to some fun discoveries about my uncle.

First, a high school yearbook photo of him while a student at Pioneer High in Whittier (Los Angeles County), California. Since he and the other students on that page are in robes, I assume this is his senior year. Even if the photo had not been identified by name, I could have picked him out immediately, I remember that same smile.

But, what surprised me was to learn that Uncle Joe served in the military. I never knew that. I found a U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File entry that indicates he served in the Air Force from 8 April 1966 (most likely, right out of high school) until 4 April 1970.

The following photo is one of the photos I have with my Uncle Joe.

Flanagan Family Wedding 1970s — My Uncle Flanagan’s wedding in the 1970s. Uncle Joe is in the back row, far left, next to his wife (in the hat). I am in the pink dress in the front row.

#52Ancestors: My Great Grandmother Agnes Viola Elizabeth Maud Mara Died 43 Years Ago Today

My 48th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

My 48th ancestor is my great grandmother Agnes Viola Elizabeth Maud Mara (1893-1971), who went by the name Viola. I have mentioned Viola in posts about her father, mother, brother, and mystery half-brother, but I have never actually profiled my great grandmother. Since today marks the 43rd anniversary of her death, I thought it appropriate to introduce Great Grandmother Viola.

Viola Mara — My mom has had this photo on display in her home.

I am named after my great grandmother; my parents gave me Viola’s middle name Elizabeth as my own middle name. Thankfully, Mom did not name me after any of her grandmother’s other names — Viola, Agnes, or Maud. Viola Elizabeth is the only name by which Mom knew her grandmother. She was surprised when I uncovered that long list of legal names when I found Viola’s birth certificate a number of years ago.

Birth & Childhood

Viola was born 21 February 1893 in Guelph, Wellington County, Ontario, Canada. Her parents were Thomas Mara (b. 1858) and Anna Sophia Allen (b. 1871). She and her younger brother William James Mara (1894-1952) immigrated with their mother to the United States (Michigan) sometime around 1898. I have not yet found a border crossing record or a naturalization record for Viola, her mother, or her brother. I do not think her father Thomas came with the family.

From what I can tell about her mother’s shady past, Viola and William must have had a difficult upbringing and unstable home. I have not found the family on the 1900 or 1910 U.S. Census; it is like their mother Anna Sophia was living off the radar. Viola does not surface until the 1920 U.S. Census, when she was 27, married, and a mother.

Viola Mara's birth certificate — Viola’s birth certificate, courtesy of Ancestry.com.

Marriage & Children

Viola married my great grandfather James Bruce Hayes (1888-1970) on 02 January 1912 in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. She was 18, he was 23. Viola and Bruce had nine children together, eight of whom reached adulthood. My grandmother Elsie Charlotte Hayes (1926-1992) was the seventh child. Bruce and Viola spent their marriage living in Royal Oak and Southfield, Michigan (both in Oakland County).

After Bruce divorced Viola, she moved out to Santa Fe Springs (Los Angeles County), California to live with her oldest son Bill and care for his children, and to be near my grandmother and Grandma’s older sister Cassie. I am told that I met Viola as a baby (I was not quite 2 years old when she died), but I do not have any memory of her or any photos with her.

Viola Mara, late in life — Viola, much later in life.

Death & Burial

My great grandmother Viola died on 06 December 1971, in Los Angeles County, California. It may have been in Santa Fe Springs, where she lived with her oldest son Bill (near my grandmother Elsie), but none of the records I have specify more than the county.

She is buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier (Los Angeles County), California.

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#52Ancestors: 2nd Great Grandmother Annie Sophia Allen Charged with Fraud and Deception in Divorce

My 47th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

I am almost caught up after being quite ill for much of this year.

Annie Sophia Allen birht register — Birth register from Ancestry.com.

My 47th ancestor is my 2nd great grandmother Anna “Annie” Sophia Allen (b. 1871).

My mother knew Annie when Mom was a very young girl in Michigan, and she and her siblings refer to their great grandmother as “Mamie Grandma”. She was the mother of my great grandmother, Agnes Viola Elizabeth Maud Mara (1893-1971) and my great grand uncle William James Mara (1894-1951). Annie also gave birth to an older son out-of-wedlock, Herbert Gerald Allen (b. 1889), who does not appear to have been raised by Annie.

Birth

Annie was born 17 September 1871 in Rockwood, Wellington County, Ontario, Canada. Her parents were William Barnabas Allen (1845-1916), a blacksmith from Rockwood, and his wife Lucy Jane Allen (1846-1931). The birth was registered 5 October 1871, in Eramosa District, by the doctor.

I have identified six siblings for Annie; I think she was the second oldest.

First Marriage & Divorce

In my last post, I wrote about Annie’s marriage to and divorce from my 2nd great grandfather Thomas Mara (b. 1858), as well as a possible explanation (extreme cruelty) for why she immigrated to Michigan with their two young children Viola and William (without husband Thomas) around 1900.

Second Marriage & Divorce

I also mentioned that Annie remarried on 03 December 1902 to a John Carr, the day before her divorce to Mara was issued (if it was even ever finalized).

Annie and John Carr divorced almost exactly 11 years later, on 08 December 1913 in Wayne (Wayne County), Michigan. They do not appear to have had any children together. Seeing the claim of extreme cruelty as the reason for her divorce from Thomas Mara made me curious about the reason for divorce from John Carr. It turns out that Annie is not the one who filed for divorce. Carr filed for divorce from Annie, on the grounds of “fraud and deception”!, which went uncontested by Annie! Unlike the ambiguous register entry for Annie’s divorce from Thomas Mara, this one clearly indicates that Carr’s divorce from Annie was granted.

Divorce register entry for Allen and Carr. Courtesy of Ancestry.com

Fraud and deception??? Remember… I have not yet found any proof that a divorce from Thomas Mara was ever finalized. The only record I found for that first divorce showed the divorce stats as “pending”.

I decided to take a closer look at the marriage entry again for Annie and John Carr. The register entry shows one previous marriage noted by Annie (I had assumed that was to Thomas Mara). Interestingly, her father’s name is noted, but her mother’s name is recorded as “unknown”. But even more interesting are the surnames given by Annie. She identified herself as “Annie S. Allen” (her maiden name), but also as “Annie S. James”. James??? What is this James surname? Mara was her first married name.

Did she marry someone with the last name of James in between Mara and Carr? Which would be really odd since she (I think) divorced Mara one day after marrying Carr. And even if another intermediary marriage did take place, that would make two previous marriages instead of just the one she noted on the record.

Was Annie lying about her first married name, claiming it was James instead of Mara? Perhaps knowing that she was not legally divorced yet from Mara, so she didn’t want anything linking her to last name Mara at this time? Although, I assume her kids went by Mara.

Allen Annie Sophia - Carr John - Marriage - Web - FamilySearch — Marriage register entry for Annie and Carr. Courtesy of FamilySearch.org.

Whatever the reason is behind this claim by Annie of James as her first married name, it definitely looks like she was trying to deceive her new husband John Carr and/or legal authorities. This has suddenly turned into a priority family line for me to research further! My hope is that Annie was not intentionally deceiving new husband John Carr or the authorities…that her cause for filing for divorce from John Mara (extreme cruelty) had Annie scared and trying to hide from Mara…a battered woman on the run, hiding her real identity.

Shady Lady

Mom has often told me that Mamie Grandma had a lot of gentlemen callers and friends (I think her own mom told her that). We were never quite sure what exactly to make of that remark. But Mom and I would joke about it, commenting that perhaps her Mamie Grandma was a prostitute or madame. When I started digging up the family history and pestering my grandmother’s one remaining living sibling with questions, Mom told me not to bring this up with my great aunt…it might be a sensitive subject with that generation.

And this was before we knew about the child she gave birth to at seventeen.

Accidents and tough times have and will always happen to women. Annie may have been desperately in love with illegitimate son Herbert’s father, then left abandoned and heartbroken when he found out she was pregnant. She may have suffered abuse from my 2nd great grandfather Thomas Mara . Both incidents may have left her vulnerable, emotionally scarred, and desperate. Or my 2nd great grandmother might simply have been lacking in any moral character….a floozy and a fraud. I am not judging her. I just think these findings are amusing and make for great storytelling.

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