This upcoming weekend will be quite exciting for Mr. S’s family – and I get to be a witness!
Back around 1926, his grandfather E vanished, shortly before his grandmother O died. They had four children – Mr. S’s dad W (age 10), an older sister, and 2 younger brothers, including 2-month-old brother E, named for his father. These kids were split up when their mother died. W and another brother were sent to live with a distant relative and basically be hired farmhands. Little E got his name changed from E.L.F. (his father’s name) to L.W. (his middle name and his mother’s maiden name) and was raised by his grandmother and aunt. The oldest daughter, E, went off on her own. Thes sibs did not see each other again until well into adulthood.
Why were they split up, and what happened to E? No one would talk about it. We think that Grandma O’s family disliked E and somehow drove him away, then split up the kids after O died and changed E/L’s name to hide him from his father. But no one alive now knows for sure; those who would know would not talk about it and now they’re all dead. Uncle E/L is the only sib still alive, and he’s 75. All we knew about Grandpa E was a few wedding photos.
So “What happened to E” was the family mystery since 1926 – until this past June. Apparently, on the F family genealogy page, one of Mr. S’s cousins found someone who was also looking for info on Grandpa E. The other person’s name was the same as another cousin, so our relative asked, are you so-and-so’s daughter? She replied, no I’m not. But we have the same grandfather. Perhaps we should share more info.
Turns out that Grandpa E moved to Canada shortly after he disappeared here, married, and had four more children before he died in 1964. (His wife died in 2000.) The youngest son from that marriage, O, is still alive, age 70. He knew that his father had been married before, but thought that there had been no children. And since the grandchildren in his family are all girls, he thought he was the last of the F’s. But in June, just after his 50th wedding anniversary, he found out he had a half brother – E/L! Those of us with Internet access quickly exchanged contact information and scans of family pictures. And O and E/L had a rather emotional (but happy!) phone call.
We’ve talked with O’s family and exchanged more pics since then. It’s neat to see Grandpa E as an old man, happy with his second family. The resemblance is clear. It’s him, all right.
So this week, Mr. S and I, with his sister D, are going to drive from central WI to northern MN to pick up Uncle E/L and drive him up to the town in Ontario where his father lived for many years and is now buried. As I type this, O and his wife are driving from their home near Vancouver to meet us in Ontario in that town, where one of O’s daughters still lives. Then everyone will return to MN for a family UNION with the rest of the folks on our side.
Mr. S has lots of questions for Uncle O. He’s the only person left who knows what Grandpa E was really like. Did he drink? Smoke? What kind of music did he like? Wsa he a snappy dresser? Was he religious? What were his hobbies? Favorite foods? Did he tell jokes? What kind of person was this guy? It was quite an adjustment for Mr. S; for years he knew nothing about this man – it was a big Jimmy Hoffa-style mystery – and then one Saturday morning he checked his e-mail and suddenly knew everything: where he’d lived, who were his family, what he’d looked like as an older man, and where he was buried. (The day before, Mr. S had finally gotten a job after several months of unemployment. We thought that would be the big news of week – guess not!)
For health reasons, this will be O’s last trip back east to see his father’s grave and his new brother. We’re hoping to travel out to BC next year to visit him and his other daughters there. It’s a shame – the one who pulled this all together can’t come next weekend! So we definitely have to go and see her. She sounds like a lot of fun.
Anyway, that’s the exciting thing I’ll be doing next weekend. Everyone we’ve told the story to thought it was pretty amazing. I thought some Dopers might enjoy it as well!