The Diary of Queen Mothy |
David Francis vs. David Francis written @ 2:29 PM on January 04, 2003 I just had a fucking epiphany in my genealogy, and now I'm sure, more than ever, that when I die, I'm going to strangle my great-grandfather. My readers will remember David Francis Reno, and how my innocent heart dreams how one day I will find his death/birth certificates and confirmation of his parents. Well, I was on the PA Department of Vital Records site, downloading the newest death certificate request form, and I filled out all the necessary information and requested the ten-year search. Then I hopped back over to Ancestry.com and searched both the 1920 and 1930 Census databases for other David Renos living in PA, just to see what the chances were that the people in the Vital Records office would screw up and send me the wrong David Reno's certificate. It was in the 1930 Census that I noticed a glaring error in my research. There, in the 1930 Index, was a David F Reno. It seemed for a split second that all the world stood still and would either resume turning as it had or decide to do somersaults. It did somersaults. I had always been told, by many relatives mind you, that my grandfather's father had died when he was a little boy. That made me conclude that he died somewhere between 1920 and 1930, so this is where I've been searching for death certificates. THIS David Reno, age 37 (1920 Reno was aged 26), was a switchman on the railroad (as was 1920 Reno), was married at the age of 23 (as was the 1920 Reno), was now *divorced* (can't find 1920 Reno next to Maragret Hefner anymore)-- and living with the Troxel family (as opposed to the McCabes). Now someone tell me what the fuck happened here! I am praying against all odds that this 1930 David F Reno is not my great-grandfather, but suddenly a bit of the picture becomes clear! The relatives either told my grandfather that his father had died out of shame from a divorce in the family, or he had contrived this notion himself in an effort to understand why he was being passed around to various relatives in his childhood. And what can be deduced of my great-grandfather's character? Was he a bad kid and was ultimately cast out of his parents' house, and begged door-to-door until the McCabes took him in? Was his marriage with Margaret (who was married three or four times in her life) not smooth, and did she leave him, take my grandfather with her, and move in with her family? Did he continue to beg and inlist the help of people he worked with at the railroad and the steel mill until the Troxels took him in? Good God-- what in the hell happened?! Suffice to say, I'm currently holding off from sending in any death certificate request form to PA. I've got some thinking to do.
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