#52Ancestors, Week 24: Last One Standing

This blog started out with the intent of memorializing relatives who seemed to have been lost to time.  And, as this week's #52Ancestors prompt/theme suggests, Cuzzin Heather and I are (evidently) the last ones standing as those interested in researching them.  Whether it's because they died young, died without children, were on the run from the law, were family outcasts - the list could go on - no one else is researching their fates.  Here are a few of them who have already been discussed in this blog:

Blog namesake, Horace Irwin Pearson:  Even though he was my grandfather's uncle, literally no one knew about Horace until I unearthed him during my genealogical wanderings.  A double amputee as a result of a railroad accident, Horace was little more than a mendicant at the time of his unfortunate demise. His sad ending (both his death and his burial) was what initially motivated us to start a grouping of posts called, "Nobody Knows About ---."

Horace's kid sister, Nettie M. Pearson:  Again, no one remaining on my grandfather's side of the family has heard of her.  Certainly, no one knows what became of her; in some ways, this is even more upsetting than knowing what happened to Horace. At least we know where he is buried! Nettie’s myriad marriages produced a single child, and he is also a member of the "Nobody Knows About" Club.

On my ggg grandfather's side, there was an accomplished woman by the name of Jennie Grace Terpinitz.  A 1921 graduate of the University of Illinois, she was a talented musician and enlisted during World War II. She was a trailblazing female who married 3 times, but she does not seem to have left any children, and I cannot figure out where/when she died.  It doesn't appear anyone else cares to know.

The aforementioned Nettie's son, Pierson McClure/Joseph Miller: This is Nettie's son from her first marriage, but he appears to have been adopted by a later husband (though not the last).  I managed to track him through the name change, but he disappears from all documents in the 1940s.  Since nobody knows about Nettie, it stands to reason that nobody knows about Pierson/Joseph either.

Cuzzin Heather’s List

Horace's cousin, my 2nd great-grandmother Florence Chamberlain: While I have a photo of her from my grandmother and a rich family connection to my grandmother's family (her many siblings and lots of cousins for my mom and my generations), Florence is something of an enigmatic figure. She may have been an orphan - no one knows.  Her 3rd son (and possibly other children) were not her husband's children, and of the 15 or so known grandchildren, only 2 were available for interview or remembered/knew anything about her, and even that produced negligible information.

Florence's ne’er-do-well eldest son, Uncle Herbert Chamberlain. Gramps remembered him, his 7-years older brother who disappeared at 20. Another member of the "Nobody-Knows-About" club, he nevertheless left nieces, great-nieces and nephews and one very stubborn great-great-niece and her cousin who have tried, and so far-failed, to determine his fate.

Fern Evelyn McClain Grimmett Anderson Christianson:  Aunt Fern was not alone or hiding. However she seems to have led a somewhat independent for the times kind of life, blazed a trail first to Chicago and then to California for herself and her children, thrice divorced (or possibly widowed once or twice). Despite her two children and a small number of grandchildren and step-grandchildren, I've been unable to unearth even a single identifiable photo or reminiscence. A few photos of my great-grandmother and her sisters/niece survive, all unlabeled.  

These are just a few of our more notable “lost to time” relatives. There are many more - inside and outside of our shared lines. We will continue searching and recording what we can.

Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them. —George Eliot