INTERVIEW NOTES FROM GRANDMA GARNER

After writing the last post, I dug out my interview notes from Grandma (Reba GARNER) that happened in Oct. 1986.  She rarely discussed her maternal grandparents, and on this day she was telling me about one of her maternal uncles. We grabbed lemonade to drink, and sat down so she could think and I could write.

So these are my actual notes from that discussion:

Children of Andrew Edwin and Mary C. (REESE) FINDLEY in no order --

Martin

Anna Bertha "Bert" who married Frank Y. RESSLER b. 1885 d. 1953

Elmer - a coal dealer

Edward, single, served in WW1, died when he fell down an elevator shaft

David, single, served in WW1, committed suicide

Clayton died of lung trouble

Esther, married name was REINHART and died of hard work

Joseph, farmer

Myrtle, "not right in head", died of old age maybe this year. Had an illegitimate child by one of the Wiggins boys. Married twice after that.

She did not want me to take notes on the story she was telling, so I listened only. I did not write it down later and have since forgotten the story. So much for documenting memories carefully.

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I have worked on Andrew and Mary in bits and pieces, but not very seriously since I had more info on other lines. Plus I wanted to interview as many living people as possible while I had time. This line got pushed to the back of  a long list of others.

I was recently contacted by a gr-gr-grandchild of one of the listed children. The questions and comments prompted me to dig out my notebooks and look for these notes above. On the surface, the notes seem to lack a whole lot of information, but the "facts" allowed me to actually find some basic info for these people really fast in a two hour block of research.

Here is the basics of what I added in a quick search on FAG and Ancestry:

John Martin Findley 1882 - 1956. Married Mary E. MUSSELMAN in 1905. Buried at Millersville Mennonite Cemetery, Lancaster Co., PA

Anna Bertha (Findley) RESSLER 1885 - 1953 More info and a photo. Buried at Willow Street Mennonite Church Cem., Willow Street, PA

Edward Harry Findley 1888 - 1927. Per the death certificate, he did die from a fall down an elevator shaft. His job was listed as an engineer. Found him on two rosters as an Army engineer. Census in 1920 shows him in Philadelphia. Buried at Willow Street Mennonite Church Cem., Willow Street, PA

Jacob Clayton Findley 1889-1962. Married to Chella Blanche Trimble. Buried in Willow Street Mennonite Church Cem., Willow Street, PA

Charles Elmer Findley 1891 - 1968. He died of heart troubles per his death certificate. Married to Stella Paes. Buried at Conestoga Memorial Park, Lancaster, PA

Esther Findley REINHART 1893 - 1969. Married to Harry REINHART. Buried at Willow Street Mennonite Church Cem., Willow Street, PA 

Thomas David Findley 1895 - 1930. Buried with his parents at Willow Street Mennonite Church Cem., Willow Street, PA

Martha Louisa Findley 1897 - 1915. Died of heart and kidney issues per death cert. Buried at Willow Street Mennonite Church Cem, Willow Street, PA

Andrew Joseph Findley 1900 - 1967. Married to Mabel E. LOUMP. Buried at Willow Street Mennonite Church Cem, Willow Street, PA

Myrtle B. Findley 1904 - 1985. Buried at Willow Street Mennonite Church Cem, Willow Street, PA

The 1900 Census shows the family in Providence Township, Lancaster Co., PA:

Andrew - farmer

Mary C - wife

Martin - son

Bertha A - daughter

Harry E. - son

Jacob C. - son

Charles E. - son

Jenny (?) E. - daughter (I suspect this is Esther due to age)

Thomas D. - son

Martha L - daughter

The 1910 Census in Providence Township, Lancaster Co., PA:

Andrew - farmer

Mary C. - wife

Esther - daughter

David - son

Martha - daughter

Joseph - son

Myrtle - daughter

John Reese - brother-in-law

The 1920 Census in Providence Township, Lancaster Co., PA:

Andrew - still farming

Mary C - wife

Joseph - son and farm laborer

Myrtle - daughter

The 1930 Census in Providence Township, Lancaster Co., PA: 

Andrew - farmer

Mary C. - wife

Myrtle - daughter

Donald - grandson

Mary REINHART - granddaughter

At this point, I am thinking that Donald is the son of Myrtle and the Wiggins boy. However, he is listed with Findley as last name. Mary Reinhart would have been the daughter of Esther Reinhart.

I follow the rabbit trail back to FAG and looked up all the Findley names buried in Lancaster County, PA since 1900. Yep, there is a Donald Findley the right age. The memorial says he was the son of Myrtle Findley, no mention of any Wiggins boys - need to hunt up a death cert.

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MY SUGGESTION:

Ask people questions and pay attention. Take good notes based on what was actually said. At a later date, use those notes to do real research. You can see from my original notes that what was there was very basic.  However, I was able to use that to find more info without really digging.

 Not all the people you interview will have sharp memories - take notes anyway. It is your job as the family historian to sift through all the stuff and come up with the real facts.  Realize that some of your beliefs or assumptions will change as more facts come to light.  Unless you are writing a fiction story, all of us should want real facts. Most, if not all families, have skeletons in our family trees. In my opinion they make the story more interesting. 

Do not cringe away from finding out about those criminals, crime victims, illegitimate children, military horror stories, slaves, slave owners, prostitutes, shady businessmen, and imperfect people in your family history. All of them are part of your family history. 

Gather the facts of the "good, bad, and ugly" of your family. Each of them was a living person and deserves the chance to speak of their life. 

All the post content writing and photos is my own unless I state otherwise.