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Archiver > MIKENT > 2006-01 > 1138255476
From:
Subject: Re: The family of Elam J LeFevre and Ellen M Oakes Penn to Grand Rapids 1873 to 1920
Date: 25 Jan 2006 23:04:36 -0700
This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Surnames: lefevre
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/kFB.2ACE/5506.1.1.1.1.1.1
Message Board Post:
I just wish I knew why it is so hard for me- Frank Henry had no apparent claim to this world other than the children he never knew. My grandfather did go to the Michigan Soldiers home sometime in 1930 and met with him. I retrieved those records to find that he never recognized his marriage nor his children. And, my heart just fills with sadness that even on his death he could not send some little message to let us know that he gave claim.
My grandfather changed his name from Franklin Henry to Franklin Milton- I am surprised that he retained his father's name. He ran away from home so constantly, singing in bars for a supper and sleeping in crates in alleys until the state finally stepped in and set down the long arm of the law. He ended up in a Boys home ran by Neil Norris and impressed the man with his gorgeous voice and musical talent.
With his scholarship, he became a teacher and later a principal. He directed choir. He became everything his father was not and drove himself hard to have everything i think he missed out on.
His mother lived as a maid, and drank heavily, never spoke of the man that left her pregnant.
I understand that things were very different and maybe in some ways we find truths that we did not want to hear. But, I look at what they all lived through and think about what drove them forward and I am in awe of it.... and of them.
I just wonder about that family, all those sisters and I wonder if they ever tried to find them, my grandfather and aunt. Right across the lake and so far removed from everything. My aunt is 91 and sharp as a tack, she just refuses to talk about any of it. and perhaps that is better in some ways for her.
Up until a few years ago, my dad and his brother and sisters had always been told that Frank Henry died in a car wreck. I guess that was easier for my grandpa.
But thank you for listening. I have searched for a long time for all of them. I am closer now. I think.
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