Still Waiting for Dad's VA Medical Records

My Dad, Harold D. Burk (1909-1978), passed away in the Bronx, New York, OTD in 1978. He was five weeks from his 69th birthday. I've added Dad to Find a Grave here with a bite-sized bio, noting his service in the US Army during World War II. The shadowbox frame above holds his military memorabilia, organized and identified for the next generation and beyond.

Before his death from heart problems, Dad had been in and out of VA hospitals for 20 years--and as his descendants, Sis and I very much want to see his medical records.

2024 Veterans Affairs FOIA Request

In early December of 2024, I submitted a formal request for the US Veterans Affairs agency to provide me with Dad's files, under a Freedom of Information Act inquiry. No response for months. And months.

2025 Denial and Appeal

I finally received a smidgen of info in August of 2025, basically the info I had provided to the VA to support my request. The agency denied my request for Dad's entire file, for no real reason, saying my inquiry was actually genealogical in nature. Um, no.

On the advice of the wonderful folks at Reclaim the Records, I quickly appealed the VA's decision and provided detailed info to prove my identity as Dad's next of kin. Supposedly the FOIA law requires a prompt response but I and many others have only had ... crickets. For months.

2026 Followup of Appeal

In February of 2026, I asked my local Member of the House of Representatives to please get involved and obtain the file or at least an estimated date of resolution to this ongoing request. For the past six months, the powers that be have continually stalled my Rep's staff. They twice asked for the reference number of my request--which I provided, both times, including with a scan of the VA's letter assigning the reference number. 

Yesterday, staff from my Rep's office told me they had an update from the powers that be: the FOIA request is proceeding into the document gathering phase. I'm cautiously optimistic, hoping I will see Dad's file before the end of 2026. 

It is now 12 months since the VA denied my request, and 20 months since my original FOIA request. Fingers crossed.

Remembering Dad with love on this 48th anniversary of his death. 

"Enviable Record and Good Health"

OTD in 1867, Train Caldwell McClure (1843-1934) married Gulia Swain (1847-1920). Train was my husband's great-grand uncle.

Train was 23 at the time of his marriage, 159 years ago today. He was a veteran of the US Civil War, having fought for the Union while in the 89th Indiana Infantry, from 1862-1865. Gulia was 20 when she married Train. They had four children together. Train was active in the local Grand Army of the Republic and attended encampments and reunions for many years afterward. 

Recently redoing my newspaper research, I discovered a small item on the front page of the Wabash Plain Dealer (Wabash, Indiana), published August 4, 1917. The masthead is shown above. The news item reads:

LOCAL MAN HAS ENVIABLE RECORD AND GOOD HEALTH

Fifty-five years ago today, T.C. McClure was mustered into the United States service, company A, 89th Indiana, for three years and five days. During that time, he stated, he never was in the hospital or guard house, meaning he behaved perfectly and had excellent health.

He has resided in Noble township for 73 years and was born on September 23, 1843, about 74 years old [sic]. Mr. McClure has been married for 50 years, and will celebrate his golden wedding anniversary on the 15th of this month.

Other dusty statistics revealed by him today show that he has lived in one house for 48 years.

He is now a resident of 254 West Main Street, this city, and has behind him an enviable record. Notwithstanding his age and war service he seems to be enjoying good health.

Train and Gulia were married for 52 years in all, so I'm sorry to see that her name was not included in this news item, let alone names of their children. 

Gulia died after nearly two years of illness, in January of 1920. Train remarried in 1921, to Rebecca Abbott (1857-1935). He was 77, Rebecca was 64. In 1934, Train succumbed to pneumonia and influenza, at age 90, and was buried next to his first wife, Gulia. 

He had indeed enjoyed an enviable record and good health for a good many years. 

Ancestry Smart Search: Old Wine, New Bottle?

Last year, Ancestry announced "Smart Search" in beta, intended to be a more intuitive search form with "enhanced logic" for focusing on more relevant results. It has shown up on my family trees and last week, I tried it for several ancestors, some I knew little about and some I know lots about.

One of the striking things about Smart Search is the way results are formatted into three main categories: People (basically, family trees), records (mainly historical documents), and photos (user-submitted and records-based). This makes it easy to focus on specific types of search results.

While I like the formatting, and the multiple filters (see red arrow above), I don't really see any major improvement compared to "classic search." Above, the top "records" result for my hubby's great-grandpa, Edward George Steiner (1830-1880). Nope, not him. 

The top photo results using Smart Search were gravestones of this ancestor. Yes, that's him. If I want, I can filter by location, date, and other elements (see red arrow above).

When I switched back to classic search, the top overall results were gravestone photos and his name in birth records of his children. Correct. Remember, Ancestry knows I already have many sources linked to this man, and therefore its search technology attempts to avoid dupes. 

When I filtered classic search results for "family trees," he was shown in 48 different trees. My tree, which is referenced first, has more sources/records than the other trees, but still I checked other trees in case there were fresh clues. 

 

So far, I haven't found a compelling reason to use Smart Search, but I'll continue experimenting. Do you use Smart Search? What do you think?

Twins in the Bronx and the Wider World

My Mom, Daisy Schwartz Burk (1919-1981), was born a few minutes after her twin sister, Dorothy Schwartz (1919-2001). 

Their mother made most of their clothes and usually dressed them alike, as shown in this photo taken at their elementary school in the Bronx, New York. Dorothy is on the left, slightly taller and bigger than Daisy, standing on the right.

The girls were told they were fraternal twins, but they sure looked a lot--a lot!--alike.

Fast-forward to my Mom's first-born children, me and my two-minutes-younger twin Sis. Sis weighed a few ounces more than I did at birth. For special occasions, we were often dressed the same but as we got older, we were free to choose whether to do this or not.

As children, we looked very much alike. Yet as long as I can remember, our parents said we were fraternal twins. This was probably because of two placentas; newer research shows even identicals can have two placentas.

Years after our parents passed away, Sis insisted we take DNA tests to prove her lifelong, strongly-held belief that we are actually identical.

DNA proved Sis correct: we are identical twins. We rarely dress alike these days, but sometimes wear the same dress or top but in different colors. 

Did you know that identical twins are important to science? Researchers value the ability to observe and research similarities and differences in biology, medical conditions, behavioral elements, and more. In fact, Stanford University maintains a Twin Registry as part of its ongoing twin studies.

The annual Twins Days Festival in Ohio (this year, August 7-9) is not only an opportunity for twins and other multiples to mingle with other twins/multiples--it's also an opportunity for twins to voluntarily participate in on-site scientific research. Maybe Sis and I will get there one day.

Finding New Homes for Old School Stuff

Inspired by Linda Stufflebean's recent blog post about captioning and donating old school class photos, I checked with my Sis about the possibility of donating our elementary school class photos and our mother's old school stuff. She agreed we should look for a good home outside the family, to preserve these items for the future.

Mom, JHS class of 1933

Daisy Schwartz (later Daisy Burk, 1919-1981) graduated from Junior High School 60 in the Bronx, New York at the end of January, 1933.

She kept a leather-bound autograph book in which she recorded her name, school, graduation date, teachers, and then asked classmates to sign.

Because of the names, dates, and good condition of this autograph book, I want to donate it to a suitable institution like the Bronx Historical Society. 

Match item(s) to repository

The Bronx Historical Society collects a variety of artifacts related to the history, culture, and development of this New York City borough. To my mind, materials related to Bronx educational institutions and the names of those who taught and attended classes at these schools could fit in the society's collections.

I prepared a brief summary of what I have (autograph book, other school yearbooks and commencement programs) and emailed the librarian of the society, emphasizing the connection with Bronx history. I included three photos, as shown in this post, and a description of the condition and contents.

Ask about interest in specific items

My email asked whether the society would be interested in accepting these materials as a donation from my family. No repository wants items brought or mailed to its location without being carefully considered by management in light of collection priorities. Usually repositories explain their collecting priorities and provide a contact for inquiries, but not this Bronx society.

If accepted, ownership passes out of my family

If the society decides to accept, it will ask me to sign legal documents indicating that the society will own any donated items. Before I complete this donation, should it be accepted, I'll be sure to digitize all of the items for my family history. 

Accepted! And maybe more

Very quickly I heard back: the Bronx Historical Society is definitely interested, having nothing in its collection about JHS 60. At their request, I submitted a complete inventory of all Bronx school items I have, to check against their collection in case they are interested in additional artifacts from my family's history. And again, they accepted every item on my list. All will be carefully packed and shipped to the society next week, available to researchers and for displays about school days in the Bronx. 

Thanks to Linda Stufflebean for sparking the idea for donating school items. I feel good about having these 20th century items go to a good new home, for research and safekeeping.

John Nelson: Farmer, Soldier, Farmer

John Nelson (1825-1907), a distant ancestor of my husband, was among the brave "Iron Men" of the Indiana 44th Regiment fighting at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862, during the US Civil War. He was a son of John Martin Nelson and Susannah McKibbin. Born in Ohio, as a young man he moved to Indiana with his farming family. 

In the fall of 1861, with the Civil War underway, Nelson and many other men from northeast Indiana enlisted with the 44th Indiana. Their letters home helped illuminate the war's toll on these men.

Nelson himself, part of Company H, was badly wounded at Shiloh, a bloody battle won by the Union. Still, he returned to fight as soon as he was able. The 44th Indiana Infantry fought so courageously, in fact, that the state of Indiana later erected a historical marker at Shiloh, Tennessee, in their honor.  

Throughout the war, the 44th fought on and on, including at the Battle of Chickamauga, where Nelson was again wounded, according to his Find a Grave memorial page. Company H of the 44th was photographed as shown at top and the regiment was well documented, as you can see on the Wikipedia Commons page here.

Finally mustered out at war's end, Nelson returned home to farm. He filed for an invalid's pension soon after the war. When he died in September of 1907, he was buried with a simple Civil War headstone that noted his rank as private. Remembering John Nelson: farmer, soldier, farmer.

Unsourced Family Trees = Genealogy Slop

ChatGPT has better artistic skills than I do, so I asked it to do the following:

Create an image titled "unsourced family trees = genealogy slop" with a stylized family tree and random genealogy words in a slop whirlwind.

Chat took the initiative to insert some typical "family legends" such as an ancestor of royal blood, a Mayflower ancestor, a witch trial victim. It sprinkled phrases like "somewhere online" and "internet tree" in the whirlwind of slop. And voila, a fun depiction of a hard truth.

Unsourced trees are nothing more than genealogy slop because they get copied and pasted and spread like kudzu. 

Slop is a pretty good description, right?! 

This is my "free space" post for week 30 of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks for 2026.

Ancestor Landing Pages: Cousin Bait!

 

In 2013, I created ancestor landing pages on this genealogy blog to summarize what I've written about specific ancestor families. You can see them arranged (alphabetically by surname) in rows below the title of my blog. I took this screen shot about a month ago, so the numbers in the image are already outdated.

Landing pages are great cousin bait as well as a convenient way of organizing blog posts to tell stories about my ancestral families. When I blog about an ancestor, I add a note and a link on the ancestor landing page that corresponds to that family. And of course having these names on more than one page/post means more opportunities to show up in online searches, especially if I update the landing pages fairly regularly.

All these years later, each of the landing pages has attracted thousands of views and sometimes comments from cousins or possible cousins who are (or might be) related to that part family. Each week, each landing page gets anywhere from 10 to 50 views--potential connections with cousins and maybe researchers seeking info on these surnames.

Ranking my landing pages from most visited to least:

• McClure, Donegal - 7,275 views (this page is about my husband's McClure ancestors, who sailed from Northern Ireland to Philadelphia and walked to Virginia to buy farmland--they spread out and kept moving west)
• Steiner & Rinehart - 5,294 views (posts about my husband's maternal ancestors, descended from Jacob Steiner and from Joseph Rinehart, another Ohio branch)
• Wood family, Ohio - 5,234 views (about my husband's ancestors in Toledo and, much earlier, part of the "Little Compton" Wood branch in Rhode Island)
• Schwartz Family, Ungvar - 4,427 views (about my maternal grandfather's family based in what is now Uzhhorod, Ukraine)
• Isaac & Henrietta Birk's story - 4,244 views (about my paternal grandparents, Isaac from Lithuania and Henrietta from Latvia; my quest to learn about Isaac is what started me in genealogy in 1998)
• Robert & Mary Larimer's story -  4,163 views (about hubby's ancestors from the north of Ireland, including a tale of shipwreck and more)
• William Tyler Bentley story - 3,931 views (hubby's ancestor who lived in Oswego county, New York, and my attempt to trace his line and his wife, Olivia Morgan Bentley, who dropped from Mars into the family tree)
• Farkas & Kunstler, Hungary - 3,680 views (my maternal grandparents and great-grandparents from Hungary, including my great-grandpa whose financial ruin prompted him to come to New York City in 1899)
• Meyer & Tillie Mahler - 3,526 views (my paternal great-grandparents and their dear friends/sometimes in-laws--Tillie was the longest-lived ancestor I know about, passing away around 100 years old)
• Mary A. Demarest's story - 3,435 views (my husband's elusive ancestor who somehow got from New York City to Louisiana when she was 14, marrying a whaling man/carpenter and ultimately settling in Toledo, Ohio)
• Abraham & Annie Birk - 3,398 views (my paternal grandfather's older brother and his wife, who met and married when the Birk brothers were staying with relatives in Manchester, England, in the very early 1900s)
• John & Mary Slatter's Story - 3,045 views (lots of stories, some sad and some positive, including the three military bandmaster brothers who made their names in Canada)
• Rachel & Jonah Jacobs - 2,755 views (my paternal great-great grandparents, I know nothing about Jonah but widowed Rachel came with her children to New York City in the 1880s and she would have known my grandma Henrietta Mahler Burk)
• McKibbin, Larimer, Work - 2,308 views (hubby's intermarried ancestors who, fortunately, were researched by descendants over the years and now there are digitized family histories in the Family History Library)

Other bloggers have different ways of summarizing ancestor knowledge on their blogs. Randy Seavers has a page of bio links arranged by relationship, as one example. No matter the format, family history information like this can attract folks who are searching online for your ancestors' surnames--and help them connect with you. Cousin bait!

Review: "Acadian Genealogical Research" by Judy Nimer Muhn

I've long been a fan of Genealogical.com's "At a Glance" four-page, laminated guides to genealogy research in specific places or about specific cultures. Written by experts, they're concise, affordable, and quite convenient for reference, including detailed resources to consult.

The publisher recently sent me a free review copy of Judy Nimer Muhn's informative Acadian Genealogical Research, newly published in laminated/print and in e-book format. The e-book is reasonably priced at $7.95 and the laminated four-page booklet is $12.50. One advantage of the e-book is being able to click through to access more than 20 online resources discussed by the author, by the way.

If I had Acadian ancestors, this handy guide would be a great overview (see contents in image above). Judy specializes in Acadian ancestry, and she starts with key points of historical background (including settlements, war, peace, and forced deportations).

She then describes exactly where to search for documentation covering specific time frames and areas, as well as detailing a number of repositories that hold relevant genealogical records. Finally, she discusses cultural organizations and mentions other online resources (including podcasts) to consult when researching Acadian ancestors. 

If I could add anything, it would be a quick map outlining the settlements and migration patterns, which would be especially helpful to those beginning their journeys into Acadian research.

In short, Judy's "At a Glance" guide is brief yet authoritative, a useful addition to your reference library if you're focusing on Acadian ancestry. 

Note: Although I receive free review copies of Genealogical.com's publications from time to time, my honest opinions are entirely, completely, truly my own.

Even Informed Informants Can Make Mistakes

Paul Chiddicks recently wrote an insightful post about separating truth from error on official documents like birth, marriage, and death certificates. Sometimes ancestors didn't know, sometimes they didn't want to tell, sometimes they flat-out made mistakes or omissions when providing information to authorities.

Case in point: My 3c1r Milton Weiss (1920-1995) enlisted in the US Army on January 29, 1942, to serve in World War II. (He was honorably discharged in December of 1945.)

On February 15, 1942, he and his bride-to-be, Charlotte Schnee (1926-2000), filled out a marriage license application in Manhattan, New York.

At top, you can see that bride and groom each printed the information on the application. I always look at an original document if available, rather than any transcription or index. Happily, New York City makes these originals available! I found this on MyHeritage.

Charlotte herself wrote that her father's name was Morris A. Schne. 

Whether the bride was nervous or in a hurry, I can't tell--but she certainly knew her father's surname because it was exactly like her own, as I know from looking at other official family documents.

Interestingly, when the New York City clerk typed up the info for the marriage license, based on the hand-written application, the clerk ignored Charlotte's mistake and simply typed her father's name as "Morris" with the assumption that the father and daughter shared the same surname. Correct, though not an accurate transcription of the application hand-printed by the bride.

Charlotte and Milton were married for more than 50 years and had two daughters together. Finding this handwritten application reminded me that even an informed informant like Charlotte can make a mistake. 

Wilson Caldwell, Minute Man in US Civil War

On this day in 1863, my husband's 1c3r answered the call to enlist in the Indiana "minute men" Infantry and prepare to defend against attack from Confederate forces during the US Civil War.

Wilson Caldwell (1845-1921) was just 18 and living in Posey township, Fayette County, Indiana with his farming family when he enlisted on July 10, 1863 in the 104th Indiana Infantry, Company K. On this map, Posey is at top left of the county.

Wilson and his fellow minute men served just eight days because they were enlisted specifically for short-term emergency service, not for regular military service. 

From Union Army, vol. 3, p. 174, a description of his unit's history in the context of other units formed at the same time: 

One Hundred and Fourth Infantry Indiana Minute Men. -Word being received at Indianapolis on the evening of July 8, 1863, that a force of 6,000 cavalry under [Confederate General] Morgan had crossed the Ohio River near Mauckport and was moving on Corydon, a call was issued for citizens to organize for defense. Within 48 hours 65,000 men had tendered their services. From this number regiments 102 to 114 inclusive, and one battalion were organized, the battalion being assigned to the 107th. One Hundred and Fourth Infantry. -Col., James Gavin, Lieut.Col. Jacob S. Buchanan Maj., Martin W. Richardson. This regiment consisted of six companies of minute men and four of the Legion: Six companies were from Decatur County and one each from Fayette, Madison, Marion and Rush Counties. The regiment was organized at Greensburg, July 10, 1863, with 719 rank and file, and moved to Sunman's station, thence to Lawrenceburg, and from there toward Harrison, Ohio. It returned to Greensburg after Morgan's escape and was mustered out July 18, 1863.

Wilson and his fellow minute men helped chase the Confederates but once the local threat was diminished, they were mustered out and returned home. Note: (Confederate General Morgan was captured in Ohio just eight days after the 104th was mustered out.)

Wilson married Annie B. Cassell and after a short period of farming in Posey, he became an agent and salesman, moving the family to the more populous Wayne County, Indiana. He and Annie had three children together.

Sadly, Annie passed away in 1906 but Wilson kept working to support himself and his youngest child. He wrapped up his working life as the manager of an Indianapolis billiards hall, according to the US Census of1920. 

Wilson Caldwell died on July 18, 1921, exactly 58 years after being mustered out of his Civil War unit. 

Take-aways from Tracing a Neighbor's Roots

This summer, I've been helping my neighbor learn more about her ancestors, particularly her father's family history. Here are my take-aways about researching and documenting a non-relative's family tree.

• Listen carefully to old family stories--twice. My neighbor had some memories about ancestors, and also had written down what older relatives said before they passed away. A handful of these stories had important clues as starting points (names; where someone was born or died or married) and details that could be checked (who was in an orphanage and roughly when). Once I had a few names on the tree, I listened again as the neighbor told stories, because now I had a better idea of who was who.
• Look at old family documents with fresh eyes. This neighbor had some baptismal records, marriage certificates, etc. More great starting points for me, a non-relative, to dig into the family's history. I had to ask about a few possible ancestors with similar names, but pretty quickly I learned to distinguish who was who. Luckily, this neighbor also kept scraps of paper with notes about family history, and we used a few of the nuggets to untangle relationships.
• Look at old family photos with fresh eyes. Old gravestone photos provided clues to relationships and notes on burial places. Two old portraits, labeled "Grandfather ___" and "Grandmother ____" had clues like accessories and photo studio location that made more sense after we confirmed who the people were.
• Gently determine how much to tell. After a bit of discussion, I concluded that my neighbor was intent on knowing everything and anything, wherever the story might lead, warts and all. I did discover some legal problems in one ancestor's past, plus babies who died young and were forgotten in family stories. Also, I found a glowing obit of a much-respected great-grandpa. Most important, research suggested that her father's "parents" (as named on the Census and in family stories) had actually informally adopted him after a family crisis. We will follow up with DNA research.
• Research widely. I had no way of knowing where the initial clues might lead. I used multiple genealogy sites and multiple newspaper sites--and struck gold, with news reports naming names. Then full-text search on FamilySearch yielded unexpected papers that explained critical events in the paternal line.  Of course there were people with similar names who were NOT my neighbor's ancestors, but it didn't take long for me to learn to rule those out.
• Present a story, not a pedigree. Often I use tree invitations to share family history. This time, rather than present a family tree or pedigree chart, I drafted a two-page narrative to tell the broad outline of my neighbor's family history over the past 125 years. I also summarized a trend I had observed, of her father's grandparents regularly stepping in to take care of grandchildren after a parent's death. As I told the story, I showed my neighbor printouts of a few documents (news stories, draft registrations) that helped illustrate what happened. My neighbor now has a narrative she can use to share family history with her preteen grandkids, in addition to viewing the online tree.  

This experience brought me back to my own early days of genealogy, where I was unsure of where to look and who or what I might find. It was a fun journey of discovery for me then, and I enjoyed the process today as I added leaves to my neighbor's family tree, one person at a time. It really sharpened my skills to research an entirely unfamiliar family tree, and the challenge was stimulating.

Most rewarding was writing a narrative to present my neighbor's family history in brief. This introduced her to ancestors she never knew and, in some cases, never heard of...along with news stories and other records that kept the "plot" moving from one decade to the next. 

Ancestry "Tree Compare" in Beta

Here's a new Ancestry feature I'm exploring: Tree Compare, now in beta. I discovered it while looking at some ancestor-in-laws such as Alice Hopperton, who was the second wife of my husband's grandfather.

Of course I don't rely on any online tree as a quote fact unquote. But trees often have great clues such as family photos and record sources that I can examine and evaluate to determine relevancy and then follow up if I wish.

As shown, Alice is "found in 10+ Ancestry trees" and with one click, I was able to begin comparing Alice on those trees with Alice on my tree.

Using Tree Compare, my tree is on the right and another tree for comparison is on the left. (I obscured info for privacy.) When info is similar or identical on the other tree, Ancestry adds a "similar" label, as you can see on the tree at left. The comparison also shows the name and the owner of the other tree. That's helpful because I've already seen many of these trees and sometimes I recognize the tree name or the owner's name. I can also "pick a different tree" at the top right of the comparison screen.

When I clicked to pick a different tree, a longer list of trees (all with Alice) showed up. I could look at the overviews (including name of tree, number of records, number of people, and owner) and select another to compare.

This is a convenient way to look at trees "at a glance" and pick one (or more) to closely compare with my tree and that ancestor. Remember, clues only!

CAUTION: If a different tree has someone labeled as "new," then this beta Ancestry feature will suggest where to place the person in your tree. Beware.

Direct above, I was using Tree Compare to see James E. Wood on other people's trees. Ancestry's comparison examined related people. The suggested placement for Edith E. Baker (from someone else's tree, on left) is entirely wrong. Edith clearly does not belong to the parents where Ancestry wants to put her. I already have her on my tree as a daughter of, yes, James Sills Baker and Adelaide M Slatter. 

I discovered similar mistakes in Tree Compare's suggestions of other ancestors on same tree and in another tree. Tree Compare can't take the place of doing research to understand potential tree connections. Confirm before you click! 

Happy July 4th and America 250

Celebrating Independence Day and America 250 with this penny postal greeting sent to my husband's family in Cleveland, Ohio, 119 years ago today. What a colorful Uncle Sam!

Celebrating Fourth of July in Family History

Three special events took place on the Fourth of July in my and my husband's combined family tree:

• Samuel Schwartz (1883-1954), my maternal great uncle, was born on July 4th in what was Ungvar, Hungary (now Uzhhorod, Ukraine). He came to America in 1904, became a naturalized US citizen in 1909, and got married in Bridgeport, Connecticut, less than a week later. I've been in touch with his grandchildren, my 2d cousins.
• Thomas Jefferson Isaiah Haskell Wood (1848-1861), in my husband's Wood family tree, was born on July 4th in Plaquemine, Louisiana, the second of 17 children. Sadly, this young man drowned at the age of 12. 
• George Ainsworth Larimer (1873-1922), my husband's 1c2r, served in the 157th Indiana Infantry during the Spanish-American War, 1898. On July 4, 1899, George boarded a Chicago-bound train near his home in Indiana. "Coincidentally" on the same train was Cora May Lutz, also from Indiana. The two left the train at St. Joseph, Michigan (a Gretna Green), were married by a justice of the peace, then returned home later that day. I blogged about the news coverage of this elopement here.

Thinking of these three ancestors on July 4th weekend.