A lot of family history research is looking for specific information about your ancestors. You have to know birth, marriage, and death information to continue the line. And a lot of times you can't find much else about them in the existing records. Sometimes you stumble across some information about an ancestor that reminds you that they are a real person who lived a real life full of sorrow and joy.
The state of Georgia has a great website with a small sampling of death certificates available to view online. I only wish they had more years to search. I stumbled across this death certificate last year. It is for a little boy named Arthur Timmons Cadle, the son of Arthur Joseph Cadle and Annie Rebecca Lane Cadle. He is my Granny's (Mable Adora Cadle Price) older brother. He drowned when he was four years old.
Last November, while in Georgia, I visited my Granny and she and I looked through hundreds of old family photographs and we found this one. A photo of Arthur Timmons Cadle. What a sweet little baby he is! My heart breaks for my great grandmother as I think of how her heart must have broken when he died.
Then, last month while we were visiting in Georgia, Julie mentioned to me that Marmee had told her that Arthur Timmons Cadle had actually drowned in the Augusta Canal. A couple days later, we found this article in the paper. Annie wasn't even aware Arthur had gotten out of the backyard. I've thought a lot about this since we found this article. It tells a short story about that tragic day. I try to imagine, and I think I can do a pretty good job, what Annie went through that day. I want to cry with her for her little baby boy, even though I know they've long since been reunited.
Stories like this make family history so much more rewarding for me. I can get a little glimpse into an ancestor's life. I can understand them more, especially when I recall that none of Annie's grandchildren (which includes my Marmee) ever learned how to swim because their grandmother was too worried about them. I used to wonder, as a Florida-born girl who adores swimming, why that was? Now I know. Now I understand.
2 comments:
Honey, you did SUCH a wonderful job expressing your feelings and telling this sad story. Thank you for all of your dedication in learning about our ancestors and sharing that information.
I love you!
Thank you so much for sharing this story. It's amazing and humbling to know that as of yesterday this little boy's parents are sealed for eternity, if they choose it. And soon he can be sealed to them as well. I can't imagine how wonderful a change that will be for them, even though I imagine they've already seen each other and spend time with each other. Having accepted and made those covenants will make their relationship that much more special.
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