May 3, 2009
TRACING OUR
ROOTS
NEVER GIVE UP!
Brenda Kellow
One of the biggest thrills is making contact with the living family of a
deceased family member. I was ecstatic when I contacted Collin. He is by Chess’
second wife. He answered a query I placed on Ancestry seven years before.
Certainly, it was a long shot to think I would ever get a response, but I never
give up hoping.
Chess, born in British India, had lived in Russia before coming to America after
the Bolshevik Revolution. At least that was the story Chess told. He said he had
married a Russian woman and she had custody of their son when he left for the
United States. He never saw the son again. His story was just that, a story.
The daughter by Chess’ third wife from England was collecting her family
history, as was her brother Colin by the second wife in Guernsey. That was when
the two siblings found out about each other.
The children from the second and third wives didn’t know about each other until
their family history connected them. Each thought they were from Chess’ “second”
wife. At that time, they did not know I was searching Chess too. And, I had no
idea that Chess had two additional families.
Yet, seven years after placing the query, Collin called me on the phone from
Guernsey. It was then I learned about the other children and their mothers. He
had difficulty with the fact Chess had married my aunt in Maryland. Aunt Bess
was Chess’ fourth and last wife!
Collin told me the story he found in legal documents. After fathering the
children in Guernsey, Chess disappeared and moved on into England where he
married a third time without getting divorced. He said that Chess just moved on
when he felt like it. Chess’ last move was to the United States where he met and
married Aunt Bess. Uncle Chess was a polygamist.
Collin did not know what happened to Chess after that, but I did. I told him
that Chess died in 1940 and Aunt Bess buried him in the family cemetery in
Florida next to her parents and grandparents.
If I had researched more thoroughly I would have found wives numbers two and
three. Yet, I took Chess’ word he passed along to the family. That was a
mistake.
Now, it has happened again. While hunting my sister-in-law’s maiden name on the
Internet, I found where her daughter, Grace, started her family on
Ancestry.com’s Family Tree. I contacted her through Ancestry and she responded
immediately. After a divorce, a move and remarriage, the family lost them. There
is more to this story.
This weekend we have the pleasure of three long lost nieces and a nephew
visiting us for the first time, and I have the opportunity of sharing our family
history and giving them some family memorabilia.
My final word: Never give up. If I had, the rest of Chess’ story would have
remained untold and I would still wonder about my sister-in-law and her
children.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history,
teaches, lectures on genealogy and writes the column, Tracing Our Roots. Before
retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as
a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. You can
contact her at tracerts@verizon.net.
