This weeks 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is “Misfortune.”

Rest In Peace

Donald McDonald

California

Death 14-Jul-1944

Plot D Row 13 Grave 34

Florence American Cemetery

Private, U.S. Army

362nd Infantry Regiment, 91st Infantry Division

World War II

Purple Heart

This weeks challenge in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is “Lucky.”

As it turns out, I am the lucky one.  An 80 plus year old mystery was solved.  I found my Mom’s paternal grandfather.

What I had to work with was her father’s delayed birth certificate showing his fathers name and occupation.

William Henry Beauchamp and Artie Rether Freeland were married in Polk County, Texas on February 27, 1909.   They were still living in Polk County during the 1910 Census and had one child, Edward.  By 1920, Edward was living with his maternal grandparents, his 2 siblings and his mother, Rether.  Rether was listed as a widow.

There were no death records for a William Henry Beauchamp that died before 1920 in Texas.  I pretty much gave up on finding him.  Then one day, with the help of another Beauchamp researcher, who still lives in Texas, found this;  the divorce petition filed by William Henry Beauchamp and Rether Freeland.  He hadn’t died after all.

With this new information in hand, I went searching for William Henry Beauchamp.  I found one in 1920, living with a wife, Clara and their 2 children, in Shreveport, Louisiana.   In 1930, I found this family of 4 living in Hardin County, Texas and in 1940, Jefferson County, Texas.  This William Henry Beauchamp died on October 15, 1943 in Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas.  But was he the one I was looking for?

Mid-2017 I got ‘Lucky’ when the grand daughter of Ruby Jewel Beauchamp took an AncestryDNA test.  Ruby was the daughter of the William Henry Beauchamp and Clara.  DNA proved that Ruby was my grandfather, Edward’s half sister and the 80+ year mystery was solved.

This week in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Week challenge in ‘Strong Woman.’  Normally someone would write about their mother, who I believe is a really strong woman, however, since she is still alive a doing well at 86, I decided on another woman in my family.  I chose my Grand Aunt, Susan Mae Schumacher.

This is Susie, as we all called her, with her 2nd husband, Oscar Franklin.

Susan Mae Schumacher was a younger sister to my paternal grandmother.  She is the middle girl in the header picture on my page.

Susie married James Tipton Turner on April 23, 1914 in Spokane, Washington.  The married couple moved to Los Angeles and James died on April 11, 1929.  They had no children.

Susie was a very nurturing kind of person, so when her younger sister, Helen Schumacher Burch died on February 3, 1929, Susie took in two of her 5 children and raised them as her own.  The life of the other three children will be discussed in another post.

Susie’s older sister, my grandmother, Margaret Ann Schumacher had my father in 1931 as an unwed mother.  Susie helped to raise him as well

On December 25, 1937, Susie married her life partner, Oscar Franklin.  They didn’t have any children either.

My brother and I would spend summer’s with Susie and Oscar at their home in Minden, Nevada.

Susie died in 1983 and I miss her to this day.  She was the glue that held the family together while she had no children of her own.

This weeks prompt in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Week challenge is ‘Where There’s A Will’

Robert Daniel Freeland was my 3^rd great grandfather. He was born on April 6, 1798 in Hillsboro, Orange County, North Carolina and died on July 24, 1878 in Henry County, Tennessee. He had been married 3 times and I descend from his 2^nd wife.

A cousin of mine had written in her family history book that when Freeland was on his death bed, his 3^rd wife convinced him to sign over his entire estate to her and leave everyone else out of his will. I was rather pleased when I found that this was not true.