My heart reaches out to you and your father. I pray that you will have answers to your questions soon. Gail Shearin-Dupree Faye Ball Edwards wrote: > Greetings from a North Carolina genealogy hound! I have had very little > trouble finding ancestors, but I do have a big mystery in the current > generation ... You'd think it would be easier to find someone born after > legal record-keeping started! > > Am searching for my father's sister. She was last known to be in > California in the late 1940s or early 1950s. > She was born September 8, 1923 as Annie Lee Ball in Vance County, > (Henderson), North Carolina to Stephen and Mamie Ball. She was the > youngest of 8 children. In 1924, her father, Stephen Ball died and her > mother, Mamie, gave all the children away to be adopted or fostered. > > Annie was adopted by Lew and Pearl Finch of neighboring Granville > County, (Oxford), North Carolina. They changed her name to Mary > Elizabeth Finch. Though adopted, her new family allowed her to visit > with several of her siblings during her childhood. Unfortunately, the > people who raised my father never allowed him to see or socialize with > any of them. > > In his adulthood, my father found all of them and formed family > relationships with them. All except Annie (Mary Elizabeth). By the time > he found out where what happened to her, the following scenario had > taken place: > > She grew up and married a man named Curtis Smith of Franklin County > (Louisburg) North Carolina in the late 30's or very early 40's. > Somewhere near the start of World War II, she and Smith divorced and she > joined the WAVES or WACs, possibly as a nurse. I have been led to > believe that she trained somewhere around Indianapolis. Rumor has it > that her adopted father told her if she divorced Smith, that he would > disown her. So she left and they never heard from her again. > > It is believed that she contracted polio during her military tour which > left her with some disability. It has been said that she was sent to the > Ozark mountains after her sickness. > > In the very late 1940s or early 1950s, someone contacted an uncle of > mine (one of her blood brothers) and said that she had been involved in > an automobile accident in California. My uncle chose not to act on this > information for personal reasons not known to us. Because he didn't > forward this information or check into it, no one knows what the outcome > of that "automobile accident" was. Did she live? Did she die? Where is > she? Did she remarry? Was there really an accident, or was this her way > of trying to reach her real family? I shudder to think that she was > trying to reach the only people that she thought cared, only to be > ignored. > > My father, on the other hand, has spent his entire life asking only that > someone find his sister for him. I didn't have the heart to tell him > that she had contacted his brother so many years ago, but that he kept > it a secret. He is now 80 years old, and the only surviving sibling. > Even if we find that she is deceased, he would find relief in knowing > what happened to her, and could begin to fit some pieces of her > life together. It took him many years to come to terms with what his > mother did, but I don't think he'll ever be completely at peace until he > > finds his siter. > > A wonderful lady looked up Mary Elizabeth Finch/Smith in the California > Death Index. However there are approximately ??? hundreds of them, and > ironically, none of them have an NC issued SS #.I am certain that Mary's > SS was issued here. I have written to military personnel in St. Louis. > After months of waiting, they sent me a request for records form that I > had to fill out and return. Again I have waited several months and have > no reply to date. > > I figured I might as well post to the list while I am waiting. > > Does anyone know what happened to Mary Elizabeth Finch Smith? Any ideas? > I do hope to find closure in this situation soon. > > Many Thanks and Happy Hunting to All of You! > Faye Ball Edwards > Henderson, North Carolina > > ==== GEN-UNSOLVED-MYSTERIES Mailing List ==== > To get another copy of the Welcome Message send New mail to > [email protected] . > In the subject of the message type, > "archive" without the quotes. In the body of the message type, > "get welcome.txt" without the quotes.