Dear Kathy, Have you been able to contact all of Capt. Atwood's other descendants? The family story of what actually happened to him may have been passed down in a less easily embarrassed branch of the family. The fact that his granddaughter did not want to talk about him would seem to imply that he did not just die at sea (unless he was a pirate or something? :) ), but did something or died in a way that his granddaughter, at least, thought shameful. Also--was he, perhaps, in the Civil War? We have a similar problem in our family; my grandmother would never speak of her brother, Arthur McLaren (b. 1883 and lived in Chicago, in case anyone has news of HIM) and even tore every photograph of him out of her album--even to the point of scratching his face out of group pictures. She would only say that he was "sick." Which in her lexicon could mean anything--mentally ill, criminal, homosexual...I have since heard a rumor from another family member that he in fact pushed a man down an elevator shaft, apparently on purpose. I am now trying to substantiate that. I wish I could help! Martha Grenzeback [email protected] At 07:18 PM 07-06-99 -0700, you wrote: >Date: Mon, 07 Jun 99 10:14:51 PDT >From: "Kathleen Atwood" <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >Message-ID: <[email protected]> >Subject: [GEN-UNSOLVED-MYSTERIES-L] ship captain ATWOOD >Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; X-MAPIextension=".TXT" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit > >Dear Listers: > > >I have been searching for ten years on whatever happened to this ancestor. What didn't help was that his late granddaughter, the closest living relative to him, refused to talk about him as if there was something to be ashamed of. > > > >Capt. NICHOLAS ATTWOOD was born in Uckfield, Sussex, England on 4 Apr 1832. His parents are unknown to me. At the age of 16 in London he joined the British merchant marine in 1848, as "boy" (cabin boy?). His land residence at that time was listed as 'Wandsworth'. The next document I have on him is his US naturalization record. It is dated Dec, 1858 in Wayne Co., Michigan. On it it says that he has been in this country at least five years, the last year his residence was Detroit. His name is also spelled ATWOOD, which is how it has been spelled by the family since. The next document I have is his familie's entry on the 1860 census of Detroit, Michigan. He is listed as a 'sailor' and he is living with his family at 221 Park St., Detroit. His family consists of Julia (nee' Sutton, according to a son's death record) age 33, born in Ohio, and daughters Avis (b. 1855 in Michigan; later married Erastus Woodruff) and Elizabeth (b. 1857 in Michigan; later married Charles Linc! >oln, then John McKenny), and sons Nicholas (b. 1859 in Detroit, whereabouts or marriage unknown) and George Samuel (b. 1860 in Detroit; married Mabel Mathewson; was a Detroit fireman). Other than listed as the father on the aforementioned son's death record, the last document I have of Capt. Atwood is in the Polk Directories of Detroit. In the 1864-65 volume, it says "Atwood, Nicholas Capt. 221 Park St.". Then in the 1866-67 volume, it the entry reads "Atwood, Julia, [wid Nicholas] 221 Park St.". > >To date I have found no information on what happened to him. The family tradition is that he died at sea. I searched through two years of the Detroit papers for any mention of his loss, but found none. There is no memorial marker in the family plot, or anywhere in the family cemetery (Woodmare Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan). Julia remained at 221 Park St. until her death in Apr 1891, she never remarried. > > >Due to the lack of success in this line of search, along with the fact that his wife/widow never remarried although she was relatively young and 'propertied', and the reluctance of that granddaughter to talk about him, I am beginning to wonder if he ever really 'died at sea', and perhaps he 'took off' (deserted) his family. > > >Ever hopeful, >Kathy Atwood > >