> As we begin a new year, I thought it would be interesting to > know a little something about us members, ... My name is Steve Gillispie, and I live in Washington. My gggrandmother, Mary Finch Gillispie, was born in Carroll County, MO, in Oct 1859. The last record we have of her was from there in 1893. But then she disappeared. The family stories are that she died in a fire, but the people who knew the details didn't want to talk about it, so they have been lost. Her daughter, who was just a child at the time, wrote some notes in the 1920s that were only recently found in an old suitcase in a garage attic, that said an uncle took the train to Kansas City to go to her funeral. That daughter was raised by her grandmother, and spent many years trying to find out what happened to her mother. Through the subsequent years, each generation has tried and failed as well, and now it is my turn. The rumors are also that she had remarried, but nobody knows what her new name was, either. So I subscribe to this list hoping that someday one of her step-children's descendants will talk about her and our long mystery will finally be solved. --- Steve Gillispie <gillisp@earthlink.net>

Steve, whenever I read about a fire in an old newspaper I think of you and your gggrandmother, and I always make a point of posting the article or obituary. You sure have a "cold case" challenge. Hopefully we'll come across something one of these days. I don't remember, don't you have a time frame of when the fire might have occurred? I assume you can eliminate the years from 1859 to the year her daughter was born and maybe a few years after? Do you know the birth date of her daughter? Do you know the death date of the uncle? John ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steven Gillispie" <gillisp@earthlink.net> To: <kansascity@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 1:35 AM Subject: Re: [KANSASCITY] the Kansas City Mailing List members >> As we begin a new year, I thought it would be interesting to >> know a little something about us members, ... > > > My name is Steve Gillispie, and I live in Washington. My gggrandmother, > Mary Finch Gillispie, was born in Carroll County, MO, in Oct 1859. The > last > record we have of her was from there in 1893. But then she disappeared. > The family stories are that she died in a fire, but the people who knew > the > details didn't want to talk about it, so they have been lost. Her > daughter, > who was just a child at the time, wrote some notes in the 1920s that were > only recently found in an old suitcase in a garage attic, that said an > uncle > took the train to Kansas City to go to her funeral. That daughter was > raised by her grandmother, and spent many years trying to find out what > happened to her mother. Through the subsequent years, each generation has > tried and failed as well, and now it is my turn. The rumors are also that > she had remarried, but nobody knows what her new name was, either. So I > subscribe to this list hoping that someday one of her step-children's > descendants will talk about her and our long mystery will finally be > solved. > > > --- > Steve Gillispie <gillisp@earthlink.net> > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > KANSASCITY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message