Dear Ron, It sounds like the adults were using the child. I mean the legal authorities. If you were young enough to be held by an adult, you were still too young to think like an adult. I can't speak for your ancestors because as you said, times were tough back then. The newspaper editor, no matter how good a person, was using you to sell newspapers. Good luck to you in your research and with your book. Oh yes, the two sides of my family were very different. Mom's was poor and broke some laws for sure. Dad's was more "socially acceptable". Strange to say, the poor ancestors were the kindest and sweetest and loved their families very much no matter how they messed up sometimes. Dad's were nice but just not very warm or affectionate. I loved them all but I loved, and still love, my poor "as a church mouse" Grandpa Arid the most. When a child in the family was sick, Grandpa jumped in and didn't worry about catching anything, but just rocked us and took care of us gently. Family history says he nursed his Mom, (Mary) Jane Pennington Durham, during her final illness. Barb T