This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Smith Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/RAC.2ACI/1604 Message Board Post: I have hit brick walls everywhere looking for my grandfather Raymond H. Smith. He left my grandmother in about 1923 or 1924 with 3 children and one on the way. There are several tales about him and his leaving. One is that he ran away to Dallas, TX from Conroe, TX with another woman. They supposedly had a baby boy who died at birth. In 1927 my grandfather was supposed to have been shot in Dallas, TX and his body taken by his Uncle who was a lawyer to Chicago, Illinois. There were no newspaper articles, no death certificates that fit my grandfather. I even wrote Cooke Co., Illinois and there was no record of his death there. I called Vital Statistics in Austin about transport records, and the person told me that they do not keep those records that long. The second tale, and one that involves Witchita Co. is that he was working for a ranch, and fell into a dipping vat and was killed. I am grasping at straws and wondering if there might be any news articles in 1927 about this death occurring. I would assume that if they were dipping cattle, that it would probably be late spring to fall when this occurred. My grandmother never would give us much information. Hoping to one day solve this mystery. He still has 3 surviving children who are approaching their 90's and would love some answers. Kindest regards, Jeanette Anglin