For Thanksgiving Dinner, I'd invite my great-grandfather, John E. Williams, who materialized out of the ether in May of 1861 without parents and disappeared back into the ether shortly after May of 1910. There are a multitude of questions I would ask: Were you born in Danville, Vermilion County, IL or Alton, Madison County, IL? (Your children had no idea which one is correct? Maybe neither one is. . .) And what is your middle name? Elden, Elvis, Edwin. All of those names circulate in your children's and grandchildren's names. Which one is yours? Was your father really John D. Williams or was that permission slip for you to marry underage a forgery by you? Who, by the way, was your mother? No one has a clue what her name was. . . Christian or Surname, for that matter. Where did your parents come from? Did you have any brothers or sisters? Why did you leave Great-Grandma Sarah Anna Margaret Clifford for another woman between 1910 and your death? Who was she? Where did she bury you? Grandma says she was a minister's widow with a daughter. Your Granddaughter Margaret Best East says you are in a cemetery near Jerseyville, IL, but your new woman didn't put up a headstone. When did you die, anyway? Were you really a coal mine inspector in Illinois from 1890-1910 or was that your ego speaking on the censes? The state of Illinois says you didn't work for them. . . Do you have relatives in Missouri? Grandma Florence Williams Best says that you used to take her to visit family in Missouri when she was little. She was born in Martinsburg, Precinct, Audrain County, in 1886, but I can't find any relatives there that might be related. Was your dad really born in France? You said that on the 1900 Census, but not before or after. Is it possible he born in England and just picked up the immigration boat from France? Have you been trying to hide all of these years or is it a natural gift you had? If you stick with me for another 15 years, I'll probably have more questions to ask. . .