Reorganization

The other day I decided that my tree was getting very unwieldy as it continued to grow. So I made a decision to create a series of trees, each focusing on a different "branch" of the family, beginning each with a grandparent. Since I had no idea what I was doing when I started (and really, pretty much still don't'), I'm pretty much trying to start over and document everything. No more assuming that what I find on other people's trees at Ancestry.com has been researched and is accurate.

Doing this has led to a greater knowledge and appreciation of some of my great and great-great aunts and uncles. Yesterday I learned that my second great grand uncle (that is the relationship to me that Ancestry gives him. I would call him my great great uncle) was bludgeoned to death with a crowbar in 1949. Before I started this research, I had no idea that this man even existed, let alone that he'd been brutally murdered in his home when he was 75. As far as I've been able to find, the case was never solved. It was attributed to a robbery and although they once had two men in custody for it (including a "relative of the victim"), they were released when lie dectector tests cleared them.

Maybe I watch too many crime shows on tv because what really intrigued me when I was looking for newspaper stories was that fact that a "close friend" and neighbor of his was fished out of a river the day after great-great uncle Oscar was murdered. Part of me can't help wondering if the two are somehow related. Was the drowning also a result of foul play? Did the neighbor somehow see or witness something he shouldn't have? Was he somehow complicit in the attack on Oscar and couldn't live with himself afterwards? And the part that lives in 2012 and is well aware of the violence that can be perpetrated on people with alternative lifestyles even today wonders if Oscar, who never married, was perhaps gay.

Was the "close friend" perhaps a lover? He was missing from the time Oscar was beaten until his body was pulled from the river the day after Oscar died (three days after the attack). By all accounts, Oscar was fairly reclusive, retired to bed early and padlocked his door. The sheriff did not believe he would have opened the door for someone he didn't know. More disturbing, in my mind, is the fact that he was found wearing only a shirt and socks. What happened to the rest of his clothes? If this were TV, somehow I could have the case reopened by the cold case squad and they would have it solved by the end of the hour. I guess I just wonder about the absolute brutality that seems to be involved if it was nothing more than a simple robbery. But then, I guess you never know what might go awry in even the simplest of plans by thieves.

In any case, Uncle Oscar, I hope you had some enjoyment in your life before it was so brutally ended. If you were gay, I'm sorry you lived in a time where such things were kept hidden and deemed an embarassment. Everyone deserves love in their life, no matter where it comes from. So if you weren't gay, I hope you experienced love at some point.