The Mystery that Started It All (part 5)

 

Note:  This is a continuation from previous posts.  To start back at part 1, click here.

On the evening of May 19, 2022, I was browsing the newly-released, newly-indexed 1950 census records on Ancestry.  I had already found all four of my grandparents, several of my great-aunts and uncles, two sets of great-grandparents, and one set of great-great-grandparents.  Because finding out more about my Grandma Eva and her first husband is always sitting somewhere in the back of my mind when I am doing family history research, I had a thought — I wonder if I can find G.W. Bryant in the 1950 census.  Maybe I could finally find out where he went after he left my grandmother and they divorced.

The Tragic Story of the Storays

In my recent research on the Garrett family, I came across a family situation that quite literally brought me to tears.  It is truly one of the saddest family stories I have run across in ten years of research.  It all started with my research on the descendants of my 2nd great-grandparents, Nelson Alvis Garrett and Mamie Elizabeth Henderson.  This includes my great-grandfather, Luther Earl ("L.E.") Garrett, his siblings and each of their families.  Grandpa Garrett had a younger brother named William Rufus Garrett.  "Uncle Rufus" died at age 59 on September 20, 1973, four years to the day before I was born.  From what I have heard from several family members, he was a rather - ahem - unsavory character.  Apparently Uncle Rufus was quite a drinker, which contributed to several amusing (and some not-so-amusing) family stories.  We'll talk about Uncle Rufus later, but this particular post isn't about him - it is about his daughter and grandchildren.