Buzzword BROWN

After all this waiting, wondering, hoping... we finally (and I mean after 80 years) have contact with the Browns again. Words are feeble to express the joy and gratitude at being able to look on the face of our Grandma Gertrude. We still don't know what happened between her and Bob Stewart, way back in 1918, but we can build on where time left off and enjoy the society of our kin once again.

If you have been waiting to see Gertrude Vernona Brown's face , check her post! Please don't trouble yourself to print these off the web, we've much better quality scans.

If you would like to see her parents, go to theirs; George W. Brown and Josephine R. Krauser.
Last night my brother Kyle and I met just a few of the living relatives of this family and was it a joy! We were up waaaay past our bed times looking at pictures, telling stories and tasting Croatian Apple Strudel after we had already savored one of the best meals I have had in a long time. Even the eggplant! It is strangely wonderful how families can be totally separate and intertwined at the same time. Learning how close we lived to each other, the schools we attended, etc...

There is so much more I'll have to write about this. Let me see if I can outline the tangible events that led to this:

Jeanette Stewart had fleeting memories of her mother and a miniscule amount of "facts", her name, she was born in Washington, she was a nurse and died as a result of radiation from Xrays or something like that in the 20's or 30's.

In 1988 Jeanette's oldest daughter (?) sent for a birth certificate for Gertrude in Washington State and then to Washington DC. DC actually had it.

In 2006 and 2007 a granddaughter or two found census records relating to the family.

In 2007 Jeanette's granddaughter made (one of many posts and inquiries from several grandchildren) a post on Rootsweb that got noticed by someone who happened to have access to the archives of the Washington Post, thereby unleashing a controlled flood of new information.

This lead to more census perusal, more vital records searching, more cemetery visits... Two death certificates were obtained for Gertrude's brother and her niece which then led the following day to a conversation with Gertie's living nephew, Jim.

Lost? Well call me up and we can discuss it...