Much to my delight I found where I had written down the names of the five Neill siblings who appeared in a 1940s era picture that was most likely taken at a family reunion i
n West Point, Hancock County, Illinois.
This post really is not about that.
It’s about a comment that my great-aunt made when she told me who was in the picture. That comment stuck with me even though who the people were did not.
She told me that she was surprised a certain two people were sitting next to each other as they notoriously did not get along. She did not tell me why and I didn’t think to ask. My suspicion was that it had to do with money or an inheritance. Family arguments often revolve one of those two intertwined problems.
But why they didn’t get along really isn’t the point either of this post either.
I probably should include in my notes about the picture that my aunt indicated a certain two people did not get along. My speculation (and it is pure speculation), should not be included. I’m writing a genealogy, not a piece of fiction.
I’ve also decided that it might be a good question to ask when discussing a family picture:
“Are there any two people who you are surprised to see in the same picture or seated next to each other?”
You may be surprised at the answer you get.
4 Responses
My half-aunt disliked her stepmother, my grandmother. She, at 13, had lost first her Mother and then her Father in a two year period. My grandmother found herself a widow after 1 1/2 years of marriage with 3 step-daughters and a 6 week old baby. They battled for the next 5 years when my aunt made my grandmother sell the house her father had build them in town so she could have her share. My grandmother moved back out to her family farm with the youngest child. I never saw them speak or visit in my lifetime. But you ask where are they now? Buried side by side in the cemetery. I was amazed that my aunt chose to be buried next to my grandmother. You never know.
A free cemetery plot can be very attractive…..
No, she actually bought that plot.
Oh. That spoils my guess…unless it was in a cemetery that was much less expensive than others she might find. Or it is -possible- that she got “religion” as they say, and decided to act properly after all?