When the Saints Go Marching In

Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Lord, how I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in

Based on what I've learned about my grandmother in the last 48 hours, I wonder if that's a song she sang to repent.

I have discovered that my dear sweet grandma wasn't as dear and as sweet as she portrayed herself in her latter years. As a matter of fact, she had quite a reputation in a small Alabama town back in the 1920s. After her husband died, she allegedly found comfort in the arms of other men and ended up having two babies by two different fathers---in addition to the four children she already had.

She took her secrets to her grave---leaving only the gossip about her life to be passed down from generation to generation.

If you want to research your family history, a site I recommend is FamilySearch.org

The Genealogy Search Continues

On Friday I received a letter from the Alabama Office of Vital Records. This was in response to my $35.50 request to receive a copy of my dad's birth certificate so I could see who my grandmother listed as the father.

Before opening the letter I said a little prayer asking God to prepare me for whatever I might read.

This is what the letter said:

CERTIFICATE OF FAILURE TO FIND

STATE OF ALABAMA
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH

CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS
OFFICE OF VITAL RECORDS

August 4, 2010

I certify that a diligent search of the records in my custody has been completed for the years 1920 - 1934, and no certificate of live birth was found to exist for LEWIS MOTON MAHONE, born July 22, 1926 in Macon County, Alabama, to SAMANTHA CASTON

Signed by Catherine Molchan Donald
State Registrar of Vital Statistics

Another dead end.

Secrets and Lies

On Sunday, while on Facebook, I was befriended by someone with the same last name. It piqued my curiosity so I explored his page and discovered a "Mahone" family reunion coming up in August. How cool, I thought since I've never been to a family reunion on my father's side. But first, I had to confirm that I was related to this group of Mahones.

What I discovered in the hours following that had my head spinning and left more questions than answers.

I called my cousin in Maryland. She dropped a bombshell. My dad wasn't really a Mahone because the man I had known as "Grandpa Joe" wasn't really his father or my grandfather. Joseph Mahone apparently died about six weeks after my Uncle James was born---and my Uncle James was born nine years before my dad was born.

I will admit that about 30 years ago my Uncle James did mention something about him raising my daddy because he didn't have a daddy but Uncle James liked to drink so I heard what he said but wasn't really listening.

The journalist in me now wishes I had been doing more than listening and that I had grilled him on what the truth was.

I have no idea what my daddy knew or didn't know because he never talked about a father. Whatever he did know he took with him to his grave when he passed away in 1983.

That secret and whatever lies are associated with my dad's birth have also been buried with my grandmother and her siblings because they are all now dead as well.

What in the world could've been going in in 1925-26?