My Grandfather's (Sort Of) Secret Past - Epilogue

I finally received my father's high school transcripts from Lakeland High School confirming his enrollment there for four full years. This information, combined with his cousin Elgie's description of Yalaha's one room school house for grades 1 through 8 leads me to believe he attended just the two schools leading to his graduation from high school. While this doesn't prove or disprove the reason(s) Charles G King might have left Yalaha to attend high school in Lakeland, it more or less fits a pattern already established in the Yalaha home of George Johnson King and Agnes King, my paternal grandparents. Both George and Agnes indicated they could read and write according to Federal Census Records. Both of Charles' older sisters left Yalaha in 1910 to attend Massey Business College in Jacksonville, FL; Nellie was 16 years old and Carol was 19 when they left. So it appears to me that education was of some importance to the King family. Therefore, I'm standing with my original conclusion that my father's departure from his Yalaha home into his sister Nellie's Lakeland home was a move designed to continue his education that was further encouraged by the economic situation in the two homes. My grandfather appears to have struggled to keep his Yalaha citrus grove enterprise above water. He might have been hard pressed to keep his 15 year old son at home and support the expense and logistics of his attendance at Leesburg High School at least ten miles distant from Yalaha. Nellie's husband on the other hand was an up and coming businessman in his Lakeland grocery store and in a better position financially to accommodate his young brother-in-law into his home. My lingering doubts about why my father left home so early in life have been put to rest. I don't think he was running away from anything and I don't think his father, my grandfather, had any secret past that would have induced my father to leave. So, My Grandfather's (Sort Of) Secret Past is no secret at all. Just a family decision like we all have to face from time to time and, in my father's case, one that worked out well in the long run as his continued education through college and divinity school allowed him to serve his calling into the clergy.

The sort of secret past door has been closed and no skeletons were observed. But sometimes when one door is closed, another door opens. I've found this to be especially true in genealogy. A descendant of my great grandfather, William Sweet, discovered My Search Goes On blog posting about my grandfather's (sort of) secret past and contacted me. We have never communicated before and didn't know we were "cousins" until he identified himself as the great grandson of my great aunt, Elizabeth (Sweet) Henry. If you want to try to figure out what our relationship is, go right ahead, but I'm satisfied to leave it as "cousin." The photo below is from my files depicting from left to right: George Johnson King, Agnes (Sweet) King, William Sweet, Charles G King (boy standing in front), and Elizabeth (Sweet) Henry, and two more gentlemen I assume are family friends.

My new found cousin has graciously provided me with histories, anecdotes, family tree charts, and photos of the Henry family ancestors, many of whom I never knew existed, and others on which I had   some paper trails I had constructed on Ancestry.com. I've said it before and I stand by my words, when you add photographs, especially IDENTIFIED photographs to family history files it just brings those ancestors back to life. And when you add anecdotes and histories and family testimony to it all, it's like reconstructing a documentary for Frontline on PBS. Not as serious and tragic (we hope) but intriguing nevertheless.

For example, William Sweet's home in Yalaha is something I've searched for on numerous trips to Yalaha. Per my Aunt Nellie in her 1973 autobiography, "the house still stands but is not livable." I've failed to find any trace of it. It was reported (by Nellie) to have been a very impressive structure. My cousin shared a  photograph of the house taken in1946.

Please forgive the bluish hue. My copier ink is running low and I'm waiting for resupply. So now I know what it looks like. Up until now all I knew was where it was located.

Another photo posted below is a formal portrait of Elizabeth Henry's son, William Francis Henry. He was Elgie's brother so that would have made him my father's cousin. He was born in Michigan when Elizabeth Henry was married to John Levi Henry. He and Elgie were graduates of Albion College in Michigan. William later moved to Chicago where he owned and operated a "photo art studio."

There are other photos my cousin has shared with me that are now integrated into my Ancestry.com files. And there are anecdotes that I need to incorporate into the files as well. But a few delicious examples follow:

"Elizabeth Sweet was all set to marry James Henry but he died, so she settled for second best, his brother (John Levi Henry). I don't know if this caused problems with their marriage, but they eventually divorced and John Levi married 23 year old Margaret Clark when he was 49." 


"My maternal grandmother died in the 1918 flu epidemic in Chicago. So my grandfather, William Francis Henry all of a sudden had four small children, 3 boys and a girl, and no wife. He sent my aunt  and my father to Yalaha to live with their grandmother (Elizabeth by now divorced and moved to Yalaha with Elgie) and aunt Elgie. My father begged his father to be taken back to Chicago after a short stay and he relented. My aunt, however, remained there for several years. She said Elgie treated her like hired help while Elgie's daughter laid around and did nothing. My aunt Dorothy just recently died a couple of weeks shy of her 99th birthday and remained bitter her whole like about her stay in Yalaha."


"Elgie, my grandfather (William Francis Henry), father, and great grandmother were spiritualists and my great grandmother was a trance medium and used to give readings at the home in Chicago. Supposedly the spirit of William Sweet showed up at one of these meetings and all he'd say was 'Oh the wasted acres." (I'm wondering if the "wasted acres" might be the citrus grove he and my grandfather farmed in Yalaha...if the business went downhill after William Sweet passed away his spirit might have been upset about it)!

Great stuff!! Thank you cousin!!!!

So one search ends and more go on. To that end, my search goes on.