Searching For Ernest by Bernard A. Handler (December 31, 2014) -- Samaritan Sunday on Wednesday

[Today is a special day in many ways.  It is New Year's Eve day and thus the last day of 2014. Today also marks 24 years since I joined the federal workforce. And today is the second anniversary of the start of this blog. Filiopietism Prism was first published on December 31, 2012 and as the initial post stated, the inspiration to begin was an invitation from Heather Rojo of Nutfield Genealogy blog to submit a guest post to her blog. 

Today is also special because for the first time I have a guest post on The Prism. 

It has been some time since a "Samaritan Sunday" post has appeared here, but even though today is a Wednesday, the story posted below is too good to wait until next Sunday. This is a true story that happened just within the last couple of weeks. It is the kind of heartwarming story that I think is perfect to present as we end one year and ring in a new one full of promise and hope for us all. People like Connie are to be celebrated and appreciated and I am sure you will all enjoy this true tale about serendipity, kismet, and the acts of a kind and generous genealogy Samaritan! 

The author of today's post is Bernard A. Handler, my brother-in-law, and a new genealogy enthusiast who I am encouraging to take the plunge and start his own genealogy blog.]

Ernest F H Grothe and Edith Forbes on their wedding day in 1929.

Searching for Ernest by Bernard A. Handler.

     The drive from the historic riverside town of New Hope, Pennsylvania, to the bucolic borough of Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, takes about an hour.  When I arrived at _ _ _ Haldeman Road and saw the new “estate” home beautifully decorated for the Christmas holiday I thought about turning around and heading back but I figured, “What the hell.” So I pulled into the driveway, parked the car while observing the “Beware of Dog” sign and proceeded to the front door. I rang the bell, stepped back a few feet just in case and watched a middle aged woman’s approach through the glass. She opened the door a foot or so.

     “May I help you?”

     “Yes. My name is Bernie Handler and I’ve been doing some ancestry research. A couple of on-line documents indicated that a cousin of mine, Ernest Grothe, is or was the property owner at this address. His mother, Edith Forbes (1906-1995), is my great aunt.”

     The woman closed the door behind her and stepped out onto the front porch.

     “Well, it was Ernest’s brother Clarke who owned this property, but he died a few years ago. He inherited it from his parents who purchased the house and acreage years ago. We bought the property from his estate, and had the house demolished. It was quite run down. But I did save many of Clarke’s possessions.”

     “You saved his possessions?”

     “Yes, well some of them. My daughter thought I was crazy. She said Clarke’s ghost would haunt us, but I’m on ancestry.com and I knew how much his keepsakes could mean to someone.”

     “You knew that neither Clarke nor his brother ever married or had any children?”

     “Yes.”

     “And you still saved his stuff for four years!  Wow, it’s as if you’ve been waiting for me to show up on your doorstep. Well, here I am.”

     “Won’t you come in? I have to be careful that the cats don’t sneak outside. My name is Connie D_ _ _ _ _ _ _.  Have a seat in the office while I run downstairs and get Clarke’s box.”

      When Connie returned she had an 18” by 24” clear plastic storage container with a white lid in her arms. She placed the box on the desk.

     “Before Clarke’s house was torn down his brother came out here. We told him to take anything that he wanted, but he said he wasn’t interested. The only thing he took was a bottle of vinegar and a case of lightbulbs.”

     “So he was a bit batty, heh?”

     “Yes, definitely a bit batty. He had food stains on his shirt.”

     “Hoo boy.”

     “Well, let me show you Clarke’s parents’ wedding photo. Beautiful, isn’t it? There are lots of other photos I’m sure you’ll like. And here is his father’s 1924 diploma from Gettysburg College, mechanical engineering. And in this shoebox are his military memorabilia including his dog tags. I think he was a lieutenant.”

     And then Connie showed me a newspaper clipping, “Six Sisters in Happy Reunion” from Friday, June 26, 1964, which included a photograph of the first time all six sisters had been together in 38 years. The caption contained the names of Edith and her five sisters whose married names I had not known. Holy smoke, the names and faces of my great grandfather Thomas Forbes’s (1854-1924) daughters!

     I thanked Connie profusely, and before I departed we exchanged phone numbers and email addresses.

     On the way out I asked her about the “Beware of Dog” sign on the fence. With a twinkle in her eyes she laughed, “Oh, we just put that there to keep strangers away.”

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The 1929 photograph of Edith Forbes and her husband Ernest F H Grothe was provided by Bernard A. Handler through the kind and generous acts of a true genealogy Samaritan known only as "Connie D."

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Copyright 2014, Bernard A. Handler

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