The other day, while seeking to resolve whether an ancestor's first name was "Margaret" or Eliza" I came across some unusual "genealogical baggage." As "she" is the mother of my direct line I've wanted to be more than accurate about her name. However, I'll admit I've been 'floundering about' a bit in search of the truth to it all.
So I decided I'd better get serious. It was time for me to "fan out" and see what words of wisdom the records of "Margaret's" (or "Eliza's") other offspring (outside of my own direct line) might have to offer on the subject of their mother's name.
It was about then that a strange feeling came over me. It was a feeling that I was remembering "things" that weren't my actual memories. Yes, we all know I see dead people... It was one of those "half-heard" stories that sit in the back of your mind. Did somebody tell me that once??? I was beginning to feel that whoever "Margaret" or "Eliza" were, they had more to say.
It became clear that "they" or their progeny weren't done with me yet.
*****
For the sake of simplicity, I'll call her "Margaret." (I am convinced that the name "Eliza" is an error) She was "Miss Margaret Fox" and she married Civil War-era music teacher Aaron Merritt Clark. I descend from their daughter Eveline (Clark) Wilcox through my maternal grandfather Frank White Lee. I have written about some of Margaret and Aaron's other progeny before, and about their "bent" for a talent in music and show business. Their many "show business" related descendants include the wife of famous "negro delineator" Luke Schoolcraft, music man Horace G. "Billy" Wilcox, actress Dani Lynn, and perhaps more notably television actor Larry Wilcox. (Not to mention my Aunt Jerri who can play just about any instrument she puts her mind to.)
Indeed, the extended branches of my Clark family show a constant proclivity to the performing arts. (Many of the clan were also champion rodeo performers - another talent that has completely passed me by) So I guess it should come as no surprise that some of my own genealogical baggage, indeed some of my own unconscious bias, might have come down through the experiences of "Margaret's" other progeny, and perhaps even through children of hers that "genealogically" I could have never possibly have "met" in this life or the last. Did I mention what a curious feeling all this was?
*****
Growing up, I've often wondered if my grandfather Frank White Lee's admonishment to "Stay out of the basement or the Indians will get you" was formulated by his own unconscious bias or his own genealogical baggage? What were the childhood stories that he only "half heard?" It seems a curious statement and a near testament to protect his own progeny. I realize that it was the 1960s and that life wasn't always politically correct, but still, what was the source of his statement? Had he had "Indians in the basement" once before? (LOL) I began to wonder about my own biases (unconscious or otherwise) that I might have inherited from him. How curious they are! How do they relate to my own life? Indeed, how is it that any of us are able to haul around all of this "extra stuff" - all of which constitutes one heck of a whole lot of "genealogical baggage?"
It was about then that I took another look at one of those "last aunts" who always seemed to get away from me. I decided to "re-check out" the family of "Aaron and "Margaret's" other daughter, Fannie Amelia Clark, my "third great-aunt."
Fannie Clark's (later Mrs. Lewis H. Baker) relationship with her sister, "my grandfather's great-grandmother" Eveline Clark (later Mrs. Hiram L. Wilcox), was easily re-confirmed in the old newspaper articles of the day:
.jpeg)
Born in New York, Fannie (Clark) Baker was, like most of her siblings, a nomadic nineteenth-century pioneer survivor. Fannie's life with her husband "Big Lew" Baker was a hard one. While Fannie's life was typical for the times - it is still an interesting one. It also appears to be pretty telling with regard to the source of some of that "genealogical baggage" - if not the exact source of my grandfather's admonishment to "stay out of the basement" lest some innocuous native indigenous harm befall me. Is it a source of unconscious bias? I wonder.
Fannie Clark and Lew Baker had a large family. One of their sons, Lew, Jr., has an interesting tale to tell and appears to have become an integral part of that very baggage genealogical or otherwise.
The long story short of it is that subsequent to having his family burned out of their home several times over little Lew Baker Jr., (subsequently known as"Johnny" Baker) was "fostered out" although never given up for adoption by "Aunt Fannie" and "Big Lew." After the multiple devastations of their farm, Fannie and Lew fell into difficult financial troubles. They could ill afford to raise their children, and like many families of that time frame were forced to welcome any financial "placement" for their kids.
It was about then that some guy named William Frederick Cody otherwise known of as "Buffalo Bill" came to town.
At that time, "Buffalo Bill" was arguably one of the most famous people on the planet. He'd recently lost his own son too, and while out on tour in Nebraska happened to meet "Aunt Fannie and Uncle Lew's" boy, "Johnny." Johnny was star-struck with Buffalo Bill, and, apparently, Buffalo Bill took an immediate "shine" to the boy who was nearly the same age as his deceased son. "Johnny" Baker also happened to be a very good shot. It was decided that "Johnny Baker" just might have a career with Buffalo's Bill's Wild West Show, and the rest, as they say, is history. "Johnny" Baker went on to have a great career as a part of the show and also became the quasi "adopted" son of Buffalo Bill.
Say what!?
"Cousin Johnny" - who would be my great-great grandfather's first cousin (and cousin to all that first generation of the Wyoming Wilcox men) had an amazing life touring with Buffalo Bill. He traveled with the Wild West Show all throughout America and Europe. Johnny was a friend and contemporary of Annie Oakley, and if newspaper accounts are correct, Annie taught him some of her "sharpshooter" techniques. There are statements made by his widow that "Cousin Johnny" entertained the King and Queen of England, and that "Cousin Johnny" presented one of his favorite rifles to Archduke Ferdinand whose assassination is what triggered World War I. (Shame on you Johnny!)
I don't know about you, but I'm starting to see a pattern here. (Duh.)
.jpeg)
I guess the curious part of this tale is how it got so lost in the annals of my family's history. Did it provide some foundation for my grandfather's unwittingly unconscious bias against native Americans or perhaps even the performing arts? (Say what?)
How is it that my grandfather never said that his grandfather's first cousin was Buffalo Bill's foster son and toured the world with The Wild West Show?
Indeed, how do you forget something like that?
In truth, you don't. It just gets buried in all the genealogical baggage. I found it in a note from Diana Kelly - a sweet lady who married a Clark/Wilcox descendant. Her information (as it was handed down to her) looks like this:
So the "Buffalo Bill" and The Wild West Show story of one "Johnny Baker," whose mother's sister was "Aunt Eveline" Wilcox - was true.
We just didn't know it anymore.
Like most "genealogical baggage it just gets put up in the attic and shuffled around between generations until it starts to become some sort of an 'unconscious bias' that nobody can explain. I guess my grandfather never did have "Indians in the basement." However, as a little kid, he must have "half-heard" the tales from his grandfather and cousins, and yes, from his Great-Grandmother Wilcox about family farms being burned out by "the savages."
He must have heard the tales of a Clark/Wilcox cousin who entertained Kings and Queens. How could he believe any of it?
Maybe it just 'lies' in wait. I guess the truth often does that.
Baggage check, please?
END
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.