Poison Branches

by Cynthia Raleigh

  “And there is no 1890 census for this area, not even a surviving fragment, which is exactly the one I’d like to have a look at.”

  Nina asked, “I meant to ask you, why is there no census at all from 1890?”

  “It was a comedy of errors, at best. The 1890 census was the only one since census taking began in 1790 that did not require all parts of the schedules to first be filed in the local county clerks’ offices before being sent to Washington. The original census is said to have escaped damage in a fire in 1896 that did destroy the special schedules. It was a close call, and one you think would have given the people responsible for the census a heads up. By 1921, the original and only existing copy of the 1890 census was stored on shelves in the basement in the Commerce Building.”

  “And then what happened?”

  “Another fire started – makes you wonder, doesn’t it - and this time the census records did receive fire damage, but not in its entirety by any means. The most significant damage was caused by the water used to put out the fire. Some of it was even under water. In 1933, there had been years of requests from historians, genealogists, and anyone interested in restoring the documents to obtain the remaining records for salvage. They wanted a dedicated storage facility to be built for the safekeeping of unique and irreplaceable records. Unbelievably, the 1890 census was quietly destroyed anyway by the Department of Commerce, no explanation given. Ironically, Congress authorized their destruction only one day after President Hoover laid the cornerstone for the National Archives, where they would have been destined for salvage, copying, and storage. It makes me angry and sick all over again to think about it.” Perri pursed her lips and shook her head, hands on hips.

  “Back then, Congress had no more interest in the people’s wishes than they do now,” stated Nina.

  “Pretty much.”

  Cora stopped in the doorway, “Sorry girls, there’s no death certificate for Jonathon Blackwell. There is one for his wife, Susanna, but she had married again and her name was Susanna Groves. She died in 1926. Patricia never requested it, but Amy did, just about six weeks ago, so I pulled it.”

  “Thank you, Cora. Can you make a copy of that for us?” Perri gestured at the certificate in Cora’s hand. “We are going to call Sarah Vines and let her know we are finished. Is it ok to use this room to go over this with her?”

  “You bet.”

  ***

  Sarah sat down eagerly to hear what Perri and Nina had to say. “What do you think?”

  Perri took a deep breath, “Well, there isn’t anything that really jumps out at me as a motive for murder. Most families do have a few quick marriages and dubious relationships, but…”

  “Yes,” Sarah leaned forward.

  “I don’t know if this has any significance at all.”

  “Doesn’t matter, I want to hear it. You never know what might matter or lead us to something else.”

  “Ok.” Perri arranged Nina’s and Patricia’s notes next each other and tried to summarize as much as possible. “We know from Patricia’s notes, the documents she had requested here, and that Amy requested just six weeks ago, that Patricia was doing research on her family tree. The Clerk’s office requires a form to be completed by each person for each document they want to see or get a copy of, which means there’s a paper trail of what she requested. Doing genealogy in itself is not at all out of the ordinary, but she seemed to be very heavily focused on her father’s line only, with no mention whatsoever of her maternal side.” Sarah nodded.

  “Patricia had attached photos of various family member’s funerals and gravesites to her notes about them. It isn’t unusual for families to keep photos like these. Most of them are contemporary with the time of the funeral or burial, showing the actual casket or flowers piled onto the gravesite.”

  “I see,” said Sarah. “You say most of the photos were contemporary, and the ones that aren’t? Was she out in cemeteries taking photos?”

  “The contemporary photos were from the 1960s and 1970s; the colors are yellowing, the way prints from that time tend to do. Other than those, it looks like she downloaded and printed a couple of photos from Graves Online.” Seeing Sarah’s expression, Perri said, “There’s a notation on the back of those printouts citing the person who originally took them and a Memorial number. I checked each of the memorials, and they do match. Those were of more recent graves; her mother being the most recent and an Uncle in 2006.”

  “Graves Online?” Sarah still looked perplexed.

  “It’s a website that features online memorials for the deceased. Usually the memorial is created by a family member, but there are always those numbers people out there, or “Collectors” as they are called, who create memorials daily for everyone in the obituaries or all the stones in a cemetery that don’t have one yet.”

  “Why?”

  Perri shrugged, “I guess they find satisfaction in their high number counts. Don’t get me wrong, most people do a lot of work for no reason other than to help, but not everyone does. The numbers people tend to prize how many memorials they manage, how many photos they have uploaded, the amount of requests they get for transfer. Some of those people tend to be resistant to transfer memorials to actual family members of the deceased who would like to manage the memorial themselves; it affects their numbers. Just like anything, the majority of people are doing this for the sake of memorializing their loved ones and/or to provide publicly available documentation for people doing genealogy who don’t live in the area where an ancestor was buried and wouldn’t otherwise have access to a photo. Unfortunately, there are some who use it as a personal ego trip. At any rate, the site has developed into a wealth of information for genealogists; although everyone should use it as a guide, still do their own research, and not take everything posted as fact. There are plenty of mistakes made in the information.”

  “Ok, Patricia had been on this site looking up these memorials for her family and printing the photos?”

  “Yes, it appears so,” answered Perri. “In going through her notes and comparing them to the certificates she requested, she may have been trying to validate the birth/death of each generation back through her father’s line. Photos of gravestones are widely considered solid documentation for dates.” Perri turned the list of family members toward Sarah. “As you can see here, Patricia started with herself, at the top, and worked her way backward. There are no notes for relatives earlier than Isaiah Blackwell, her Great-Great-Great Grandfather, that’s normally referred to as 3x grandfather. She stopped there for one of any number of reasons: she may not have been able to find any record of Isaiah’s father and was still looking, she died before she got that far, or she wasn’t interested beyond Isaiah.”

  “Ok.” Sarah waited for more.

  “Well, “Perri paused and thumbed through the certificates, “Sorry, I feel like I’m conjecturing too much if I…”

  “No, please do. That’s what I need. You have done this type of research before and have much better insights into what someone might be looking for in these documents than I would.”

  Perri continued, “Even though Patricia made notes about Isaiah Blackwell, born in 1832 in Todd County, KY, her focus seemed to be centered more on his son, Jonathon Blackwell, who was her Great-Great Grandfather, or 2x grandfather. He was born in 1856, also in Todd County. He married Susannah Martin in 1882, they had two children: Seth Blackwell in 1883, who was Patricia’s Great Grandfather, and Naomi Blackwell, born in 1885.”

  Sarah said, “Ok. We know who they were, and I take it she had birth and death certificates for those people?”

  Perri continued, “There was no reliable form of standardized birth certificate in 1832 and not for some time after that. There could have been a document, but most likely it would have been a birth register rather than a certificate as we know them. However, if there was one, she hadn’t found it. Many times, birth dates or years are found in family Bibles or in other records and are written by family members, noth
ing official. The earliest birth certificate Patricia had a copy of was from 1914, when her grandfather, Nathan Blackwell was born.”

  “She did request a death certificate for Jonathon Blackwell, but none was found. Cora checked again today and there isn’t one here. The same day, Patricia requested a Will or Estate documents, for Jonathan and there were none of those either. That’s reflected in her notes. She commented that she couldn’t find anything with a death date or any information at all after 1885, which is when she found a birth registry for his daughter Naomi and he was named as the father. Of course, the 1890 census would have been a great help, if we had it, it would be crucial since censuses are only done every ten years and there is a gap of twenty years from 1880 to 1900.”

  “Let’s get the census if it isn’t here. Where can we get it?” asked Sarah

  After Perri had explained the lack of an 1890 census to Sarah, she continued with the notes that Patricia had made. “She made a lot of notes about her 2x Grandmother, Susannah. Evidently Susannah remarried in 1891, here in Logan County, to Albert Groves. She was then twenty-nine years old and the children were six and eight. It would seem that Jonathon either died or they divorced, although there is no divorce record or documentation of one. They must not have just separated because Susannah was able to marry again.”

  Perri put down Patricia’s notes and picked up those Nina had made. “We went on the internet to look at census records, just to get some idea of who was where in 1880. The Groves family was a neighbor of the Martins, Susannah’s parents. The 1870 and 1880 census show Susannah in the household of her parents, she was 9 and 19 on those census records. Albert Groves was seven years older than Susannah, born in 1854, he was also still in his parents’ household in 1870 but in his own home in 1880, age 26 and married with three children. We didn’t look for documentation for it, unless you want us to, but Albert’s wife probably died sometime after 1880, leaving him with the three children. Susannah’s husband either died or they divorced sometime between 1885 and 1890, leaving her with two children. Susannah and Albert married and stayed married until they both died. There is a death certificate for each of them: Susannah in 1926 at age 65 and Albert in 1918 at age 64.”

  Sarah looked at Perri and Nina distractedly, “So…what do you think this…could this mean anything?”

  Perri said, “Well, I think it means something, I just don’t know if it has any bearing on Amy’s death. At any rate, although Patricia documented births, deaths, marriages of her more recent family, which is easier to do of course, she really seemed to have spent more time and effort on Jonathan and Susannah.” Perri was thoughtful for a moment, then said, “I really do have the impression Patricia was targeting Jonathan; she was looking for something, something specific.”

  Sarah asked, “But you don’t think she found it?”

  “I can’t tell that from her notes, her notes don’t indicate that she did, but if she did find what she was looking for, she may have stopped writing things down. And about the notes…the only handwriting in her notes that differs from what is apparently her own, may have belonged to Amy. The additions clearly appear to be added at a later time; they are in a different hand, different ink, are a bit crammed between other lines with arrows pointing to Patricia’s notes.”

  Perri stood up and leaned over the table, “For instance, here,” and she pointed to a notation made in black ink in the right margin next to Patricia’s notes, which were in blue ink.” “Right here, Patricia made a note that she couldn’t find a death record, or anything else, on Jonathon Blackwell, at least not in Logan County. The added notation, presumably from Amy, says, ‘Search other counties for death record, new marriage record, Equity case.’ It sounds like Amy was giving Patricia ideas on how to find out more about Jonathon.”

  “I wonder why she was intent on getting information about a distant ancestor. It was such a long time ago.” Sarah said, mostly to herself.

  “It could be simply an interest in her family history; a lot of people do enjoy learning about their family. And since he seems to have disappeared, she may have been intrigued with the story.”

  “It could be, Sarah said, thoughtfully, “but somehow that doesn’t fit with her personality. Not that someone can’t change or have interests no one suspects, she could have. But my inclination is to look for another reason.”

  “I will say, that inclination is supported by the fact that she seems to focus more on Jonathan than on his father, Isaiah. If she were trying to go back through the family line, I think she would have been more actively searching for Isaiah. She did have some information on his wife, Judith Blackwell.”

  Sarah pointed at the stack of remaining documents on the table, “Was there anything in the court records that might point us in the right direction?”

  Reading from Nina’s notations, Perri said, “There was a claim filed by Albert Groves for a guardianship allowance on February 18, 1887, in Logan County. There are also Guardianship documents, from February 27, 1887, making Albert Groves the Guardian of two Wards: Seth Blackwell, age 4 and Naomi Blackwell, age 2.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Well, it indicates that Jonathan Blackwell is definitely no longer in the picture. The courts didn’t assign a guardian unless the father was absent, for whatever reason. It looks like whatever that reason was, he wasn’t expected to come back. Susannah’s children were made Wards of Albert Groves. Albert was awarded $7.50 per month toward the children’s care, $4.00 for Seth and $3.50 for Naomi. Albert and Susannah married about a year and a half later, on September 22, 1888.”

  “But the documents assigning Albert Groves as the Guardian came after the claim for funds? Why is that?”

  Perri replied, “Albert was probably already sheltering and providing for the children, and maybe even Susannah. Since he and Susannah weren’t married at that time, Albert filed the claim to obtain funds to provide for the children. Once he appeared in court and gave his account, the court awarded him the funds and followed up with legal guardianship nine days later. Once they were married, the guardianship allowance would have stopped.”

  “I see.” Sarah sat without speaking. She looked up at Perri and asked, “What’s next? Do you think you can find out more about Jonathan Blackwell?”

  Perri responded, “I can try, but we do already know there are no further records on him in this Clerk’s office. Cora checked for any type of document and there was nothing.”

  “Ok, if this was your research, what would you do next?”

  Perri considered, “I probably would check to make sure there were no further records for Susannah, either under the surname Blackwell or Groves, which might contain information about Jonathan. Also, I’d check the records in neighboring Todd County. Patricia’s notes indicate Isaiah and Jonathan were both born in Todd County. Maybe Jonathan went back there for some reason.”

  “Are you willing to spend the time to do that?” asked Sarah hopefully.

  “Sure, I’d be glad to. I’m feeling pretty invested in this project now too. I want to find out what was going on, if anything,” answered Perri.

  Nina added, “Me too. I’m good here for another couple of days, but then I’ll have to rescue my husband and go back to work.”

  “Thank you both. You are probably getting headaches from squinting at these records all day.”

  “I’m up for checking on any more records for Susannah today in this office. We’re already here and we’ve already found some records up to her death in 1926. There probably won’t be many more, if any.”

  “Ok, then. I need to get back out there. We haven’t located Rodney Sauer yet; no one has seen him since his display at the tavern Saturday night.” Sarah stood up and got her car keys out of the zippered pocket of her purse. “Which reminds me, I do have to ask you both where you were Saturday evening and night.”

  Nina volunteered, “We ate at the Arrogant Rogue and then went back to the Crow’s Rest. We didn’t leave again. Alice may
have noticed us come back, but she wasn’t in the house.”

  “Thanks. I’ll check with her. Talk with you later, call if you find anything,” Sarah said as she left.

  Perri and Nina looked at each other. “Coffee break then back to the grindstone?” asked Nina. “You got it,” answered Perri.

  ***

  Sarah slid into the bucket seat, buckled up, and turned the air to high. Back at the police station, George Wilcox dialed Sarah’s cell phone number with a shaky hand. “Sarah Vines,” came the abrupt answer.

  “Sarah,” George was a little out of breath. “You need to get out to the Point at Lake Inola, now.”

  “George? You alright? What is it?”

  “They found Rodney.”

  Chapter 23

  Sarah slapped the mobile light on Subaru’s roof, and mashed the accelerator to the floor with mostly urgency but part exasperation. “Damn, damn!” In her head, she ran through George’s directions to the little-used road that dead-ended at Lake Inola. “A dead-end road off a dead-end road. Frickin’ perfect!” She realized, though, that she was glad it wasn’t one of the main roads around the lake or they would have a lot of onlookers in the way, trampling over tracks and any evidence remaining in the area.

  “This is not helping!” Sarah yelled at the universe. She slammed the flat of her hand on the steering wheel, hitting a nerve and making part of her thumb and next two fingers go numb. “Crap.” She flexed her hand, “Ok, calm down,” she coached herself as she sped up the highway.

  ***

  After making a too-fast turn off the highway, Sarah followed, as swiftly as she could, the narrow, paved road to the narrow gravel road to the even narrower dirt road. She practically skidded to a stop behind Brett’s patrol car, clouds of loose dust rising in the still, humid air. As she clambered out of her car, another patrol car pulled in behind her and two officers got out.