The Mystery of Lena Stanley Myers – Solved

We think. Over six years ago one of my hubby’s high school friends asked for help in finding out who her grandfather was. Her father was adopted, and he let the family know that he never wanted to know who is birth parents were. Years after his death, his children did want to know.

Our friend’s brother had a couple of documents that got us started, but it took a number of months (years) and much searching to figure out that the mother – Lena Stanley of Trumansburg, New York, but we could never be sure who the father was. We found out that Lena married Cornell prep school student Joseph Myers of Des Moines, IA, and that they had took a steamer to Texas for their honeymoon. These events were reported in the newspapers.

When Joseph’s father found out he had married, Joseph was pulled out of Cornell in Ithaca, NY and sent to Harvard. A year and a half later Lena had a child – our friend’s father.

The adoption situation of this child created questions. But the bigger question was – Who was the father of the baby born in 1906? We developed a number of scenarios.

The baby was born in February 1906; Lena and Joseph’s annulment proceedings were in the fall of that year. The annulment documents state nothing about a child. Instead, Joseph agreed that the marriage had never been consummated (remember the newspaper articles about their honeymoon cruise), and the reason was he was being treated for venereal disease at the time of their marriage. The annulment took place in a county away from where the couple would have been known. So many twists and turns to this story.

The mystery continued all these years, until recently when our friend’s brother had his DNA tested through Ancestry.com and someone contacted him with a close match. Our friend received an email recently with a photo attached – Here is your grandfather!

The man identified as the father is Gonzalo Martinez-Fortun, a Cuban, possibly in the area attending Cornell University. The census shows him living in Trumansburg, New York a couple of blocks from Lena’s residence. Gonzalo returned to Cuba 1 July 1905, eight months before the baby was born. His family suspects he never knew Lena was pregnant.

Our friend sent a photo of her father, and a photo of Gonzalo, and we can see the similarities.

And so another mystery solved. It took years of research and the miracle of DNA to finally five our friend the closure she desired.When Gonzalo's eldest grandchild was told of the story, she now wants to come to New York and meet everybody. What fun that would be.

For more on this story, scroll down and click on the links to Lena Stanley of blogs written In February and April 2011.

Shopping Saturday - Going to Trumansburg

I wish I knew this family ...

In the early 1940s Maude and Merritt Agard lived in a house on the Jacksonville Road, halfway between Gorge Road and White School House Road (later Agard Road) in Jacksonville, New York. I believe this photo was taken alongside that house, though I have no idea who this family is.  The wagon is labeled: "Sold by The Biggs Co. Trumansburg, N.Y." and the family appears to be dressed for a day in town, or possibly on their way to church.  

The Biggs Company was located on Main Street in Trumansburg and sold everything from harnesses, nuts and bolts to fine china. Reminiscent of Rothchild's in Ithaca when I was growing up.

For those who remember the large horse mannequin in the window of Biggs, he now safely resides in the Ulysses Historical Society building. 

Amanuensis Monday - Shaw-Burdick Engagment

While visiting my sister-in-law last weekend I noticed she had a memorial booklet for the celebration of the lives of Eleanor Edith Burdick and Stanley Wilson Shaw.  This couple interested me because they met in 1937 at Sheldrake Point on Cayuga Lake, one of my favorite spots, and just a few miles from where I grew up.

Upon Eleanor’s passing in 2007, her daughters went through the family documents and found a number of letters written by their parents to each other during the 1940s and 1950s.  The booklet is a beautiful tribute.  The engagement announcement for Eleanor and Stanley was included:

Engagements

Shaw-Burdick

Mr. and Mrs. Horace Burdick of Ithaca RD4 announce the engagement of their daughter Miss Eleanor E. Burdick to Stanley W. Shaw, son of Mr. and Mrs. Seneca Shaw of Trumansburg. No date has been set for the wedding.  [Wedding occurred 31 August 1940]

The Saga of Joseph Myers and Lena Stanley continues...

Mrs. Joseph Myers now Miss Stanley

Ithaca Journal, September 10, 1906

Trumansburg Free Press and Sentinel, September 15, 1906

A Trumansburg lady, who for a time was Mrs. Joseph Myers, of Trumansburg, has resumed her maiden name and is again Miss Lena Stanley. The annulment of her marriage to Joseph Myers took place in Supreme Court in Owego last week before Justice Sewell. The marriage of Miss Stanley to Joseph Myers, occurred in Ludlowville, November 19, 1904. Miss Stanley is the daughter of a Trumansburg barber and studied music at the Conservatory in this city. She is a tall blond and of striking appearance. Joseph Myers was a student in the University Preparatory School. He became infatuated with Miss Stanley and one evening they went to Ludlowville where they were married by the Rev. Mr. Humphreys.  They returned immediately and left for Texas by steamer from New York.  Mayer’s (sic) father, who is a wealthy manufacturer residing in Denver, Colorado, read of his son’s marriage through the Associated Press dispatches and hastened to Ithaca. Mr. and Mrs. Myers returned to Ithaca after only a week’s absence and the happy bridegroom was taken to Cambridge, Mass by his father to enter Harvard. Mrs. Myers sometime ago began an action for annulment of the marriage, claiming fraud. She was represented in court by A.P. Osborn of Trumansburg. Young Myers was in court and made no defense. He was represented by Attorney William N. Noble of this city.  No alimony was mentioned when the annulment was granted by the court. Miss Stanley still resides in Trumansburg.

So…

How powerful was Joseph’s father?

Was it he who needed to see public announcement of the annulment?

Again, no mention of the child born in February 1906.

Perjury most probably was committed by this couple in the annulment documents.

The Myers-Stanley saga continues.

Sentimental Sunday - Christmas Memories

Mary and Skip Nunn abt 1956

Christmas at our Taughannock Boulevard home never varied.  Our tree was cut from the back woodlot, and then decorated with a few ornaments, popcorn strings, and lots of silver tinsel. The best part were the candle-shaped lights that bubbled up when heated.  A simple cardboard crèche was put out – one I still have and use.  On Christmas morning my brother Skip and I woke early, sneaking down the stairs to see if Santa had come. Once Mom and Dad were up, we were allowed to open our stockings before heading out to 8:00 a.m. Mass at St. James in Trumansburg, NY.  Using our negotiating skills, we finally got them to agree to let us open our stocking plus one present before church. Back home, our grandparents, Merritt and Maude Agard, and great-grandmother Laura Hardenbrook arrived for Christmas breakfast. Excitement mounted as we waited to open presents.  Santa always did well by us. You can see in the above photo that I had received a new carrying case for my Ginny doll while Skip proudly shows off his new bow and arrow.  We kept busy playing with our new toys until later in the day when we drove two miles north to our grandparents’ house for a family dinner that included aunts, uncles and cousins. 

In raising our own family we developed new Christmas traditions. Mass was on Christmas Eve, presents were opened early Christmas morning always accompanied by Finnish Coffee Bread or Cinnamon Tea Rings.  Our children enjoyed their new toys and mid afternoon we drove seventeen miles north to Ithaca to join the rest of the Maki clan for a large family gathering.  By evening we were exhausted but happy. It was another wonderful family Christmas together.

Our children are now grown and living elsewhere, and so we are in the midst of establishing new Christmas traditions. In the meantime, the tree is trimmed, the crèche is out, the coffee bread is made, and we welcome our family with love whenever they can get here.  

Oral Histories

I have had the honor of working on oral histories for the Newtown, CT, Ulysses (Trumansburg), NY and Newfield, NY historical societies.  The stories are always fascinating and capture that person’s memory of time and place.  My husband and I have captured our mother’s voices and their oral histories. This excerpt from my mother’s, Carol Agard Nunn (b: 1924) oral history opens a window for me into what it was like to grow up on a farm in rural Willow Creek near Jacksonville, NY:

“Baths – showers were unheard of – baths were water heated in a big pan, usually an enameled pan – we called it a tub – on the stove, and on Saturday nights - it was one bath a week, we would put that in front of the stove and take our baths. During the week you would have what we called the sponge bath where you took a damp washcloth and went over your body. That was about it. You washed your hair once a week also.”

                                                    Agard Homestead early 1900s