The Tumult and Trauma of Eva's Life

In a dispassionate summary of her final days, an attending physician wrote that Eva "... was admitted [to the hospital] because she was having severe abdominal pain... Her condition worsened. She expired on May 11, 1972."

Eva, my second great-grandmother, succumbed to ovarian cancer at the age of 86, ending a life marked by unrelenting adversity.

Eva Matilda Adaline Lamb Stevens Fagan

A Wayward Childhood

Born in Vermont in December 1885, she was baptized four months later as Eva Matilda Adaline in a Methodist Church across the border in Quebec, Canada. She was the eldest child of Francis and Phoebe (Jarvis) Lamb.

Eva Lamb's April 1886 Baptism - Methodist Church,
Windsor, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada

When his daughter was born, Francis (Frank) Stephen Lamb was a brakeman for the railroad. The young family lived in Island Pond, Vermont, which was situated on the Grand Trunk Railway midway between Montreal and Portland, Maine.

In the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, the Lamb family was enumerated in Denver, Colorado. Curiously, Frank used a modified version of his middle name as his surname (Stephen became Stephens). Family lore said Frank killed a man in Canada and changed his name to evade the law. No evidence has surfaced to corroborate the Canadian murder mystery. However, for the rest of his life, he used this alias.

1900 US Federal Census, excerpt of Frank Stephens family in Denver, Colorado

Frank and Phoebe had a tumultuous marriage. In June 1901, it was punctuated by a violent attack. Frank, suspecting an adulterous relationship, shot a gentleman friend of Phoebe's. The salacious scandal splashed their personal lives across Denver's headlines, left an innocent bystander clinging to life, sent Frank into hiding deep inside a Colorado mine shaft, and shattered the Lamb family (see Till Jealousy and Bullets Do Us Part).

Newspaper accounts included an interview with Eva. She tearfully told a reporter with the Denver Rocky Mountain News that, "Papa and mamma have been quarreling off and on for over two years."

A month after the violent attack, the Denver Post published an article: "Children Gone: Stephens Family Disintegrating at a Rate That Frightens Mother - Stephens Suspected." The article revealed that Eva was now "wayward" and had been sent to the Home for Incorrigible Girls.

Unto My Beloved Wife

Three years after her parents' calamitous quarrel, Eva married William John Stevens.

William, a young gold miner from Idaho Springs, Colorado, had grown up in a mining family. His father, Thomas, was born to a mining family in Cornwall, England, immigrated to Canada and eventually moved to the Rocky Mountains where he was killed in an 1886 mine explosion.

William and Eva (Lamb) Stevens
Photo from the collection of Stevens cousin Amy Goodman

William and Eva settled in Idaho Springs and had two children: Thurlow (born in 1907) and Bernice (born in 1910). But tragedy loomed. Just three months shy of their 12-year wedding anniversary, William died at the age of 36 from mitral insufficiency and Bright's Disease. The contributing causes of death were dropsy and miners disease.

Tragically, William must have known he was dying. In February 1916, one month before his untimely death, he drafted his will. With moving language, he bequeathed his estate and effects "unto my beloved wife, Eva A. Stevens, absolutely; and I appoint her sole executrix of this my will, and guardian of my infant children during their respective minorities."

Excerpt from William Stevens' February 1916 Last Will and Testament

At the age of 30, Eva was a widow with two young children to raise.

Hardships To The End

Eva's medical records indicated that she was afflicted with influenza soon after her husband's passing, perhaps an early victim of the Spanish flu pandemic that swept the world in 1918.

In about 1919, Eva married Thomas Fagan. By the enumeration of the 1920 U.S. Federal Census, the Fagans were living in Denver.

On November 1, 1930, Eva's daughter Bernice married Robert O'Connor. Less than five months later, she gave birth to a daughter named Beverly (my grandmother). Clearly, Bernice was already pregnant when she married Robert. Tragically, one week after the birth, Bernice passed away due to complications. She was only twenty years old.

Five days after Bernice's death, on April 1, 1931, Thomas and Eva Fagan petitioned to adopt Beverly as their own child. A court determined "that consent in writing by said Robert V. O'Connor, sole surviving parent of said child, has heretofore been given to the petitioners herein for the adoption of said child, Beverly Bernice O'Connor..." and a decree granted the adoption, changing Beverly's surname from O'Connor to Fagan.

In later life, Beverly shared that, during the Great Depression, she spent her early childhood living in a tent city while Thomas Fagan worked on the construction of Hoover Dam. She wrote in her journal that Eva "was very mean to Grandpa [Thomas] and I never knew why. I realized that Grandpa was drinking then the fights would start."

Thomas passed away in August 1950, once again leaving Eva a widow. She was 64 years old.

A decade later, in January 1961, her son Thurlow passed away from a sudden heart attack. Eva had outlived her last surviving child.

A Quiet Repose

In her final years, Eva lived alone in a mobile home in a Denver trailer park.

Eva pictured standing outside her mobile home

She was close with her granddaughter Beverly and her young family. She cooked and had a special knack for baking breads, especially wheat and rye. She busied herself gardening in the small yard in front of her trailer, and sewing clothes for her great-grandchildren who all remember her affectionately.

Eva in a rare film clip, 1957

One could mistake her serene golden years for a life happily lived, but, in reality, that facade belied its true churning turbulence.

Eva's childhood was fraught. She lost her first husband. She outlived her daughter and raised her granddaughter as her own child. She lived in poverty with an alcoholic husband and outlived him. Then, the final injury, she lived through the sudden death of her son - her last living child.

Indeed, Eva lived a life of tumult and trauma.

Perhaps that's why she refused to ever discuss the past with Beverly. Forgetting was a coping mechanism. Forgetting allowed Eva to move beyond the incessant heartaches and survive in a world that had dealt her an exceedingly heavy hand.

Notarial Records of Québec

Although I finally found answers to the questions of when and where my Québécois fourth great-grandfather George Jarvis passed away, I was left with a peculiar name discrepancy that I couldn't explain.

George Felix Gervais (Anglicized to Jarvis) was named in his Vermont obituary as George Philip Jarvis.

The obituary included evidence (namely his surviving children) that helped me confirm that George Philip was indeed my ancestor George Felix, but I was stumped by the name swap.

After reading about my discovery, Diane Tourville, a Québec-based blogger at Genealogy on my Mind, tweeted a possible answer:

"I confirm that men called Félix often anglicized their first name to Philip after migrating to the US."

The phonetic similarity between the two names seemed like an appropriate explanation. I was grateful for Diane's input. But she wasn't done just yet.

With more than 25 years of research experience and an interest in French-Canadians who migrated to the United States, Diane messaged that she found notarial records for George Jarvis.

What are notarial records? 

While I know what a notary public is, I wasn't familiar with the notarial records of Québec. I haven't had much opportunity to properly research my French-Canadian ancestry (too many ancestors, too little time!).

I was intrigued by what the collection may hold for my ancestor and reveal about his life, but I had to brush up on the purpose and significance of the documents for family history.

Billed by Ancestry as "some of the most valuable documents you'll come across in genealogy," Québec's notarial records span nearly 300 years (1637-1935) and have been digitized and made available online at Ancestry.

The Library and Archives of Canada explains that, "A notarial record is a private agreement written by a notary in the form of a contract."

FamilySearch adds that the collection includes, "deeds, wills, marriage contracts, and other records that are important in family history research."

The notary would make two copies of each contract. The original was given to the party involved, and the notary kept the duplicate, which are called minutes. These duplicates are what make up today's archived collections.

Notarial record outlines family relationships

Diane kindly pointed me to the collection and a couple documents that featured George. These records were deeds of sale, which suggested George was a man of sufficient means to purchase property.

I soon landed on a two-page document dating to the autumn of 1907 that underscored the value of the notarial records for family history research.

Henri Girard, the notary, had atrocious penmanship that made deciphering the document a herculean feat. However, I've transcribed enough to determine that George's children were relinquishing inheritance rights following the May 1899 death of their mother - George's wife - Adeline Parmelia (Judd) Jarvis.

George Jarvis Québec notarial record (page 1), recorded October 9, 1907

Page one's transcription (with the fantastic help of Lee Anne, a volunteer with the Facebook group Deciphering Genealogy Script):

9 Oct 1907
No. 1763

Cession
par
Ed. Jarvis & al
à
George. Jarvis

On this twenty ninth day of September nineteen hundred and seven

Before Henri Girard the undersigned notary public for the Provence of Quebec, residing and practicing at Danville, District of St. Francis.

Comes and appeared:

Mr. George Jarvis of Kingsey Falls farmer,

1st Mr. Alfred U. Lebel of Danville, student acting as the attorney of Edward Jarvis and Catherine Jarvis of Bridgewater Vermont, and Ruth Elize Jarvis wife of Alexander Peoples, and Adda E. Jarvis wife of Edward Moore of Taftsville, Vermont in virtue of a power of attorney dated the twenty first of October last part 1907 and deposited with the undersigned notary on the twenty sixth day of September 1907 registered at Drummondville B52 No: 40485

2nd William Jarvis of Richmond, carpenter

3rd Clara Jarvis of Richmond, wife of Frank Boisvert and by her husband duly authorized

Who do hereby convey, transfer and make over unto Mr. George Jarvis of Kingsey Falls their father, all their rights claims and petitions in the estate and succession of their mother Dame Adeline Parmelia Judd who departed this life intestate on the 8th May 1899.

This first page maps out several family relationships - naming surviving children of George Jarvis and their spouses and current cities of residence - and provides a death date for his wife Adeline. That's enough for any genealogist to be sold on the value of notarial records!

The children relinquished to their father their inherited rights to their mother's estate eight years after Adeline's passing.

The second page was also a doozy to transcribe.

George Jarvis Québec notarial record (page 2), recorded October 9, 1907

Page two transcription:

And more particularly their rights and share of lots no: five A and six 3 (5a, 5d and 6 3) of this truthful [illegible] of Kingsey with the buildings [illegible] invalid.

To have and to hold use and enjoy or dispose of the same unto the assigner of his own forever from death hereof.

This transfer and conveyance is thus made under the condition that the said father, the assignee shall pay all shares of the debts of the estate of the late mother if there be any.

Whereof act at Danville under No: seventeen hundred and after [illegible] hereof the parties have signed [illegible] the said assignment witnesses who hath signed with the other parties and the notary [illegible] forty one words [illegible]…

Another assigned not good

Clara J Boisvert
William C Jarvis
Alfred LeBel
Ed McGorreas (?)
P C Hastings
Henri Girard

This second page appeared to get down to brass tacks with the children relinquishing their rights to lots - presumably land - that George owned in Kingsey Falls with the stipulation that their father pay any outstanding debts on Adeline's estate.

The family's black sheep

Curiously, this notarial record named five of George and Adeline's seven surviving children. Two daughters, however, were missing.

Kate Viola Jarvis, was not named. In 1907, she would have been 18 years old. Perhaps she was still considered a minor or lived at home with her father and was excluded from this agreement.

Also not named was Phoebe (aka Phebe) Elizabeth "Lulu" Jarvis who was married to Francis (aka Frank) Stephen Lamb and lived in Colorado by 1907. Phoebe was my third great-grandmother, so I'm particularly curious about her absence.

This wasn't the first time she was kept hidden away. She was also omitted by name from George's 1933 obituary.

Was she the black sheep of the family?

Her husband changed the family surname from Lamb to Stephens. Family lore whispered that this happened after he shot a man in Vermont, but I've never been able to turn up evidence to support that story.

I did, however, find sensational articles published in Denver's newspapers in 1901 detailing the jealous rage that Frank flew into when he suspected Phoebe of adultery and shot and nearly killed an innocent bystander. See Till Jealousy and Bullets Do Us Part.

Perhaps the Jarvis family was trying to distance themselves from the drama.

What, if anything, do Québec's notarial records have to say about Phoebe's relationship with her family? With the value of this record collection now abundantly clear, that search continues in earnest.

Marking Forgotten Ancestors

As a family historian, it's unsettling when I discover that an ancestor's final resting place is an unmarked grave. 

A grave with no headstone can be misinterpreted as unimportant or insignificant. 

Of course, our ancestors amount to more than a tombstone. However, as a genealogist, I want that final piece of evidence to bookend their story. After all, we're in the business of remembering what was forgotten. 

From Start to Unceremonious End

My introduction to genealogy was researching my Italian roots. I knew nothing about that branch of my family tree. As an amateur with only the dimmest understanding of how to do good genealogy, I was proud of myself after piecing together their story. To celebrate my research victory and honor my ancestors, I went to pay my respects at their grave site.

I was excited when the cemetery office provided me a map and coordinates. Following the directions, I walked along a row of bronze markers until I came to an open patch of grass. 

My heart sank. The plot for my people was empty. There was no marker. Six feet below were people who had lived full lives (with an Italian accent), and the world above them knew nothing of their existence.

Unmarked graves of my Italian ancestors

Their unmarked graves struck me as disrespectful. Reassembling their story and bringing them back to life had become a passion project, but there was nothing there to affirm that research or acknowledge their existence. Nothing.

The 20th Century's Unmarked

There are many reasons why a headstone may not have been placed, including financial. Markers are not cheap. My second great-grandfather John (Flynn) O'Connor spent his final years living in a Catholic charitable home for the elderly, and was buried in a modern-day pauper's grave with no stone. 

I also understand that nothing lasts forever. Monuments may have been placed for our more distant ancestors and disappeared over the centuries. But ancestors who passed away in the 20th century with zero recognition? It doesn't feel right.

Reviewing my own family tree, I learned that at least eight of my direct ancestors were buried in unmarked graves, including Annie, Frank, John, Matilda, Samuel, and Wilburn. 

Wilburn and Annie (Winkler) Wagnon in unmarked graves on
either side of their son Wayne's marked grave

Marking Forgotten Ancestors

Fortunately, genealogists are persistent people accustomed to finding creative ways to tell their family's history. This includes marking forgotten ancestors.

Here are a couple strategies that helped bankroll markers for my ancestors.

• In the 1990's, a collection of relatives attending our annual family reunion conducted a raffle to raise money to place headstones at the graves of two of my direct ancestors. The concept was straightforward: family donated items for a raffle. The raffle's proceeds financed markers (see Hide-and-Seek: Graveyard Edition).

• I've recently employed a modern approach to pay for a new headstone for my fifth great-grandparents whose original markers - now over 170 years old - are broken in half and no longer bear inscriptions. Using the online fundraising site GoFundMe, I created a fundraising page where cousins could learn about the initiative and securely contribute financial support. The site creates a page that can be emailed or shared on social media. I posted it to a Facebook group for descendants of these grandparents with great success. 

What other approaches have you taken to commemorate unmarked ancestor burials? Have you had success with different fundraising strategies?

Till Jealousy And Bullets Do Us Part

Frank and Phoebe's relationship was not good. In fact, that is an understatement. It was wretched and, in the summer of 1901, on display for public fodder.

On Monday, June 3, 1901, Phoebe left her Denver home to do some shopping. She reported that she, "went down town on my bicycle. On Sixteenth street I met Ira Scott, with whom I was slightly acquainted, and he suggested that we take a ride in the direction of Riverside cemetery. I agreed. Our meeting was purely accidental, but I saw no harm in riding with a friend."¹

The following day, my third great-grandparents' dysfunctional marriage exploded onto the headlines of Denver's newspapers amidst a hail of bullets and jealousy.

Phoebe Jarvis (Gervais) was born in Kingsey Falls, Quebec on June 28, 1866. Francis Stephen Lamb was baptized in the town of Richmond, Quebec on April 28, 1859. They married in Sherbrooke, Quebec on April 23, 1885.

Francis Stephen Lamb and Phoebe Jarvis Marriage

They were enumerated in the 1900 US Federal census living in Denver, Colorado with their children. Oddly, Francis (now Frank) used a modified version of his middle name as his surname. Family lore said Frank Stephen Lamb killed a man in Canada, and fled to the United States and changed his surname to Stephens. No evidence has been found to corroborate the Canada murder story. Was the story conflated with the events of June 1901? If so, it still doesn't explain why the surname was different on the 1900 census - a year before the events of 1901.

A Tumultuous Marriage
Witness accounts illustrated a tumultuous marriage that finally came to a breaking point. The neighbors reported that, "domestic storms were a frequent occurrence."² Eva, their eldest child and my second great-grandmother, tearfully told a reporter that, "Papa and mamma have been quarreling off and on for over two years."³ The papers hinted at past violence, noting that, "A year ago, Mrs. Stephens fired at her husband with a shotgun and narrowly missed blowing his head off."⁴ Phoebe said Frank charged at her with a knife in that incident, and she fired in self defense.

Frank suspected his wife was having a relationship with Ira Scott after Frank Jr. told his father that Scott was coming to the family home and going for bike rides with Phoebe. On that fateful Monday, Frank burst into the house to find her preparing to go downtown for a bike ride.

The paper reported that he "flew into a rage and swore at his wife and tore her bicycle skirt in two. He said he was going to leave her and never return."⁵ Phoebe told him, "Well, leave and take everything you own with you."⁶ He did leave, taking his Winchester rifle with him and son Frank Jr.

After traveling a half mile, Frank sent his son back to the house to see what Phoebe was doing. Frank Jr. returned to his father and reported "that his mother was sewing up her skirt."⁷ Shortly thereafter, Phoebe unwittingly rode her bicycle past her husband and son. "There goes mamma," Frank Jr. alerted his father.⁸

The newspapers splashed several photos of Phoebe across the pages, so readers could glimpse the alleged adulteress. One picture even featured Phoebe in her riding skirt posed with her bicycle. None of the articles included photos of Frank.

Frank secretly followed after his wife leaving his son behind. Phoebe and Mr. Scott dismounted their bikes at Riverside Cemetery, passed a fisherman on the banks of the Platte River, and walked about the grounds. Phoebe relayed to police what happened next:

"We then walked on a dozen paces, when we saw a man crouched in the grass at some distance. Mr. Scott remarked that the man acted suspiciously, and just as he said this I recognized him as my husband. I was badly frightened and shrieked, 'My God, there comes my husband with a gun!' and then both Mr. Scott and I ran in opposite directions. My husband then aimed his gun at me, exclaiming, 'Yes, you ------: I've got you now!' and fired twice. When I turned to run I passed close by the fisherman, and one of the shots intended for me struck him somewhere and he fell over groaning, 'My God: they've killed me!' I stayed at the cemetery until the officers came, and rode to town with them."⁹

The fisherman was Matthew Brown who took a bullet to his lung. Initial reports predicted his wound was fatal, however, he survived the attack.

In Hiding
Frank fled the scene and went into hiding. His whereabouts were a mystery. In February 1906, nearly five years after that fateful day, the Denver Post published an obituary of Richard "Old Dick" Hoskins, a friend of Frank's who was a colorful character and early Colorado pioneer. The obituary finally shed light on what happened to Frank following the shooting.

"Stephens, under the impression that he would have to stand trial on the charge of murder, made his escape. For at least a month the Denver police were under the impression that he had committed suicide, so complete had been his disappearance.

But Stephens was at Idaho Springs, carefully concealed by "Old Dick" Hoskins. Realizing the danger his friend was in, Hoskins secreted him in a tunnel in one of his mines. For forty-five days Stephens never saw daylight. Faithfully every six hours "Old Dick" carried him sufficient food to keep him alive, and when the injured Brown finally recovered Hoskins turned Stephens loose."¹⁰

There's no account of Frank being charged or standing trial for the shooting. His seclusion apparently helped him evade justice. Sadly, the family's drama continued to make occasional headlines.

On July 22, 1901, the Denver Post published an article "Children Gone: Stephens Family Disintegrating at a Rate That Frightens Mother - Stephens Suspected." The article revealed that Eva - the eldest daughter and my direct ancestor - was now "wayward" and had been sent to the Home for Incorrigible Girls. Phoebe's son Ray was in a county hospital due to "spinal trouble." Daughter Myrtle reportedly took her four other siblings to visit their ailing brother and never returned. Phoebe believed that the children went to be with their father whose whereabouts were still unknown thanks to "Old Dick" Hoskins.

Divorce
In March 1904, Phoebe sued Frank for divorce. Her petition, again deemed newspaper-worthy and published in the Denver Post, told the salacious details of her violent relationship. She charged that, "he shot at her on two occasions, attacked her with an ax on another, drew a razor on her at still a later date, and has repeatedly abused, villified (sic.) and threatened her."¹¹ The petition seems to have failed because the final divorce decree was not granted until 1915.

The 1915 divorce complaint said Frank and Phoebe moved to Denver in 1888, had been separated since April 1901, and that her only means of income was from work as a waitress. Frank worked in a mine in Tolland, Colorado. In her complaint, Phoebe relayed another traumatic encounter.

"...in the month of about February, 1902, this plaintiff at the special instance and request of the defendant went to the town of Idaho Springs, Clear Creek County, to get the children of the parties hereto, and upon her arrival in said town of Idaho Springs, the defendant then stated and declared to this plaintiff that he sent for her solely to get her to come there and that he was then going to cut her throat and then and there exhibited a razor with which he declared that he would then kill and murder her and whereupon this plaintiff, fearing for the safety of her life, hastily departed from the house of the defendant and went to a nearby neighbor's..."

Making his own case to the public, Frank explained to the Denver Post in April 1915 that, "Hamilton Armstrong, who was chief of police at the time he shot the man [Brown], whose name, he says, is unknown to him, refused to hold him under arrest when he learned of the circumstances under which the shooting took place."¹² The insinuation was that the shooting was merited given the speculation that Phoebe was having an extramarital relationship. If true, one cannot help but wonder how Mr. Brown felt about that decision.

In October 1915, the divorce decree was finally approved. The domestic violence came to an end; miraculously, without anyone losing their life.

Aftermath
Phoebe moved to California where she remarried in May 1920 and lived - without ever discussing the violent tabloid past - until her passing in November 1945.

Three years after Phoebe remarried, Frank's life came to a violent end. While driving a truck near Mesa, Arizona on his way back to Colorado, Frank lost control of the vehicle. His son Albert was in a car ahead of him. After losing sight of his father, Albert turned around and retraced the roadway. Eventually, he found the wreck and, discovered "his father, with skull badly crushed, lying in a gulch where he had been thrown from the machine as it slid from the road..."¹³

How did the violence impact the family? How did the children reconcile their parents' quarrels that led the family to disintegrate? Perhaps the scandals are why Eva always sharply told my own grandmother that they were not to discuss the past. That is a heavy legacy that forcibly removed family history from its descendants.

Strangely, if it were not for the reporting of intrusive newspapers, this story would be an unknown and unimaginable piece of my own history. Human stories have both good and bad, and as a family historian I choose to embrace both.

Footnotes
¹ Jealousy Aimed Gun. (1901, June 04). Denver Rocky Mountain News, p. 2.
² Ibid., p 2.
³ Ibid., p 2.
⁴ His Aim Was Bad (1901, June 04). Denver Post, p. 5.
⁵ Ibid., p. 5.
⁶ Ibid., p. 5.
⁷ Ibid., p. 5.
⁸ Ibid., p. 5.
⁹ Jealousy Aimed Gun. (1901, June 04). Denver Rocky Mountain News, p. 2.
¹⁰ True Pioneer and Fighter Passes Away (1906, February 18). Denver Post, p. 24.
¹¹ Two Woeful Wives Want To Be Divorced. (1904, March 11). Denver Post, p. 13.
¹² Man Says Wife Tried to Kill Him in Answer to Divorce Suit. (1915, April 08). Denver Post, p. 8.
¹³ Colorado Man Dies in Accident. (1923, October 11). Mesa Tribune, p. 4.

Genealogy's Serendipity

Every so often a genealogical discovery is made that comes on the heels of some twist of fate that seems more than coincidental. It's as if some unseen force had a hand in the serendipitous find.

Several years ago, I connected with an elderly first cousin three times removed. Her grandfather, Francis Stephen Lamb, was my 3rd great-grandfather. 

Through persistent sleuth work, I found her address and mailed her a letter. Her response was music to my ears: "I have the answers to all of your questions." From snail mail, our correspondence evolved to email. We traded messages back and forth for several months. She didn't own a computer, but would respond each week while she was at her local family history center. We even spoke on the phone a couple times.

She had a wealth of knowledge about our shared family history. Like a sponge, I soaked up all the stories and information she would share.

She told me, sadly, that no photos existed of Francis. She had never seen one. I resigned myself to the fact that we would never know what he looked like.

Yesterday, on Thanksgiving, I learned from this cousin's daughter that she had died last year on Thanksgiving. 

I was saddened both to learn the news and to discover that I was unaware of her passing for an entire year. I searched online for her obituary. Turning to FindAGrave.com, a series of clicks through her family line brought me to Francis' memorial page. 

After the page loaded, I was very pleasantly surprised ecstatic to see a photo of Francis that had been uploaded by another user earlier this year. He had been photographed after all!

It felt serendipitous to discover the photo on the same day I learned of the passing of his granddaughter who believed no such picture existed. Perhaps she had a hand in directing me to the picture. 

This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for distant cousins who share family history and hair-raising, serendipitous finds that bring you face-to-face with your ancestors.

Francis Stephen Lamb pictured with two of his children.
Photo used by permission.