Lynn Palmero hosts a Family History Writing Challenge and I'm setting up for 2015. As I need to write an article for the newsletter in February, I chose to write about Grace Holmes Ballantyne and her two sisters, Winafred Louise and Alice Eliza, and her cousin, Charlotte (Lottie) H Ballantyne. Also in there will be her brother, Frank, and maybe her cousin's son, Lyle.
I don't know yet if the story will focus on Grace with the others sort of in the sidelines, or focus on all of them. I'm thinking Grace, but time will tell as I research and write. Amazing Grace, Paula called her. I think that title is taken, but she was an amazing lady.
I have several wonders.
Grace was a lawyer up until 1920 census. In 1930 she was a secretary in a real estate office and in 1940, the office manager. Why did she stop practicing law? At this point in time, and Paula and I have done quite a bit of research, I have no idea.
Why did none of those young ladies ever marry? Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just unusual that none of them did, especially at that time. I have no photos of any of them.
When did Charlotte die? She's alive in Des Moines in 1933, and then she disappears into thin air. Iowa and Idaho have pretty good records, too.
Those ladies, or combinations of them, as well as Frank, shared accomodations. I am going to make a spread sheet, listing people by dates, by home addresses, by employers, by dates of death. I haven't quite figured out how yet, but I started on it tonight.
I have quite a bit of info stored on MS word from 2013 - much of it research of Paula. I remember reading about Des Moines in the early 1900s, and I think it was a pretty dirty place as I recall, but need to re-research.
I found the death certificate of Alice, but not the others. She died of recurrent cerebral hemorages over a course of five years.
So . . . the work begins.
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