Grandpa Walt

No Results

2010-02-06T21:22:00.000-08:00

The Post-Gazette charges $120 per hour, $40 minimum, to conduct a search of their clippings! However, their librarian suggested doing an online search in Google News Archives.

I believe the Carnegie librarian searched these archives per my earlier query, but I was hoping that, with more a more accurate death date, I might find at least one obituary on my grandfather. Given the dramatic circumstances of his death, I would have thought it would be fairly easy to find one story.

But, nothing.

I'm not sure where to go next.

Death Certificate

2010-01-20T15:21:00.000-08:00

Today I put together a request for Grandpa Walt's death certificate. I don't have enough information to fill out all the lines on the form, but hopefully it's enough. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that there's no huge backlog at the Division of Vital Records.

I also queried the librarian at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette for any articles on Grandpa Walt's murder. The Gazette searches its clipping files for a fee. May be worth the fee if they come up with some articles, especially as I've heard two different versions of my grandfather's death.

A Conversation with my Uncle

2010-01-10T18:15:00.000-08:00

I finally picked up the phone and called my Uncle Donald, my father's older brother, to ask him what he remembered about their father.

After my grandparents separated, Donald lived with Walt for about three months. They lived in a furnished room and ate meals at a local drug store. Walt spent evenings drinking at a local veteran's hall. He earned his living through a series of jobs, including driving a Hires root beer truck.

After three months, Donald was sent to live in a foster home. I later learned from my mother that all three Lewis children went to foster homes. This is something my father has never talked about.

As for the motorcycle trip to California, Uncle Donald says it happened during the Great Depression, and my grandparents were looking for better job opportunities. They would stop to work in various towns along the way. My grandfather also worked for the Works Progress Administration. Sometimes people would give them money for baby Donald, but sometimes not.

Unfortunately, opportunities were no better in California, so the family returned home. My uncle believes this trip and difficulties finding work contributed to the breakup of the marriage.

My uncle also says my grandfather was strangled to death in a telephone booth. At one point, the police contacted my grandmother to tell her they had a suspect and to ask to the exhume the body.

My grandmother refused permission.

Genealogy Programs at the National Archives

2010-01-06T17:04:00.000-08:00

This morning I went to an introduction to genealogy records at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The research area appears very inviting, especially following the usual security procedures required to enter a federal government building. The lecture was free, as are many other lectures and other history talks at the Archives. There's even a shuttle bus from the Washington building to their other facility in College Park, Maryland.

Unfortunately, I also learned that very little is available concerning military enlistment records from World War II. To find out if there are any records on my grandfather, I will have to submit a Freedom of Information Act request, and many of these records have been destroyed.

Here's a link to programs available at the National Archives:

http://http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/know-your-records/

Confirmation

2009-12-18T19:48:00.000-08:00

Got a phone call from my father a few days ago. He spoke to his older brother, who confirmed Grandpa Walt did enlist in the military. But his service was brief. He was discharged due to a severe health condition.

My father also told me he remembers attending a Gene Autry rodeo with his father and brother. A rodeo bronco named Applesauce got too close to the edge of the ring and banged up my uncle's legs with his bucking. When I talk to my uncle, I'm supposed to ask him about Applesauce.

I wasn't sure how my dad would react to my investigating his father's past. I was afraid it might bring up a lot of unpleasant memories for him. But he seems to want to learn more. How will this research affect my relationship with my Dad?

Enlisting in the Army

2009-12-13T19:38:00.000-08:00

Ancestry.com comes through! Still no information on the grave location, but a helpful genealogist located a military enlistment record for my grandfather:

Walter M. Lewis, born 1912.
Enlisted in U.S. Army on August 18, 1943 in Pennsylvania.
Rank: Private.
Enlistment "for the duration of the War, or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President."
Education: one year of high school.
Civil occupation: machinist.
Marital status: separated with dependents.

So I've learned for the first time I have a family member who served in World War II. What happened to him while he was in the Army? Add to task list: locate any additional military records.

Cross Country on a Motorcycle

2009-11-30T16:09:00.001-08:00

The search for the grave begins. I scanned some Pittsburgh cemetery listings provided by the Ancestry.com community. No luck yet.

While at my parents’ house over Thanksgiving, I asked my dad about any memories he had of his father. To my surprise, Dad did not know his father very well. The family split up when he was about three years old.

My dad told me that his parents took a motorcycle trip from Pittsburgh to California with their oldest son Donald in tow! (He must have been a young child then.) Why did they take that trip? Were they two adventurers in love? If so, what happened that lead to the breakup?

Still, more questions than answers.

Walter Martin Lewis, 1912 - 1948

2009-11-21T15:39:00.000-08:00

Walter Martin Lewis was the only one of my grandparents I never knew. He died at age 36, 17 years before I was born. He and my grandmother divorced, and my father – his son—seems to have lost all contact with him. After the divorce, my grandmother remarried and she and the three children moved to Canada. After another divorce, she married again and they returned to the United States.

So far, I’ve heard two family stories about how Grandpa Walt met his fate. One is that he was hit by a street car. Another is that he was strangled while in a telephone booth. I don’t know whether either of these stories is true, but death by natural causes seems unlikely for someone so young. Maybe it’s a story the family prefers not to tell.

Everyone seems to agree he is buried in or around Pittsburgh, but no one seems to know where. Even my dad is not sure where it is. Apparently he is buried in a family plot, but the grave may be unmarked. Is there a connection between an unmarked grave and how his life ended?

This blog will track my efforts to find out what happened to Grandpa Walt, locate the grave, and learn some things about a man whom, in other circumstances, I might have known myself. It may also be a place to write about family members I’ll be meeting for the first time. I’m looking forward to the journey.