A Step Back In Time

I believe that every genealogist has a brick wall or will encounter a brick wall somewhere in his family history. A brick wall is referring to a person or family line that can not be traced any further back. My brick wall is my great grandfather on my father’s side, John Flanagan, who is a mystery man. There are many stories about John. One story that was told to me by a family member is that in 1899. Delia Flanagan, who was my great grandmother, and her siblings and their parents were celebrating the new year along the Mississippi River. John Flanagan met the Flanagan family. (Note that Delia’s maiden name was also Flanagan) and was invited to eat supper with Delia’s family. Soon after John and Delia began “courting” . I traced Delia and her parents to Arkansas in 1900 in Lonoke County-no where near the Mississippi River. I have no birth date for John Flanagan. I estimated a birth year (give or take five years) based on his being the appropriate age to father a child, Alva Flanagan, who was born in 1903. The range of that estimated birth date would be 1845-1885. In the 1800’s, men often married younger women. I have several possible birth places for John Flanagan (based on census records and family stories): Virginia, Massachusetts, Arkansas and Texas, possibly Sherman, Texas. There are many, many John Flanagan’s. Since I do not know his birth date or place it is incredibly difficult to locate him or distinguish him from any other John Flanagan’s. John and Delia (I believe) were married between 1900 and 1903. As I have stated before Delia was with her parents in 1900 in Arkansas. My grandfather was born in Texas in 1903. One story I have heard states that John Flanagan while living in Australia killed a man and was exiled and sent to the United States or Ireland. I have no clue if this is true or not. Did countries really do this at any point in time? Do records exist indicating this type of punishment? Another story states that John Flanagan was a traveling salesman and was killed in a train wreck in either late 1909 or spring of 1910. This story I am more likely to believe because I have traced my great grandmother back to 1910 in Erath County, Texas. My great grandmother Delia is listed as a widow in the 1910 census taken in April. In the household there are two children listed: Alva (my grandfather and Luther (my great uncle). Although it is not stated in the census Delia was about four months pregnant with Lucille who was born in August of 1910. This leads me to wonder what REALLY happened to John Flanagan? I do believe John Flanagan was a traveling salesman. One of the reasons is that all three of hild children were born indifferent places. If John Flanagan had been a farmer more than likely all three children would have been born in the same place. Another reason I believe John Flanagan was a traveling salesman is that John’s father-in-law owned and operated a grist (grain) mill. I believe that John Flanagan may have been a salesman for his father –in-law. One thing I have learned by researching my family history is that a lot of times the family stories do have some truth to them. I am hoping that people reading this blog will have an ancestor named John Flanagan that matches mine and we can both tear down our brick walls. I will not give up hope in finding out what happened to my great grandfather.