Hattie, Hattie, Hattie update

I have been lucky enough to meet a really good genealogical research volunteer on line! He is so good and has, on several occasions, been able to solve many of my missing links in my search for Lola. My sister saw several of his messages on the Rootsweb message board and reached out to him. Lucky for us, he LOVES a good mystery and has helped immensely.

A week ago Sunday, he sent an email to say that he had completed his search at the Recorder's office of deaths in Los Angeles, and Lola was nowhere to be found. This would indicate that she either died under a different name, or left California and died elsewhere. I gave him an update on my latest direction - looking for the descendants of Effie's sister's and he stepped in and was able to, yet again, provide valuable information.

So, he was able to find that the three children that were not related to the people I'm looking for. I still feel there is a connection as the last name isn't too common and the infant is buried in the same cemetery as Hattie and William. Coincidence? Maybe, but a little further investigation can resolve this.

As for Zadie, a few on line researchers have found that she died in 1931 (not yet sure when in 1931) and she is buried in Colorado. My above mentioned research genius may have also found Zadie's daughter Mable's death in Los Angeles in 1936. I am going to the Recorder's office Friday and will pull that record for confirmation. As for Mable's husband, daughter and possible granddaughter, we have ideas, but have yet to confirm them. It appears they may have left California, so finding these records will take a little more leg work.

I have found someone living with Zadie's last name that I believe may be somehow related. I need to carve out some time to establish contact. I know from experience that that can be a crap shoot. The one contact that may be VERY valuable is still not returning my calls or electronic messages and I'm getting annoyed, to say the least. I guess my next step is show up at their door.

As for my call with the person from the California Memorial Project that was supposed to happen two weeks ago, appears they dropped the ball on that one. When our original call was supposed to happen, nothing. So I emailed and was asked to reschedule. I did. And then that day and time arrived, and NOTHING. And now, two weeks later, still nothing. I guess I need to send yet another email. This is really getting tiring. My search is important, no matter what any State employee or law may think. I am not going to sit back and allow Lola to just fade away as if she never existed because of red tape. I am now really unhappy, and in typical Aries fashion, will not let this go until I get answers.

A few other things that came about this past weekend - my dad's birth certificate I ordered arrived! Also, I found that my dad had a first cousin that died in Los Angeles in 1969! This particular man, was a son of one of Red's (my grandfather) brothers! Man, suddenly all of these aunts and cousins of my dad that lived in Los Angeles, that we never knew about, are just popping out of the woodwork non-stop! This is another death record that I'll be pulling come Friday.

One more thing - this past weekend I had the opportunity to attend my very first genealogy convention. This was just fabulous! So many lectures, workshops, learning opportunities with experts in the field. It was just mind-boggling. It was truly a weekend well spent. I learned much and met many with encouraging leads and suggested paths forward. If you are at all interested in researching your own family tree, I highly recommend attending a genealogy convention.