Black Sheep Sunday

     Black Sheep Sunday is for sharing about a scandalous ancestor in my family tree.  I think scandalous can be anything from petty theft to murder and everything in between.  Remember, there is no judgment here.  I am just sharing interesting stories about my ancestors and relatives.  

    It seems that Gary Paul Whitney (1937-2020) got into a bit of trouble when he stole a tire off a car that was taken on a demo drive from a used car lot.  What amazes me is how sneakily brilliant he was to think of such a way to "escape" police custody.  It sounds like he lived on the streets, so he had to be smart to survive.

Lansing State Journal
Lansing, Michigan
Wednesday, May 13, 1959, Page 33

"Suspect Flees Jail

Man Held in Tire Theft ‘Walks Out’ on Police During Questioning

Two men charged with stealing a tire from a car borrowed from a used car lot are being sought by Lansing police.

Detectives Tuesday arrested Gary Paul Whitney, 21, no home. While being questioned at police headquarters he escaped.

Whitney, police said, obtained a key to the washroom from a desk officer who did not know he was under arrest, and walked away.

He is described as 5 ft. 6 in., 140 lbs., black wavy hair and wearing glasses.

Also sought is Richard Ribby, 20, no home, who is charged with being Whitney’s accomplice. Ribby is described as being 6 ft., 170 lbs., blond hair and blue eyes.

The pair borrowed the car from the Bondy and Bigelow Motor Sales, 1018 S. Washington ave., Tuesday afternoon for a demonstration drive and removed the tire, police charged." - Transcribed by ChatGPT

Lansing State Journal
Lansing Michigan
Saturday June 13, 1959, Page 9

    So evidently they caught him. It doesn't state that escape was added to his other charges.

    Then in the Thursday, July 2, 1959 edition of the Lansing State Journal, page 21, we find:

Law's Arm Falls Heavily upon 11 in Circuit Court

... "Gary Paul Whitney, 21, of 621 Cherry st., charged with larceny from a motor vehicle, was sentenced to a term of 1 1/2 to 5 years in prison."

    Wow! He was "heavily" punished for stealing that tire.  Perhaps the escape did play into it somehow, even though the article doesn't specifically say.  Unfortunately, I do not know exactly how long he ended up serving for this crime; however, I did find that he did not completely stay out of trouble the rest of his life.  

Lansing State Journal
Lansing, Michigan
Thursday, September 7, 1967, Page 39

While I do not know the outcome of this case, I can say I did not find any more indications of Gary getting into trouble again.  

Gary was married to my 3rd cousin 1x removed, Virginia Ann Barwick.  Our common ancestors are Francis Bryant Drake and Selina Henlee King Drake.

Military Monday

  Military Monday posts are made to honor those in my family tree who have served in the United States military.

Emerson Lanier Burns

U.S. Army, Korea, POW

August 4, 1950 - August 21, 1953

  I chose Emerson for Military Monday today because I found the most interesting blog post about him and other POWs from Laurens County. 

"Emerson Burns left Adrian, Georgia at the age of eighteen, when he joined the Army in 1949. Burns was sent to Korea on August 4, 1950. While in Korea, Sgt. Burns worked as a radio operator and truck driver. In November 1950, Burns and his unit barely escaped capture when the Chinese Army overran his division. A member of HQ Company, 38th Regiment, 2nd Division, Burns was in Wanju in January of 1951 when he and seven hundred fifty other soldiers were taken prisoner. Burns and his unit had gotten through the roadblock at Kunure, where many of the 2nd Division troops had been killed. Burns' six by six truck had its gas tank shot out. The men were forced to march for three months. On the seven hundred mile march the men were given twelve total days of rest. One in five of the men would live to see the end of the war. Burns and the others were taken to Camp Number 1 near Chonwon. When they first arrived, the prisoners were fed twice a day. Their diet mainly consisted of soy beans and millet. Later the meals were changed to dry fish and rotting eggs. They had to eat it. It was their only food.

Temperatures in the Korean winter often fellow to thirty degrees below zero. Burns recalled that the men were allowed to have a fire in a home-made furnace for about an hour a day. The men lived in mud huts with mud floors. Eventually Burns was stricken with beri-beri, a disease caused by vitamin deficiencies. When truce talks began in 1951, the prisoners were allowed to write letters home. In the long days in the mud huts, Burns dreamed of living in Dublin. He did not know that his parents, Mr. and Mrs. R.D. Burns, had already moved to Dublin. Burns wrote home several times, stating that he was doing as well as could be expected."

From: https://dublinlaurenscountygeorgia.blogspot.com/2013/07/korean-war-pows-will-never-be-forgotten.html

Go read the entire post.  It is very interesting!

Emerson was my 3rd cousin, 1x removed.  Our common ancestors are Francis Bryant Drake and Selina Henlee King Drake.

Friday's Faces from the Past - Minnie Emma Key Lockhart (1888-1924)

 

Minnie Emma Key Lockhart

with her husband,

Michael Duvall Lockhart (1884-1964)

and her first-born child,

Myrtle Adell Lockhart (1908-1972)

Minnie was my 2nd cousin, 2x removed.  Our common ancestors are Francis Bryant Drake and Selina Henlee King Drake.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - My "7 Generations in 1" Chart

  From Randy over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

(1)  Please see the Genea-Musings post for this challenge to get the template, etc. used.  I'm going to just cut to my result tonight.  

My challenge tonight was to fill out my 7-in-1 Ancestor chart and show it off.  The chart covers ancestors #1 through #127 in an ahnentafel list.  I used the spreadsheet, added the ancestor numbers while adding the names (starting with 1 = me, 2 = my father, 3 = my mother, etc.).  I added the names and birth and death years (if known) for the first 7 generations.  I colored the boxes for the two ancestors who were born in other countries.  As you can see, my families are deeply rooted in the United States.  I saved my chart in Excel, copied it to Paint 3D and then saved it as a JPG image file.  This task has taken more than an hour!  So if you choose to do it, plan ahead!

(2)  Show me your 7-in-1 chart in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a post on Facebook.  

Here's mine:

My columns are wider than the ones you'll view from Genea-Musings because, like Randy, I added their birth and death years.  This helps me a lot since several of my ancestors share the same name.  

There is other color coding I would like to do, such as by states, military service, blanks that need to be filled in, etc.  I'm open to other ideas for coloring coding!

Thank you to Ann Raymont (DNAsleuth) for the original idea of doing this; Linda and Dave Shufflebean (Empty Branches on the Family Tree) (Also, thank you Linda for always commenting on my Saturday Night Genealogy Fun posts.  I love the feedback!) for creating and sharing the spreadsheet version of the chart, and of course Randy Seaver for sharing this idea.  I think I am going to suggest to my mother, BFF, cousins, etc. to refer back to this chart when I am going on and on about an ancestor - it may help to keep them all straight!  

Tombstone Tuesday: John Saffold Drake

John Saffold Drake

b 29 Apr 1841

d 06 May 1916

laid to rest at

 Poplar Springs Methodist Church Cemetery

Adrian, Johnson County, Georgia

son of

Francis Bryant Drake

and

Selina King Drake

husband of

Martha C Flanders Drake

John was my 2nd great grand uncle.

Tombstone Tuesday: Henrietta L. Oliver Ranney

Henrietta L Oliver Ranney

b 1888

Lost Spring, Kansas

d 1967

laid to rest

Gunnisonville Cemetery

Gunnisonville, Clinton County, Michigan

spouse of

James Comfort Ranney

daughter of

William H Oliver and Caroline King Oliver

Henrietta was the wife of my great grand uncle.

 

Mary Elizabeth Tapley	Me
Linda Irene Tapley	My mother
Ethel Irene Ranney	My grandmother
Luther Boardman Ranney	My great-grandfather
James Comfort Ranney	My great grand uncle and Luther’s brother

Tombstone Tuesday: Francis Bryant Drake

Francis Bryant Drake

b. Oct 16 1806 in Nash County, North Carolina

d. Dec 27 1875 in Johnson County, Georgia

husband of

Selina King Drake

son of

Richard and Pherabah Bryant Drake

laid to rest at

Poplar Springs Methodist Church cemetery

Francis Bryant Drake was my 3rd great-grandfather.