Genealogy Friday: Obituaries can Unlock the Past

I shared with you over the last few weeks how I’ve broken through one of my brick walls.

Picture of the Train accident that took Ario life
Picture of the Train accident that took Ario life

While traveling to another part of the state, I stopped to retrieve an obituary I needed.  Was this truly my great-great grandfather?

This obituary unlocked a lot of answers and questions. The obituary unlocked the past.

Well, I had both good news and well MORE news.

The good news:

  • This was him
  • His name was also John {as I’d been told and then came to question} and Ario.  {Both names were listed}
  • I was able to read more information on the tragedy in which he died

So what is the MORE news?

Well, I guess it’s more: more questions and more mysteries to be solved.

  • I discovered that he was killed in the 1891 Stateville {NC} train accident.
    More pictures of the wreck
    More pictures of the wreck
  • So why was he on a train at midnight headed to Asheville?   What was his business?
  • Why had he moved to Statesville?  {He was listed as a resident}
  • Is he buried in Statesville, NC instead of Spartanburg, SC as we’d always figured?

Then in the records, I discovered: Mr. Davis {the one legged man}.

He’s the only Mr. Davis in all the records of this crash.  How did he lose a leg?

I may never know all of the questions but now I have more mysteries to solve.  I also have more information to tell me about his life.

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