It's going to happen. With thousands of people in your family tree there's bound to be a bad apple or two ... if you search long enough.

Although our ancestors lived a very different life-style, they were prone to the same temptations and problems we face today: men drank too much, lusted after other women and deserted their families; people lost their minds and ended up in mental institutions; children were born out of wedlock; people held political differences which sometimes led to violence; children fought over provisions in a will leading to nasty family squabbles that sometimes endured for generations; and, probably the hardest thing for a true, dyed-in-the-wool Southerner to accept ... people in their family tree sympathized with the Union during the Civil War. (Yeah ... I have a couple of those too.)

How you choose to handle this is your decision. I've come across several reactions ranging from the "ostrich syndrome" (sticking their head in the sand and pretending it never happened) to frank, matter-of-fact acceptance of the situation.

After facing several unpleasant incidents in my family tree, I discovered I fall into the "acceptance" category ... I feel there's no choice. You finally say to yourself, "Oh, well ... they ain't perfect, but they're mine." Facts are facts and they cannot be denied.

What prompted this column was an e-mail I received from a cousin who is researching the Whaleys I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. It contained the tale of a grisly double murder reported in the Columbus Weekly Enquirer Aug. 31, 1842. It's entitled "Horrid Murder." I quote:

"A murder unparalleled in the history of crimes took place in Walton County, Georgia on the 17th (of) this month, the particulars of which we have received as follows: Mr. Jordan J. Harris who had been separated from his wife about two months went to the house of Eli Whaley where he was armed with a gun and other weapons.

"After firing at her without effect, he caught her and cut her throat from ear to ear. While in the act, her mother ran to her relief and received from Harris a blow that broke her skull from which she died. The alarm was soon given by some Negroes, who (were) the only persons at the house, when Mr. A. [Alford] Whaley, a son of the deceased, presented some guns and two men and went to take him, but Harris swore he would not be taken, and that he would kill the first man that interfered. "Whereupon Whaley, seeing him, approached him, [and] shot him down. No one can give any reason why Harris acted as he did. Thus have three beings been hurried into eternity, the scene must have been awful and one at which human nature must shudder."

This was apparently taken from another publication called Southern Whig, as it was so noted following the article.

According to family stories, Harris acted in a drunken rage. Eli Whaley, mentioned above, was the brother of my GGGGgrandmother (Hester Whaley Pepper) and also the brother of William Whaley who lived in Fayette County. The woman who was murdered with the fatal blow was Eli's wife, Betsy Grace Whaley. The wife of Jordan Harris was Comfort Whaley, Eli and Betsy's daughter, my first cousin, five times removed. And, yes, I shuddered. Alford Whaley, Comfort's brother, was not charged as it was said he acted in self-defense. You can find more about this Whaley family on the Web site of Mary Barnes, http://members.tripod.com/~MearsM2/Whaley.html .

Another unpleasant story involves a Union sympathizer in our family tree. He was said to have been harassed by his Southern neighbors so much that they "poisoned" his well by burying a dead soldier at the head of it.

Another one of my relatives was quite a lady's man, I am told and, even though he was married and had nine children, carried on with a lady on his railway mail route. When confronted by another suitor with an axe (it is not clear whether it was her husband or just a boyfriend), he shot the man dead on the train. This happened near Griffin in the 1930s. Again, I think this was ruled self-defense.

Another story does not involve a relative, but we thought it did until we researched it. A young man who had married a Fowler, openly lived with a lady on a neighboring farm, had children with her and, after his wife died, married this lady and had even more children. Not a very nice guy. Glad he wasn't really a relative. (I better hush. He might be related down the road.)

The saddest story I have come across was my own great-grandfather, William Fowler, who, according to probate court records, was declared incompetent and had to be cared for by his stepson, Tom Hart, for the last three years of his life. According to family stories, Grandpa Fowler suffered from what we would today call Alzheimer's.

To make matters worse, his wife was totally blind and unable to care for herself or her husband. Tom lived in the house with both of them, hired nurses to care for them, and ran Grandpa Fowler's business at the same time. People in Hightower still speak of Tom Hart with admiration, and I can certainly understand why. What a job he took on! What softens this story is the fact that people also speak of Grandpa Fowler with admiration. His obituary spoke of the many contributions he made to his community before he became ill.

Skeletons in your closet are certainly not pleasant, but they do shape your ancestors and relatives into real people. They are part of our history, good, bad or otherwise. If you haven't come across one yet, brace yourself ... you will.

I'm still looking for information on your south metro folks ... any families who settled for any length of time in the counties south of Atlanta. We want to know who they were and what they did, where they came from and where they went. Send mail to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; e-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com. Until next week, happy hunting!

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