On one side there is
an early dead-end. It is Baker, Traylor's maternal great-grandfather whose line ends
abruptly, Richard Alva Baker to be specific. We have a photo of his gravestone
but nothing of his parents.
I realize that some
of the truths I have uncovered are less factual than I would like and that
there are gaps and questions everywhere in these lines, but I can still believe
in the best and most convincing evidence like any myth or religion. I want to create a hand-me-down
story.
So, how did the
Bakers get away--die that is--with no recorded histories?
There are
marriage records and birth certificates, even death certificates. I remember
that my mother had to have a death certificate to prove that my father was
dead. So why can't we find anything?
Some folks work hard
and never sit down long enough to record anything, I know. It is likely that my husband
inherited such a gene. Others lose everything to war, fire or flood. Perhaps a
name was misspelled somewhere in a way that is not recognizable.
Just think how hard it will be hundreds of years in the future
with so many folks asking to be cremated and their ashes scattered. There won't
be gravestones to look for, not even weathered and fading ones with questionable
spelling and dates.
I've explored all
the options I am aware of for Baker, and frustrated, I'm ready to let the chapter go like this: The Bakers came from England
where they baked bread for a household like the one at Downton Abbey or perhaps
they owned a communal oven for a group of neighbors: they were literally bakers. That
much is likely true, so it can be part of our story, but if you know anything
about the Bakers who settled in Southern Alabama, let us know because this end will always taste like raw dough
until I can proof it and get it in the oven.
If you haven't already, try www.ancestry.com/
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| Richard Alva Baker Family Tree (tee hee) |
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