Just like that, we've spanned the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany, a time once known as the twelve days of Christmas. So far, I've laid out my monthly research plans for the ancestors who have kept me stumped for years. Today will wrap up the sequence.
What to choose for that last choice of my Twelve Most Wanted for 2023? I've already realized that my neatly packaged annual plan is running into frazzled ends with my mystery paternal grandfather's shrouded roots. That's where I've begun examining in earnest those family legends which always had me wondering. Today's choice will be no different.
I mentioned yesterday that my brother was an actor. I've known for years that his official bio included a statement which shouldn't have stumped the family's unofficial family historian...but it has. On his IMDB and other official biographical entries, the narrative included mention of his being "a third generation performer." I can safely vouch for two generations—besides my brother, our dad was a professional musician—but who was the third generation performer? I have never heard any reasonable explanation for that mystery third person.
To lend credence to the story, I am aware of some old family photos—taken long before my time—which include an unnamed man whom people told me was a wrestler. A work friend of that "third generation performer"? The time in which that third generation lived would have included the vaudeville era. Perhaps that would be the key, an answer from a much-expanded entertainment world.
While this last of my research goals for the year is somewhat different from traditional family history endeavors, I'll wrap up this coming December with a review of old photos and memorabilia from my own close relatives and that of whichever grandparent might have qualified as that third generation "performer." Sometimes, even genealogists discover there is a lot to be learned about their own immediate family.
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