[Grampa Dave]

Genealogy is one of my past times. I have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to locate this ancestor, who was my father's dad. My dad refused to talk about him and apparently disliked him. My Dad died in 1976, and I started my genealogy quest after he died. He was the last of the relatives. Many if not most of the lines, I have tracked back to the 1700's and some even further.

[AnAmericanMother]

Oh, I'm a genealogist too. Gosh, it's hard when you have a "black sheep" and the family won't talk about him.

We had a similar situation with my grandfather-in-law's daddy. But he really WAS a horrid guy. My g-i-l's mother died giving birth to him, and his daddy blamed HIM for her death (like he could help it). Abused him and threw him out of the house at age 11 - he walked all the way to some cousins who took him in. He fortunately didn't turn to a life of crime, but became a Methodist minister instead. He told my husband that it took him many, many years to forgive his dad -

We were still able to get the info, though it took us awhile.