Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is about 80 miles from the Coast to Coast park where we were staying.   The Western Reserve Historical Society there is one of the top places in the country to do genealogical research and I've caught the bug.  Over the last thirty years, I've made sporadic attempts at research and accumulated a bit of interesting material.  Because of family circumstances, I know very little about  my father.  Supposedly, he was born in Mansfield or Marion, Ohio.  We visited both places and searched the birth records with no luck, so we hoped a trip to the historical society might prove productive.  Despite searching through census records and more birth records there, nothing was found.  The breakthrough came at lunch when we were directed to the food court at the VA Hospital next door.  The only paperwork I had with me was a letter from the VA Hospital in Dayton, Ohio dated 1952.  What better place to try to find additional information than with the VA. 

As we walked down one hallway after lunch, obviously looking a little lost, a very nice gentleman in a suit asked if he could help.  And help he did.  He walked us into the Director's office and asked the Secretary if she could point us in the right direction.  She sent us down to see Cathy Morgan, the Chief of the Health Information Management Section.  She copied the letter and offered to contact Dayton for us and call us with any information she could uncover. 

True to her word, she called me two days later with a birth date in 1893, a year earlier than we had.  She also gave us the name of a sister who lived in El Dorado, Arkansas in 1938.  More information may be forthcoming from the VA Hospital in Columbus when Ms. Morgan's counterpart returns from vacation. 

To Gerry's delight, an antique car museum was housed in the same building as the Historical Society.