Not Much Happening

There's not much happening this week. I received a couple of emails about two separate branches. The first one is from my cousin, Connie, the daughter of my cousin, Marion. Marion is the benefactor of the original collection of my family photos. She has over a dozen photo albums that belonged to her mother, Mabel Luedell (Shelly) Pretty, pictured to the left with her husband, Harry "Pete" Leighton Pretty. Great Aunt Mabel was the sister of my Grandpa, Harry Walter Shelly. The email contained numerous pictures with names and dates. I have the pictures, but I think I might have some of the names wrong.
Every so often, someone corrects me on a genealogy mistake. I enjoy criticism and reviewing by peers - it adds credence to my research. This time, Deb Glover suggested that I have the wrong parents for Frederick Cline (1830-1896). This weekend, I'll take the time to review her suggestions (i.e., to look at the 1861 Census of Upper Canada). I will have to take a couple of hours to review the research I have done, compare it to the Norfolk Cline researcher's findings and correlate to Mrs. Glover's.
The picture to the left gets me nostalgic for the days when we used to go up to Bracebridge to visit family. We would stay with Uncle Pete and Aunt Mabel, and be awakened by the smells of breakfast and quite talk between my grandparents and various family members. My Aunt Mabel was the eldest of the clan, and held both a place of honour and love in our hearts. She died the same year my Grandpa passed on, signalling the end of an era. I truly miss both people, and wish - like most family historians - I had just a few minutes with them to tell how much I appreciated them and to get a few questions answered. You see, not much was spoken about my great grandfather's siblings. Aunt Bertha Robb used to visit, but nothing was ever said about the sad demise of Grandpa Frank's younger brother, or the absence of his other siblings, Emma Ruth Bye, Charles Theodore Shelly (who died young in 1948), or of Deli Labetus, the missing sibling. Just one more minute ...

Just When I Thought I Knew It All ...

In family research, months (and even years) can go by and nothing interesting is found. You plod on just because it's what you have to do. There are countless relatives to index and catalogue, and Lady Genea is a hard taskmaster.
Then, along comes something that completely knocks you off of your feet. It changes how you thought your family history progressed. A couple of days ago, I received this email from Cindy Sileo:
"Emma left Edward Waymen Bye in Feb. 1907. Charles Francis Badder was the father of Walter ... Charles never married Emma and by August 1910, Emma and Walter, traveling under the Bye last name, crossed into Michigan at Detroit."
Okay, that changes how I thought my great grandfather's family lived. Family folklore suggested that Emma Ruth Shelly (1889-?) was disowned when she married Edward Wayman Bye in Walsh, Ontario. Turns out, she was probably disowned because of her shenanigans after the fact. Read what Cindy sent me yesterday:

"Canadian Police Had Hot Time With Lady Prisoner
Mrs. Edward Bye Left Her Husband and Eloped With a Farm Hand Only To Be Apprehended At Niagara Falls, Ontario on a Warrant - Husband Charges Her With Assault
Niagara Falls, Ont. Feb 27 - "There's no comparing her with anyone else - she's the limit," - that was the verdict of the detectives at police headquarters last night after Mrs. Edward Wayman Bye got through with them. She certainly was the hottest prisoner that the cells have held for a long time.
Mrs. Bye was arrested on Wabash train No. 2 from the west yesterday afternoon on information sent by telephone to Chief Detective Mains by Chief of Police Van Mere of Simcoe. The Simcoe Chief gave a description of her, said he had a warrant for her arrest for assault and asked that she be arrested.
Chief Mains and Detective McNamara met the train and quickly located the woman and a man with whom she was traveling. The chief got the man away from her and induced him to show which was the woman's baggage. When the fellow found that he was dealing with the police, he was anxious to do what they wanted. Meanwhile, Detective McNamara got the woman off the train on the pretext of having her baggage checked by custom officers and she was in the office in police headquarters before she realized that she was in custody.
Then things broke loose ... Jealousy of Parker had been the cause of all the trouble in the Bye home, Bye being certain that his wife thought altogether too much of the hired man. The Bye's and the Shaver's all lived together and the girl-wife's mother took her part in all the rows and finally helped her run away."
Needless to say, the "..." takes the place of quite a tirade that resulted in Emma Ruth being locked up and the tale of her vindications (Edward Waymen Bye was pretty beat up from the night before). I know there are always black sheep in one's family but a whole family of them!
The picture attached shows sister, Bertha May (1896-1969), mother, Emma Jane (Teeft) Shelly-Shaver (1870-1925), sister, Delia Labetus (1898-?), and brother, Charles Theodore Shelly (1901-1948). I believe it was taken after 1915 since brother, William Francis (my great-grandfather), brother, Emerson Dewitt (hanged in 1915), and Emma Ruth are all missing. If you look in the background, you also see an American flag, so the date most likely between 1915-1917, before the second marriage of Bertha May to John Robb.
I am really hoping I can move forward in the research of both Emma Ruth and Delia Labetus after the recent news. I remember finding records of an Emma R. Bye in the American Ancestry records. Well, I really should get back to digging. Maybe I'll be posting on this subject soon!