Where Did They Go?

As a toddler, my now 40ish son often replied when asked about a lost item, “But I searched EVERYWHERE!”  Literally, I searched everywhere for more information about Gladys Lacey and her family members, but the trail came to an abrupt wide dead end until one clue lead me to a surprising and very twisted path.

According to the 1910 U.S. Census, Gladys Lacey and her family resided at 65 Ellsworth Avenue in Grand Rapids.  But the 1920 Census recorded her as living in Lyons, Michigan with my Great Grandparents, Darwin and Hope Wood.

I reasoned if I discovered what happened to parents Gus and Violet, some clue might emerge regarding why Gladys came to live with my relatives.

Searching in the 1920 U.S. Federal Census for Grand Rapids, only a 9-year-old James Lacey could be found.  He lived with Nathan and Tillie Jackson, a black couple aged 62 and 58 respectively, and they owned a house at 857 Baxter Street in Grand Rapids.  In addition to the couple’s 16-year-old daughter, other occupants included Herriman Curtis, aged 23; Lester Cox, aged 19; and George Washington, aged 55.   Last, James Lacey’s named appeared and under Relation was listed “Lodger.” Was this Lacey related to Gladys and her family?  If related, why was he living apart from his parents, the same as his sister?  Was he related to the Jackson family?  More questions and no answers.

I began speculating that something probably happened to Gus and Violet.

• 1918-1919 Flu Pandemic.   During the final days of World War I in 1918, a deadly flu epidemic known as the “Spanish Flu” or “La Grippe” swept the globe killing between 50 and 100 million persons, 3 to 5 percent of the world’s population.A 1919 Grand Rapids Press article stated that “The appalling ravages of Spanish influenza in this country are perhaps best realized by the

  

  statement that more have resulted in little more than a month from this disease than through our whole eighteen months participation in the battles of the European War.”       

A 1919 Grand Rapids Press article stated that “The appalling ravages of Spanish influenza in this country are perhaps best realized by the statement that more have resulted in little more than a month from this disease than through our whole eighteen months participation in the battles of the European War.”

Between September and December 1918 Grand Rapids Department of Public Welfare Monthly Bulletin reported over 2,500 of the 138,000 residents of Grand Rapids fell ill with the influenza or pneumonia.  Of that number, 295 died.  So perhaps the Lacey family died during the epidemic?

• Was there a tragic accident, such as a fire? Old dilapidated boarding houses with wood fireplaces and furnaces or gas stoves left burning caused fires.  Within minutes an entire structure became engulfed in a blazing fire.  With few exits in these boarding houses, inhabitants easily succumbed to the smoke and flames.

• Did her parents divorce or move out of the area or state leaving Gladys behind, as well as possibly their son James?

• Some other unknown reason?

My quest for answers led me in many directions.  Maybe the family moved out-of-state.  For several long months, I scoured every state in both the 1920 and 1930 Federal Censuses with no results.   Then death records in Grand Rapids, Kent County, and Michigan became my target.  No Lacey family member listed.  Searching available death records in other states also proved fruitless.  Stuck in neutral, spinning my wheels!

Next, I called every black church that existed in 1920 within a 10-mile radius of Ellsworth Avenue.  All records from that period were either tossed or destroyed.  Another dead end!  Frustration!

Surmising that since the 1920 Census listed Gladys as a “Ward” of my great grandparents, some legal document might shed light on the mystery.  After calling a few Kent County legal departments, I learned becoming a guardian of an under-18 individual required that a petition be filed with the Probate Courts.  When I searched through Kent County and Ionia County probate records, no such document existed under Darwin Wood or Gladys Lacey.  So the “Ward” designation was descriptive rather than legal.  Stopped in my tracks again.  Argh!

Think, Jenny, think!  Oh, perhaps Gladys or her siblings were placed in a Kent County juvenile detention center?  Sadly, those historical records were all thrown away.  I stomped my foot and clenched my fists.

Feeling extremely discouraged, I decided on a whim to check with the Grand Rapids Public Library Local History Department, a place very familiar to me because I worked there during the 1970s.  Resigned to failure, I asked the librarian to search for “Lacey” or “Lacy” in their digital database.  Eureka!  An article about Gus Lacey existed in the African American Newspaper Clipping file.  I was in 7^th Heaven.  “What a fantastic find,” I said to myself.  But the article revealed an answer to the parents’ disappearance I never would have considered.  From the Grand Rapids Herald, December 9, 2010, page 2:

Gus “ceased to fork up the balance due” of $7, brought to justice court, bail set at $100, and a trial set in a few days.  A creditor issued a warrant and a Constable nabbed Gus and a court date set.  I wondered what this incident revealed about Gus’s character.  Even more perplexing, why did such a minor legal matter appear in the local newspaper?

NEXT:  ALL THAT GLITTERS. . .

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