The deaths of Wanda and Maurelle Cox

Charles W. Cox 
South Bend Tribune

The #52ancestors prompt this week is "challenge." There are a number of ways to take this prompt, but the one that stood out to me as I thought about it was that of a legal challenge. I've seen a few land disputes taken to court in my research, but no legal challenge in my research has reached the level of coverage or public interest as the 1934 case of Wanda and Maurelle Cox, two young girls who were found to have died of arsenic poisoning. Arrested and tried for their deaths were their father, Charles W. Cox, and a nurse, Nell Baker. The story was picked up by the Associated Press, giving it national coverage.

I don't know much about John MacWhirter

I missed posting last week for the #52ancestors prompts because I got involved in looking for more information on the topic I wanted to discuss. This week, the prompt is "overlooked" and the suggestion is to write about someone who I have not researched much yet. So, let's look at my 3rd great grandfather, John MacWhirter.

A grand day out at Coney Island, but who is with them?

Continuing with the #52ancestors prompts, this week's topic is "favorite photo." It's not that easy to pick a favorite. I have a few that I like from my childhood, but to answer the prompt, I'm going to show a photo that I hadn't seen until I visited family last March. This photograph brings up a few questions for me that I'm trying to answer.

"In the beginning..."

I've been kicking around ideas for some time of resurrecting my various web sites and blogs. They've been neglected for far too long, even though I've still been pursuing each of the interests that were displayed on them. This blog is one example of that. I am still very actively researching my family's history, but I haven't posted here regularly in quite some time. 

This year one of my goals is to put out more posts on each of the web properties where I have a presence. On this blog specifically, among other posts that I come up with, I'll be adding posts based on the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks series of prompts suggested by Amy Johnson Crow. This week's prompt is "In the beginning..."; but for me, this is not the beginning, it is the relaunch.