Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Eleanor Simmons Story
    The Eleanor Simmons Story
    The Eleanor Simmons Story
    Ebook90 pages1 hour

    The Eleanor Simmons Story

    By Thomas Stearns

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A true-life genealogical mystery detailing the two-year search to identify the next of kin to a $1M Massachusetts estate. The story tracks the day-by-day efforts of a professional genealogist--an "heir finder"--as she and her crew dig into vital records, neighbors' memories and, finally, use DNA to prove the identity of a 100-year-old woman who lived in a close community for 80 years and never talked about her family. Includes 22 pictures and newspaper clips.

    Will appeal to anybody interested in genealogy or wanting to learn how to locate missing family members. This story, which took place in the early 2000's, raises questions about what people do under stress, the desperate choices they may make, and the consequences.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThomas Stearns
    Release dateFeb 10, 2012
    ISBN9781465703347
    The Eleanor Simmons Story
    Author

    Thomas Stearns

    Thomas H Stearns is a genealogical researcher specializing in telephone interviews and on-line research who was involved in the Simmons investigation. An active Find-a-Grave cemetery hunter he has several hundred memorials to his credit, concentrating on New Hampshire cemeteries. He's the author of the McGraw-Hill textbook entitled Flexible Printed Circuitry and many technical papers and magazine articles in the same field. Hobbies include sailing and sailboat building, photography, high fidelity music reproduction. He lives in southern New Hampshire with his two beloved altho elderly cats.

    Related to The Eleanor Simmons Story

    Related ebooks

    Law For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Sweeping Sorrow

      Mar 29, 2022

      Sweeping Sorrow
      15 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Queen Of The South

      May 29, 2019

      Queen Of The South
      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Frogman Who Vanished

      Oct 5, 2021

      The Frogman Who Vanished
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Titanic Fanatics

      Nov 1, 2020

      Titanic Fanatics
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A New Purpose

      Oct 10, 2022

      A New Purpose
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      These Dreadful Days

      Apr 12, 2022

      These Dreadful Days
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Following His Nose

      Feb 21, 2023

      Following His Nose
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Unexpected Friendship

      May 3, 2022

      Unexpected Friendship
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Crossing Paths with Hemingway

      Jun 9, 2020

      Crossing Paths with Hemingway
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Along Rivers and Through Prairies

      Oct 1, 2023

      Before Dr. Robert Moore (RIGHT) became an educator at Washington University in St. Louis, he was a historian who worked for the National Park Service for 40 years. He enjoys doing historical research and using architectural drawing programs to create

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Beheading Mountain

      May 3, 2022

      Beheading Mountain
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Ron & Clint Howard

      Sep 1, 2021

      Ron & Clint Howard
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Britain In Black And White

      May 11, 2018

      Britain In Black And White
      12 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Dian Fossey 1932-1985

      Feb 6, 2020

      Dian Fossey 1932-1985
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Guilty

      Mar 18, 2021

      Guilty
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Kid An ‘Outlaw’?

      Aug 9, 2022

      Your informative magazine has lots of stories about incidents that are not well known, but boy, oh boy, you got it wrong with your December 2021 cover that calls Jesse James and Billy the Kid Iconic Outlaws. As far as Billy is concerned, that’s 180 d

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      More Of Me To Love

      Sep 30, 2021

      More Of Me To Love
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Shocking Celeb Crime Scenes

      Apr 6, 2020

      The closest that most celebrities come to a crime scene is playing a dead body on a fake blood-soaked movie set. But for some stars, a brush with the authorities can get real. Here, the NW-ettes pull on their detective hats and examine the most notor

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      What Lies Beneath

      Mar 9, 2022

      What Lies Beneath
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Day The Candle Blew Out

      May 3, 2022

      The Day The Candle Blew Out
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Eleanor Simmons Story

    4/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Eleanor Simmons Story - Thomas Stearns

      tmp_80ca51d2cd952d3ee99136db67c0d26a_HnyZke_html_75a062ff.jpg

      The Eleanor Simmons Story

      an M A Boyle Mystery

      _

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2009 Thomas H Stearns

      Nashua, NH

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to others. If you wish to give a copy to another, please purchase an additional copy. If you're reading this book and didn't purchase it, please do so before proceeding. Thank you for respecting the author's hard work.

      Table of Contents

      Foreword

      The Author

      Chapter 1 Eleanor Simmons

      Chapter 2 The Town of Westport

      Chapter 3 Probate Research; The Second Cycle

      Chapter 4 Genealogy; Intestacy

      Chapter 5 Birth Dates

      Chapter 6 Fruits of the House Crawl

      Chapter 7 Interviews and Anecdotes

      Chapter 8 Deep Into Conjecture

      Chapter 9 A Solution

      Chapter 10 The Distribution

      Chapter 11 Lessons Learned; the What Ifs

      Chapter 12 The Lost Years

      Postscript

      Foreword

      The Eleanor Simmons story is true; everything which follows actually happened as it's described. I worked on this case from early in its course so the story has real grit for me. The organization of the narrative is chronological and will seem strange but it had the erratic course that's described and the ultimate resolution was as surprising to us as it will be to you. There really was a 100-year-old Eleanor Simmons who fell off the back porch to her death on a hot summer day in July, 2001 leaving a million-dollar legacy to unknown heirs.

      The only photograph of Eleanor we could find was on her last driver's license which forms the background image of the cover—take a look at it—that's our gal!!

      We very gratefully acknowledge permission from the publisher of the South Coast Times and the New Bedford Standard Times to reprint extracts from their publications which chronicle this story at critical stages; the narrative is much improved by these snippets.

      The Author

      Thomas H Stearns is a genealogical researcher specializing in telephone interviews and on-line research who was involved in the Simmons investigation. An active Find-a-Grave cemetery hunter he has several hundred memorials to his credit, concentrating on New Hampshire cemeteries. He's the author of the McGraw-Hill textbook entitled Flexible Printed Circuitry and many technical papers and magazine articles in the same field. Hobbies include sailing and sailboat building, photography, high fidelity music reproduction. He lives in southern New Hampshire with his two beloved altho elderly cats.

      ~ ~ ~

      Chapter 1

      Eleanor Simmons

      This is the story of a lively and adventurous young woman, a pivotal choice she made early in life and the genealogical puzzle she left at her death. It began almost a century ago with a life-changing event that occurred sometime around 1920. Nobody alive today has any recollection of the 20's and there are no written records of what she did to put the record straight. Nobody involved in the story was important enough, at the time, to draw newspaper attention or to have a personal biographer, a Boswell. But ordinary people watch and take note, comment to each other and share and remember stories which have, taken together, preserved in hand-me-down memory the rough elements of our account. This reconstruction of the unusual story of Eleanor Simmons of Westport, Massachusetts is based on many such memories captured in interviews with neighbors and town officials together with lengthy and involved research thru public records and not a small amount of science. The beginning and the end are well documented; the middle part is anecdotal.

      Background

      Around 1920, Franklin Palmer, Jr, a carpenter and gentleman farmer of somewhat independent means, was living with his wife, Amanda and son, Oscar, on a small farm just outside Westport, Massachusetts, when he suffered a stroke. For several years thereafter Amanda cared for him at the Adamsville Road farm, one of the oldest farms in Westport. Then, in 1923, no doubt exhausted from the effort, Amanda passed away. Oscar, sole offspring of Franklin and Amanda, struggled on singlehandedly for awhile,attempting to care for his crippled father but soon saw that more help was needed. He then set about finding a live-in nurse. And so, sometime prior to 1930, Eleanor Simmons came to the Adamsville residence to take up her duties.

      There are as many stories about where Eleanor came from as there are people to tell them. Perhaps, because of the somewhat scandalous nature of a single young lady living in that isolated farmhouse with Oscar and his father, some said she was a former call girl or a dancing girl or a cigarette girl from Chicago or New York or possibly Boston. She might have been a waitress from the nearby Allen's Clam Shack on Horseneck Beach. But whatever her origin and wherever she came from, Eleanor proved to be a good nurse and housekeeper who took gentle care of Franklin through his last years. Always quiet and respectful, Eleanor did her work day in and day out, uncomplaining and efficiently. Franklin died in September of 1932. In

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1
      pFad - Phonifier reborn

      Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

      Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


      Alternative Proxies:

      Alternative Proxy

      pFad Proxy

      pFad v3 Proxy

      pFad v4 Proxy