My husband,
Bill, is the grandson of Helen Nelson Robertson. She was born in UK May
19, 1903. She bought her ticket in Glasgow and gave her last residence in
Scotland as Cowdenbeath. She arrived in USA on Sept 1, 1923. She
married Gerald B McCann from Canada on Feb 9, 1926. On January 22,
1927 she had a baby girl they named Doris Elizabeth McCann. Doris married
a man named Henri, in Jan 1944. They had 2 little girls, and divorced in
July 1948. Some time during that time around the divorce the girls were
kidnapped by a family member. Doris then married a man named
Charles and had 3 boys. These boys grew up never knowing that their
mother was married before or that they had sisters. Their mother cried
every Christmas. Every time they went through family pictures their mom
wouldn't tell them who the little girls were in the pictures. Their
mom died in 1978, their father in 1980. As they went through the
pictures, my husband said that his mom never had told him who the little
girls were. Bill's older brother said that their dad had told him,
before he died, that the girls were their older sisters. Bill searched for
his mom's ex-husband and found him in 1983. He told him that the little
girls were given to his sister in the divorce, with the order for neither
parent to have further contact with the girls. This was a lie but Bill
didn't know it at the time. Bill
had a family of his own by then and couldn't afford to search for his
sisters. This past summer after a serious infection that put Bill in
the hospital for 5 days, he decided he'd waited long enough. With the help
of my Aunt Becky (who did the majority of the search) we found Bill's
sisters. It was Aug 23, 2000 just about 3 weeks since my Aunt had begun to
search for them on the computer. We
called the oldest one as soon as we got her phone number. Sharon was
as excited as we were. She had been searching ever since her adopted
mother died in 1992. She said her sister, Patti, was mentally
challenged but could live on her own, and she lived about 2 hours away
from her. We had a very long conversation that still brings tears to my
eyes. Sharon said all
this time she had been looking for the wrong name. Her father had
been getting forgetful and had told her the wrong name and that was who
she was searching for. In the course of the conversation she told us that
she wasn't given to her father's sister but that they had been kidnapped
and given to a woman who later adopted them. We
got a chance to meet Sharon, and her husband Jim, on Oct 1, 2000, when
they drove 4 hours to come see us. She is a very warm and caring person.
We all got along as if we had known each other all our lives. There was no
awkwardness of a first meeting as one would expect. She got to meet
my Aunt Becky, our children Tyler, Billy, Patti, and Barbara. Also our
son-in-law, Scott, and 2 of our 3 granddaughters Taylor and Alexandra. We
then visited the graveyard to pay our respects to their mom. Bill,
Sharon, Jim and I then traveled north to see their younger brother Art. It
was very emotional meeting. Sharon got out of the car and walked
straight into her baby brother's arms and cried and hugged him. There
wasn't a dry eye there. But the time came for Jim and Sharon to go
home and we were sorry to see that happen. We were unable to get
together at Christmas because of work schedules but soon we plan to be
together again. We have talked several times on the phone and
written back and forth too. Somewhere
out there in Scotland or northern England this newly joined family have
more relatives. Most likely in the Cowdenbeath or Edinburgh area. We have
a lot of love to share. WE pray that someday we are all reunited.
For some reason when Helen died in 1963 all contact with her family was
gone. We have no reason for this, as everyone that would know over
here, has passed away. If
anyone reading this knows where this family may be please contact them,
and read them this wonderful story, about a brother that found his sisters
after they were kidnapped 52 years before. email me, Cynthia, at cynthia915@webtv.net
if you know them. |
