This weekend Tiffany did a lot of on-line research into Quinn's family tree, specifically his father's side. Quinn never met his Grandfather, Oscar Pearl or his grandmother, Luanna Pearl who died when she was only 36 after having two sons; Quinn, Sr. and Uncle Frank. Quinn's father was only 8 when his mother died.
In any case, we scoured the Bullitt County Pioneer newspaper from 1904-1918. This wonderful little paper had tidbits of personal information. They lived in Shepherdsville, KY. We saw where O.W. Pearl (Oscar) and Mrs. O.W. Pearl visited friends or relatives. The paper never mentioned her by name, just as Mrs. O.W. Pearl. We saw Christmas letters from masters Quinn and Francis Pearl to santa, we saw that Quinn's grandfather had been ill, but recovered and that she had been ill and recovered. There was the Spanish flu outbreak. We saw where Oscar and a friend went to the world's fair in St. Louis. Page after page, year after year we read, looking for more details. We laughed about Quinn's grandfather's twin brothers when they purchased a new car (one of the first), or wanted young ladies to meet them at the fair. We saw where O.W. Pearl had been a teacher, a principal in Bullitt County, then the Circuit Court Clerk. We saw where a child's white coat was lost and was asked for it to be returned to Mrs. O.W. Pearl.
It was fascinating reading, like solving a mystery. It was like reading a book. Tiffany would cross-reference other family members and find their connections and places. She was on the computer for hours making notes, printing pages.
Then tears ran down Tiffany's cheeks. "What?" I asked. Tiffany told me she found it, she had found the article where Luanna Slaughter Pearl, Quinn's grandmother, Tiffany's great-grandmother, had died at age 36.
Now we knew it was going to happen, but somehow we had become so involved with their personal lives and comings and goings, that her death was as shocking to us as it must have been back then, in 1918, to them.