Bringing a Family Story to Life

My grandfather Harry was known for his tall tales. In fact he used to say all the Hands were all over the Cape May Courthouse and we didn't believe him. My parents visited Cape May in the 1980's and couldn't find any Hands on the walls of the courthouse, but then discovered that there were indeed Hands all over Cape May County, New Jersey. Then they discovered Cape May Courthouse is a town, not a literal courthouse. (Though there are of course courthouses, and one in particular is important to the Hand family history, but that's a story for another time). It turns out some of Grandpa's tall tales were true.

Family lore he told also held a story that my great-great-grandmother Harriet (Johnson) Hand died when hit by a train while reading a letter from her son on their property in Rio Grande, Cape May County, New Jersey. It almost sounds fantastical, but it was too macabre of a story to not hold a grain of truth. So off I went on the genealogical hunt. I didn't find much, until one day I was piddling in a newspaper archive searching for another mysterious family member, Harriet's husband, Orlando Hand. Yes, I have a waspy gentleman in my history with the name Orlando, but more on that later.

I found a snippet view of an article published in 1916 that seemed to fit. The headline and date was about all I could see. So then I tried to find the newspaper. It turns out the Philadelphia Inquirer is now defunct. So, the next question was where to find the archive?

Well, what next but a case of serendipity. My mother discovered the Newspaper Department at the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania and the Free Library of Pennsylvania. We sent off a request and soon had a PDF file of the full article.

Here is an article about the tragic death of Harriet Johnson Hand of Rio Grande, NJ published 20 July 1916 in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Sure enough the story was true.

I've never met Harriet, but somehow in her death, on those pages printed in black in white in 1916 she's come to life. As I substantiate more of my Grandpa's tall tales I realize that I've lost a valuable resource. So, pester your older relatives for all their stories, no matter how tall the tale while you can!

(Harriet née Johnson Hand was married to Orlando Hand, son of Thomas Holmes Hand, a descendent of John Hand "The Immigrant." Their son was Harry Johnson Hand who moved to attend Rutgers then settled in Philadelphia. Harriet's father was John Wesley Johnson).