Love Letter

This love letter is one of the cutest things that I have found in my Grandmother Keyes papers. My grandfather Charlie Keyes sold office supplies and typed this note on reciept paper with a tiny typewriter. It measures 2"x 5". (This image is just a tiny bit smaller than the original.) It is dated Nov. 2, 1927 and they were Married Sept. 5, 1928. Grandma was 11 years older than Grandpa. She would have been 35 and he would have been 24.

Grandma Keyes Birth - Twins

Since I told the story of Grandpa Keyes birth, I thought I would share Grandma's story as well.

Betsey Elizabeth Richardson was born 21 March 1892 in Springfield, Illinois. She had a twin brother named Harry, and their parents were Charles and Nettie Richardson.

The great part about it is that I have an account written by her in her own words. Here it is.

"So you want to know about me. Are you sure? Mother told me that on the 21st of March 1892 she started to clean the pantry shelves. While she was on a ladder cleaning the top shelf Grandmother Richardson, my father to be's mother, came and stood at the foot of the ladder and said. "Nettie, please come down." This was the first, and probably the last, request Grandmother made to her daughter-in-law.

Mother cheerfully obeyed. At noon, Dr. Armstrong arrived, leaving his horse standing in a foot of snow. (Now, 86 years later, I am feeling sorry for the horse.) He was just in time to bring Harry into this world. Then 15 minutes later, much to everyone's surprise, I came forth. For years, Harry reminded me that he was 15 minutes older.

Father told me that he phoned on niece (Ada Bunn) and told her to go to see the baby boy. Then he phoned Emma Lanphier (another niece and sister of Ada, ) to go see his baby girl. when the two nieces talked to each other they argued as to whether mother had a baby boy or a girl so they hurried out to see. Mother was glad to see them as she needed more baby clothes which they were happy to make.

A little boy, Harold Utley, lived half a block north of us on the west side of Walnut St. between Edwards and Governor. His mother brought him to see us. She couldn't get him to go home because he told her a mistake had been made. He had been praying for a baby sister and he thought I was that sister so they should take me home with them and he wasn't going without me."



Grandma is on the Right and Harry is on the left. I know this because Grandma was bigger than her brother.

I always loved to hear about the adventures of my Grandmother and her twin brother. One of my most prized possession is the Original life story of my Grandmother's, typed by her own hand. I will probably include a few more stories about the twins later in the blog, as they are some of my favorites.

This picture is of the twins in about 1898 at the age of 6.

Grandpa Keyes Birth fact and fiction

This is the youngest photo that I have of my grandfather Charles W. Keyes. If anyone has any of him as a baby I would love a copy.

I have always been intrigued by the events surrounding my Grandpa Charles Washington Keyes birth. (14 June, 1903 in Alexandria, Virginia) Here is the family legend as I remember it. (I even called my mom and had her tell it to me as she remembered it and it was the same as I remembered.)


My Great Grandfather Harry Keyes worked for the Railroad in Alexandria, Virginia. One day in June of 1903 when he went to work a man who had the same position as him on another train asked him if they could trade trains as Great Grandpa's was to return earlier and this man had an appointment he needed to get to. Grandpa Harry agreed to make the switch but they didn't tell anyone. Well the train the Grandpa Harry was supposed to be on was in a horrible accident and the man that he had switched with was killed. Since they hadn't informed anyone of the change, the officials from the railroad went to Grandpa Harry's home and told his wife Emma who was 7 1/2 months pregnant that her husband had been killed in a train wreck. She was distraught, but the real shock came a few hours later when Grandpa Harry returned home. The shock of seeing him after she thought he had been killed put her into labor and my Grandfather Charles Washington Keyes was born within the next few days. He was 6 weeks premature, and was so tiny that they used his father's felt hat as his bassinet.


This story has always fascinated me and for some reason I have always wanted to know more about the train wreck and the man that died. Well after doing some searching I found 3 different articles online about what I believe to be the accident. It appears to be the only train wreck near Alexandria, Virginia mid June of 1903. Because of the information given in the article, I now question parts of the story. I no longer believe that Grandpa traded places with anyone. I believe the reason that someone may have contacted Grandma Emma was because of a mix up with names. The man that was killed was a Railroad Insurance Salesman. (I have never know Grandpa Harry to sell insurance.) The deceased man's name was Charles Keyes, son of George W. Keyes. (Harry's father is George A. Keyes). I even question if it was the railroad that informed Grandma Emma of her husband's death, or was it maybe a friend or neighbor, that just heard the name Keyes. In one article it mentions an H. J. Keyes that was a fireman on the other train in the crash, who was able to jump to safety. The engine that overturned had 1 injury, the fireman, and one fatality, Charles Keyes.


Read the article and see what you think the possibilities for the real story are. We may never know exactly how things transpired. But there obviously was a fatal train wreck and I am sure that someone told Grandma Emma that her husband was involved. But who told her. Also I am wondering if Grandpa could have possibly been named after the man that was killed.

Alexandria Gazette, June 11, 1903

Richmond, Virgina, "The Time Dispatch" June 12, 1903

Introduction to the Keyes Family

I am dedicating this blog to my Grandparents Charlie and Bessie Keyes. It was from my Grandma Bessie that I inherited my passion for family history. She spent over 30 years researching her ancestors and accomplished amazing things. She passed away when I was 12 and I literally inhereted all of her research records and notes. It was the only thing of hers that Grandpa would let out of the house. I think he was glad to see it go as he was always a little jealous of the time she spent on it. (I am sure my husband can relate. The standing joke at our house when I am zoned out on my research, is that my husband will tell our kids not to worry that "Mom will love you when you're dead." It's his subtle way of reminding me that my living family needs my attention too.)

Well back to Grandpa and Grandma Keyes. When I turned 18 I started to feel guilty that I had left all of those records sitting in the shed for so long. When I looked at them I felt overwhelmed and didn't know what to do. The family group sheets were all on those long legal size papers and took a special typewriter. They had just come out with the letter size family group sheets, so my mom suggested that I retype everything onto the smaller family group sheets. I quickly discovered that I loved the names and dates and places and wanted to learn more. I spent a few years familiarizing myself with the Richardson family (which was my Grandma Bessie's family.) It took up several large notebooks, and took me several years to feel comfortable with. I later realized that there was nothing in any of this information of my Grandpa Keyes family. So I asked my mom if she had any information on them. She handed me one very thin notebook and one envelope of reseach notes and letters. At that moment I realized that this was my job. To find the Keyes family.

11 years ago my husband and I relocated and I was now able to work less, spend more time as a mom and had time for extensive family history research, so the work began.

This blog will relate stories from the lives of my Grandpa Keyes relatives. Interesting stories that I have experienced in my research, and some of my frustrations and brick walls.

My grandfather was Charles Washington Keyes he was born 14 June 1903 in Alexandria, Virginia. He was the son of Harry Wilson Keyes of Geneva, Ontario, NY and Emma Widmer of Naples, NY. He was raised in the Buffalo, NY area. Charlie married my Grandmother Betsey Elizabeth Richardson on 5 September 1928 in Coral Gables, Florida.

Other surnames also included on this sight will be Widmer, Bryan, Wilson, Sanders, Bergman, Van Riper, Leibknecht, and Seibert

My next blog will share the intersting events surrounding my grandfather's birth and try to determine what it fact and what is fiction.