Etta Clare and Wm Homer Wert

Etta Clare Smith and William Homer Wert

What I have found is that I feel a special attraction to relatives who I have had to search very hard for. Etta Clare falls into this category. First I missed her because of the lack of the 1890 census. She was born in 1882. I have had this picture of her tucked in the box of dusty old photos for a long time. Her eyes spoke to me every time I looked at the photo. I had scribbled her name on the back of the photo all those years ago but Grandma did not give me any hints for this photo, as she had for others. (Her hints, I later found, were not always accurate.) It might have been that she and Grandpa did not know her exact connection either. And to make matters worse, when I wrote on the back of Homer’s photo, I had spelled the last name Wirt and on Etta’s, I spelled it Wert. I do not remember if there was a debate between Grandma and Grandpa about the spelling. That could have been it or it could have been that I wanted the job to be done and I was just careless about how I spelled the names. Eventually though I decided that she and Homer were probably married but that did not help me much at first.

As I stated in a previous blog (“Shared School Photo”), a shared school photo which showed a picture of Etta Smith sent me racing to the old dusty box of photos and there she was. It is the kind of moment when you have chills running up and down your spine. I know her! I know her! That’s who she is! And she might as well start talking to you! You can almost see the smile on her face. She is as glad to be found as you are to find her. It is this defining moment and all the others like it which has created the addiction that I have for this family history search! When it happens the tears flow because now you know this relative of yours! It is these hard fought defining moments that keep you search.