So if you followed my last three Thriller Thursday posts, you now know as much as I do about Dr. Herbert Davidson Percival. Doesn't it make you wonder who knew and reported that he went to Hawaii? That part of the puzzle really perplexes me. Obviously the family knew more than they were saying, and did not bother to pass it on to Herbert's brother, John Henry Percival, my great-grandfather. Or did they? What I knew of Herbert came from my dad's aunt Mary Percival French in a letter dated April 2, 1961 to my uncle John Percival.
"...My father's brother, Herbert was born in 1859 and my father in 1861. I think perhaps my grand-father came back for that event. Anyway, uncle Herbert graduated from Medical School in Cincinnati and my father worked to help him get through school. He went to California and had a very good practice. One day he was out collecting, driving a fine team of horses and vanished. The theory was that he was killed for the money and the horses sold, and the buggy dumped into the ocean."
And so, this is the story we all believed. And as I've stated many times, it always bothered me that no one knew for sure, and that I felt that he ditched his family.
So for now, I will pursue these leads, even though cursory searches in Hawaii have shown nothing of Herbert. Its possible he changed his name, and wouldn't that add just another brick wall!
Copyright 2010-2012, ACK for Gene Notes
I've really been enjoying your research and blog on the ever elusive Herbert. Maybe its nice because its not my own elusive ancestor. Either way I'll be watching for your next update..... Always intriguing.
ReplyDeleteTangled webs and brick walls, the good stuff genie is made of!
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