My grandfather shared very little about his family. My father was adopted by him, so we don't have a genetic link to follow either. He had obtained a replacement birth certificate when he applied for social security by having his father-in-law testify that my grandfather was born in West Virginia and that my great-grandfather had known him all his life. None of which was true. We believe my grandfather was born in Georgia and raised by his maternal grandparents. His paternal grandparents sent him to law school but he dropped out after one year and was then disowned. He had a much older sister possibly named Cornelia (Corny). He left home and began working in a traveling carnival, where he met my grandmother. That is as much of the back story we got from him, but no actual places were ever discussed by him. We have one address for his mother given to the US Army in 1936 but we haven't been able to trace her either.
