Socialites, Philanthropists, Inventors and Eccentrics, Oh my!

Question

I honestly don't know where to figure out the tangled mess of my family. When I was young, my mother often told me about her parents and grandparents. It all seemed magical and yet mysterious. I never really had much of a chance to ask my grandparents any questions because I was next to the youngest of my mothers children. If my grandparents were alive today, they'd be 133 and 120 yrs of age. And in their 60's & 70's when I was born. They also lived on opposite coasts, my grandmother here in FL & my grandfather in CA. Had I known back then that I'd be working on my genealogy, I would have asked more and taken notes. But, I digress.

From my own understanding of my ancestors: They were high society & rubbed elbows with some very prominent and important people. Some held very important positions. Some had invented things. Some were philanthropists, etc.

Q: How do I prove or disprove, if necessary, the legitimacy of such things if they may or may not be just stories, tall tales that were embellished over the years?

Q: Are there books, online resources that I can search through other than the scant letters, newspaper clippings and odds & ends that I have now in my possession??

Both my parents and grandparents on both sides, my aunts & uncles are all gone now, so I only have my siblings to ask and none seem to know any more than I do.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me.

Comments

Some invention patents are here:

https://patents.google.com/

If they were high society I think newspapers are the best source for that.

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Oh Wow! Thank you Lucy. So far, I've located one Invention with Patent approved for Bicycle handlebars. It was applied for by my great grandfather, Lyman B H. Brown. Still reading about it and checking for other possibilities.

I know my grandfather, Nixon C. Elliott, was responsible for creating what I was told was a 'seed strip' used for planting Alfalfa seeds for livestock feed. Still looking...

Thanks again for the tip.

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Wow, ladies. It's really difficult to decide on the best reply because each of you has given me input and helped point me in directions I hadn't really tried to look through. Wish I could pick each of you.

Answer 1

If any of these folks were prominent they probably have good obituaries in their local papers.  These usually list family members, accomplishments, and memberships in organizations that may answer your questions.

Comments

Thank you Kathie. Other than what I have found by reading in my grandmother's scrapbook newspaper clippings, it has been rather like a hamster on a Habit trail wheel, going round and round..Lol

Answer 2

I cannot see your tree so it's difficult to give you direct advice for particular ancestors but really the only way is to do your research. Where they lived and their occupations should go a long way to establishing whether there is any merit to the tales from your childhood.

Comments

Thank you Deb. I think I changed it correctly. I changed it to Private with Public Bio and Public Family tree.

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I did manage to look at your maternal grandfather's profile and it seems he was a stockbroker which might indicate a certain degree of social standing.

Katherine (Hughes} Brown's father, John, was an attorney.

It would seem that these were definitely upper-middle to upper-class families.

You might try running some general Google searches for some of the names and see if you get any hits for interesting events or even Wikipedia articles.

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Thanks again Deb. Some of the records are so messed up with the way names were spelled. Katherine's name has been misspelled umpteen different ways.

I did know her father was an attorney, unfortunately John and Emma didn't stay together. And it seems to me my mother said something about him going on to become a Senator or some official position, but I may be mistaken.

My great grandfather, Nixon Elliott, had been a Sheriff and held other positions when they lived in Kansas, before heading to Colorado. And my grandfather, Nixon C. Elliott was a cub reporter for Rocky Mountain News, among other things.

I apologize if I appear to be coming off as if boasting, I'm truly not. Sometimes, I wonder, if there was, were, are reasons that it's so difficult to find information & records on them. When I go through my grandmother's scrapbook and read through some of the newspaper clippings and read about them and see their names & photos in print, it can feel overwhelming and almost surreal (if that's the correct word).

Sorry, I'm rambling. I've been up for better than 48 hours straight, so I'm a little fuzzy headed right about now. Thanks again. Have a great weekend.