New Sisters!!

The guys now have 2 half sisters!! I stepped away from the search for a few years. But as I was going through and cleaning out files this morning, I took a look again at some of the paperwork we'd gotten when we first located his fathers family. It it were the first names of 2 possible siblings, Robin and Terry. I took a chance and got online. I hadn't been able to find them before because all that I had was the last name Lucas and I didn't know if either of them were male or female since those names could both go either way, but since then, their mother had passed away and an obituary was online that let me tie all the first names together and find their married names. I went from ancestry searching the mother and 2 children under first names, then to a general internet search once I had found a potential last name for their mother and found an obituary with the 2 childrens first names that matched, and then to facebook to search for the children under the married names. And then I made a call. They were shocked by the call, but it was really great to be able to make the connection. They knew in general who their father was but nothing about him or the family really and he had disappeared from their lives when they were very young too. And from what Doug remembers and they remember or had heard from family (same as Doug), he wasn't a real great guy, so Doug doesn't feel like he missed out on knowing him, but it's really great to find siblings.

The Florida Trip

I haven't posted in a while, but I have done some more research in the meantime. I have to be in Florida on business regularly and one of my trips to me to the Jacksonville area for a full week so I took advantage of the time. We had heard from his relatives Doug Sr had died in Florida and through my searching I was certain of what county. So I went out to Glen St Mary, Florida in Baker County & visited the courthouse, the site of where he used to live, and where he was buried. He was born in 1936 according to his brother, but when it was recorded at his death, the reporting officer had him down as born in 1932, and his middle name was Lee, but on his death certificate & tombstone, it says his middle name is Stanley. And on the boys' birth certificates it says he was born in different states including Kentucky, but he was actually born in New Jersey. He committed suicide after being diagnosed with cancer according to one of the few people who knew him personally in Florida. He is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery as far out into the woods as you can get at the Oak Grove Primitive Baptist Church, technically in McClenny, Florida. He lived a very solitary life (I'm guessing hiding from all the wives) and I think he wanted it that way or he wouldnt have had so many discrepancies in all the records of his life. He had lived his final years in a trailer off of Blue Bird Lane, in Baker County, which to drive down it, is not really a road, but a gravel travel through woods, and I couldnt tell where a lot might have been that he'd have had a trailer on. There were no livable homes on it & the "road" went back into the woods where it was not driveable so that was the end of my search. The plot of land and his truck were left to his mother when his brother handled the estate and the land then sold back to the original owner of the property & resold since then. (That information is just in case other children decide to start looking around and wonder what dear old dad left behind- essentially, nothing.) The next time I go to Jacksonville I know that Doug Jr will want to come with me, if for nothing else, just to get a feel for where the man that he never knew called home.

A Family of Immigrants

Polish? Really?  Doug always thought his father was of Italian descent, but not so. In fact, to look at him, he's always had a darker complexion, and thick, dark hair, just an Italian look.  And we already knew from marriage certificates and birth certificates that on his mothers side, his great grandparents were all (well 3 of them) immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, and Great Britain-  so his attributes really didn't seem like they'd come from any of those countries.  But now we also know that Doug's father's line were also recent immigrants, his great grandfather (same generation) on that side, came over from either Poland or Austria.  The census records had 2 different birthplaces for Stanleys father, but... I also found a mention of Polish recipes in a family obituary, and found a link to a Polish family heritage page being searched by someone else researching the family name.  So, it's looking like Poland is the right location.  The last name was also changed twice in those census records, from Wufkowski to Lukawski, and finally to Lucas.  I'm guessing that there was some problem with translation when the census was taken.  So right now, I still have some more branches to research, his grandmother & great grandparents on her side, and still have the one branch of his mothers side for great grandparents to get more on, but everyone so far in his line has been immigrants just 3 generations back from him.  Just another interesting fact to build on... 

The Background of the Search

Following up today... I initially started this blog with a long, detailed description on my husbands history & why he wanted to find his father, and then the details of how we found him & what we found out.  But after we posted it, he rethought it and asked me to keep some of it off the site.  We just found family members of Doug's and really aren't sure if they'll appreciate names & family info out on the web like that, so.... less specific info.
However, in order to locate more family members, some things have to be put on this site....
My husband, Doug Jr., was born in Elko, NV, in 1971, but grew up back where his mother was from in Pennsylvania, and then in Ohio.  His father, Douglas Lee Lucas, Sr., was a trucker, born May 23, 1936 in NJ.  Doug's Jr's brothers were named after Doug Sr's family members, Stanley (Sr's father) and Kerry (Sr's brother).  Doug Sr. also had a brother Paul, a sister Elsa, and has a brother Carl.  Since the family history is to carry down the family names, I wanted to put them in here in case any other children out there find that these same names are in their family. 
Doug Sr. was a trucker and a polygamist who married numerous women in diffent states, incluing Arizona, NJ, and Pennsylvania, and possibly California & Missouri.  We don't know where else he was married, but we'd like to find out, and I'm working on the research.

Douglas Lee Lucas, Sr. & Jr.

It's been another exciting day in the quest for info about Douglas Lee Lucas, Sr.   Doug's newfound cousin sent him pictures!!  Doug Sr, and Doug Jr., respectively (and obviously).

And the only other picture Doug ever  had of him before this...

We have just recently tracked down Doug Jr.s father, as he never knew him growing up.  He left when he & his brothers were toddlers/infants, and their mother died young.  What we do know is that he was a polygamist, and we'd like to find any brothers or sisters that may be out there.  So pass the word, looking for children of Douglas Lee Lucas.