What to Do about Raymond

Raymond Doyle has once again been on my mind.  I always think of him at Christmas but this time he came to mind when The 70273 Project crossed my path a few months ago.  It is a quilting effort to commemorate 70,273 of the infants, children, and adults who were killed by Nazis because they were physically or mentally disabled.  How could I not think of Raymond?  He would likely have been put to death had he lived in Germany during Hitler's reign. 

I'm not sure where to place Raymond in my family tree, or even whether to add him yet.  In the 1910 U.S. Census he is recorded as "adopted son" in the family of my great-grandparents, William and Tressa Doyle.  That and the fact that throughout his life he used the surname Doyle are my only indications that there may have been a legal adoption.

I forgot that I had asked an older, distant Doyle cousin about Raymond a number of years ago.  I found her letter the other evening.  Lyda Kelly Brest, the one generally thought to be the holder of family history among generations of Doyles, responded to my questions about Raymond.  This is what she wrote about him in January, 2011.  (I had asked if the reasons Raymond had been adopted by my great-grandparents was because his parents had been killed in a fire.  I was trying to imagine the reasons why parents would give up a child.  My daughter just reminded me of the stigma associated with a special needs child at that time.)  "Uncle Bill" refers to William Doyle, my great-grandfather and her great-uncle.  Hazel is his daughter, sister to my grandfather, Gust Doyle.  Lyda's "Grandma" was Elizabeth Jane Doyle, William's sister.

No, I do not remember Raymond, but heard my Grandma speak of him.  He was of the Page family in Stoneboro.  Uncle Bill's daughter Hazel took a liking to him & it was through her they took him to raise.  He definetly [sic] was limited & was in Polk Institution a great part of his life, as far as I know.  I never heard of his family being in a fire.  Uncle Bill was very frugal, & [I] was always surprised at him getting involved with Raymond, but Hazel apparently won him over.

Without proof (yet) of Raymond's formal adoption and now (tentatively) knowing his surname of birth, I'm still in a quandary about whether to add Raymond to my tree or create one for him with his family of birth.  Perhaps the best choice at the moment is to continue research.  It seems clear to me that Raymond wants his records to be found and to be placed with a family.  After living with my great-grandparents through his youth, then living the rest of his life in a state home "for the feeble-minded," I can imagine his joy at having his records associated with his family.  But which one?

And as strange as it may be, I think of Raymond as family.  Not exactly a great uncle, because though an adult in years he never quite matured to adulthood, but a family member, nonetheless.

Raymond has been the subject of two previous blog posts, here and here.

--Nancy.

Copyright ©2018, Nancy Messier.  All Rights Reserved. 
Do not copy or use any content from this blog without written permission from the owner. 
.