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My great-grandfather was a shyster, scam artist,dreamer, promoter, singer, alcoholic and survivor. I never got to meet him, he had died when my mom was a little girl, but the stories that have been passed down about him have always intrigued me.

Most of the stories I have heard about him are from my grandma. Her stories have romanticized him, making him seem like Johnny Nolan, the hapless father from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. The dreamer and possibly the alcoholic in him lead him to believe that he could get away without working if he were to be an inventor. His most memorable invention was an automobile that ran on water. After he managed to get enough publicity about his automobile. He made a big deal about filling a can from a nearby well, even bringing one of his young sons into the scam by having him haul the water and helping to pour it into the tank of the car. Then getting into the car and driving off. It wasn't until later after the car was examined that the second tank for gas was discovered.

He was also a lover, he and my great grandma had a total of eleven children. Apparently she got to the point that she would kneel at the side of the bed each evening, pretending to pray until he was asleep. Ever resourceful he would send his boy's out to jump on the slow moving coal trains to throw coal down so that they could heat their home. As all of the kids got old enough he would send them out to work until they moved out.

Grandma always skimmed over these stories fast, they did not interest her at all. It was the singing that she always remembered most fondly. He would come home after working or drinking always with a song. Awaking the whole house with music. Although even during the depression they were always the poorest family in the neighborhood.

I don't know if these are just the broken memories of an old woman who was raised during a very hard time in history, or if he was really the hapless loving tramp, that really was unable to comply with life. These are questions that I would love answered. I would be privileged to meet the person that grandma admired and loved so very much.

Learn more about this author, Karalyn Pierce.
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