Squidoo page on the Gaulthair Children

We are meeting the Montoya's in less than a week. These are Gary's brother and sister. I wrote a page on Squidoo about the Gaulthair Children to share what we know so far and how far we still need to go.

Genealogy is frustrating

Genealogy can be more than frustrating. I am still looking for information on the Rhea's of Sneedville, Tennessee although I have a pretty good sense of my Rhea family. I would have liked more information on my grandmother, Mellie, who also kept secrets. We are not even sure of her real first name. What is even more frustrating is the Gaulthair family on Gary's side. We think we know about seven of the children. Still, until we can confirm that Lydia was the mother to all of them, we can't be really sure. I am in the process of requesting birth certificates for Patricia and Karolene. Patricia is no longer with us so that is not a concern but apparently Karolene is still out there somewhere. It is not so much a concern since there is no slander and if we are incorrect, someone can let us know. We have pictures of David and Aunt Betty knows about him so we know he is real. We just don't know who the Tom in the pictures is. This is "Davey" and Tom in 1960. Why Gary's mother held on to this picture no one seems to know. It was with the picture of Enrique and Frances. We know that this is the David that Lydia gave to Betty and Lester but how he got to Tom is a mystery. Still, we keep looking and I am going to request his birth certificate too. Gary's mom told me that Lydia used Bill's name on the birth certificate so I am anxious to get it. If she indeed used Bill's name, that muddies the water even more.

The Montoya Children

So we know that Ramon Montoya had two children with Lydia Mary Gaulthair. She apparently had at least one child before Enrique that we thought was Frances but now are told that it was Patty. Frances says Ramon is not her father but the picture that Gary's mom had for 50 years shows Rickie and Frances and they look alike. That was the first inkling we had that Gary was really a Montoya since he also looked like them. Confused...so is everyone else. With the reunion just a little more than a month off, the list of questions just gets longer. When did they know about Gary? How do they know about Patty and is it the Patricia Powell I tracked down on Ancestry.com? When did Lydia disappear from their lives? Does Rick and Frances know that Lydia also offered them to Pat and Bill but they turned her down? How does anyone just give away children?