Genealogy is my obsession, and Find a Grave is an extension of that. My memorials are all connected to my sprawling family tree in some way, but often not by blood. If you would like me to transfer to you, just ask.

One thing I love about genealogy is that it is collaborative. Rarely can a single person gather all there is to know about a person. We all bring bits and pieces and collectively we get a more complete picture of our history. Find a Grave is truly a collaborative effort and each person's time and contribution is so valuable and appreciated.

And speaking of collaboration, I have one memorial that is not part of my tree, Otto Wagner of Yakima, Washington. I came to manage this memorial because someone had previously linked incorrect parents to his memorial. I requested the removal of the parents and discovered the memorial was available for management. Since I knew nothing about him I did not initially want to manage his memorial, but I did do a quick search to see if I could provide the correct parents for him. Nothing. Found absolutely nothing. Aha, a puzzle! Now I'm very curious and interested. I went to the newspapers and immediately found Otto, aka "The Yakima Leper." Otto served in the United Spanish War, and served in the Philippines and had been a prisoner of war. It was suspected that he contracted Tuberculoid Leprosy while there. He came to Yakima from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and had been sick for about 10 years until he was no longer able to work. At that point he was quarantined to the "pesthouse," so called because the residents had communicable diseases. Otto lived there alone for 5 months until he died. Here's the collaboration part -- I still haven't found Otto's family, or many details about his military service. If your interest is tickled like mine was and you would like to do some poking, please come along with me to get Otto properly recognized and connected with his family.

UPDATE: Super appreciative shout out to Susanna, member number 48631118, for help in solving the Otto Wagner mystery. Susanna was instrumental in figuring out the names of his parents, with the spelling of Wegner instead of Wagner, which led to finding the rest of his family and getting their memorials connected. The final piece of evidence that proved that we had the right family for Otto was an article in the Yakima newspaper more than a year after he died, reporting that a sister had come from Milwaukee, looking for him. This search was a very rewarding experience, and I so appreciate the help provided and the interest shown! I've left my original post attached here because it is an interesting story. I love this community!

Thank you to all of you!

Genealogy is my obsession, and Find a Grave is an extension of that. My memorials are all connected to my sprawling family tree in some way, but often not by blood. If you would like me to transfer to you, just ask.

One thing I love about genealogy is that it is collaborative. Rarely can a single person gather all there is to know about a person. We all bring bits and pieces and collectively we get a more complete picture of our history. Find a Grave is truly a collaborative effort and each person's time and contribution is so valuable and appreciated.

And speaking of collaboration, I have one memorial that is not part of my tree, Otto Wagner of Yakima, Washington. I came to manage this memorial because someone had previously linked incorrect parents to his memorial. I requested the removal of the parents and discovered the memorial was available for management. Since I knew nothing about him I did not initially want to manage his memorial, but I did do a quick search to see if I could provide the correct parents for him. Nothing. Found absolutely nothing. Aha, a puzzle! Now I'm very curious and interested. I went to the newspapers and immediately found Otto, aka "The Yakima Leper." Otto served in the United Spanish War, and served in the Philippines and had been a prisoner of war. It was suspected that he contracted Tuberculoid Leprosy while there. He came to Yakima from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and had been sick for about 10 years until he was no longer able to work. At that point he was quarantined to the "pesthouse," so called because the residents had communicable diseases. Otto lived there alone for 5 months until he died. Here's the collaboration part -- I still haven't found Otto's family, or many details about his military service. If your interest is tickled like mine was and you would like to do some poking, please come along with me to get Otto properly recognized and connected with his family.

UPDATE: Super appreciative shout out to Susanna, member number 48631118, for help in solving the Otto Wagner mystery. Susanna was instrumental in figuring out the names of his parents, with the spelling of Wegner instead of Wagner, which led to finding the rest of his family and getting their memorials connected. The final piece of evidence that proved that we had the right family for Otto was an article in the Yakima newspaper more than a year after he died, reporting that a sister had come from Milwaukee, looking for him. This search was a very rewarding experience, and I so appreciate the help provided and the interest shown! I've left my original post attached here because it is an interesting story. I love this community!

Thank you to all of you!