M: Monday, Mistake and Mother

This Monday post is not only about someone's mother, but also about a mistake made and corrected by a helpful stranger.

Lydia Henke was my mother's aunt (my mother's mother's sister). She was born in Illinois on 20 June 1879 and died not far from her birth place on 28 March 1964.
Almost one year ago, I created a memorial to her on findagrave.com (one of my favorite sites to visit) and posted her photo.

This morning I checked my email and found a note from another findagrave contributor, who asked me the following:

"would you please add to Lydia's memorial: middle name Louise, born Illinois, Stephenson County, Lena; died Illinois, Jo Daviess County, Warren; bio - Lydia's parents were Fred & Amelia Henke"

Not much there that I didn't already have in my records, but when I linked to Lydia's husband's memorial, I learned that Lydia was the second wife of Edward Bolender. When Edward's first wife died, he was left with a young daughter, Evelyn. Lydia married Edward just a year after the first
Mrs. Bolender's death and when Evelyn was only two years old. Lydia and Edward went on to have seven children who survived infancy, and, according to my source, another three children who died as infants.

I should have seen the discrepancy between the date of Lydia and Edward's marriage and the date of birth of Evelyn. I'm grateful that this error was corrected. It probably doesn't mean anything to the Henkes and the Bolenders these days, but I'm glad that my family tree is just a little bit more accurate than it was yesterday.

Like many women in my family tree, Great Aunt Lydia took upon herself the raising of another woman's child. Just one more circumstance to be more aware of as I learn about my family, and a lesson to look at the family as a whole, not just a collection of individuals.