u/Melody_Lee19

i've been doing one-on-one ballroom dance lessons for about a year, stuff like foxtrot, east coast swing, nightclub two step, etc. also recently been getting into latin dance with stuff like rumba and salsa. i started doing it as a way to improve my coordination and get exercise in a way that my body seems to enjoy. i've been doing it as a casual thing mostly, i have school so i can't really invest in it as much as i might want to. dance feels very natural to me though, it's one of the only physical activities that people have told me i'm good at. i haven't done any showcases at my studio yet, but i've had my mom ask me if i want to. i feel like i kind of should start doing showcases and competitions soon, although i don't know if it's too early: i've only been dancing consistently for a year and i don't know how i would feel dancing in front of a bunch of people.

but i was just wondering: if you've done competitions, when did you start? like at what point after you started learning how to dance?

I have been trying to figure out what the hell was going on with my great-great-grandma. This is my paternal grandma's maternal grandma. She had an incredibly generic first and last name that varies across records (yes, both of them vary). I don't know her parents' names. She pops into existence in the 1920 census when she is married to my great-great-grandfather. She has no consistent birth year - somewhere from 1882 to 1888 is most probable - and her death certificate says she was born in Macon county, Missouri. She divorces my great-great-grandfather at some point and in 1940 she's listed as living with a "Charles S" who is her brother: he had a different surname that was erased. It says she was born in Missouri and he was born in Illinois: they were 58 and 64 years old respectively. They were also living with a Frank Martin (who had a different surname than either of them) who is listed as my great-great-grandma's nephew. Frank and Charles were both married. Where are their wives? Who knows! The thing that's giving me trouble here is that she later married Frank. Yes. Yes that's right. Her "nephew". Yeah. She married him.

BUT I don't think he was actually her nephew. He gave the information on her death certificate and didn't know either of her parents' names - her dad's name is listed as "?" and her mom's as "unknown". Very helpful. Also, in the 1930 census, it says Charles (who has a surname this time, which kind of matches the one that was crossed out in the 1940 census - Ward) was a "roomer" at her house, as was Frank - who was married at the time. Again, where is his wife? Unclear. I cannot find anything for her or my great-great-grandpa in the 1910 census. I cannot find anything that's for sure her on the 1900 census - I have some close matches though. The issue is that I don't know what race she was: she was listed as white in all the records but we're not sure.

(Also worth noting that my great-great-grandpa died under suspicious circumstances in the 1930s after they divorced. Police initially called it a suicide, a coroner said that it was a stomach ulcer. He left most of his money to their kids. He was a WWI veteran and likely had PTSD/mental health issues. That might have been why they got the divorce. I don't know if this is relevant or not but I'm sharing it anyway. It doesn't explain any of the other stuff, though.)

The thing that I'm most interested in is her family or lack thereof. If Charles was her brother, why would he be listed like that in only one census, and if he wasn't, why would she say he was? If Frank was actually her nephew, why didn't he know his grandparents'/her parents' names? If Frank wasn't her nephew, why didn't he know his parents-in laws' names? Why are they staying with my great-great-grandma when they're married? Where are their wives? Why can I not find a single thing about my great-great-grandma's early life? Did she change her name? Why? What's going on?

[EDIT: My great-great-grandma was named Mary or Marion, she gives her maiden name as Johnson or Johnston - it varies. I found an obituary that lists her, "Mrs. Frank Martin," as Charles Ward's sister, and it mentions that he had been living with her and Frank before her death. I am unable to find any records of a Charles Ward born in Illinois who has a sister named Mary.]