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Henry VO
Given the extent of Edward's knowledge, I was worried that we might not be able to uncover anything new about his family tree. Fortunately, our researchers didn't disappoint, discovering a slew of surprising stories. The first of them began on Edward's father's line, with his great-great-grandfather, a man named Frank Baals. Frank died in Ashland, Kentucky, in 1905. According to his obituary, he worked as a yardmaster for an Indiana railroad company in the 1890s, a time of great turmoil in America's labor movement. Indeed, Edward was on the job during the notorious Pullman Strike, which ended in open battles between striking workers and the United States Military. -Any family stories about that? -No, I've heard that name-- not even Frank, but the name "Baals" I knew was within my grandfather's... you know, maternal lines, but literally have never even heard a story. -Could you please turn the page? -Yeah. -
Henry
It turns out there's more to his death than that obituary led on. -Wow. "Frank Baals was murdered. The fact that the late Frank Baals was probably murdered became known here yesterday for the first time when his alleged slayer Rat Haney..." -
Henry
laughs
-"Was placed on trial in Catlettsburg, Kentucky. No motive for the murder of Mr. Baals has yet been discovered. He had money on his person on the night he met his death, but it was not touched. His injuries were all about the head and were evidently inflicted by a club or other instrument. A neighbor saw Mr. Baals on the night of the murder sitting in front of the barber shop. He saw a man come along, strike Mr.-- strike Baals over the head. Mrs. Baals heard her husband call and, running out upon the porch, saw him hanging to a post, blood streaming from his wounds." That is amazing. I mean, what a story. -Yeah. -But certainly have never heard that. Never, never, ever heard of anything like that. I wonder if it was a disgruntled railroad worker who... -Well, we're gonna find out. -
laughs
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Henry VO
As a yardmaster, Frank was management, and when the strike came, it seems he stayed loyal to his company, working to keep the railroads running, which most certainly would not have endeared him to the striking members of his community. But Frank's unfortunate death may have arisen from a cause far simpler; it seems that Frank had a pension for arguing. -"Those who were acquainted with Mr. Baals will remember that he was a very plainspoken man, letting the result be what it would."
laughs
That sounds like someone who speaks uncomfortable truths. "Yet he seemed unable to control himself sufficiently to avoid danger. A few days before his death, he had been engaged in a political conversation with a number of men and is supposed to have expressed himself too freely upon the subject, causing an ill feeling by some of the party."
laughter
-According to this article, Frank was killed over politics. What's it like to read that? -Uh, I mean, amusing -- not for Frank, but, um... -Well, we looked into Thomas Haney, "the Rat." -Right. -
Henry
"Rat Haney," as he was called, and we discovered that he was a bartender in Ashland. Perhaps Frank said something inflammatory in Haney's bar. We can't say for certain. Whatever it was about, it got heated enough for Thomas Haney to bludgeon your great-great-grandfather in the head. Isn't that amazing? -Amazing. -And that that story was not passed on. I mean, for your family, which is extraordinarily prone to sharing stories... -Yeah. -This is one that was filtered out. -It's wild. These are consequential-- these are consequential things.
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