George Washington Van Zandt

George Washington Van Zandt was born March 29, 1891 in Taney County Missouri near the town of Branson. On July 3,1912 he married my great I grandmother Ethel Day. She was 20, he was 21. Ten months later, on May 13,1913 my grandmother, Pauline, was born. About a year later a second daughter, Carol, was born. In 1917 George registered for a draft exemption in Tulsa,OK citing that he was the primary support for his family. Sometime afterwards he disappeared. The story I've always heard was that he went to work on a ranch in Oklahoma and that he got the rancher's daughter pregnant. There was a shotgun wedding (was he divorced?) and that was the last of George. This was never talked about as it was a subject best left forgotten. I recently learned that in 1977 my great grandmother filed for a divorce from George because she wasn't sure he'd actually divorced her and she didn't want any legal problems when she died. I have one photo of Ethel and George, their wedding photo. Neither look too happy.

That's all we knew until now. Thanks to the magic of the internet and online records I found George. The 1920 census shows Ethel and George living in Hutchinson, KS. I don't believe this is accurate. I think MamMaw (Ethel) probably said he was living there to avoid the shame of being a single mother of 2. It was a government man afterall.  George reappears in 1930 in Phoenix, AZ. At this time he is married to 19 year old Leila May Johnson and has one daughter named Mertice Rhue. Other children are born, Essie Earlene and Glenn. There was one stillborn daughter as well. On the birth certificate George's occupation is listed as carpenter. Sometime around 1950 he moved with his family to Tucson and became a firefighter. On January 16,1959 he died from a heart attack on the way to the hospital. He is buried in Southlawn Cemetery and his headstone says he was a Canadian war veteran. His son Glenn died in 1959 and is buried next to him.  Those are the facts.

There are still some missing pieces. What really happened after Carol was born and why did George leave? Where did he go?  Why did he exempt himself in 1918 in the U.S. if he really went to Canada? Did he go to Canada to get away from Ethel or the girl in Oklahoma? Where was he between 1920 and 1930?  Did he ever try to get in touch with the family he left behind? Did his second family know about his first family? Is there another family out there? Why Phoenix and Tucson? Why, why why?

Why am I so interested?  I think because it is just a missing piece to my past and because it is such a fascinating mystery. I thought George might speak to me but he didn't. Guess I'll just have to keep looking.