Great-Great Uncle Ralph Connell

Ralph Leon Connell was found on Great-great-granddaddy Robert J. Connell’s doorstep. Robert J. was 66 years old. I don’t know when exactly Ralph was left on their doorstep or how old he was, but Ralph was living with Robert J. and his young wife Maggie in 1930 when the US census was taken.  That census is actually how I learned about Uncle Ralph.

At first I thought Robert J. and Maggie were his parents, but I noticed from the census that Maggie and Robert J. were married about 3 years after Ralph was born.  Another thing is that Ralph was living with his sister (our Aunt Docia) when the 1940 census was taken, and not with Maggie (Robert J. had passed away). I thought, “Well, maybe Ralph was from Robert J.’s second marriage,” but I couldn’t find anything that supported that hypothesis. I thought Granddad JC would probably know something about it, so I sent Mom a quick e-mail asking if she’d ask Granddad about his Uncle Ralph. And that’s how I learned this intriguing information about him!

So Granddad said that he’s pretty certain that Uncle Ralph is related to us somehow, but doesn’t know exactly how. He said that Ralph moved in with Aunt Docia when he was 9 or 10. That was a year or two before Robert J. passed on. Some of Granddad’s older siblings were also living with Docia when the 1940 census was taken, so I think she must have liked having her younger brother and nephews around. 

Ralph enlisted in the army and fought in WWII. When he was on an R&R (rest and relaxation) break in New Zealand, he met and married his wife. Their son was born soon after, but unfortunately, Ralph had already been called back to active duty. As far as Granddad knows, Ralph never married again. Granddad didn’t know any of the details, but Ralph came back to South Carolina after the war and eventually moved out West, where he passed away. I found a record showing his date of birth, the date he passed away, and that he passed away in Los Angeles, California. He was only 57 when he died.