Let's meet Harold Ehrman. Harold was born in York, Pa. on 16 Oct 1894. He married Alice Goodling on 28 Jun 1913 in York. He did as required by law and registered for military service in 1917. Although we know that he was the father of a son born in July 1919, there is no record of Harold after his military registration although he was likely listed on the birth certificate in 1919. (The Pa. birth certificates for 1919 are not yet in the public domain.)
Since Pennsylvania did not mandate birth certificates until 1906, none is available for his birth. The records we can find include government records (census and registration) and newspaper articles (marriage and obituaries).
The first mention of Harold that can be found was on the 1900 census in York, Pa. He was listed as the son of Samuel and Isabella (Laumaster) Ehrman, age 5, born in Oct. 1894. Notably, his grandfather, Charles Augustus Laumaster, listed as Chas. A. and incorrectly labeled father instead of father-in-law, was also listed. So too, was his brother, Charles Augustus Ehrman, incorrectly listed as Chas. R. This name will play an important part later.
Harold can be found again on the 1910 census. Consistent with this date of birth of Oct. 1894, he was listed as 15 years old.
In March 1911, Harold's mother, Isabella died. He was one of the three children listed who survived her, "Katie, Harold, and Charles."
While we couldn't find documentation from the day, we found an article in The York Dispatch, 28 Jun 1923, titled "10 Years Ago Today." "Married - Harold H. Ehrman and Alice M. Goodling, both of York." Married, 28 Jun 1913. This establishes their marriage.
We also have a birth certificate for his first son, Harold Bernard Ehrman in 1914 where Harold was listed as the father. The name of the son was not filled in on the birth certificate. The question on age of the parents is off by one year for both Harold and Alice as he would have been 20, not 21 on his last birthday and she would have been 19, not 20. Perhaps it was phrased wrong when asked.
In November 1916, Harold was again listed in his father's obituary as surviving in York, Pa.
Harold is not to be found in any subsequent census in York. And since he had a unique name, we can surely say that he was not found in any subsequent census anywhere in the country. If he died before 1972 in Pennsylvania (lived to be 78 years old or less) he would appear in the Pennsylvania Death Certificate collection. The York newspapers are pretty well indexed and no record of an obituary appears after 1917. Likewise, if he lived into the 1970s we would probably have a Social Security record and appear in the Social Security Death Index.
As a researcher of the Laumaster Family, my interest in Harold is as a son of Isabelle Laumaster. And for many years I could only show Harold as born in 1894. And a footnote, "disappeared around 1919."
Did Harold die around 1919 when he disappeared? How and why? Was he a John Doe whose body was found and never identified? Or perhaps murdered and his body was never found. I thought this would always remain an unsolved mystery.
Now let's meet Bobi Robert Evans, from Richmond, Va. Like we did with Harold Ehrman, we conducted a thorough document search. First, the documentation. His obituary was published in the Richmond News-Leader on 31 Mar 1950.
Bobi died prior to the enumeration of the 1950 census so we do not have a census record for him on the 1950 census. The census took place on his street just one week after he died and his wife was listed as a widow. He registered for the World War II draft in 1942.
Note the claim of having been born in York on both his registration and on his death certificate.
Bobi appeared on the 1940 and 1930 censuses, both in Richmond.
The earliest record of Bobi Evans appears to be in a city directory for Richmond in 1921. He was living at 2217 E. Main St. and was listed as a cabinet maker.
On 21 Oct 1924, Miss Evalyn Carver Bowler married Bobbi Richard Evans of York, Pa. at her parents' home in Richmond.
And that is it. Bobi Richard Evans does not appear on the 1920 census in Richmond or in York. Or on the 1910 census. Or 1900 census. Nor does he have a WWI registration card.
Just like we did for Harold Ehrman, we now ask, "Who was Bobi Evans?"
LOTS OF COINCIDENCES
We now want to overlap these two records, those from Harold Ehrman and those from Bobi Evans. Harold has a history in York, Pa., presumably from birth in 1894 to his disappearance circa 1919. He has no records after age 23 (but likely age 25).
Bobi Richards has a history in Richmond, Va., from 1921 until his death in 1950. He has no records prior to age 31. While we are unsure if Harold Ehrman was alive after age 26, we know Bobi Richard was alive before age 31. But where was he? And who was he? We can find no records in Richmond or in York.
The World War I registration was required for all young men. The first phase was for ages 21-30 of which Harold Ehrman registered. The second phase was in 1918 for those just turning 21 in 1918. And the third phase was for those ages 18-45. While we have a registration for Harold, Bobi was in his mid 20s yet no registration can be found in his name.
EVEN MORE COINCIDENCES
Harold Ehrman was the son of Isabella Laumaster.
Bobi Evans was the son of Isabella Laumaster.
Harold Ehrman's father was Samuel Theodore Ehrman.
Bobi Evans' father was Charles A. Evans.
I have been told that in his family records he was listed as Charles Augustus Evans.
Harold Ehrman's brother was named Charles Augustus Ehrman. His grandfather was Charles Augustus Laumaster.
Harold Ehrman's WWI registration card listed his DOB as 10-16-1894.
Bobi Evans' WWII registration card listed his DOB as 10-16-1890.
While having a difference of four years, what are the chances they would both be born on October 16?
The parents of Harold Ehrman have been established earlier and we have included their obituaries. As for the parents of Bobi Evans: Isabella Laumaster was listed as his mother. I can definitely state that there has been one and only person who walked this earth named Isabella Laumaster. Her obituary is included but did not include a son named Bobi.
As for Bobi's father, Charles Augustus Evans, of York certainly around 1890, we can find no records of a Charles Augustus Evans or even a Charles A. Evans in York.
The coincidences of Harold Ehrman disappearing around 1920 followed by Bobi Evans first appearing around 1921 make us think that Harold and Bobi were one-in-the-same. As uncomfortable as it may be, we believe the documentation suggests that Harold Ehrman walked away from his family in York and started a new family in Richmond.
My discovery of Harold was no accident. That was simply following the family tree line of the Laumaster family, specifically that of Isabella Laumaster. I have confirmed with two descendants of Harold that they have no record of him dying but rather he just disappeared.
So how did I stumble upon Bobi Evans? That was an accident. Dumb luck? Good luck? Actually it may be a combination of both but was also genealogical research. In this case, DNA.
The good luck starts with my 5th cousinSarah. My recollection is that Sarah found me and wanted to know more about the Laumaster family. I asked her if she took a DNA test and she had. She uploaded her kit to GEDMATCH and I could see that she matched Doris, Sharon, Judy, Carol, and some others in our tree.
Sarah also had a question. She was a match to and had been contacted by someone who had an unknown match of a close family member in her tree. And Sarah put that woman in touch with me.
Out of respect for privacy I will not list any names. I will call her H24 as she comes from Harold Ehrman's line, the fourth generation. In other words, a great-grandaughter. H24 had been contacted by B23 as she comes from Bobi Evans' line, the third generation. In other words, a granddaughter of Bobi Evans. They were a "close match" in AncestryDNA but neither one seemed to know why.
H24 didn't know anything more than the family line about Harold, "he simply disappeared." But she added, "Maybe he left because I has a DNA match that doesn’t make sense."
I had some emails from H24 and two phone conversations. Some information she learned from B23 was thet B23 never talked about his family. He died in 1950 and his granddaughter, B23, was born in 1965. She never met her grandfather. The information she had either came from her father, Bobi Evans, Jr., or her grandmother, Evalyn Evans.
Bobi Evans Sr. stated that he was from York, Pa. but that he didn't remember any family. He stated that he orphaned at age 13, and he was sent to live with an aunt in Baltimore. He said a sister may have died too when his parents died. But when questioned about his York and family history he went silent - never wanting to talk about it.
H24 and B23 talked a little bit about their families. B23 had information on her dad and grandfather and said that some things didn’t make sense. Her dad and grandfather were both named Bobi Evans (Sr. and Jr.). She had discovered that her great-grandparents were Carl Augustus Evans and Isabella Laumaster. She found a historical record for Isabella but she was married to Samuel Ehrman.
The two women couldn't figure out their connection they both dropped it. The one correspondence from H24 I saw had B23 admitting she was so confused about not finding Bobi with Isabella on the old records and even stated, "Maybe everything we've always been told is a lie."
It was my dumb luck or good luck that led me to this connection. From there I could research Bobi Evans, Sr. and discovered he had no presence before 1921. He begged for me to research him. After all, he claimed Isabella Laumaster as his mother.
Once I had the documentation, previously presented, it was only left to prove this connection. H24 gave me some DNA connections between her and her mother to Bobi Jr. and B23. The shared DNA on all connections all pointed to one conclusion: Harold and Bobi Sr. were the same person.
However, all of them were in a range where there a slight possibility of a different relationship. So I kept looking. In my own DNA I could not find a connection to this family. Indeed, a 5th cousin connection only carried about a 10% chance of having shared DNA. But I checked my mother's kit and she has a connection to H13, a grandson of Harold Ehrman.
H13 has been very helpful in helping me prove the disappearance of his grandfather. He sent me a screenshot of his matches including one to Bobi Evans, Jr. They matched at 1033 cMs.
We have to eliminate some possibilities. With luck, actually the process of elimination, we hope for only one relationship to be possible.
Bobi Evans Jr. was born in 1933. H13 was born in 1951. It is impossible for them to share a great-grandparent/child relationship. We can eliminate the first two.
Great-uncle/nephew. To be the graat uncle of H13, Bobi Evans Jr. (1933) would have to be the brother of H13's grandfather, Harold Ehrman (1894). And to be a brother they would have to have the same parents. Harold's parents both died in the 1910s so this relationship can be eliminated.
First cousin. For this relationship, Bobi Evans Jr.'s father and H13's father, had to be brothers. Bobi Evans Sr. was born in 1890. H13's dad was born in 1914, the son of Harold Ehrman. The children of Harold Ehrman include H13's dad (1914). It could not include Bobi Evans Sr. (1890), who was born before Harold Ehrman, let alone Harold could not be the father of Bobi Sr. who was born before he was. Eliminate first cousin.
From the list of seven we are down to two. Before we explain this, let's look at 3500 cMs. If two people share 3500 cMs of DNA we know this is a parent-child relationship. But DNA can't tell who the parent is and who the child is. It just knows this is the relationship.
So we have a Half-Uncle or Half-Nephew. Or both, depending on which direction we start. The only remaining possibility from 1033 cMs of shared DNA that fits is the Half-Uncle/Nephew. It's Half-Uncle because Bobi Evans Jr. was a half-brother of H13's father. A half-brother because their father was the same person but they had different mothers. This is 100% proof that Harold Ehrman and Bobi Evans, Sr. were the same person.
While the documentation suggests that Harold Ehrman left his family in York circa 1919 and appeared as Bobi Evans in Richmond in 1921, the DNA connection between Bobi's son, Bobi Jr. and Harold's grandson, H13, proves this.
The truth is uncomfortable. For the family of Harold and Alice they have to process that their's grandfather's disappearance 100 years go was an abandonment. When I shared my findings with H24 they were not well accepted. Others in the family welcomed the truth, even while uncomfortable.
For Harold's Richmond family, it appears that they have yet to figure it out. When H24 suggested to B23 that perhaps they shared the same grandfather/great-grandfather, B23 replied that her grandfather was not that type of man. If they approach me I will tell the truth but I'm not seeking them out to destroy the reputation of their grandfather. They can believe what they want to believe.
But for the man who convinced his family that he was an orphan. For the man who honored his mother by naming her in his family history but made up a father's name based on his grandfather and brother's names. For this man we are reminded that people lie but DNA does not.
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SOME NOTES TO PONDER
In addition to a marriage record in 1924 between Bobi Evans and Evalyn Carter Bowling in the Richmond Dispatch, there was also a notice in the York, Pa., newspaper. "Bobi Evans of York" with no parents listed. I would assume that Evalyn was the driving force behind this, telling him they had to put a notice in the York paper. He must have cringed but gone along with it.
You don't disrespect your mother. Harold/Bobi listed his mother as Isabella Laumaster. But he took on a new surname. The name he listed for his father was Carl Augustus Evans, of which there was no person. In doing so he paid homage to his brother and grandfather, both of who were named Carl Augustus.
I cannot guess as to why he used the name Evans. His direct ancestors include Laumaster, Battorff, Ehrman, and Roush. Maybe it's a family name farther back, maybe a cousin name, maybe a friend's name, or maybe just made up.
Maybe nothing or maybe something. Harold Hastings Ehrman named his first born son after him: Harold Bernard Ehrman. Bobi Richard Evans named his "first" son after him: Bobi Roland Evans.
As far as the date of birth, one can only surmise if it was intentional to change the year of birth. While he used October 16, it is possible that his year of birth was simply not recorded correctly. Date of birth was not important at all in 1900 or even 1920. Perhaps it was only important to avoid draft registration. There wasn't yet Social Securirty and no computer recorded and trakced dates. It was not uncommon to find age creep in this generation, surprisingly, with many people believing or claming to be older than they really were. Simply stated, I am not convinced that Harold/Bobi willingly changed his year of birth to deceive anyone.
Alice Goodling, the first wife of Harold Ehrman, married William Clen Lewis around 1924. That begs the question, how did she address her first marriage? Did she have Harold declared dead? Did she file for a divorce (grounds: abandoment)?
On Ancestry.com I'm starting to see some people list Harold Ehrman's date of death of 30 March 1950. This appears to be lifted, in true Ancestry fashion, from one source, that of H13 who updated his grandfather's record to relfect his death.
On the Evans line, the user, B23, has a tree on Ancestry. She hasn't logged in in more than one year. The tree ends going back at Isabella Laumaster and Charles Evans. May she discover the truth someday. It's in the DNA. ...
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