I first began researching my great Uncle who was a gangster in NE because I was fascinated by his life and crimes. I almost idolized him, imagining him tearing across the countryside in fast cars wearing a silk suit with a pretty moll on his arm. But as I write on the man behind the myth it is so much more heartbreaking. He robbed his neighbors. He terrorized people. As the Waverly newspaper said, he was a bad man. Along with the horrible things he did to people, it was horrible for him too. He was a deeply troubled man and he did not like who he had become. He blamed everything and everyone for his choices but himself; he just could not take responsibility for being a criminal. As we research and write about the past it is easy to glorify the situations, but we can never lose sight of the fact that these were real people, not characters on a movie screen. my great uncle hurt his family, his neighbors, and ultimately his soul; and there is no glory in that. But there are lessons and that is why we do what we do.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 13:41:29 +0000
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