On a previous post I tried to reconcile two different versions of how my four-year-old uncle, Andrew, may have died. One version came from my grandmother via my father, the other from a news story in the Brooklyn Eagle of April 23, 1903. Now my second cousin, Peggy Ghezzi, whose grandmother was Andrew's older sister, Anna, weighs in with a third version.
She writes, "My Mother told me that Andrew was playing cowboys and Indians. When one
child aimed his toy gun at Andrew and said Bang- Bang you're dead,
Andrew slumped to the ground. The other children thought he was
playing but he never got up. My Mom was told by Grandmother Anna he had a
heart attack."
Is there a way to reconcile this version with the other two?
It's a wonder to me how family history based on the memories of living people ever gets written, especially when the memories are based on someone else's memories.
I suspect Peggy's grandmother may be a more accurate source than my father, who wasn't even born at the time.
