Jarvis Norris Atkinson, my father's grandfather, was a mystery.
His son, my grandfather never talked about him. We knew Jarvis's wife died, leaving five underage children who were split up among relatives. And then Jarvis died, leaving the kids orphaned. What happened? I joined my father, using digital resources as they became available. For a while I had access to the New York Times digital archive. I stumbled on an article there which I can no longer locate - Jarvis N. Atkinson, a college graduate and lawyer, had been a featured speaker at a Salvationists event in NYC following a Water Wagon Parade, telling his story of being estranged from his family due to drink. In his own words.
