52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 16: Negatives

It's Week 16 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge. I’m behind this week. Some of the reasons are good. I’ve been busily working to help index the 1950 US Census on FamilySearch. You can help, too. I’ve also spent the weekend participating in the WikiTree Connect-a-thon. It’s too late to participate in this round, but you can get involved on WikiTree, too. Check it out.

The last reason is that the prompt for the week is ‘Negatives’ didn't inspired me. But I do want to write every week. So this week is a real reach. As you know, I’ve found a collection of photos from a Gunn family in Kentucky. I found them with other family photos. There are quite a few, so I have to assume that they are somehow related to my family. I’ve been researching various Gunn family members trying to find that connection. Some of the people I have been researching is Mary D Lane and her father, William Lane. I found a passport application for Mary on FamlySearch. She mentions that her father, William N Lane, was born in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. At the time of the passport application in 1923 he was living in Maysville, Kentucky.

Clip from 1923 passport application for Mary D Lane
found on FamilySearch.com

 This lead me to a death certificate for a Willoughby N Lane, married to Jenny. He was buried in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. But he died in Ohio. 

 

Clip from Ohio death certificate for Willoughby N Lane - 10 Mar 1926
found on FamilySearch

I wasn’t sure if this was Mary’s father, but one thing caught my eye. The death certificate was signed by a deputy coroner and the cause of death was a gun shot wound to the right eye. This left me with a lot of questions. Did Willoughby/William die by suicide, and if so, why. This was my first negative feeling. Was a he murdered? And if this was Mary’s father, why was he in Kentucky? Obviously I had some research to do.

The first thing I found was a small article in a Paducah, Kentucky newspaper. It stated that Col. Wm. Lane, formerly of Kentucky, was killed in Ohio. There an argument with Ross Campbell about a tobacco crop. The dates matched up to the death certificate. Suddenly I had negative feelings towards Ross Campbell!

 

William Lane Killed by Ross Campbell 12 Mar 1926, Fri News-Democrat (Paducah, Kentucky) Newspapers.com

 

I found another article detailing the trial. The sons of both William Lane and Ross Campbell were witnesses. Ultimately, Ross was acquitted, which left me with even more negative feelings. And I felt bad for Mary!

William Lane Murder Trial 02 Jun 1926, Wed Portsmouth Daily Times (Portsmouth, Ohio) Newspapers.com
 

Then I found a third article, this one from a Danville, Kentucky paper. The headline states that Newt. Lane was killed. The body reports that Col. William Newton Lane was killed. 

 

Newton Lane killed 12 Mar 1926, Fri Kentucky Advocate (Danville, Kentucky) Newspapers.com

It is enough to convince me that William and Willoughby are the same man. But I still don’t know why the name discrepancy. Then one little line at the bottom of the article caught my eye. ”It was reported here that Lane killed two men at Versaille many years ago.” That left me with some negative feelings towards Col. Lane. And a lot of questions!

Was he maybe not a very nice guy. Did he threaten Ross Campbell? Did Campbell act in self-defense? And why the move to Ohio and the name change. After William killed two men, was he a pariah in Kentucky, Did he move to Ohio with a new name for a fresh start? Obviously, I’m going to need to do more research!