I know little of my paternal Grandfathers roots. From what I have pieced together: He left home at the age of 13 from somewhere in Illinois. he made his way to tri state area of Kansas,Missouri,Oklahoma. He served as a Seargeant on the Tulsa Police department during the twenties and then retired till his death in Galena,Ks in the 50's. He served during the infamous Tulsa race riots.My father related to my brother some pretty chilling events during that time. My grandfather undoubtedly "collected" quite a few firearms from felons, most of which were handguns. His favorite shotgun was a 10 ga Ithaca that is supposedly in the possesion of a distant cousin. I have heard that he participated in an annual crow hunt and dinner that was quite a social event during those times.I have seen pictures of horse drawn wagons that were filled to the brim with crows. My father was a lot more adept at handling dice and a half pint of cheap gin than he was at handling a shotgun, although he knew how to hunt and was a repectable shot according to my brother.I believe that we only hunted together a couple of times. He forbid me from having a rifle or a handgun while I was growing up. I suppose this was because one of his brothers accidentally shot and killed his youngest bother playing with a revolver that my grandfather had removed from a unruly drunk the the night before. I never knew my maternal Grandfather.
Ken
