Tuesday, August 2, 2011

An 80 Year Old Mystery- Solved!

I bought an annual on Ebay a year or so ago. It was from my grandmother's college, during the time she was a student there.
This is the annual, from 1931.




I was intrigued right away because the annual belonged to the senior who was the editor of this yearbook. Her name was Dorothy. Here she is:


(I apologize for the post-it's- I did not have time to edit the pic properly.) It felt mildly invasive that I was reading all the personal notes people had inscribed to Dorothy throughout the annual. All were glowing tributes from students and professors alike.


I noticed a cryptic inscription on the back inside cover, from "El Toro". Here it is:

He signed it, "I love you" and called her Sally. In various spots throughout the annual, El Toro makes other appearances and pens little things like, "You are beautiful". "I'm so lucky you're my girl."  "You have my heart forever." All signed only, El Toro (The Bull).

I wanted to know who El Toro was. I began my search through the annual, trying to match up handwriting. Men of that era must have all taken the same handwriting course because so many signatures were remarkably similar. I narrowed it down to a few, but had no other leads.

I studied Dorothy's picture. Her eyes were a luminous puzzle. Who was this mystery man? She'd captured his heart, that's certain. Did they end up together? Did they celebrate their 50th anniversary with their children and grandchildren surrounding them? Did they end up marrying other people?

I even spoke to Dorothy, as if an almost 80 year old picture could talk back to me. "Come on, Dorothy, tell me about him! Who was he? What was he like?" Her silent picture only continued its tranquil stare.

The internet searches I did of Dorothy's name turned up nothing. The alumni association had no information on her. I had one other option. My grandmother had already passed away, but my great aunt Alice, my dad's aunt, was also pictured in the annual. She was of sound mind and doing well at the age of 97. Here she is:


One other thing in my favor about Aunt Alice- she was listed on the yearbook staff for that year, which means she would have known Dorothy.

We had a family reunion coming up, and I eagerly awaited the time I could show her the annual and hopefully find out who Dorothy's El Toro really was. I put the thought out of my mind that she wouldn't remember. The answer was too close.

Aunt Alice greeted us sweetly, her blue eyes even more vivid than the last time. After catching up on family news, I brought out the annual. "Aunt Alice," I explained, " I have this annual from when you were in college and on the yearbook staff."

Her fingers gently caressed the cover. "My goodness," she said. "I never thought I'd see one of these again. I lost mine in one of our moves. I spent many hours working on this."

"Aunt Alice, do you remember the editor?"

Her eyes sparkled. "Why of course I do. Her name was Dorothy, but we all called her Sally. She was such a hard worker. I lost track of her after college. In fact no one who was in our circle seems to really know what happened to her."

My breath caught in my mouth. "Aunt Alice, who was Dorothy's boyfriend? Who was El Toro?"

Her eyes widened a bit at the mention of the name. "How do you know about him?"

"Well, it's here in the book." I pointed out the places he'd inscribed in the annual.

"They were deeply in love, but they just weren't meant to be. Her parents made her give him up as they felt she should marry someone with more to the family name that what he had. He was a tremendous football player. So courageous. Played hurt and wouldn't quit. I still remember how heartbroken they both were when she called it off for the last time. I think she cried a bucket of tears.We all tried to console her, but she just wouldn't have it."

"Who was he?" I asked, trying to keep my voice nonchalant.

'Well, let me show you here in the annual." She slowly turned each page until she got to the football section. She looked at each photo carefully until her fingers punctuated her find with a hard tap.

"There he is. Lawrence. His nickname was Chesty. They called him a bull on the football field because he was so powerful. He was a mighty fine man. "

I followed Aunt Alice's finger to a picture of a strong looking college football player. Here he is:


Now I wanted to know even more. "Aunt Alice, you said you'd lost track of Dorothy after college. What happened to Lawrence?"

She shook her head. "Oh, darlin', my memory isn't what it used to be. I know I knew at one time, but I can't think of it now."

At least most of my mystery was solved. I am one who doesn't like to let things go until they are done, so I did some more searching and finally found an article about Lawrence, Dorothy's El Toro. In 1934 he was learning to fly an airplane with the Army flyers at Kelly Field. This is what they wrote:

On the 24th of April, searchers found him in the wreckage of a plane whose wings failed him. There's something heroic about Chesty's falling that way, through the night. It was a brave man's death. Unconquerable, even in death.

34 comments:

  1. That brought tears to my eyes at the end. Wow, what a story. Pray. Maybe you will be lead to Dorothy's life story.

    I wonder if Dorothy knew of his brave death.
    Isn't it amazing we live in this age where we can get so much information?

    Shelly, you are such a great writer. I always look forward to your posts.

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  2. That's an awesome post, Shelly! I love a good mystery but at the same time I never rest until I get it solved. I am still trying to answer riddles about the Shady Dell's earliest years in the 1920s and early 30s. Believe it or not all of my grandparents were born in 1900 or earlier. My father graduated from high school in 1931. I always loved looking at his old pictures from the 20s and 30s. My mother wrote a book describing her family life growing up with her three sisters during the Great Depression. As I indicated in a previous post I am not aware of very many young people today who are willing to take the time to sit and chat with the elderly and ask them questions. The young do not seem to share our natural curiosity about family trees and tracing the lives of people who lived many decades ago. I find it alarming that there is a growing segment of the population that has little knowledge of or interest in the 20th century or the people who lived in it.

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  3. Jamie Jo: I was so sad when I learned of El Toro's death. Great advice- and I have prayed! I think I will be able to find out what happened to Dorothy. What a story they had, all played out in that annual. BTW- that annual came from about 1000 miles away, and the seller had bought it at an old book store and had no idea how it had gotten there. Maybe Dorothy ended up somewhere near there. You are always so kind with your words- thank you! You really made my day.

    Shady: Thank you! What a treasure trove you have with your mom's book- is it published? I love reading those accounts. I keep telling my students they need to find the oldest people in their family, strike up conversations with them, and then write down what they hear so there will be a record of it. It's alarming at how little we as a society value the wisdom of our elderly. We could probably solve many of the world's problems if we'd just listen to their experiences. And not to mention, we'd greatly enrich ourselves!

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  4. Shelly, like Jamie I always look forward to your posts knowing they will be so interesting and sometimes entertaining. My Aunt Katie will be 103 this September and I have interviewed her and her brother, my Uncle Lester who is 94 and they really made my day. Found out things about my father that I never knew. Before he met my mom he came home from working in NJ and at my Grandfather's little country store he won enough in a poker game to buy the store from my grandfather. He had a room in the back of the store and at sunset he had some Bantum Chickens that would hop up the steps and go into his room to spend the night with him. They were his pets. He was a slave to that store for the rest of his life. He rarely took time off thinking he would miss a sale. Kept his records in a "Blue Ribbon" cigar box. Have a great rest of the week Shelly.

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  5. Shelly - No, my mother's book was not published. It was passed around the family and handed down through generations. I am currently in possession of it. You are a great teacher for encouraging your students to interact with the elderly and tap their wisdom.

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  6. Odie: I was pcituring your dad doing all that as I read what you wrote. Fascinating! Have you written a post about him yet? How wonderful that you still have your aunt and uncle who can give you such rich family history. That, my friend, is a true blessing.
    P.S.- I love the Blue Ribbon cigar box- my grandfather kept all his important papers in one!

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  7. Oh what a tragic ending. You really did a lot of research. It must have taken quite a bit of effort for you to find somehting from 1931.

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  8. Anonymous: I had so hoped that they had ended up together, with many kids and grandkids. It's still tragic to me 80 years later.

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  9. Oh my goodness Shelly, such a captivating story, I was riveted to this post. I love that he wrote love notes to her throughout the yearbook. So romantic and so terrific that you were able to find out a little bit about Sally and him, even if the ending was bittersweet.

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  10. Sandra: I am a hopeless romantic and I think that's also what attracted me so to finding out the truth of their story. I am still going to keep digging to see if I can find out what happened to her.

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  11. Shady: Your mom's book would have a lot of interest if ever published!

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  12. What an amazing post!! I love history and this is just awesome. It was about real people that your aunt knew. I love it. It's a sad story, but I love it all the same.

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  13. Kelley: I LOVE history, too. I was so happy that my great aunt had the personal connection because otherwise I probably never would have known the info I had.
    Shelly

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  14. Hi Shelly. Hope you don't mind, but as you were kind enough to leave a comment on my blog, I thought I would pop over to see you! What an amazing post. You did really well with your mystery. Sad that Dorothy(Sally) and El Torro didn't end up together, but it wouldn't have had a happy ending anyway. He was obviously a very brave man. I would love to follow you.

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  15. Thisisme: Thank you for stopping by! Yes, it is such a tragic story, but I still want to tie up the loose ends. I really hope to find out what happened to Dorothy. I have a couple of leads I'm going to try and follow up on when I have time.

    BTW, I am an Anglophile and am so happy to have discovered your blog! I look forward to reading it for a long time to come.

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  16. Now THAT is a great story! I love mysteries like that and I love that you followed through. I probably would have made up the missing pieces, because that's sort of how I roll.

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  17. Harte: I've thought about doing just that, filling it in with my imagination if I can't find any more info on Dorothy. I'm really hoping I can find out the whole of it-

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  18. Shelly...what a marvelous story. Life can be harsh...unrequited love and a young soldier's death. How wonderful you found out El Toro. And all because of the annual!

    Thanks for another great story telling!

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  19. Sush: My heart broke when I found out they did not end up together and of his untimely end. I do hope they both found happiness. Thank you for your kind words!

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  20. Wow, that story gave me chills! Stories like these keep these people alive in our hearts and minds. I think all of us could hope someday, after we're gone, that someone like you will become fascinated with our story and try to track down the truth. If only, for a moment, to know our lives had a lasting legacy.

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  21. Shelly, this is such a fantastic blog post! This story needs to be published so more people can read it! A perfect story for a "Guest Column" in a newspaper. I am like Stephanie above, it gave me cold chills.

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  22. Stephanie: You said so eloquently what I feel deeply in my heart. Brought tears to my eyes!

    Cindy: Thank you so much! I love to find out about stories like this- so many neat things out there!

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  23. What a wonderful story! Thanks for sharing it. I, too, want to know if you ever find out more about Sally/Dorothy.

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  24. bettyl: I really do hope to find something on her and I will be sure to post if I do!

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  25. Shelly! That was beautiful!! Love is the most powerful force isn't it? And how much fun to find an answer to your question. Loved it...

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  26. Donna: Thank you! I really do hope I can out more info on Dorothy. That would really complete the picture-

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  27. Shelly, you inspired todays post...maybe one of my most important. I hope you can go back and read it.

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  28. Donna: I just did read your post- wow! It really moved me. What a wonderful, wonderful reflection on what was and what is to come. You are a terrific writer-

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  29. Terrific post. I now follow your blog. God bless---and wonderful sleuthing!

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  30. Clint: Thank you so much! I hope to eventually find out more about Sally. I'm headed over to your blog right now-

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  31. What a fantastic story! It's so terribly sad, with enough material for a screenplay. People would love to see the movie version! Maybe you could write it! Awesome, thanks for sharing it.

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  32. kneesandpaws: It broke my heart when I first found out what had happened to him. I'm still trying to find out about Dorothy. It would make a great movie- thanks!

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  33. I found you post on BPOTW, but I had already heard that story, but when I spotted the title of this post, I had to read it. A great story!

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  34. Charlotte: Thank you for stopping by!

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