Someone Peed in My Gene Pool – Someone Peed In My Gene Pool!

August 2, 2025

Introducing Grover Thomas Beyl

🧵 Meet Grover Thomas Beyl

1891–1938
The Meandering Butcher of Marion County

Before his name made it into newspapers as a “Pioneer Resident” or onto a death certificate marked “concussion of the brain,” Grover Thomas Beyl was just a boy on Jackson Street—watching his father plane wood, his mother tend chickens, and the world begin to shift around him.

He came of age between horse carts and meat lockers, learning to labor with his hands. He moved often, worked always, and tried to stake out a piece of permanence in a city that never stood still.

Grover was a machinist. A carpenter. A packer. A laborer. A butcher.
He was a husband to Katherine. A father to Elizabeth and Helen. A brother. A son. And by 1938, a man who had been in motion for nearly five decades—until a highway accident brought his story to a sudden, brutal end.

🗺️ We’ve traced his footsteps through old neighborhoods now lost to parking lots, reconstructed his addresses, and mapped the grind of his working-class life.
But there are still blanks. Still shadows. Still pieces we hope you might help us fill.

🕯️ Did You Know Grover?

Have you heard a story about him passed down in your family?
Do you have a photo, a letter, or even a fragment of a tale?

This is the place to share it.

🧬 Leave a comment below, or send us a note.
Even a tiny detail could bring a deeper layer to Grover’s memory—and help us tell the next chapter of a life once nearly forgotten.

🔍 Want to read his full story? You can find it here:
👉 Read Grover’s Family Page ➤

July 25, 2025

Introducing Grover Thomas Beyl

🧵 Meet Grover Thomas Beyl: The Meandering Butcher of Marion County

Today would have been Grover Thomas Beyl’s birthday—born July 25th, 1891 (or possibly 1892; the records squabble about it). He was a butcher by trade, a husband and father by heart, and a man whose journey through Columbus and Indianapolis left a trail of addresses, trades, and—eventually—tragedy.

Grover’s life wasn’t grand in the traditional sense. He didn’t leave behind books, buildings, or fame. What he did leave behind were butcher knives dulled by honest work, sidewalks warmed by decades of footsteps, and a family stitched into the fabric of Indiana history.

From carpentry to meat cutting, city directories to censuses, Grover’s story is one of movement—up Jackson Street, down Bates and Cruft, over to Kelly and Tabor. A map of his life reads like a humble heartbeat across Marion County. And his final chapter? A car crash on a late August day in 1938, ending his life but not his story.

This month, we’ve revisited Grover’s life in detail—from census records to draft cards, addresses now lost to parking lots, and one very poignant obituary. You can view the full timeline, explore his mapped journey, and dig into his story in the complete profile post here ➤.

🕯️ Did You Know Grover?

If you’re a descendant, distant cousin, neighbor, or just someone with an old family story tucked away—we want to hear from you.

Did your grandparents ever mention Grover? Do you have a family photo or recipe that might relate to this branch of the tree?

Drop a comment below or send a message. Sometimes the smallest detail—a tool brand, a street name, a whispered memory—can help us bring someone back to life more vividly than any document ever could.

Grover’s story is still unfolding—and you might just hold the next piece.

~Kris
🕵️‍♂️ Someone Peed in My Gene Pool

July 24, 2025

Introduction to Versa Eleanor Buchanan (1910–1998)

Resilient. Graceful. Unforgettable.
Posted by Kris | July 24, 2025 | Introduction Series

Versa Eleanor Buchanan was born on a sunlit July morning in 1910 in St. Francisville, Illinois. The daughter of a preacher and a woman with Missouri roots, she grew up surrounded by sermons, lullabies, and the quiet strength of a close-knit family. But Versa wasn’t content to simply be a part of the story—she became a woman who wrote her own chapters.

She married young, during the uncertainty of the Great Depression, and spent her early years working as a saleslady in Indianapolis, living under the roof of her mother-in-law and helping support the household. When that first marriage unraveled, Versa didn’t crumble—she evolved. She raised a daughter, earned her own income, and went on to forge a career as a photographer, capturing the light in others even as she shaped her own second act.

Versa worked behind the camera for over twenty years. She retired in 1977, long after she’d traded in the roles of wife and salesgirl for that of artist and independent woman. In her later years, she remarried, built a quieter life with Robert E. Laird, and lived out her days in Indianapolis—the same city where her daughter had been born and where, decades later, Versa herself would pass.

She now rests at Crown Hill Cemetery. No grand monuments, no fame. But her story? Her story matters.

Versa Eleanor Buchanan may not have left behind many photographs of herself, but she left behind something just as lasting—proof that a life can be quiet and still powerful. That a woman can live through heartbreak, reinvention, and generational change, and still leave the world a little more luminous than she found it.

💬 Do you remember Versa? Did she photograph you, know your family, or leave behind a story in your corner of the world? Please share your memories or reflections below—we’d love to help keep her story alive, one comment at a time.

With warmth,
~Kris

April 18, 2017

Oliver Family History

Oliver Surname

The Oliver Family is going to be an interesting bunch. I mentioned the Buchanan Estate scam when I posted the Buchanan Family History page. Well, the Oliver family ties into this as well. In two ways…one, there are some Buchanan’s that married into the Oliver family. And two, there was one Oliver person that I know of that claimed it was from the Oliver side that we were related to former President James Buchanan.

In fact, he stole the precious book that was written by one of my greats on the Buchanan side which claims to have explained the relationship. This book only had limited copies published so it seemed to have been lost forever…until I found it! Now I have it. More on that later.

As always, I did a quick search on Ancestry.com to find the origin of the surname Oliver. Oliver naturally originated on the other side of the pond. It seems to be English, Scottish, Welsh, or German.

With over 5 million documents on Ancestry.com related to the Oliver line, researching these folks should be a breeze!

Interestingly, the Oliver family is almost an exact match to the name distribution of the Buchanan family across the United States.

While it looks like most of them immigrated to the eastern regions of the United States, many immigrated to Texas, Washington, and California as well.

I will be looking forward to finding out where exactly the Oliver line immigrated from and if there was any connection to the Buchanan’s or perhaps that was just happenstance. I do know that my Oliver line and Buchanan line were good friends growing up…before marrying each other.

I still wonder how our ancestors decided where to immigrate to. How did they decide where to go? And was there culture shock? How different was their new home from where they immigrated from.

My DNA shows that I am 28% Irish which includes Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. I think it’s safe to say I inherited a bit of Oliver blood here as well.

According to Ancestry.com, the great majority of Oliver’s came from England and Ireland with some coming from Great Britain, Scotland, and a select few from Germany and Spain. This pretty much matches what my DNA results show.

I would love to travel over to the other side of the pond to find the places that my ancestors came from. I thoroughly enjoy learning about our past and seeing the way our ancestors lived. I would love to visit the houses they grew up in overseas and walk the same streets that they did.

It seems the Oliver families immigrated to the United States mostly between 1851 and 1891, just like the Buchanan’s. Perhaps the Oliver’s were a little later in the game though.

I wonder why there was such a drastic decline in the 1870s? Maybe things were getting better over where they came from and then took a significant chance for the worse? Maybe I’ll have to look for those answers.

There are just so many questions!

The biggest spikes seem to be around 1870 and again in 1885ish…just like the Buchanan’s. I still wonder if something was going on over there in those years that prompted a decision to get out. I’ll have to look into that further. Maybe I could at least get a general idea of why they may have left.

Big surprise…most Oliver’s seem to have been farmers. This is pretty consistent with what I’ve seen in my research so far.

I’ve found that most wives, prior to the 1900’s, were housekeepers or housewives. So it’s not surprising to see the 6% in this chart.

I think Farmers and Laborers are pretty typical jobs for the 1800s and early 1900s. I’ve seen many of each in all lines that I’ve researched so far.

I’ve seen Carpenters in several of them as well. No real interesting jobs so far but I’ll be on the lookout for something exciting.

I wonder what other interesting occupations I’ll find in my research.

Oliver Members I’ve Researched So Far

Charles Samuel Oliver
- Lester Otis Oliver

Finally, it looks like the Oliver family life expectancy has been pretty close to that of the general public.

It seems as though many lived to see their 70s.

I do find it interesting that life expectancy spiked in the late 50s by over 20 years! It’s commonly known the technological advances began in the 50s, perhaps this is the reason for the spike.

I think researchers are still trying to pin down the reasons for such differences. So I will continue focusing on my own ancestors and let the scientists tackle that question.

Not a lot of information just yet on this line as I’ve only researched one person so far. But, as always, I will come back and update this page as I find more information. So much to do, so little time!

It would be nice to know more about these ancestors. Where did they come from before Indiana? Why did they immigrate to the United States? Are there any notable or famous ancestors in this line?

Have you found Oliver in your family tree yet? If so, I’d love to hear from you!

Even if you haven’t, have you found reliable places to research the history of your family name? I’d love to know where to go to find out facts about surnames that are accurate and can provide some of the history behind the name. Do share and let us know how you do it. Just drop a line in the comments below.

That’s all for now, I’ll check back regularly and update this page as I find additional information.

Happy searching!

~Kris