Some families know where their name comes from and the history behind it.
We did not.
This is the story of how we discovered the origin of our name.
Why would you spend years trying to find out about the man your grandmother left behind in Arizona? The person she once referred to as, "A bad man"?
The answer to that question is another question.
"Romey. That's an unusual name. Where is it from?"
My grandmother was married to Edward Jacob Romey in March of 1929 in Phoenix, Arizona. And she left him in early 1937. She did not like to talk about him and we were not encouraged to inquire. And when she passed away in 1999 we were left with little to work with. Only my father, the oldest of their three boys, has any clear memories of the man. And he was only six years old when they left Arizona.
All we knew was that he was born November 27, 1900 in, or near, Gainesville, Texas. His father's name might be Albert. And his mother's name might be Cora. And he was from a large family.
Over the years we always kept a lookout for any other Romey families on the chance that there might be a connection. At that time, in the 1950s and 1960s, the only real research tool was telephone directories. If you traveled to a new town you would look to see if there were any Romeys listed. If there were, maybe you would make a call and try to explain that you were looking for information on Edward Jacob Romey. Or his family.
On behalf of my family I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for, it turns out, needlessly annoying all of those "real" Romey families.
You can follow the links (upper left) for the full story of the research that lead to the discovery of who my grandfather really was, what his family background really is, and what we found out about our paternal lineage.
Joe Romey - July 2013
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