The Hillebrand family in Clifton can trace its origins to an immigrant from Bavaria, Franz Hillebrand, who arrived late in 1849 at age 24. He had taken part in some of the Liberal movements in his native land, and after the failure of the 1848 revolutions and their suppression he decided to leave, as did thousands of others. He settled as a butcher, and married a local girl of German ancestry. At first very anti-clerical, he gradually adapted to local conditions and the desires of his wife, and returned to the Church of his childhood. The family passed through four generations to arrive at another Franz Hillebrand, the former soccer coach at Baltimore High and his brother, Col. Carl Alexander, and still another generation to their first cousin once removed, Frederick Anthony.
The Hillebrands tended to be blond and blue eyed, and on the large side. They tended to be good athletes, not hulking, but above average in both size and ability. The females, while obviously on a smaller scale, are comparable to the males as compared to the American averages. The family remains Catholic, but there are significant differences. Franz (1944-2000) and his cousin Frederick Anthony tend towards the inflexible, fundamentalist mentality, whereas other members such as Frank, Carl, and Gene have adopted a more accommodating outlook. Rocco has essentially abandoned the Faith, remaining Catholic in name only.
Franz is dead. Frederick lives in a middle class suburb. The part of Clifton where most of the family live is commonly called the Neighborhood for short, or more completely the Old University Neighborhood, a development alongside the University of Clifton campus dating to the period from after the Civil War to the outbreak of World War I. There, Frank, Carl, and others regularly take part in such Neighborhood activities as the Independence Day picnic. Several are avid soccer players, and take part in the pick-up games in Mansfield Park.
Francis Xavier Hillebrand was born on 17 April 1975, the younger son of Franz and Trudy. He was never able to please his father, who favored the more athletic older son, Rocco. In high school, Frank discovered and finally admitted his gay orientation. He attempted to keep this secret from his father, knowing of Franz’ homophobia. But he formed a friendship with Mario Sanchez and Gabriel Valderama which gave him confirmation of his essential orientation. Provoked by his brother, at a family gathering he admitted that he was gay, as a result of which he was rejected by his father, although his mother, Trudy, retained a quiet relationship. While at the University, Frank formed a relationship with Nathan Winter, which developed into the serious partnership of his life. Frank was not a brilliant student, but he did well enough, and got through the University, and entered the Marine Corps. After completing his service, he returned to Clifton, taking up living with Nathan, and entering the Clifton Police force. In it, Frank found significant satisfaction, and was doing quite well. He and Nathan share an apartment at the Kenilworth.
Frank never got along with his older brother, Rocco. Rocco was his father’s favorite, but by any objective standard was considerably less successful. Rocco failed to graduate from the University. He dropped out to accept a position on a professional soccer team, but never was really successful. He was constantly short of money, continually asking for a “loan” from his father. But the one thing which caused problems between Rocco and his father was Rocco’s indifference to the Church. It was while arguing about this that Rocco pushed his father while crossing Westbrook Pike in icy winter weather in early 2000, causing him to slip and fall in front of an on-coming vehicle and die. After that, Rocco’s relationship with his mother was strained. But he returned to dump his son on his mother a few months later.
Since the spring of 2000, the family has not heard from Rocco. He applied for his father’s coaching position at Baltimore, but because he had no degree, he was automatically eliminated. That was the last news anyone had. None of the Clifton family had any idea where he was, or what his situation was, by the summer of 2014.
Frank, on the other hand, was very much a part of the Neighborhood. While not demonstrative, he made no effort to hide his relationship with Nathan Winter. But he was an effective policeman. Because of department policy, he was not stationed in the precinct where he lived, but he was well-respected for his abilities and his attention to both the requirements of the Department and the human needs of the public he served. He has received the police commendation award from the Maj. John Castleman Chapter of the SAR, a similar award from the James Madison Chapter of the DAR, and other acknowledgments of his successes, and has an outstanding record for both public service and success in solving the crimes which he worked on. While in the Marines, Frank was wounded in the line of duty, and received the Purple Heart. After returning to civilian life, he joined the American Legion post on Westbrook Pike, and was an active member. He was also an active member of the Knights of Columbus in the Spalding Council and the Fenwick Assembly. In 2014 Frank was promoted to the rank of lieutenant.
Carl Benedict Hillebrand was born on 28 August 1986, the son of Carl Alexander Hillebrand and his wife, Theresa Webb. His father, Carl Alexander, was a successful career military officer who died when his helicopter was shot down in Bosnia. As a result, young Carl grew up at a variety of places around the globe. He was especially fond of the time in Germany, where he became a fanatical fan of soccer. After his father’s death, his mother, sister, and he moved to Clifton, where, to his delight, he discovered the regular soccer games in Mansfield Park.
Carl resisted his temptations to the gay life because he considered that this would be an insult to his beloved father. In that same vein, he joined the ROTC program at the University. Towards the end of his sophomore year, Carl was convinced by Chuck Tarkington, his step-father Col. Tremoyne, and the college chaplain, Father O’Connell, that it would be no disrespect to his departed and much loved father to acknowledge his orientation, and to follow his own desires as far as a career was concerned. From that summer on, Carl Hillebrand and Chuck Tarkington were partners. It was not easy, as Carl remained committed to the Catholic Church, whereas Chuck was not only Episcopalian, but the grandson of the Rector at St. Augustine. They managed.
Although Carl was not directly involved, he was supportive when little Rocco needed something, or when Gene wanted someone to talk to. He not only had a partner, but he had improved relations with his father’s family, while retaining the good relations he had developed with his step-father’s Tremoyne family.
Although Carl dropped out of ROTC, he was a member of the Knights of Columbus (where he encountered his cousin Frank on a regular basis), and, thanks to his mother’s ancestry, was also a member of the Maj. John Castleman Chapter of the SAR. He had been a member of Sigma Alpha fraternity, like Frank, while at the University. He successfully completed his degree in Civil Engineering, and had a job with the City which he found satisfying, and at which he was successful. Most important, he had a successful and fulfilling relationship with Chuck Tarkington. In August of 2012, after some time in his job and being settled, he and Chuck left the less salubrious apartment on Colosseum, and took up residence at the Victoria, which they found quite satisfactory. Unfortunately, Chuck, a music major, has been unable to find a regular job, and is dependent on a series of temporary gigs, which causes some financial strain from time to time, but in all other ways, their relationship is prospering.
Eugene Frederick Hillebrand was born on 10 February 1992, son of Frederick Anthony Hillebrand, and a cousin of some degree to Frank and Carl, although he was not personally acquainted with these cousins. Unfortunately, his father was among the narrow minded and inflexible members of the family, and so when it became known that both Frank and Carl were gay, Fred severed all ties with them, and with the accepting members of the family. He decided it was the bad influence of their mothers, now Trudy Logan and Theresa Tremoyne, that their sons were “disgusting perverts.” As one result, when young Gene accepted his gay orientation, he had no one in the family to go to who might be accepting and helpful. Discovered kissing a boy, Gene was immediately disowned by his father. As a result, he spent a year on the streets before being rescued by Nathan Winter. It was Nathan who brought him to Brandon’s Boys.
There, Gene found a new start in life. He not only found food, showers, and new clothes, but he found acceptance. On his first Sunday with Brandon’s Boys, he also was introduced to his cousins Frank and Carl, and had Sunday dinner with the Tremoynes. This connection with family, as well as his return to Baltimore High, significantly aided his recovery.
Brandon’s Boys was not set up to accommodate boys after high school, but Brandon not only provided Gene with a scholarship to the University, but also with a room at the Warren, a rooming house, for his freshman year. Gene was interested in teaching at the secondary level, and ended up majoring in the History Department while also seeking certification. He found that very satisfactory. During his freshman year, Gene also became active in the Newman Club, as a result of which he was selected to be the new groundskeeper with the beginning of his sophomore year. This position brought with it a room on the upper floor of the Newman Center, where he remained.
Gene pledged Sigma Alpha fraternity, and there he encountered Jack Young. Jack is an Art History major, and also a member of Sigma Alpha, in the same year as Gene. He is connected to the Padgett family, being half-brother to Kate Padgett Ashley, the faculty member in painting in the Division of Fine Arts. Gene and Jack established a sexual relationship, but it was a pretty loose and casual one. Each was hesitant, uncertain about a lot of things at this initial stage, so the relationship did not initially prosper. Still, it was never broken off, either.
Rocco Sterling Hillebrand was born on 8 November 1997 the son of Rocco Hillebrand and one of his girlfriends. When the mother died, leaving Rocco to his father, the elder Rocco simply dumped his two-year-old son on his mother. This was the best thing he could do for little Rocco, as, during the brief time he had responsibility for his son, he abused him physically and emotionally. But Trudy bonded with her grandson, and eventually little Rocco also bonded with Trudy’s new husband, Maj. Logan, the Major’s son Dave Logan, and his uncle Frank Hillebrand and Frank’s partner Nathan. Adjusting, Rocco grew up as a healthy and happy child. Like other members of the family, he was a handsome, blond haired, blue eyed young man, active in sports. He was also a good student, and had a fine singing voice, which promised to develop into the base which his grandfather Franz and his Uncle Frank exhibited. He was also a member of the JROTC battalion at Baltimore High
But, unlike his Uncle Frank, or his cousins Carl and Gene, Rocco was definitely heterosexual in orientation. Last summer, despite his lack of experience, Catherine Korochenkov responded to his brash advances by providing the experience he lacked, and in return he agreed to provide the cover story she needed. She was pregnant and could not acknowledge the father, and needed a public alternative to avoid problems. Rocco was delighted with the experience, and besides decided he liked not only Catherine, but also her father, who was the instructor in Russian at the University. Although Rocco was teased by his uncle and cousins for violating the family traditions by turning out to be straight, in fact he got along with them very well, and enjoyed, even basked in, their teasing about his sexual exploits.
Frank Hillebrand was participating in a special seminar at police headquarters downtown. This was intended to enhance his skills, and also his career in the Department. A fellow member of the seminar was Bob Dean, who always made inappropriate remarks about gays and blacks, and was otherwise a real Neanderthal. During a break in his seminar, Frank noticed Bob and three officers enter one of the interview rooms looking furtive. Bob did not return to the seminar. An hour later, when the session was over, Frank noticed Bob and the other officers leaving the interview room. Curious, he entered the room. There was nothing out of place, except Frank noticed a small red light, indicating that the conversations in the room had been recorded. Suspicious, he found the tape, and took it home.
Later that day, Frank listened to the tape of the conversations between Bob and his cronies. It became apparent that the other officers were stationed at the Westbrook Pike precinct. It was also apparent that they shared Bob’s prejudices. They spoke negatively about the ‘spic’ who was their captain, but were most upset about the prospect of having a ‘nigger’ in charge of the precinct. And not only a ‘nigger’, but a ‘queer’ as well. With Nathan Winter’s recent promotion, it was obvious that this was what was intended. So, they were discussing ways to torpedo Nathan’s chances. They discussed planting some marijuana in Nathan’s locker, and getting a prostitute to testify that he beat her and forced her to do disgusting things.
After some consideration, Frank decided not to tell Nathan about this. His partner would most likely confront the guilty, but would not bring it up before the higher ups, as that would look like seeking favoritism. So, Frank made an appointment to speak with Captain Hernandez privately. He explained the situation, and turned over the recording to the Captain. This was two days before the Independence Day celebrations. The police were represented in the Independence Day parade by a band, but as Frank was not a member, he chose to participate as a member of the American Legion veterans group. Nathan was there also, but as a member of the SAR color guard. Just what Captain Hernandez did was not clear, but less than two weeks later the three officers were transferred out of the Westbrook Pike station, and were assigned the least favorite jobs elsewhere. Bob, however, resigned after being offered that as an alternative to a formal review and firing.
And Nathan never knew the service his partner rendered him.
Early in June, Carl Hillebrand had a conversation with Trini Valderama, as a result of which he learned that the first violinist with the band which formed back-up to about every act at Bo Peep’s was leaving to accept another job out of town. Bo Peep’s is a popular night club located on Westbrook Pike. Knowing that his partner, Chuck Tarkington, was dissatisfied in not having a steady position, but depending entirely on temporary gigs, Carl mentioned this to Chuck. It was not yet widely known that the fellow at Bo Peep’s was leaving, so this provided Chuck with the advantage of being well prepared when auditions were announced. As Chuck was quite competent, and was prepared, he did an outstanding job, and was hired. It was not enough to fully support him, but it gave him a steady base now from which he could operate in seeking other gigs.
In this case, Chuck found out from Trini that he had been the one to let it be known to Carl that the position was opening up, and so Chuck was very grateful to his partner. Of course, he showed this by complaining and teasing, but the relationship was enhanced, to their mutual satisfaction.
Gene Hillebrand had been back to the Brandon’s Boys home on Chestnut Street for lunch. From time to time, he liked stopping by to keep in touch with the boys and Aunt Barbara. Along with his newfound cousins Frank, Carl, and Rocco, these people were his family. Besides, he got tired of eating out or fixing something himself sometimes, and Aunt Barbara was never known to refuse to feed someone. As he entered the Newman Center social hall, where he continued to serve as groundskeeper and where he had his room, he was surprised to find Jack Young there. Jack was not Catholic. He thought Jack had gone home with the end of the semester, and here it was a month later, June 17.
“Hey, Jack. How’s it going?” Gene greeted him.
“You’re back. Good.” Jack said, by-passing the amenities. “I need to talk to you.”
“Sure, Buddy. What’s up?” Gene replied, leading Jack to a corner of the lounge. Even in summer, there were students there, just not as many as during the regular school year. But this corner should be pretty private.
Once they were settled, Jack said, “I need to ask a favor.”
“Okay. What is it?” Gene responded.
The two young men had both completed their junior years at the University. They had been pledges at Sigma Alpha together, and had discovered that each was gay. They had a loose relationship, which sometimes resulted in sex, but most often did not, and seemed to be going nowhere. While they had been friends for three years, they were not exactly close. Still, Gene was not really surprised to be asked for a favor. Jack did not have a lot of friends. But, as far as he knew, Jack was not in school for the summer, and Gene thought he had gone home.
Once they were seated and that opening statement made, Jack seemed to lose steam. He looked embarrassed, and stuttered and mumbled, having trouble getting anything coherent out. Gene waited patiently for several minutes. Finally, he said, “Well come on. Spill it, Jack. What’s going on?”
“Sorry. This is very personal, and you know how I am about personal things,” Jack said.
“No, not really. How are you about personal things? Whenever we touched on anything personal, you generally clammed up,” Gene said.
“That’s just it. Whenever things get personal, I get nervous, and kind of clam up, as you put it so eloquently,” Jack said with a grin.
“Maybe we should take this up to my room, where we can be more personal,” Gene suggested with a leer.
“Yes! Yes, I’d like that a lot,” Jack quickly agreed.
In Gene’s room on the upper floor, Jack had no problem responding to Gene’s advances, but it was quite a while before they got around to whatever it was he first asked to speak to Gene about. After about 45 minutes, with both boys naked, and Gene on top grinning down into the face of his partner, he asked, “I think you’re over your nervousness. Now what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”
Jack grinned back. “I’m going to join the RCIA class next year, and I want you to be my sponsor.” RCIA stands for the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, and is the program for admitting adult converts to the Catholic Church.
Gene was astounded, actually struck dumb, this was so unexpected, especially given the circumstances. When he tried several times to respond, but got only incoherent noises out, Jack laughed. “Now who’s inarticulate?”
Gene leaned down and kissed Jack, which seemed to loosen his tongue. “Jack, I am delighted at your news, but I think a little explanation is needed. I thought you were more or less satisfied where you were.”
“Not really,” Jack replied. “I mean, it was not like I was angry at the minister all the time or anything, but somehow the church my folks go to does not seem to satisfy any deeper longing. And I’ve seen how your church does satisfy you, and then there’s Brandon.”
Gene smiled. “Your idol.”
“Well, yeah, I guess. But there’s a lot more to it than when you arranged for our first meeting back in freshman year. I see you and I see Brandon and Chris being comfortable being Catholic. And you seem to have ... oh, I don’t know ... a depth to your religion that’s a lot more than just going through the motions and agreeing to a set of beliefs. I see something I want.”
“Jack, this is wonderful news, but I’ve got to be honest here. Not all Catholics, and not all Catholic priests, are as accepting of us gays as the ones we have here,” Gene cautioned.
“I know that,” Jack said. “I am not totally illiterate. I do read the news, and pick up things on the television, too. But you do have that here, and that’s what I want. I’ve wanted it for well over a year.”
“Well over a year? What delayed you?” Gene asked.
“My folks. I love my folks, and they were really supportive when I came out, and they seem to be committed to the church back home. I didn’t want to disappoint them,” Jack explained.
“So, what has changed?” Gene questioned.
“My half-sisters, Kate and Karen both became Catholic, and I thought this upset my parents. But last weekend I was talking with my mom, and this came up. It seems I’ve been misreading the situation all along. Mom is not upset at their becoming Catholic at all. It was that they would not be coming back to live in our home town that upset her. But Mom said she wanted her kids to be happy and fulfilled, and being Catholic seemed to fit the bill for the girls, so it was fine with her. That’s when I talked to her about my own longings, and she told me to go ahead, with a couple of things,” Jack said lowering his eyes.
“A couple of things?”
“Yeah. There’s something more. You. I’ve been wanting to get closer to you for a long time, to be more than just a casual friend. I want you for my boyfriend, Gene.”
“Oh, wow! You are full of surprises today,” Gene exclaimed, and rolled off Jack.
“Is that a ‘no’?” Jack fretfully asked.
“No! I mean that’s not a ‘no.’ I mean, I love you, Jack. I’ve been moving in that direction for a while, and today just made it all click. I guess we should kind of take it easy, just to make sure, but I am more than ready to have you as my boyfriend,” Gene said, and the expression on his face made it clear that he was very serious. “But, there is one problem.”
“Oh, oh. What problem?” Jack asked.
“Well, I guess we’ll have to ask Father Smith about this.” Father Joseph Smith was the priest charged by the diocese with a ministry to gays. “But I know that in church law being a sponsor creates a spiritual relationship, so a man and his goddaughter would be committing spiritual incest if they got married, and a formal dispensation from the bishop is needed in such cases,” Gene explained.
“Married? You’re talking about us getting married?” Jack honed in on that one aspect of what Gene said.
Gene laughed. Jack was so eager. “We’ll take it easy for a while, but I think we just might be in line for a permanent relationship. The Church does not recognize gay marriages, but there are civil marriages, and I know Father Smith has performed some kind of commitment ceremony for gays. Don’t spread this around too much, as it could get him in trouble with the chancery. But Brandon and Chris had some such ceremony, and they celebrate their anniversary each year in December. And ...,” Gene thought about it for a few seconds, “... and that tells me how to get around that spiritual incest thing.”
“Well, tell me,” Jack urged.
“Simple. I won’t be your sponsor when you enter the Church. Brandon will.”
“Brandon?”
“Yeah. You’ve had a thing for him from the beginning. This will just make that official. He’ll be your spiritual father, like a godfather. But you and I, boyfriend, will be more than that, now won’t we?” Gene teased, as he leaned over to kiss the boy in the bed next to him.
And so their time upstairs ended much like it began.
Although Frank, Carl, and Gene were gay, and although he really loved and appreciated his relatives, young Rocco was definitely heterosexual. Rocco Sterling Hillebrand was the son of the elder Rocco and a now deceased girlfriend. He had been abandoned by his father at the age of two, and raised by his grandmother, who was now Gertrude Logan. The last time young Rocco saw his father was at the wedding of Gertrude and Maj. Randall Logan, and that was in October of 2000, less than a year after he had been abandoned to his grandmother. At that time, he shied away from his father, who had hit him quite often before.
Now, Rocco was sixteen, and would be seventeen in November. He had completed his junior year at Baltimore High, where he played soccer in the fall and baseball in the spring. He was also a scout, and a member of the JROTC battalion. Rocco was large for his age, like his father and like his Uncle Frank. And like them he exhibited his German background in his blond hair and blue eyes. But Rocco was a better student than either of the older generation. Perhaps that is something he inherited from his mother, whom he never really knew. She was something of a blur in his early childhood memory, with a feeling of warmth, but nothing more.
Last year, Rocco had become involved with Catherine Korochenkov, the daughter of the Russian professor at the University. When she became pregnant, but could not acknowledge the father, Rocco agreed to be the ‘father of record’ to save her embarrassment.
And this caused him to think about his mother. All he really knew was that her name was Rosalie Sterling. His middle name was her family name. And she was dead. Knowing that the Todds were good at genealogical research, Rocco took advantage of the Memorial Day pool party to ask Dr. Todd if there were anything they could do to fill in some of the empty space in his background.
Zip Todd chuckled. “Summer is the busiest time for my wife. There are horse shows almost every weekend. You do some riding, so you know about some of that. Sometimes I think she loves her horse more than me.”
Sandy overheard this, and immediately came to her defense. “But I’ve never gone to bed with a horse.”
This caused Zip to blush, and Rocco to laugh. One thing he liked about the Todd crowd is that they laughed a lot.
“We’ll look into it, Rocco. Zip and I both,” Sandy promised. “Bring anything you have, like a birth certificate, to the house, and we’ll take it from there.”
Rocco turned up the next day at the Todd place. Embarrassed, he admitted that all he had was his birth certificate and an obituary, which he had discovered himself with a computer search. His mother was Rosalie Jean Sterling, daughter of Bosworth T. Sterling and his former wife Emily Parkenham, according to the obituary. Rocco was not even mentioned. But his birth certificate said his mother was Rosalie J. Sterling, and the dates were the same. She was just eighteen when she had him, as she was born on 10 September 1979. That means she was 17 when she became pregnant by the elder Rocco Hillebrand, who was six years older. The obituary said she died of a drug overdose.
Over the next few weeks, whenever they had some spare time, both Zip and Sandy did some work on Rocco’s maternal background. Zip located the grandfather, but the man wanted nothing to do with the Hillebrands, holding them responsible for his daughter’s drug problem and suicide, and he refused to acknowledge Rocco, claiming he was a fake, introduced into the situation by his father as a means of extracting money from him (Bosworth). Zip would not put something like that past the elder Rocco, but the available evidence suggested strongly that young Rocco really was the son of Rosalie. He was unable to locate Rosalie’s mother. Presumably, she remarried. But Zip used his special computer skills to gain access to census data, which showed that Bosworth Timothy Sterling was a son of Eleanore Bosworth, from which he was able to take both the Sterling and the Bosworth families back to New England, where the Sterlings arrived in the 1820s from Scotland, but the Bosworths went back much farther. He found that brothers Jonathan and Edward Bosworth arrived at Boston in 1634. Jonathan moved to Cambridge, while Edward remained in Boston. A second cousin of Eleanore Bosworth’s grandfather was William Welles Bosworth (1868-1966), an architect who designed many of the buildings on the MIT campus and the AT&T building in New York City.
Sandy was more involved in the various lineage societies, serving as registrar for several. She wondered about the unusual given name of Rosalie’s father. Searching several indices, she discovered a Constant Bosworth listed among the Patriot Ancestors of various members of the DAR and the SAR. Constant seemed an odd name for a soldier, but he was given as a sergeant serving under Capt. Demming, and earlier as a private under Capt. Wolcuff, both in Col. Ashley’s regiment in the Massachusetts continental line. Further research indicated that Constant was an abbreviation for Constantine, and he was a brother of Nehemiah and Peter Bosworth. Nehemiah was a corporal and Peter a private in that same company led by Capt. Demming. She found that Constant Bosworth was born on 19 August 1736 in Lebanon, Massachusetts, which she discovered is in Maine today, as Maine was a part of Massachusetts until 1820. Bosworth died on 21 June 1826 in New London, Connecticut. Zip joked that he moved south seeking a warmer climate. Sandy found, however, that Constant’s brothers, Nehemiah and Peter, were born in Plympton, Massachusetts, so presumably the family moved north in the mid 1730s, perhaps looking for more land.
Pushing further back, Sandy discovered that Constant’s father was named Nathaniel, and was a resident of Plympton, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. He, in turn was a son of Edward, who was a son of Nathaniel, who was a son of Jonathan. This, it turned out, was the Jonathan Bosworth identified earlier. He was born in 1613 in Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, England, and came to Massachusetts in 1634 on the Elizabeth Dorcas, landing at Boston. He married a woman named Elizabeth, family name unknown. Jonathan came as part of a family migration led by his father, Edward Bosworth (1589-1634), who died while on the voyage to Massachusetts. Also included were his mother Mary, his brothers Nathaniel, Edward, and Benjamin, and his sister Mary. Edward Bosworth was the son of an earlier Edward, born at Market Bosworth in 1565, but otherwise unknown.
Rocco was very grateful to the Todds for this information, which gave him a stronger sense of identity. As a result, he applied for membership in the CAR on his Bosworth ancestry, and became interested in genealogy and family history himself. The CAR, or Children of the American Revolution, is the organization for children from birth to age 21 parallel to the adult societies, the Daughters fo the American Revolution (DAR) and the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), with an overlap for the last three years between 18 and 21. Of not inconsiderable significance, Catherine also found him more interesting.