Isaac King is an enigma...wrapped up in a mystery....buried in a 15,000 piece puzzle. He also happens to be my paternal grandfather. I never met him...I never even knew he existed until I was in my mid-twenties. Growing up, I believed that John D Keys was my grandfather. He was the patriarch of my paternal family and he was loved and adored. I do not remember much about when he was sick. I was only eight at the time and unlike most of my childhood memories, my recollections of this time in my life are hazy at best. Granddad was fine one day, sick the next and then my mom was trying to explain his death to me. What I do remember is how heartbroken my family was...especially my dad. I had never seen him so sad. At the time I had no idea that he was not my blood relative.
I was in my early 20's and I was speaking to my mom about my Granddad and she let it slip that he was not my biological grandfather. Wait..what?!! Who is my grandfather? What is my real last name?! I could not believe that I was 24 years old and did not know who my grandfather was. It took me a couple of weeks to broach the subject with my dad. My dad is AWESOME. I really love him and he has always made sure that I knew that I can come to him with anything. I am also very protective of my dad and would never allow anyone to hurt him. I did not know the circumstances of this bombshell so I was worried that asking him would bring up some painful memories. You know, now that I think back on this, I realize that I was not scared of his reaction to this or if he was going to tell me the truth because I knew he would. When I finally asked him about the situation, he told me that his biological father's name was Isaac King and that he also had brothers in San Francisco somewhere. I was shocked that my dad had extra siblings and that he sis not know much about them. My dad is all about family and he is glue that keeps everyone together. My dad also told me that he met Isaac once when he was a child. Dad stated that he did not like him too much and after that day, Dad never saw him again. I had so many questions but I did not want to reopen any old wounds. Based on the little he told me I could tell that whatever the situation with Isaac, my dad did not have any positive feelings for him. Also, my grandma was still alive and I was not sure how she would feel about me digging into her past so I tried to let it go and just remember Granddad.
My search for Isaac was renewed after I took a DNA test. I had hundreds of cousins and I had no idea how any of us were related. Thankfully my parents were open to DNA testing and I got them tested as soon as possible. However it give me a very few answers and tons of questions. My family tree is pretty extensive but you can see the big empty branch that represents my father's paternal line. The only thing that is there is a name...Isaac King. I have no date of birth, birthplace...NOTHING. I cannot adequately express my frustration with this. I have a need to know more but I don't have any real information that I can actually research. The name itself is pretty common and they are all over the country. I may find something in the 1950 census but I will not wait that long to find out more info. What I do have are several men that look like my dad. I have one match to my dad who recently shared an old picture of him and his dad when he was a baby. This pictured stunned me because his father could be my father's twin. When I showed the picture to my dad, he laughed and asked where did I get that picture of him. You can imagine the hope that flared, although premature, that I had maybe found a connection to my biological grandfather. Unfortunately, we still have not been able to figure out the connection.
A few months after that I was talking to my mother on the phone while checking on my DNA matches on Ancestry and came across a new match with the surname King, I decided to take a peek and found an Isaac King. When I clicked on the the link and there was a picture of this person Isaac. This man looked just like my father. I actually felt like the floor under me had shifted. Here is a man named Isaac King who is the ancestor of a DNA match AND he looks like my father. At this point I realized my mother had been calling my name for quite some time and I demanded that she get online so that I can show her this picture. I sent the picture to my mother with no explanation. She was speechless when she saw the picture and when I told her what the man's name was she told me that I need to share this with my dad. I texted him a copy of the picture and told him to call me. I immediately reached out to the match to try and start a dialogue so that we could figure out if his Isaac King and my Isaac King were the same. My father called me a short while later very amused that this man looked so much like him. My dad asked me who was it and I told him that his name was Isaac King. My dad was quiet for a little while and then asked if it was our Isaac King and I stated that I did not know but that I was checking into it. We chatted for a little bit and then I went back to researching. After talking to the match as well as another family member of this Isaac King I had to accept that this Isaac was not my paternal grandfather since this man lived and died in the Caribbean Islands and we had nothing showing that he ever visited the US. Another disappointment but not a complete letdown and now I have a DNA connection to a King family.
What I have learned in this seemingly never-ending search is that I should reserve all judgement until I have verifiable proof and not to get my hopes up. I can recognize my need to know more and be sensitive to my dad and what he may be feeling. It has been a long road and the end is nowhere in sight but I will continue to search until I find that one clue or hint that breaks down that brick wall. I know it's out there...I just have to be patient. I WILL find out who Isaac King was and where he lived.
My Dad
My match's Dad
