The Hunt for Wade Hamilton Kerr

Growing up, I spent time with my grandmother, Wadie almost everyday, I had a slightly unconventional family circle. I had two parents, two step-parents, numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. Rounding out the family circle were my maternal great grandparents. My mother's paternal grandparents were always in my life and I spent every summer with my great-grandmother, Elizabeth Lang Jackson. She was the matriarch of my family from my point of view. But on my mother's maternal side, the family wasn't as full. My grandmother Wadie talked a lot about her mother and her brother but never mentioned her dad. I never really noticed this until I got older and realized that I knew nothing about her dad and she never brought him up. I asked her once where her name originated and she told me she was named after her father, Wade. She changed the subject after that and I did not ask anything else because it seemed to make her uncomfortable, I assumed that he had died when she was young and I did not want to make it worse for her. Grandmama spoke often of her little brother, Bennie. The family had not heard from Uncle Bennie since the seventies and it made her sad that she did not know where her brother was or if he was alive.

Wadie Kerr

After Grandmama died, I doubled my research into her family. In 2011, I came across the death record for her father, Wade Hamilton Kerr. I was shocked to read that he died in 1972..30 years after his wife, Mama Cille, listed herself as widowed in the 1940's census. I was extremely curious about what had happened between him and his family. In my estimation it had to be bad since my mother nor her siblings had ever met him. Wade died in Wyandotte, Kansas and had lived there since the fifties. He had remarried and his wife is buried beside him in the Veteran's Cemetery. I had so many questions. Why did he move? Why did the family completely break from each other? Did he and his new wife have any children?

A few months ago, Wade had a shaky leaf on Ancestry. When I looked into it I found a record in Texas on Convicts. Apparently Wade had committed manslaughter and was incarcerated in 1936 for the murder of a Mr Fountain. I wanted to know what happened. Why did he kill this man? Is this what caused the collapse of the family? I took a trip to the local genealogical society to peruse newspaper articles and I hit paydirt:

I did a little more research and found the Appellate court records. It was called the Lock of Hair Murder. Apparently Mama Cille and Wade hit a rough patch during their marriage and separated. At this time they had three children. Mama Cille met Mr. Fountain and entered into a relationship, during which she gave him a lock of her hair. After a while, Wade re-entered the picture and he and Mama Cille decided to give their marriage another go for the sake of their family. Things were okay for a while but Wade did not like the fact that Mr. Fountain had a lock of Mama Cille's hair. He demanded the she get the hair back. Together they walked over to Mr. Fountain's home to get the hair back and for some reason Wade brought his shotgun with him. Mama Cille asked Mr. Fountain for her lock of hair, which he kept in his hat. Mr Fountain gave her the lock of hair and I am not sure what happened between them but it ended with Wade shooting Mr. Fountain. Mr Fountain succumbed to his injuries. Wade was arrested and spent almost 5 years in prison. Three days before his release, Mama Cille filed for divorce. There is no one alive that can tell us what happened between Wade and Mama Cille or what was the reason for the separation of the family. I have many question, suspicions and theories but I have to live with the fact that I may never know what happened between them


It was very gratifying to find part of Wade's story and learn about what happened to him when he was young. I later came across his obituary:

I found it interesting that they used my grandmother Wadie's nickname, Babo. Since Uncle Bennie lived in Kansas at the time I wonder if he was at the funeral. I wonder what Wade's funeral was like. Was it full of people who loved him and told funny stories at his repast? I hope so. I don't know what caused Wade to break from his first family but I know it caused a lot of pain in my grandmother. Grandmama had a full life and a large family. We really came together when she passed and her funeral was full of people who loved her and would always miss her. I hope that Wade had the same experience. I hope that whatever mistakes from his past did not stop him from making a new, happy life with his new family.