52 Ancestors: Frank Roe's Grapes of Wrath
Von Joesph "Rusty" Roe and his father Frank Roe, fishing For this week's #52Ancestors prompt on "Migration," I want to share the story of my great-grandfather Frank Roe, whose life embodied the great migrations that shaped early 20th-century America. His story, which I explored in depth in my book " The Last Wagon ," demonstrates how external forces often drive personal migrations, reshaping family histories in unexpected ways. Born on November 1, 1898, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Frank's early life was rooted in his Romani heritage. His mother, Rachel Mason, came from a long line of travelers who had made their way from England to America in the 1850s. Yet Frank's life would be marked by different kinds of movements, forced not by tradition but by the sweeping changes in American history. By 1930, Frank had established a home in Pottawatomie, Oklahoma, where he and his first wife, May, raised their growing family. Their children - Rachel, Hazel, ...
