Questions for Grandpa Debs

While looking through my draft blog posts today, I came across this one. I don't know why I never published it as it seems like it was pretty much finished. So, I've decided to go ahead and finally publish it today. Nancy's blog post that inspired this post was published back in 2015. Wow! That was five years ago already. I think it's about time I published this post. Haha! The following is what I wrote back then except for a few things I added at the end.

Nancy, author of the My Ancestors and Me blog, recently wrote a blog post titled If You Could Spend an Afternoon With an Ancestor..... In this blog post Nancy imagines spending time spent with an ancestor and being able to ask him questions. She also invited her readers to share their thoughts and questions they'd ask an ancestor if they could spend time with them.

I'm going to take her up on her invitation. I wish I could spend an afternoon (or longer) with many ancestors. I have plenty of questions I could ask of them. Today I'm going to share what I wish I could ask my maternal grandfather, Debs Warren Webster, if I could spend an afternoon with him.

I remember my Grandpa Debs very well. When I was young, our family visited with my Grandpa and Grandma Webster many times. When Grandpa Debs passed away, I was already married and was a mother of four children. You'd think I would already know pretty much everything about him right? Well, unfortunately, that's not the case. You see, I began my family history research AFTER his death. And he didn't talk about his family history at all, as far as I can remember. From my research, and talking with my mom, I know he led a very interesting life. After all, he was the son of Watson (Frederick) Emory Webster, a.k.a. "The Traveling Dentist" here on my blog.

Debs was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil on 27 April 1914. He traveled a great deal with his father both before and after the death of his mother, Esther Matus Villatoro. Frederick practiced dentistry in three countries - The United States, Mexico, and Brazil.

Debs, his wife, and children immigrated to the United States in July of 1952.

What I wish I could ask my Grandpa Debs:

• Did you enjoy traveling with your father?
• Where did you go to school when you were a boy?
• How did you learn to speak Spanish, Portuguese, and English?
• What was life like as the son of "The Traveling Dentist?"
• What were your favorite memories of your mom?
• What was she like?
• What was your father like?
• How did you meet your first wife Sarah Vasques Madeira?

What questions do you wish you could ask an ancestor? Also, do you have blog posts in draft form from way back when? How many do you have waiting to be published?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

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