More Bits & Pieces

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 MaryLynn recently wrote about piecing together snippets of information; I came across some more recent history recently. By chance Ancestry.com landed me on the profile of my uncle Hollis McBee, and I noticed a couple of new newspaper article hints, which can be a rich source of information. 


Calgary Herald, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Thursday 8 November 1945, page 8, column 3, news article "Trucks Damaged, Drivers Unhurt" 

mentioning Hollis McBee; Newspapers.com : accessed 11December 2025.

 

  At first glance, the story reveals few facts, besides that Hollis was unhurt. 

But it shows me what he was doing in 1945; which  was driving truck in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, and that he had been in an accident. 

The second article places him and his first family in Great Falls, Montana, 375 miles south:  

Great Falls Tribune, Great Falls, Montana, Friday 31 October 1958, page 11, columns 4-5, "Nine Marriages Dissolved"

 including Hollis & Lois Crozier McBee; Newspapers.com : accessed 12 December 2025.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I knew that Hollis and Lois were divorced, but not that he had sued, nor that the children were divided. Fortunately, my cousins seem to have stayed on good terms with both parents, and moved back and forth freely; all being mentioned in the obituaries of the step-parents. 

Next step was to look again at each of the children of that marriage, to see if anything new popped up. The oldest son, my cousin Hollis Arthur McBee, was one of the two boys in the custody of Hollis. However, I had seen him mentioned in other records with the surname Crozier, which was my aunt Lois' birth surname. While this legal notice does not explain, it does give a date for that change:

The Calgary Albertan, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Monday, 1 December 1969, page 21, column 5, name change legal notice; 

Newspapers.com : accessed 12 December 2025.



By the time of his death, Arthur seems to have rekindled ties to his entire family; all were named in his obituary. Rest in peace, cousin Arthur. 


 

Calgary Herald, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Friday 17 September 1982, page 9, column 1, Arthur Hollis (McBee) Crozier obituary; 

Newspapers.com : accessed 14 December 2025.


My takeaway from this is that looking again at old research is a good use of research time. I began researching family history as a way to understand my family, and finding these bits of information helps me fit the puzzle pieces together. So many of the family members mentioned in the bits and pieces found are now gone, making them more precious to me. 

 

Valorie Zimmerman

 

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Send your stories to m.strickland@skcgs.org


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