FINDING A FOUNDING FATHER
Seated (L-R): Benjamin Franklin Green, Ebeneezer Hugill Orne
Standing (L-R): Eliza Orne, Samuel A. Orne, Joseph J. Orne
Local woman’s quest for a photograph of one of
By Barry Ginter, Nevada Appeal Editor
Historians have long been aware of one small but glaring hole in the
well- documented history of
Enter Louise Inman, an amateur historian who took on the four-month quest and completed the improbable task June 27.
“It’s huge, I mean huge, and in time for celebrating the
sesquicentennial,” said State Archivist Guy Rocha. “I’m at a loss for
words that she could do this so quickly. I’m absolutely amazed, and
Now, history buffs needn’t draw so deeply on their imagination when they
envision the four founders walking the newly platted streets of
Rocha, who has researched and written about many aspects of the state’s and the capital city’s history, knew he wouldn’t have had time to take on the mission of finding a Green photo and, even if he did, he assumed the likelihood of such a photo existing would be slim.
Inman began her quest in February when she attended a history lecture given by Rocha, who showed photos of Abraham Curry, Francis Marion Proctor and John Jacob Musser.
He told the group there was no known image of Green.
“There’s got to be a picture,” Inman said to herself.
Inman, 65, consulted with Rocha after his talk, and on many other occasions during the following months.
“I’m just that kind of person,” Inman said. “I’ve got to know if and why and when it happened.”
On June 23, she was wondering if she would ever find what she was
looking for, but decided it was too early to give up. Instead she began
looking at data from the 1880 census in
Her interest piqued, Inman found a phone number for LeGro and suddenly a cold trail was blazing hot. LeGro, it turned out, is a distant nephew of Green, and is named after Green’s brother, Robert.
More importantly, he gave her the e-mail address of Joni Vella in
Her e-mail arrived in Inman’s inbox on June 27 with the digital image of the old photograph, and closing with the note, “It was most interesting to find out about your project, and to know that a distant relative of mine had a small part in it. I hope that I have been of help to you.”
That was an understatement, and Inman quickly informed historians what she’d obtained.
“It really is amazing.” said Robert Nylen, curator of history at the
“We never thought this would happen,” Nylen said. “It hasn’t shown up in all these years.”
That Inman’s success came during
“She’s a person who has a great curiosity,” said Deborah Stevenson, curator of education at the museum and a member of the Carson City Sesquicentennial Committee. Inman was her assistant when she worked at the museum. “No matter how many dead ends she hit, she just kept looking and looking. I’m really proud of her.”
Vella learned from Inman about Benjamin Green’s prestigious reputation
as one of
As for Robert’s accomplishments, Vella doesn’t try to sugarcoat history.
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Contact Editor Barry Ginter
at
bginter@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1221