Nov 1, 2025-Not Quite NaNoWriMo, But a Breakthrough All The Same

 I forgot it was the first of November-NaNoWriMo kick off day (sort of defunct now). this year, research wins out. And honestly? Today's discovery feels like a chapter in a saga I have been writing for over a decade.

For more than ten years, I have been chasing the first name of Emma's elusive first husband. Today I finally found it. John V Radner. But the document that led me there is maddenling vague. It lists Emma's name-barely-but no date, no spouse, no context. Yet somehow, the transcriber had all the details. How?

There are two Farber's on the page. One might be Gussie or Guisse, listed 11th. Emma's name is last, and I accidently cropped her out. That is all the visible info. So how did they know her husband was John?

Here is where it gets strange. Emma had a son named David Farber, born three years after her marriage to John. Why does David carry her maiden name? Years ago, I spoke with David's daughter but I don't think we ever unpacked that mystery.

In the 1920 census, Emma is listed as Emma Redner, married, living with her father. David's name appears as "Tarber"-a transcribtion error, perhaps? But then I found a 1915 census with a John V Radner and...an Emma. That felt like a breadcrumb trail finally leading somewhere.

Another document I found-no wife or mother listed by name, but still a strong possibility. But the puzzle pieces are clicking. 

Ramona (Emma's daughter from her second marriage to William Kraig (Kratochvil)) told me that her mother married a Redner, but she couldnt remember his first name. But now I am finding several documents with the name Radner. We lost Ramona in 2012, so I cant ask her to clarify.

But now, the puzzle pieces are clicking. I found a 1910 census that aligns with the WW1 document. Then-his birth record. And here is the kicker: John V Radner and I share the same birthdate, how exciting!

And his birth record

Hey, I just realized he and I have the same birthdate.

Ramona never said that Redner had died, just that she didnt know what happened to him. But I found a death record for John V Radner, dated 1919. That timing fits perfectly with Emma's marriage and David's birth.

So maybe this isnt NaNoWriMo. But it is a narrative I have been researching in fragments for years. Today I found a name. A date, a connection. That is enough to keep going.