Cousins amazed at link

Continued from Dec. 25

In England, Christine Carter and her husband, John, were raising their own children, Lee and Marie. Life was busy, so tracing her family had to wait. But as the years went by, she often wondered about the family she had so briefly been a part of in Arkansas.

Meanwhile, in Garfield

Little did she know that a world away in Garfield, Ark., Scherry also longed to find Christine. Over the years she, Mary and Vivian reminisced about Joan and the children and wondered about them. Then, both Mary and Vivian passed away and Scherry was left to wonder alone.

"It pops into your memory every once in a while," she said. "You wonder how different it would have been if they'd have been here."

What neither Scherry nor Christine knew was that in California, their second cousin, Mary Neal, had begun a process that would eventually lead them back together. Mary, who shares great-grandparents with Scherry and Christine, started to research her grandmother's ancestry and put her findings on ancestry.com.

Through her research, she connected with a relative in Garfield who knew Scherry and asked him to ask Scherry to contact her.

As Mary tells it, "One bright, sunny day in 2008 I answered the phone and this beautiful, warm, Southern voice said, 'Mary this is your cousin, Scherry.'

"All I remember is laughing and crying at the same time. We talked about so much that day and one of the topics was, 'What happened to Ezra's family?'" Of course, Scherry had no idea," Mary said.

Three years later, in December 2011, Christine thought about the Internet and wondered if she might find answers about her family there.

"I was just vacuuming the house and I said to my husband, 'Do you know anybody on the Internet who could look for my family?'

"And his cousin was on ancestry.com and put some information on there -- the little bit of information I knew -- and our second cousin, Mary had been searching for us for years," Christine said.

As Mary puts it, "Out of the blue I receive a query through ancestry.com from an angel bearing good tidings named Chris Carter. He was checking into the ancestry of his cousin's wife, Christine Taylor Carter. Bingo! I couldn't respond fast enough and then the next thing I did was call Scherry. The rest is history."

Scherry immediately contacted Christine and expressed her heart.

"Wishes do come true and prayers are answered. You have no idea how many years I looked for you. And how much of a lost cause I thought it was and yet my heart yearned and I still thought about it a lot. Christine, this is Scherry Byler Jackson. My grandmother was grandmother Mary Taylor and Alma Taylor is my grandpop, same as yours," she said.

Family reunited

For Christine, reconnecting with her family meant that she once again had blood relatives from her father's family and the pieces of her life began to come together.

"It meant the world to me to find Scherry. I just felt like half of me was missing," Christine said. "Now that gap has been filled."

Immediately the cousins made plans to meet in Garfield and this past May, Christine and her husband, John, traveled from England to meet Scherry and Colyn Lee. Instantly the two women recognized how similar they are.

"The first thing Scherry said to me as we embraced each other on the driveway was that I had her mama's eyes. We're not much different in height. We're similar builds. We just seem alike. She's more like me than probably my own sister was," Christine said.

The cousins also share the same favorite color. "Turquoise," Christine said. "My bedroom is the same color as hers. That was a real surprise and I couldn't believe it."

"I could not get over how much alike we are," Scherry said. "When that blood is there and you see the likeness in mind, spirit, body, everything. She is very special. She is the sister I never had."

Scherry had a surprise to give Christine – Ezra's Army cap and a bracelet that the family had kept all these years.

"The bracelet is one Joan gave Ezra and it has his name on the outside of it. Inside is a picture of Christine's mom when she was about 17 or 18 years old, before they got married," Scherry said.

"I didn't even know (the bracelet) existed," Christine said. "I've really treasured that."

Scherry also shared with Christine that their heritage goes deep into the roots of Benton County. Their ancestors were some of the first settlers in the area and were a key part of its development. In addition, the cousins are four times great-granddaughters of William Ruddick, one of the first settlers of Benton County and the man who built the Elkhorn Tavern. In fact, the site of the house where Joan and the children lived with Alma and Mary is less than a quarter of a mile from Elkhorn Tavern, on what is now the Pea Ridge Battlefield National Park. And, hanging on the wall of the Elkhorn Tavern is a photograph of their great-great-great-great-grandparents.

From family history to their heritage, the cousins covered a lot in the two-week visit and it didn't stop there. E-mails and phone calls continue to fly back and forth between Garfield and Southampton and the cousins are planning another get together.

"To finally meet Scherry was fantastic and to look at photos and share the memories with her is something I never thought possible. I feel like I have a big sister." Christine said.

The unraveling of this family that began on a dark Missouri road has been stopped.

For Christine and Scherry, the missing pieces of their family have been put back together as they renew their relationship after 60 years. And, for Christine the circle of her life is complete. As she said, "Coming to Arkansas felt like coming home. I felt like I was where I belonged."

Editor's note: The story of the reunion of Scherry Byler Lee and her cousin, Christine Carter, from England, is being published in three parts, Dec. 18, Dec. 25 and Jan. 1.