Tonight our granddaughters are coming and will be here for three days. That means that for all practical intents and purposes the genealogy side of my life is put on hold. So, last night I decided to work on a research request of my good friend who was adopted at birth through an illegal adoption. What she wanted was to locate a couple of articles about the late Rex McEntire who was the lawyer for the adoption. There is a group of adoptees, for which he was the lawyer, who are trying to find out answers about their adoptions. While I don't do research for adoptions, I was willing to help my friend with this request. In doing so I had an unusual serendipity moment.
First I went to ancestry.com where I found twenty-one hits for him. Most of the hits were from 1939 to 1944 during the time he lived in Ogden, Utah. He attended Weber High School and Weber College and then joined the Marines. There is a picture of him in 1939 as part of a cast for a local production. He returned there in 1946, 1954 and 1960, visiting with friends. In 1948 there is an article about his marriage to Betty Burnett. The passing of his Bar Exam was covered in a 1949 article. In 1956 there is an article about a mistrial in which Rex was placed on probation during future practice of that case. There even appears to be a second Rex McEntire, who died in 1969. Two articles in 1976 discuss lawsuits involving elections. One article for 1977 is the obituary of the aunt who raised him. The majority of the articles were from the Ogden Standard Examiner and five from the Abilene Reporter. I made copies of seven of the articles.
Next I moved on to Genealogybank.com and it was close to eleven o'clock. There were twenty-three hits. I made a list of the articles with the topic being covered and the dates. They ranged from 1952 to 1981 and all but one was from the Dallas Morning News. Of these I copied three, which were from 1979 and relate to the Sale of Baby, in which Rex McEntire Attorney participated.
Last I went to Newsbank.com and found forty-seven hits. Again I made a list covering the dates, papers and the topics. The 1926 article was the posted Notice No. 3166, the estate and guardianship of Everett Slater, and Rex and Ivy McEntire, minors. There was a picture in a 1940 newspaper of Rex and other cast members for a local production. At this point I felt a little frustrated, as the article my friend was seeking was not coming up, so I had to resort to other search words.
Finally, close to one o'clock in the morning I tried the word adoption with the date I had been given. What comes up is an article, part three of a five part series. This was truly a serendipity moment. I have no idea why it would not come up with the name of Rex McEntire, as he was clearly mentioned in this particular article entitled, "Officials Challenge Individual Child Placement." It was published December 12, 1973 in the Denton Record Chronicle, referencing a case in 1964 in Fort Worth, Texas.
If you are an adopted child, and Rex McEntire was the attorney in the adoption and you want answers to your questions you are not alone. There are probably other court cases that never even made the newspaper. I feel a deep sense of compassion for individuals who would like to know the truth about their adoptions and may never be able to find the answers because information at the time of the adoption was purposely falsified to protect those involved. Please know that other people care about you and want to help you come to an understanding of your life story.
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