Wilson County News - Home, Health, and Family - La Vernia museum volunteers solve mystery for area woman

COURTESY PHOTOS La Vernia Heritage Museum Director Susan Richter (right) locates the entry by Dr. R.G. Martin in his detailed ledger that solved a lifelong mystery for Stella Gantz Kircher (center), as Stella�s daughter, Carolyn Obets, enjoys the thrill of the discovery.

November 3, 2009
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When Stanis?awa �Stella� Gantz Kircher visited the La Vernia Heritage Museum Oct. 18 with her daughter, she never expected to solve a mystery that had puzzled her for decades.

Stella was born in La Vernia soon after World War I, but the records of her actual birth were misplaced somehow. She was never sure if she was born in 1919 or 1918.

Carolyn Obets, Stella�s daughter, was encouraged by a family friend, Beth Brooks, to allow La Vernia Historical Museum volunteers to interview Stella, because she had many memories of La Vernia.

�We value the stories shared by people who lived here long ago,� museum director Susan Richter said. �Mrs. Kircher brought us old school photos from Concrete School in 1935. She gave us the names of the students she remembered. That is wonderful information; many people will enjoy her shared memories.�

During her interview and museum tour, Stella viewed a display case containing medical equipment used by La Vernia�s early physician, Dr. R.G. Martin.

James Robinson Graves Martin was born April 17, 1876, in Pleasanton. He married Zadie Scull, a schoolteacher at the Concrete School and in La Vernia for many years. He graduated from the Memphis Medical College in 1900. His diploma hangs in the La Vernia museum. He died Jan. 8, 1967, in La Vernia.

�He delivered me at home but we aren�t sure what year!� Stella exclaimed on seeing the memorabilia.

That�s when museum volunteers knew they might be able to help.

A collection of daily medical ledgers kept by Dr. Martin had been loaned to the museum recently by the physician�s descendants, Ross and Mary Scull. The museum�s volunteer staff has been carefully scanning the turn-of-the-century ledgers, which contain detailed logs of Dr. Martin�s practice. These include patient names, dates, and type of treatment they received, and the individual charges for his services. The ledgers include dates up to 1922.

Volunteers removed Dr. Martin�s heavy, black ledgers from the locked case and began a search for Mrs. Kircher�s surname, Gantz. They found it. The family name was listed. Turning to the page so carefully indexed by Dr. Martin -- who was not only the sole physician, but also the nurse and secretary for his practice -- they found the entry of a child born to John and Helen Kumiega Gantz on the pale blue lines.

Written in unusually beautiful handwriting on the thin pages of the orderly ledgers was the answer to Stella�s question, and more. On April 25, 1919, a child was born to John and Helen Gantz. That was Stella�s birthday.

That wasn�t all she learned. The delivery cost her father a total of $16. It was paid in cash in two payments. With a few strokes of his pen, Dr. Martin had recorded important information about the first day of Stella�s life.

It was a special moment for Stella and her daughter. The Kircher family now knows for certain that Stella is 90 years young. Stella smiled, showing her beautiful teeth, which are all her own. The mystery of her birth year was solved -- in the La Vernia Heritage Museum.

The La Vernia Historical Association operates the La Vernia Heritage Museum, which is open on the first and third Sunday of the month from noon to 3 p.m. Dr. Martin�s ledgers may be viewed by appointment.

Oral interviews are conducted by museum volunteers by appointment only.

For more information about the association or the museum, visit http://www.laverniahistory.com or call 830-947-3194 or 210-392-3281.

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