Some people will go to almost any extreme to dig up their ancestors. A case in point is Donald William Earle, 5311 Shrewsberry Ave., Westminister, California 96683. His letter to this writer, which was received last week, tells the story.

" All I knew a couple of years ago was my grandfather, Andrew Jackson Sadler (1869-1899), was shot by cattle thieves on December 6, 1899. My grandmother, Cornelia Fanita Sadler, was born in Florida. She died March 21, 1905. My mother, Lily Fanita Sadler Earle (1897-1948), and her five brothers and sisters were put in the Florida's Baptist Children's Home in Arcadia, Florida in 1905 by their grandmother, Lorinda Whidden. "

" My father, John Maurice Earle (1885-1948), was a professor and taught the children at the Florida Baptist Children's Home. He met my mother there where he taught her. They married on August 13, 1914. "

" Our (my wife and I) first trip through Florida in 1988 came up with more questions than answers. We left Florida knowing that the trail had to start at the Florida Baptist Children's Home, whose records were now in Lakeland, Florida. The person authorized to release the detailed information was unavailable while we were there. The Department of the State of Florida of Vital Statistics was useless and down right rude. "

" The people we met on the street, in County/City Government, the historians,  Police Department, newspapers, ect. all were warm, friendly, and eager to help, and freely gave what information they had. In particular, Howard Melton, writer and historian of Arcadia, was helpful. He gave generously of his time and information."

"Our second trip through Florida in 1989, we were better prepared. Our knowledge of how and when to find genealogy data was improved."

"In the Jacksonville main library we found a group picture (16 people) of the Sadler/Whidden families taken in Arcadia in 1898." (Writers note: This photo is included in this article.) "We also found three articles in the December 10 and 11 editions of the Jacksonville Times Union paper on the murder of my grandfather, Andrew Jackson Sadler. The 1880 census data on the Sadler/Whidden families was also found."

"In Lakeland, at the Florida Baptist Children's Home, Lloyd Godwin and Helen Nelson provided us with my mother's (Lily Fanita Sadler) admission papers, which were there. They contained vital information necessary to fill in the blanks of her past history."

"We walked all the old cemeteries in and between Ft. Myers and Arcadia. In Arcadia we again visited Howard Melton, who generously provided us with the photo book (George Lane's Pictorial History of Desoto County) containing the Sadler/Whidden family group picture; and an article identifying my great great grandparents and their family history." (The photo Donald refers to was not identified in George's book.)

Andrew Jackson Sadler was born in Florida in 1869. He married Cornelia Fanita Whidden in Arcadia, Florida. They lived south of Arcadia near Punta Gorda and reared their family; Callie (1892-1927); Samuel Jackson (1894-1962); Edward and Ethel born 1889. Edward died in 1927;Ethel died in 1980; Lily Fanita (1897-1948); and Ruby Gertrude (1899-1986).

"On December 6, 1889 (*****typo in article; should read 1899*****) Andrew Jackson Sadler was shot from ambush with two loads of buckshot from a ten gauge shotgun. Two accounts were written up in the December 10 and 11, 1899 Jacksonville Times Union newspaper. One stated that he was on the porch, and the other stated that he was by the fence out front. He had given testimony to a grand jury on the cattle thievery in the area, which led to the indictment against members of the Corbett Family. They had threatened his life, and it is assumed that they carried it out, although no one was ever arrested or convicted of the crime as far as we know." (Writer's note: one of the newspapers quoted the name of the killer: "The jury decided that his death was due to gunshot wounds inflicted at the hands of Cronin Corbett.")

Andrew Jackson Sadler's murder left his wife, Cornelia, with six children to care for. Cornelia's father, Elias Whidden (1841-1900), also died, widowing Cornelia's mother, Lorinda Raney Corbitt Whidden. This left two widows to care for the children.

Lily Fanita Sadler Earle was the baby in the photo of the Sadler/Whidden families. She was one of the six children who entered the Florida Baptist Children's Home in 1905, when her mother, Cornelia Fanita Sadler died.

Donald William Earle is the son of Lily Fanita (Sadler) Earle. He is the grandson of Andrew Jackson Sadler. Donald is responsible for most of the information in this article, regarding his grandfather's murder in 1899, and the subsequent entrance of his mother and her five brothers and sisters into the Florida Baptist Children's Home in 1905, upon the death of his grandmother, Cornelia Fanita Whidden Sadler.

Could it be possible that Donald's great grandmother, Raney Corbitt Whidden, was related to the accused murderer?