For this week of Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, I decided to write about my husband’s Paternal Grand Aunt, Rachael McClellan Legare.
Rachael was born 24 October 1927 in Awendaw, Charleston County, South Carolina. She was the daughter of Daniel J. Legare and Helen Sadie Elliott.
The first newspaper article I found for Rachael was about her appendicitis operation in 1943.
Then I found one where she was visiting her sister Helen in 1944.
While researching Rachel, I found other newspaper articles, that I have not included here, from the early 1940’s when she had received School Honor Roll mentions.
The article above and to the left lists Rachel as being one of The Medical College of the State of South Carolina’s recent nursing graduates in 1947.
The main reason for this post is shown at the right. My father-in-law had told me about his Aunt Rachel who had drowned as a young woman. So I went looking online and found the following newspaper article.
Rachel’s death came less than 2 months after she graduated.
I cannot imagine what it must have been like for Rachel, her friends and her family that day.
The panic she must have felt knowing she was in serious trouble. The guilt her friends must have felt for not being able to save her.
Then there’s her family, knowing she was out there in the water somewhere, all alone, until the early hours of the morning when her body was found!
Rachel was 19 years old, a young woman with plans for the future.
There were many “In Memoriam” notices in the papers over the years from her parents and siblings, her family obviously missed her deeply.
She was unmarried and had no children, but she will not be forgotten!
You can see her headstone at Find A Grave # 41839832.
