As a hobby, I've spent a lot of time over the past few months digging for clues into my family history... and my studies have paid off as I have learned many things that I did not former know about my genealogy, and I have established contact with some of my living family members who I didn't even know existed just a few short months ago.
There is one avenue that I've had a bit of difficulty with... and that's discovering information about my Grandfather, Stedman John Glean.
He was born May 12, 1923... so far as we know, he was the first born child of my Great-Grandfather, Wilfred Hall Embree Glean.
We don't know the name of Stedman's mother... we don't even know what her first name was. In fact, the only recollection that I've been able to gather from Stedman's half-sisters is that his mother was of Jewish descent.
We don't know the exact location of his birth, but we have a pretty good idea of the general vicinity which we seem to have narrowed down to the Manhattan Borough of New York City, New York (USA), or there about.
At the age of 2, Stedman fell victim to poliomyelitis (a.k.a. "polio"), an acute, infectious disease of motor nerves of the spinal cord and brain stem, sometimes resulting in muscular atrophy and skeletal deformity. The resulting affect for Stedman was having to live with a stubbornly persistent limp which plagued him as he grew up and which continued with him throughout his known years of adulthood.
As he grew older, Stedman was dealt another ill-fated blow when he developed ependymoma (a brain tumor). Apparently Stedman underwent some sort of treatment for this tumor, the specifics of which are presently unknown.
At the age of 24, Stedman married Dorothy Ann [xxxxxx], through whom he fathered his one and only known offspring, a son who was named Guy Bradley Glean.
Stedman's place of residence at the time of this marriage was 19 Lafayette Street, New Rochelle, NY. The current owner of this home is one Arthur M. Green, born 1923 (the same age as Stedman), who reports that his mother, Mertie L. Green, was the owner of the home back in 1947, and that he, in fact, remembers Stedman quite well. As it turns out, Stedman and Arthur were best friends, and Stedman lived there with Arthur's family for about 6 months, after which time Stedman moved a few blocks down the road to a residence which no longer exists today.
Stedman has been missing since about 1948/49. One of Stedman's half-sisters recalls hearing news that Stedman had some sort of a relapse in health due to the return of his brain tumor. Although she has a clear recollection that Stedman was admitted into hospital for a second attempt at treatment of this tumor, what is still unclear is exactly what happened to Stedman afterwards. The presumption is that he died in the hospital, but unfortunately no one seems to have any real first hand knowledge of Stedman's death.
My dad never knew Stedman personally, but was able to acquire one photograph of him which was obtained from his grandmother (the mother of Stedman's wife, Dorothy). It is the one and only picture we have of Stedman, and it's a priceless memento which my father has kept safe for many long years and in all his travels.
Any additional information that could be shared with our family about Grandpa Glean would be greatly appreciated!
Joseph A. Glean
info@gleanealogy.com