Family History Friday: Searching for my roots

Istiqlál (Independence), 16 Sultán (Sovereignty), 168 BE – Friday, February 3, 2012 about 4:50 PM Pacific Time

I am searching for my roots, so I suppose the first thing to do is to write down what I know and work from there. My mother was born Marie Pearl Newland on a farm in Oklahoma on March 19, 1921. Mom’s dad was Frank S. Newland, I am not sure of his birth date or what the S. stood for. Mom’s mother was Mary Florence Chaplin, I do not remember her birth date or where she was born.

My father’s name is Melvin Fay Darbe and he was born in 1921, somewhere in Oklahoma or Kansas. My grandmother on my father’s side was named Belva and I think her maiden name was Lancaster, but I am not sure and I do not know where she was born.

My father served in World War II in the Army Air Core and was stations at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada. My parents lived in Las Vegas right after they were married and Mom was a maid at what is now University Medical Center.

My grandfather on my mother’s side was too young to serve in World War I and too old for World War II. Grandpa Newland’s brother Roy Newland served in World War I. That is all I know at this time, so I will have to do some research to see what I can find.