TX TX - Minnie Marie Heine Conrad, 34, Meridian, July 1958 - 1960

[alb1on]

I really do not think that the Alabama death in 1976 is related to this case. Apart from multiple records showing the Alabama deceased as black there are also multiple records on Ancestry for Minnie Marie Heine born 1924 in Texas and listing her as white. To my mind it would require too many errors in multiple records for this to be a viable line of investigation.

 

[strangerthanfiction1200]

I really do not think that the Alabama death in 1976 is related to this case. Apart from multiple records showing the Alabama deceased as black there are also multiple records on Ancestry for Minnie Marie Heine born 1924 in Texas and listing her as white. To my mind it would require too many errors in multiple records for this to be a viable line of investigation.

I totally agree. I did some deep diving research concerning Minnie and the last time Cole. In the 1940 and 1950 census she is consistently listed as black as race and her husband and children do not match. Minnie and her late husband (father of the four daughters). In my opinion the answers are in Texas and with older family members who could still be alive.

 

[rylie113]

Hi all!

I have been deep diving this case for the last few days and while I don't have the answer I'd like to share what I've found so that others may be able to take it forward. Some of this may be irrelevant but I thought I'd include mostly everything I've found.

Wilhelmina (Minnie/Mina) Marie Heine was born on March 20, 1924 in Meridian, Texas and is of longstanding German heritage. Her mother was unwed and 17, so her grandfather and his 2nd wife raised her as their own child. She was raised as if her mother were actually her sister, from what I understand.

She married Henry Louis Otto Conrad Jr in 1941 at the age of 16 and they had 4 daughters together between 1943-1954, including Donna from the ancestry message board. He is also of German heritage and the area is/was very small so they have relatives in common. It honestly kinda broke my ancestry tree I've been making.

She was a Lutheran, a homemaker, and may have also worked at the local flower shop in Meridian. I don't believe she finished high school. Her (grand)father died of a heart attack in 1946 and her step (grand)mother passed in 1963 under similar conditions.

I'm unsure of the exact reason, but she had made many trips to Galveston for "health reasons" before her disappearance. Maybe someone can find out if the University of Texas Medical Centre had particular specialties at the time? Some pieces I can find say she left/disappeared in 1958, others in 1961.

On July 25, 1958, the Clifton Record (Meridian's closest local paper) lists her as hosting a children's birthday party. The same paper notes her attending a church service in the June 26, 1959 edition.

In the April 11, 1962 edition of the Galveston Daily News, she is listed as having been in a car accident:

"The other collision occurred 75 feet east of 11th street on Avenue B. A 1956 coupe driven by Minnie M. Conrad, 1009 Avenue B, was in collision with the parked car of [irrelevant name and address], police said. She was taken to John Sealy Hospital for emergency treatment. Officers H. Tauch and Earl Russell charged the woman with failure to remain at the scene of the accident."

I'm not familiar with the area, so I was doing some Google Maps work and found that 1009 Avenue B is situated in a cul-de-sac that leads to the John Sealy Hospital/University of Texas Medical Centre (now referred to as Branch not Centre). 11th Street is the first street heading out of that cul-de-sac. I've attached a screenshot of the area (the red marker is 1009 Avenue B). It seems that she was either leaving or arriving home when it happened.

That is literally the last and only time her name is mentioned in a Galveston paper (from what's on newspapers dot com...at least) I was hoping for a hospital discharge note, but no luck.

If Minnie had remained in Galveston and continued any religious dedication, she likely would have attended the First Lutheran Church on Winnie St, which is a 30-minute walk from her listed address on Avenue B. The church opened at this location in 1959.

I can definitely rule out Minnie becoming Minnie Cole and dying in 1976. Death records for this Minnie confirm she was black and had parents and family that do not align with our Minnie. They really just have the same birthday.

I have also found evidence of a "Minna Conrad" living in Clifton, Texas in the 1970s, and despite Clifton being only about 12 miles from Minnie's hometown of Meridian, the ages do not align.

I've hit a dead end after this but I'll keep searching when inspired. Lastly, I cannot find any matching/similar Jane Does.

 

[rylie113]

Okay, I'm back already to speculate on a few things...

Many of her relatives lived to be 80+, which is awesome. But of her relatives who died younger, such as her (grand)father, they died of heart-related problems or complications from early-onset dementia.

When Minnie had the car accident in 1962, she was 37 years old and the relatives I just mentioned all died prior to age 60. So perhaps she had some sort of heart or blood pressure issue that needed specialized care? I forgot to add in my previous post that DoeNetwork says she had been at the medical centre in Galveston from July 18-30, 1960 - and by 1962 she's living half a block from the hospital. This makes me think that she needed specialized, ongoing care. Based on some additional googling, it seems that folks really only travelled all the way to Galveston for highly specialized medical issues. Though from what I could find, a 12-day stay would be relatively normal for a complete diagnosis in that era.

Additionally, in what context do you drive away from your house, make it like half a block, and hit a parked car to the point that you need medical intervention? That makes me concerned that she had some sort of episode, whether that be heart-related or perhaps out of some form of severe confusion. Regardless, there has to be a reason she needs to stay so close to the hospital, I doubt it's a coincidence.

Alternatively, I wonder about her mental health. If she had been raised in a household where she thought her biological mother was her sister...if she had found out the truth at some point, that may have triggered some sort of mental breakdown? Although in this case, perhaps she would be admitted to an asylum rather than an award-winning medical centre.

Is it possible that she died in the hospital and was never given any sort of obituary or grave because she was presumably living there alone?

 

[rylie113]

@mods I don't know how to go back and edit to add a source?

I have been using Ancestry and can link the newspaper articles I found if you want. Does that count as an appropriate source?

 

[tricia]

@mods I don't know how to go back and edit to add a source?

I have been using Ancestry and can link the newspaper articles I found if you want. Does that count as an appropriate source?

Yes that would be great. Thank you.

 

[rylie113]

Okay, trying this again! So sorry to the mod team for my misunderstanding of sourcing.

While I don't know the answer as to what happened to Minnie, I was able to find out a lot of info on her through Ancestry and Newspapers. My hope is that someone can take what I've started and keep digging.

One of Minnie's relatives has uploaded an 1100+ page family history book to Ancestry, which is where I was able to begin building a family tree from and where I found a great deal of information and context. I will add a few screenshots that are from this document for sourcing context.

Wilhelmina "Minnie/Mina" Marie Heine was born on March 20, 1924 in Meridian, Texas and is of longstanding German heritage. According to this family document, Minnie's mother was unwed and 17, so her grandfather and his 2nd wife raised Minnie as their own. So Minnie would have been raised as if her mother were her sister. But (also because of this?) I was unable to find a birth certificate for Minnie even though her siblings have one.

She married Henry Louis Conrad Jr. in 1941 at age 16 and went on to have 4 daughters with him, including Donna from the Ancestry message boards.

Both DoeNetwork and this family document share that Minnie had previously travelled to Galveston many times for "health reasons" prior to her disappearance. Some sources I found said she left in 1958, others say 1961. DoeNetwork also states she was a patient at the UTMB (University of Texas Medical Centre or Branch) from July 18-30, 1960.

On July 25, 1958, she is mentioned in the Clifton Record (Meridian's closest local paper) as having hosted a children's birthday party. She is also mentioned in a second article that same day about another social gathering.

She is again mentioned about one year later on June 26, 1959 as having attended a funeral service in Clifton.

These two mentions along with what I can find on Ancestry lead me to believe that she couldn't have left until at least the 2nd half of 1959.

The April 11, 1962 edition of the Galveston Daily News includes an article about "Minnie M. Conrad" getting into a car accident about half a block from her listed address, which is also less than a block from the UTMB, and being taken to the hospital while also being charged with fleeing the scene. I have also attached a screenshot of this address, which is listed in the article as 1009 Avenue B. Minnie was 37 at the time of this article and is listed as driving a 1956 coupe.

I was unable to find any newspaper record of her in Galveston or in Texas after this, although I was hoping for a hospital discharge note, criminal charge records or something similar.

Ancestry census records and family documents note that she was a Lutheran, didn't have much of an education, and wasn't a career woman. This leads me to believe we can rule out any possibility of her being a nurse or living so close to the hospital for work-related reasons. The First Lutheran Church in Galveston is located on Winnie St and is about a 30-min walk from her listed address; it opened at this location in 1959.

Ancestry census records and death records for Minnie Cole rule out this Minnie being Minnie Heine/Conrad. Minnie Cole was a black woman with different parents, but they did have the same birthday. I found that there was a woman named Minna Conrad living in Clifton, Texas but this is also not our Minnie as the ages don't match and Conrad is her maiden name. I was unable to find any matching/similar Jane Does for Minnie.

Many of Minnie's family members lived very long lives! But I was able to find death records for some of Minnie's family members who passed away at earlier ages and lots seemed to die of heart-related problems. Minnie's (grand)father died of coronary thrombosis (heart attack) at 65. His brother died at 59 of exhaustion due to psychosis caused by senile dementia.

I looked for Minnie in the 1960 directory for Galveston but wasn't successful, although I'm not an expert at reading those. Perhaps she wasn't living there full-time yet.

Anyways, my personal thought process and questions are such:
What happened to Minnie that caused her to crash into a parked car so close to her own home? Presumably coming or going. And to crash hard enough to need emergency medical attention?

It's clear she had some sort of health issue due to the multiple hospital visits. Based on Google Maps there are plenty of hospitals between Meridian and Galveston so to travel so far means to me that she was needing specialized care of some sort. Also based on Googling as I'm not of this era, a 12 day hospital stay sounds pretty standard for having an issue being diagnosed and then treated.

Due to the context of how many of her family members died, I wonder if she had some sort of internal health or mental episode that caused the crash? Alternatively, I wonder about the effects of living with your mother as if she were your sister. Finding out the truth would likely not be an easy pill to swallow, but the era leads me to believe that an asylum would be more likely for this at the time.

Is it possible that she died in hospital after the accident and hadn't given a next of kin and was given a pauper's grave situation? Was she simply not involved in anything worth mentioning after this? Did she move out of state? The family document also lists many of her relatives leaving for Oklahoma.

Hopefully, this is enough sourcing and my personal thoughts and questions are okay to add. I don't know the truth of what happened and don't claim to.

 

[strangerthanfiction1200]

Wow. It is almost a year since I last posted. Thank you for your hard work. I came to similar road blocks when I was researching and you gave me some clues. My personal opinions:
l. Ted Bundy had a similar problem. His mother was introduced as his sister rather than his mother and raised the same way. Could be a trend at that time?
2. Car Accident: causes: confusion, concentration, dehydration, kids on the street? speed, distraction. Some opinions.
3. Crash medical-head trauma, internal injuries, broken arm or leg, mental health issues-see above and committed to an asylum. I do not know the procedure back then, but I do know it was easier to have someone committed. Rights were just coming out at this time, but not like today. Depression after giving birth. Again not noticed at this time.
4. Family members: do you have names of deceased? I have access to ancestry.com, family search, find a grave and newspapers.com
5. Social Security Death Index- did she get a number at all
6. Did Minnie have any brothers or sisters.
Again, this is just my opinions. Thank you moderators for reminding me about sources.

 

[GracefulD1an]

Wow. It is almost a year since I last posted. Thank you for your hard work. I came to similar road blocks when I was researching and you gave me some clues. My personal opinions:
l. Ted Bundy had a similar problem. His mother was introduced as his sister rather than his mother and raised the same way. Could be a trend at that time?
2. Car Accident: causes: confusion, concentration, dehydration, kids on the street? speed, distraction. Some opinions.
3. Crash medical-head trauma, internal injuries, broken arm or leg, mental health issues-see above and committed to an asylum. I do not know the procedure back then, but I do know it was easier to have someone committed. Rights were just coming out at this time, but not like today. Depression after giving birth. Again not noticed at this time.
4. Family members: do you have names of deceased? I have access to ancestry.com, family search, find a grave and newspapers.com
5. Social Security Death Index- did she get a number at all
6. Did Minnie have any brothers or sisters.
Again, this is just my opinions. Thank you moderators for reminding me about sources.

Regarding her birth mother being introduced as her sister I presume it was to hide the fact that she was born to an unwed person which would have been a major problem at the time. Back then illegitimacy was looked upon as a stain on a person’s “moral character” and would have hurt a person’s/family’s reputation. So finding out this truth, which was hidden to protect the reputation, would have been a major blow to anyone who was raised in such a situation.

 

[rylie113]

Wow. It is almost a year since I last posted. Thank you for your hard work. I came to similar road blocks when I was researching and you gave me some clues. My personal opinions:
l. Ted Bundy had a similar problem. His mother was introduced as his sister rather than his mother and raised the same way. Could be a trend at that time?
2. Car Accident: causes: confusion, concentration, dehydration, kids on the street? speed, distraction. Some opinions.
3. Crash medical-head trauma, internal injuries, broken arm or leg, mental health issues-see above and committed to an asylum. I do not know the procedure back then, but I do know it was easier to have someone committed. Rights were just coming out at this time, but not like today. Depression after giving birth. Again not noticed at this time.
4. Family members: do you have names of deceased? I have access to ancestry.com, family search, find a grave and newspapers.com
5. Social Security Death Index- did she get a number at all
6. Did Minnie have any brothers or sisters.
Again, this is just my opinions. Thank you moderators for reminding me about sources.

Yes I agree the potential reasons for her hospitalization after the car accident are numerous. I know safety features in cars were pretty non-existent back then, but cars were also basically boats. So my concern is something that made her crash hard enough into a parked car that she needed emergency treatment which to me narrows down the possibilities in this instance. Also, whose car was it? She obviously had to get to Galveston somehow, but disappearing in the family car when you have 4 kids adds another level, in my opinion.

Minnie does have siblings, as Ancestry records show her biological mother married and had more children. She was also seemingly raised by her (grand)father, who had two wives and plenty of kids. I was able to build a pretty extensive family tree for her on Ancestry. I can share more with anyone if you want to PM me.

Most interestingly, since I last posted, I used Google Street View to zoom in on the building listed as her address. I found the name of the building since it's a campus building. By googling the name of the building, I found that it was originally built and opened in 1931 as the State Psychopathic Hospital, which closed in 1943, but was reopened in 1945 and extensively renovated in 1959. It had 100 inpatient beds and also offered outpatient care. Of course, addresses can change over the decade so maybe she was only living nearby. There's no way to know for sure right now.

Based on my research into Minnie, especially from the newspaper articles I previously linked to, I believe Minnie likely didn't leave her hometown until at least July 1959. IF Minnie were an inpatient at this hospital by 1960, I imagine she would be listed in the census. Unfortunately, the 1960 census isn't available on Ancestry yet, and I'm unsure about the laws around the years gone by before posting. I did pass this info onto DoeNetwork just in case. But all of this leads me to believe she was suffering from some kind of ongoing mental health issue.

I can't imagine that every hospital had specialized units for this kind of thing at the time, and obviously the language and attitude towards mental health was very different at that time. Again, just from googling, there were plenty of asylums closer to her hometown, so I still don't understand the need to travel all the way to Galveston. Minnie's youngest child was born in 1954, but I don't think it will help to speculate on what kind of mental health issue, though.

 

[strangerthanfiction1200]

Yes I agree the potential reasons for her hospitalization after the car accident are numerous. I know safety features in cars were pretty non-existent back then, but cars were also basically boats. So my concern is something that made her crash hard enough into a parked car that she needed emergency treatment which to me narrows down the possibilities in this instance. Also, whose car was it? She obviously had to get to Galveston somehow, but disappearing in the family car when you have 4 kids adds another level, in my opinion.

Minnie does have siblings, as Ancestry records show her biological mother married and had more children. She was also seemingly raised by her (grand)father, who had two wives and plenty of kids. I was able to build a pretty extensive family tree for her on Ancestry. I can share more with anyone if you want to PM me.

Most interestingly, since I last posted, I used Google Street View to zoom in on the building listed as her address. I found the name of the building since it's a campus building. By googling the name of the building, I found that it was originally built and opened in 1931 as the State Psychopathic Hospital, which closed in 1943, but was reopened in 1945 and extensively renovated in 1959. It had 100 inpatient beds and also offered outpatient care. Of course, addresses can change over the decade so maybe she was only living nearby. There's no way to know for sure right now.

Based on my research into Minnie, especially from the newspaper articles I previously linked to, I believe Minnie likely didn't leave her hometown until at least July 1959. IF Minnie were an inpatient at this hospital by 1960, I imagine she would be listed in the census. Unfortunately, the 1960 census isn't available on Ancestry yet, and I'm unsure about the laws around the years gone by before posting. I did pass this info onto DoeNetwork just in case. But all of this leads me to believe she was suffering from some kind of ongoing mental health issue.

I can't imagine that every hospital had specialized units for this kind of thing at the time, and obviously the language and attitude towards mental health was very different at that time. Again, just from googling, there were plenty of asylums closer to her hometown, so I still don't understand the need to travel all the way to Galveston. Minnie's youngest child was born in 1954, but I don't think it will help to speculate on what kind of mental health issue, though.

Are you related or just doing research to find her. Both Ancestry and Familysearch has limited information on Bernhard Eward Friedrich Heine b. 1912 brother of Hulda. Any family stories if related. I was trying to think outside the box and search other relatives. Even the book, has limited information. Last seen in Oklahoma in 1929.
Other spellings of Heine: Hein, Heinne, Hine that I found on both ancestry and Familysearch.
I did find information on Exhaustion from psychosis according to google: Rare acute mental state-extreme physical or mental depletion, severe stress, prolonged sleep deprivation, loss of reality, hallucinations and confusion. Fred H. brother of Robert died of exhaustion according to death certificate. I found it also. Bernhard or Ben/Bennie could have a misspelling or died. Any success on 1930 census for him. For me, not yet.

 

[strangerthanfiction1200]

Those who are researching this case, be aware that names are very connected to one another as was written in the introduction. It can be very confusing since names at this time were named after relatives in the family. Also, does either researcher know who was in Oklahoma when Bernhard Heine went there? Question: How do I bring a newspaper article to this site? I found another car accident with Minnie in 1951 and want to know if it is the same woman. Right now, it is clipped by Cassandra. I have full access to Ancestry, Newspapers.com, Familysearch and Find a grave.