Seeking information on & desire correspondence with the descendents of former NC Governor, William B. Umstead (b. 1895; d. 1954) of Durham County, esp. any info about & the
location of Umstead's daughter, if he had one, who may have had a female child out-of-wedlock between June 22 & June 30, 1936. The baby was my mother, Lillian "Elise" Harris Walker (b. 1936; d. 1981) who was adopted by William "Fletcher" Harris & Letitia "Vena" Harkrader Harris of Mt. Airy, NC also deceased. She was supposedly "adopted" on the side of the road in Elkin, NC during that time.

I want to thank everyone who e-mailed me privately in response to the above query I made on March 28, 1999. I have since found out that there is no relationship between the Governor's daughter and the birth of my mother. Therefore, this query has been solved.

I'm related to Vena and Fletcher through my mom's side of the family. My grandparents are Winfred Trent and Sarah Harkrader. I remember my mom, Lela Belle, talking about a childhood friend named Elise Walker... are you her daughter? Would love to get in touch!!

Oh my goodness, I am so sorry that I am just now seeing your reply to this post! I had just Googled my mom's name to see if anything popped up for her and I had forgotten that I had posted this back in '99 I think.

Yes, I am Elise's daughter Katie and your mom was her first cousin on my grandmother Vena's side. I remember your mother well and have thought about getting in touch with your mother and Trent for sometime. I learned that she had moved to the Houston, TX area and didn't Trent move to San Antonio, TX? I had hoped to see them before I relocated back to NC. Does your mom remember hearing any stories about my mom's adoption? The other story we have been told is rhat she could have also been the biological child of Nanny's (Vena) youngest sister Helen.

Yes, let's definitely keep in touch and would love to see your mom again one of these days. The last time I saw her may have been mom's funeral when I was 10 years old which was 31 years ago this November 16th.