Getting the family story from my surly grandmother

One of my grandmothers came from a godforsaken place in Eastern Europe where every once in a while her little village would get destroyed and a few people would end up sacrificial scapegoats in a pogrom. At least that is what I have gathered on my own. I'm not entirely sure how she got the money to get across to America--it may have been a "rich" uncle--but she did it on her own when she was probably 14. She never saw her family again -- I am not sure if they were killed before or during the holocaust.

With her, it wasn't a depression-era mentality. It was, "You don't need to know about that." I never got much out of her before she died.

Since I was never 100 percent sure of her birth name, or exactly when she was born, it was hard to do any genealogy work -- if any records do exist. But a few years ago we were on Ellis Island. They have done a tremendous job of recording all the info they have into a database. I searched what I thought her birth name was and came up empty. But at home that night-- you can search online--I found her. She had a simple last name, and I was only off by just the vowel. Her given first name was what I thought it was. The ship I found was around the right time. And the relative she listed here lined up exactly with the vague story I knew.

I found a copy of the ship's manifest--a photo copy--with her on it. She lied about her age to make herself 17. The town she said she was from barely shows up on the map -- then or now. But geographically it was around where I believed. She would have had to travel a few hundred miles by train to get to where the ship left from. It was probably her first time away. She rode steerage class on the ship. I have found info about the ship itself, which is interesting.

When she came across, the relative she listed -- who may have paid for her trip, and may have been an uncle -- was in Beaumont, Texas of all places. He owned a store. She likely went from Ellis Island to the train station in Hoboken and was immediately off to Texas. I did a little research and found that when she showed up, Beaumont was controlled by the KKK -- from the mayor on down. KKK marches down Main Street on holidays. I wish I knew what she was thinking and how she was received. I don't think she was there very long.

I was less curious when I was younger than I am now, but even then, I could never get much out of her about her past. She lived a tough life. After she settled here, she lost her husband when my mom was 7 and then lost both her kids before she died. I think it's kind of like the depression-era people you are talking about. People who live through tough things, often don't like reminiscing.