Georgia: Two Lives, Two Coasts, One Massive Secret (with Julie Merrill) | Episode 115

Stories That Live In Us

Stories That Live In Us
Georgia: Two Lives, Two Coasts, One Massive Secret (with Julie Merrill) | Episode 115
Jun 11, 2026 Season 2 Episode 115
Crista Cowan | The Barefoot Genealogist

A dapper playboy, a broken plantation safe, an embezzlement scheme, and a grandfather who completely vanished. What happened to William H. Wheeler? 🕵️‍♂️🔍

When an 83-year-old client named Jane came to Julie Merrill, an accredited genealogist with Ancestry ProGenealogists, looking for clues about her missing grandfather, she had no idea the search would lead away from Washington state, straight past California, and deep into a high-society scandal in 1890s Georgia. Armed with DNA clusters and old newspaper archives, Julie chased down this 100-year-old family history mystery and uncovered a jaw-dropping double life.

〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️

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♥  Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

Episode Artwork Georgia: Two Lives, Two Coasts, One Massive Secret (with Julie Merrill) | Episode 115 47:23 Episode Artwork Connecticut: The Windsor Witch | Episode 114 21:54 Episode Artwork Massachusetts: From Rags to Riches to Ashes to Starting Again (with Laura Tasse) | Episode 113 32:41 Episode Artwork Maryland: A New Kind of Identity | Episode 112 19:37 Episode Artwork South Carolina: Ancestors Leading the Charge in Battle and in Life (w/ Anne Mitchell) | Episode 111 30:46 Episode Artwork New Hampshire: Chosen Family, Jewish Roots (with Nancy Kotz and Lynne Snierson) | Episode 110 45:44 Episode Artwork Virginia: One DNA Match and a Woman Who Didn’t Want to Be Found (with Nicole Palsa) | Episode 109 35:44 Episode Artwork New York: A Melting Pot of Resilience (with Scott Pratt) | Episode 108 36:25 Episode Artwork North Carolina: Buried Treasure, Buried Stories | Episode 107 28:42 Episode Artwork Rhode Island: A Spirit of Independence (with Maureen Taylor) | Episode 106 43:06 Episode Artwork Vermont: Conversations of Green Mountain Kingdoms (with Mike Brousseau) | Episode 105 37:15 Episode Artwork Kentucky: Postmasters & Snapping Turtles (with Caitlyn Bruns & Paul Abell) | Episode 104 38:41 Episode Artwork Tennessee: A Patriot From the Holler | Episode 103 32:40 Episode Artwork Ohio: Family Roots, Foundational Soil | Episode 102 30:26 Episode Artwork Louisiana: Red Lipstick, Hidden Heirlooms, and Family Secrets (with Arlene Rome) | Episode 101 50:42 Episode Artwork Indiana: Been Here All Along (with Lisa Fanning) | Episode 100 51:27 Episode Artwork Mississippi: Finding Far East in the Deep South (with Larrisa Lam) | Episode 99 49:46 Episode Artwork Illinois: Scoundrels and Scandals (with Sue Talbot) | Episode 98 34:11 Episode Artwork Alabama: Generations of Joy (with Noah Lapidus) | Episode 97 37:07 Episode Artwork Maine: Memories Making History (with Steve Bromage) | Episode 96 40:12 Episode Artwork Missouri: Disaster in the Heart of America (with Kim Harrison) | Episode 95 39:36 Episode Artwork Arkansas: Nana and the Aunts | Episode 94 22:38 Episode Artwork Michigan: Broken Headstones & Unearthed Stories (with Justin Frost) | Episode 93 47:38 Episode Artwork Florida: A Good Deed Is Never Lost (with Meredith Kratzer Sellers) | Episode 92 43:54 Episode Artwork Texas: Christmas Card Culture Connections (with Sylvia Hernandez) | Episode 91 42:54