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Meeting ‘lost’ family was dream come true
Geneva Lineberry said she felt like she was part of an “Unsolved Mysteries” episode last month when, at age 66, she finally met her 56-year-old twin brothers for the first time.
“It was just wonderful,” she said of her trip to Washington state where she finally got to know her youngest siblings. “It was a dream come true.”
Geneva, who grew up in Jackson County, was separated from most of her family at an early age. Her father, Bob Harris, was working out west, in Washington state, and her mother, Lonnie Brown Harris, stayed in Tuckasegee with the couple’s seven children.
When Lonnie got ready to visit Bob in Washington, she realized she couldn’t manage all the children on the train. She left Geneva with a cousin in Sylva, deposited Sharon with another cousin in South Carolina, and headed west with Bernice, Elaine, Margie, Leslie and James. Once she got there, Lonnie gave birth to twin boys but died five days later, on Christmas Day, 1948.
Bob Harris came back to North Carolina – Lonnie is buried here – to visit Geneva, but Geneva stayed in Sylva and was adopted by the late Gertrude and Bill Greenarch.
Geneva said her father did the best he could for the children that were with him in Washington until he was killed in an accident.
The three oldest lived with families out there, and Geneva would hear from them every now and then, she said. The twins, still babies, were adopted. Geneva didn’t even know where Sharon, the sister sent to South Carolina, was living.
“My greatest desire was to find all my brothers and sisters,” she said.
When she was 19, Geneva took the bus to Washington and visited Bernice and Elaine. They were both married by then, and she also met her brother James, who was living with Elaine and her husband.
It was not until 1973, when Geneva was in her 30s that she was able to locate Sharon, who still lived in South Carolina.
“That was a joyful day,” Geneva said.
This newspaper played a role in helping Geneva find the rest of her family.
While reading The Herald in 1978, Geneva noticed that a woman in Washington was looking for information about her mother.
“I knew there was a lady in the nursing home here by that name – Geneva Robinson – so I wrote and told her,” Geneva said.
Though the tip didn’t pan out, the Everett, Wash., resident appreciated Geneva’s kindness and began researching state records to help Geneva get in contact with her missing sisters. A visit to the local courthouse paid off.
“She talked to one of my sisters that very day,” Geneva said. “Margie came to visit me in 1978, and Leslie and Elaine both came in 1979.”
After their visits to Jackson County, Elaine and Margie, the two who still lived in Washington state, began a search for the twins. It was difficult, Geneva said, because the sisters didn’t even know what their brothers’ names were. When they finally located Jim and John in Oregon, the family ended up with two brothers named James, Geneva said.
No one is sure what the boys were named at birth, though Geneva thinks their names might have been Jerry and Larry.
Though Geneva had talked with Jim and John on the telephone, she was unable to meet them until her trip west last month.
“It was so exciting,” Geneva said of the family picnic in Sedro Woolley that finally united many of the long-lost brothers and sisters.
As for that television appearance, Geneva might make it yet. Her granddaughter, Smoky Mountain High School freshman Felisha Sutton, captured the happy ending on videotape.
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