The story of the pearl-handled pistol has always intrigued me. I first heard it from Ralph Durfee who lived through the events that happened in Mexico in the early 1900’s. I was recently invited to tell stories at a Family History event in Idaho. As I researched this story and talked with older siblings, I wondered how many of the descendants of Nancy Ellen Martin knew the story of the pearl-handled pistol-.
Nancy’s father taught her to shoot, and she was a good shot. She had been given a pearl-handled pistol. After she moved to Mexico to live in the Mormon colonies, she always carried it in the pocket of her apron. The bandits who tried to steal from her family soon learned that Nancy Ellen would not hesitate to bring out that pistol and fire warning shots above their heads if they tried to steal from her family.
During the Mexican Revolution, the bandits became part of the Federalist Army that was fighting for independence from Spain. The Americans living in the Mormon colonies were instructed to surrender their weapons. Nancy did not want to turn in her pistol, but she had no choice because her gun was too well known. If it wasn’t turned in, the authorities would know that the Americans had held some weapons back. When her pearl-handled pistol was placed on the table, one of the Mexican authorities claimed it. “This gun is mine. I have looked down its barrel too many times and begged for my life. This gun is mine.”
Do her descendants know her story? Do they know her name?
I think of my ancestors. I seem to hear my ancestors call to me, “Can you hear us?” They have stories—life events that mattered to them. Will their stories be buried with them? Who is left who knows their story? Where are the obscure places that contain a record of their lives? Who will find those records and keep their memory alive, let them be more than a name on a family tree?
Every family seems to have an “Aunt Sally” who is the keeper of the records, a repository of the stories, a reason why no one else needs to bother. But what happens when Aunt Sally is gone? Will they—the family’s ancestors—be forgotten? Their stories buried and lost?
So, I ask myself: If not me, then who? Or should I say Why not me?
If you would like to read the complete story of Nancy Ellen Martin and The Pearl-Handled Pistol, it has been posted on FamilySearch.org in the Memories for Nancy Ellen Martin. Her story will live on. It will not be forgotten.
To read the complete story, sign up for a free account at www.FamilySearch.org and go to Nancy Ellen Martin (1867–1916) | Person | Family Tree | FamilySearch On the Memories page scroll down past Photos and Documents. Stories is located at the bottom of the page.