Rosemary LaBianca was born Ruth Kathryn Elliott December 15,
1925 in Bisbee AZ to William Oyston Elliot and Emmabelle Elliott nee Rolf.
William and Emmabelle married March 18, 1918 in Tucson AZ.
Emmabelle and William went on to have five children. On the
1930 census they were named Betty 11, Dorothy 5, Ruth 4, William 1. The fifth
child was Francis, a boy born in 1932.
Betty’s birth name was Emma Belle, she went by Betty perhaps to
distinguish her from her mother Emmabelle. There is only a birth certificate
for the youngest child, Francis, who apparently died as an infant.
We know that Ruth was adopted and her name was changed to
Rosemary Harmon. Her brother William was also adopted and he became William
White. It looks like the two older girls eventually went back to live with their
father.
So, why were Rosemary and her brother William put up for adoption?
We were given some documents that go a long way to explain
why it happened.
Many thanks to Daniel Hale for the documents.
Thanks for this. Excellent document find that explains so much about Rosemary.
ReplyDeleteNice work Daniel
ReplyDeleteNice to see a post involving genuine historical research as opposed to the pointless speculations offered up here by others (I'm thinking of one "other" in particular).
ReplyDeleteAin't that the truth!
DeleteThank you for sharing this. I hope it helps others in their research - Daniel
ReplyDeleteYou know, for a few years I've been taking knocks on this and other sites because I've made the point that the victims of the murders and their families don't rate anywhere close to the interest of the actual murderers themselves and should be left alone. Part of my thinking has always been that the victims were essentially that, and, but for the fact that they were murdered in a bizarre set of crimes, few would honestly have any real interest in them; I mean, why would anyone have any interest in Steven Parent or Gary Hinman or Rosemary LaBianca other than their friends or family members ?
ReplyDeleteI know that sounds harsh; it's not meant to be. It's also said with the intention of protecting the victims {and by extension, their families} from the kind of intrusive sensationalizing that is all but inevitable in a case like this one. It's different when it comes to the killers and their associates ¬> knowing something about their background can be a great assistance in seeing how they came to the point that they did, in killing. But the victims ? Should their lives be made to become 'dirty laundry' that gets paraded abroad for all and sundry to see ?
The documents in this thread only convince me further of what I've felt for the longest while. And I would bet high stakes that the only reason anyone in 2025 or whenever these saw the light {I've seen them somewhere before, but I can't quite recall}, has the slightest interest in this, basically unknown woman, Emmabelle {or Emily Belle}, is because of what happened 36 years later to one of her daughters.
Grim, I'm sorry you feel that way. I see the documents as adding another demension to who Rosemary was. She had a tragic childhood. She was separated from her siblings and her father took the two oldest children to live with him but allowed the two youngest to be adopted. The rejection Rosemary must have felt is unimaginable. Not only that, her new parents changed her first name taking away the last thing she could call her own.
ReplyDeleteYou're right probably no one really cares about Emmabelle but many do care about how Emmabelle's actions had a profound effect on Rosemary's life. If not for Emmabelle's acts Rosemary's life most certainly would have been very different and in all likelyhood she never would have been so viciously murdered.
Hi Deb,
ReplyDeleteI hope you're doing well and want you to know that when I saw the result of Daniel's research, I thought you'd put it up and was considering telling him so. That would have been the highest compliment I could have paid him.
Daniel,
ReplyDeleteI hope you read my message to Deb.
Thanks for the information and for solving the adoption mystery.