Irene, Bernice and Clifford Feagan, as seen below were my grandmothers and their brother on my fathers side. In 1932 during the depression, my great grandfather Charles Feagan, was
jailed for stealing a car. Close to Christmas time my Grandmothers and their brother ran away from home to try get him out. My grandmother Bernice was 13 years old, her sister Irene was 11 and their brother Clifford was 10.
They left home with only a few dollars, and around 1000 miles to travels, as they were leaving their home in Detroit, and traveling to the white house to try and plead their case with the president.
Remarkably they were successful. Not only did they make their trip but they successfully broke into the white house. Something i would greatly advise against trying this day in age. But back in the 1930's apparently it wasn't all that bad of a plan. Hoover met with them, fed them dinner at the white house, and after listening to their pleas to release their father. He offered my great grandfather Charles a pardon and released him to be home with his family during the difficult time of the depression.
This is a true story, i heard it from both of my grandmothers as a child, as well as through my dad and uncle over the years. At one point my uncle was watching tv and a movie came on. He was shocked to find out that it was about his own mother and his aunt and uncle. The family never found out how they got the info for the story, but a movie production company in Canada made a movie about this. They didn't even change the names of my family members with the one exception of my Great Grandfather whom they refer to as Angus Feagan vs. Charles Feagan.
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