Our family knew very little about my father's past, only that his father, Elijah, was a kind old man. Our father refused to discuss it and took whatever there was to tell, to the grave with him. There were rumors amongst my oldest brothers and sisters that our grandpa Elijah, did time in a Texas Penitentiary for who knows what? What could he have possibly done to deserve a prison sentence? If so, could this have alienated him from his family? After many years, a kindled desire to seek my ancestry, lead to an astonishing discovery. I found out that my great, grandfather was the first mayor of El Paso, Texas. As a young man, he was in the Mexican-American War, was captured and spent eight months in a Mexican prison. My amazing ancestry left me honored to be a Dowell. Why did my father fail to share it with me and what other secrets did he keep hidden?