Where Is Araminta Green? (ONC 2024)

Episode 4

[Eerie music]

Jordan (narrating): Welcome to "Where is Araminta Green?" where I, Jordan Thompson, investigate the disappearance of my classmate and neighbor. Two years ago, I was the last person to see Araminta, and the mystery of her whereabouts just won't leave my mind. This episode, the fourth installment of the series, won't be about Araminta Green though, it will be about another Araminta. Araminta Lee. The woman whose name I found on a gravestone and who somehow seems connected to this Araminta. I hope that finding out more about the other Araminta will also lead me closer to finding the Araminta I knew.

Since Araminta isn't a common name and I have dates from the gravestone—marking the woman's birth and death—to go on, I'm hopeful I will be able to find something about her.

[Students chattering]

Jordan: I'm coming to you directly from the school library, where I'm using the databases to access more information than I'm able to at home.

[Keyboard clanking]

Jordan: Once again, I got a trusty partner by my side. I left Kiki at home today though and she has been replaced by my classmate Derek, who I'm paired up with for the remainder of this project. You want to say hi to the audience, Derek?

Derek: Wow, I get to be on air as well? I'm a celebrity now! Hello, Jordan's listeners!

Jordan (mumbles): I mean... it's really only you and Professor Carrigan who listen to this.

Derek: That's not true! I saw you had hundreds of listens already when I listened this morning. You're going viral!

[Cheers]

Jordan (narrating): Having checked my stats, it appears Derek is correct. Hundreds of people have listened to my previous episodes. You are listening right now, I guess, whoever hears this. I don't know how you found my podcast or what is making you keep coming back to it, but thank you for tuning in! It makes me a bit nervous to know that you're listening, but will do my best to bring you quality content.

[Eerie music]

Jordan (narrating): So... back to my research. Before even coming to the library, I managed to find an obituary from the local newspaper, claiming Araminta Lee was mourned by her sister Esmeralda Lee.

[Witchy laughter]

Jordan (narrating): Yeah, I'm assuming that's Esme, whom I've already talked to. So Araminta Lee was her sister, the woman whom Araminta Green helped out when she was sick. The woman who previously owned Kiki.

[Cat meows]

Jordan (narrating): The woman who may have been a witch, or something along those lines at least.

[Witchy laughter]

Jordan: So... where should we start now?

Derek: Ancestry.com of course! You said you had the woman's date of birth, right? Then I can just...

[Keyboard clanking]

Derek: ...look up the closest census and we'll see if we can find her there. I see from your notes that she was born in 1928. Then we'll need to start by checking the 1930 census.

Jordan: And can you describe to the listeners what exactly a census is and what it contains?

Derek: It's like a population count done every ten years, to check who lives where and with whom. So we should be able to find parents and siblings on there.

Jordan: How do you know so much about this?

Derek: I wrote an article last year about my great-grandfather's journey here from China, to find out whether the family lore of him being related to the last Emperor was true. I started my research for an essay in History class but eventually got the article published in a Genealogy magazine.