After my dad Dr. Charles E. Test retired from being a doctor he compiled and edited four Test family books.  He got to learn new things, correspond and meet many interesting people and create a written history of our branch of the TEST family tree.

Skiles Test was my Great Uncle.  He was my Grandfather Donald Newby Test’s older brother.  I can remember going out to his farm in northeast Indianapolis.  A long straight driveway, dozens of cats lounging on a low stone wall, the elevator in the pool house, how hot on bare feet the thick plate glass surrounding the pool got.  He died when I was eight.

Dad said that Uncle Skiles and the IRS did not agree on what a business deduction was.  They were litigating at the time of his death in 1964.  Dad marveled that the estate lawyers battled the IRS for many years and actually got something for my cousin Lou Ellen from the estate.

Skiles Test and The House of Blue Lights by KJ Miclot gives a good overview of his life. The newspaper articles show how the legend has been told.