marriages – Page 2 – Colleen & Jeff's Roots

#52Ancestors: Grandmother Rosie Salas Married Benjamin Robledo Surprisingly Close to My Home

Rosie Salas, Newly Married, Early 1940s. The caption reads “To my husband. With Love, Rosie.”

My 9th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge for 2015.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

Amy’s 2015 version of this challenge focuses on a different theme each week.

The theme for week 9 is — Close to Home. Which ancestor is the closest to where you live? Who has a story that hits “close to home”?

My 9th ancestor is my paternal grandmother Rosie Salas (b. 1923).

As I have mentioned in prior posts, I did not grow up with Rosie as an active grandmother in my life, because she did not raise my father. Dad was raised by his grandmother and uncle. I barely knew Rosie, and think I only met her a few times; the last time was at her ex-husband’s (my grandfather’s) funeral in 1990. All Dad ever knew about his mother’s family history is that she was born in Arizona (he always heard Nogales). He never knew the names or origins of her parents, and was surprised when I discovered she had half-brothers with whom she grew up.

Rosie’s Upbringing

We think Rosie was born in Arizona around 1923, after her parents Estevan Salas (1888-1930) and Victoria Jimenez (1890-1990) and older half-brothers Richard Coleman (b. 1911) and David Coleman (b. 1914) moved from New Mexico. I have yet to come across a birth or baptism record for Rosie. Her father Estevan was already deceased by the time the rest of the family was enumerated on the 1930 U.S. Census in the Orme Election Precinct of Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona. In 1935 (according to the 1940 Census), the family still lived in Phoenix. And by the 1940 U.S. Census, they had moved to Coachella, Riverside County, California. Rosie’s mother died just a few months after that Census, in Los Angeles County, California. I think that by 1942, when Rosie married, her half brothers had already moved up to the Fresno, California area. Rosie’s father and brothers were migrant farm laborers.

Los Angeles County Family

Although I grew up in Orange County, California (we moved here from Norwalk, Los Angeles County, California when I was 3 or 4 years old), none of our other family lived here. Both sets of grandparents and their children lived in Los Angeles County, where my own parents grew up. We were the odd ones, moving south to Orange County, away from the heavy L.A. smog and closer to Dad’s job. None of my cousins ever moved to Orange County. Other than my childhood, I have no ancestral ties to Orange County. My parents and siblings don’t even live here anymore…I am the lone survivor.

As far as I know, Rosie had no family in Orange County, and her husband only had distant cousins here.

Orange County Wedding

So imagine my surprise when in May 2013 I came across that marriage record for my paternal grandparents Rosie Salas and Benjamin Robledo (1919-1990), which stated they had been married on 24 October 1942 in Orange County. Orange County?! The record indicates Anaheim as the exact city, next to the very city where I grew up…Santa Ana. I was floored. Dad was floored when I told him. Why on earth did they choose to get married in Orange County, when both of them had residences in the city of Los Angeles?

My husband and I married in adjacent Riverside County, even though we both lived in Orange County. However, that was because my parents lived there and my family church was located there. Rosie and Benjamin had no substantial ties to the county in which they married.

Salas Robledo Marriage — October 24, 1942 marriage license for Ben Robledo and Rosie Salas. Courtesy of FamilySearch.com.

Unanswered Questions

This record opens up a bunch of questions that I most likely will never be able to answer.

Where in Anaheim? A church? A residence? There is and was no courthouse in Anaheim (Santa Ana and Fullerton house the nearest courthouses).
Were any family present? Since I don’t think Rosie really had any close family by this time, Benjamin’s family all lived in Los Angeles County, and they chose to marry one county away from their homes, I am guessing this was perhaps an elopement, not a big traditional family wedding. Rosie was already two months pregnant with their first child; my hunch is that Benjamin and Rosie married shortly after confirming the pregnancy.
But why run off and marry alone? I know my Dad’s family…they wouldn’t have held the pregnancy against the couple. Especially since they were now doing the right thing.
And why Anaheim, one county over? Neither had close family in the area. I have recently learned of distant cousins in the area, but no one whom I think was a close connection.

What I wouldn’t give to find out where in Anaheim they married, and visit it today.

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Discovering Two More Sets of 3rd Great Grandparents: Sanches, Ochoa, Salas, and Cerna!

Jimenes Francisco - Salas Clara - marriage - 1879 - English — The translated transcribed entry for Francisco Jimenes and Clara Salas is at the top, the final entry for 1879. New Mexico marriages, Belen, New Mexico : 1 February, 1856 – 1 December, 1900.

Two weeks ago yesterday, I set out on my now annual research trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, in conjunction with the RootsTech conference (I presented this year) and for the first time, the FGS conference. I got to enjoy 4 whole days of research prior to the conferences. And Day 1 started out with a bang!… my biggest score of the trip. Identifying the names of two more sets of 3rd great grandparents. This proved to be my only big find of the trip, but that’s okay. This had previously been such a brickwall line (see: Rosie Salas (b. ca. 1923): Busting Through a 15 Year Brickwall), that this find alone made the trip totally worth it.

Francisco Jimenes & Clara Salas

One of my goals this trip was to make further progress on whom I believe is my 2nd great grandfather Francisco Jimenes [Jimenez] (1841-1911), the Mexican-born U.S. Civil War veteran about whom I recently started writing. See:

It was from the paper trail I’ve been following this past year, tracking down my great grandmother Victoria Jimenez (1890-1940), that I first identified the names of her parents, my 2nd great grandparents Francisco Jimenes and Clara Salas (1863-). Victoria’s 1940 California death index entry lists Jimenez and Salas as parental surnames and her birth place as New Mexico. The 1900 US Census shows 10 year old female “Victoriana” Jimenes living in San Juan, Grant County, New Mexico with parents Francisco and Clara Jimenes, along with a bunch of Victoria’s siblings. I don’t find another Francisco Jimenes and Clara (Salas) Jimenes married to each other, with those same children’s names, in New Mexico at that time. So although I do not yet have a birth or baptism record for Victoria providing more concrete proof, I feel fairly certain that these are Victoria’s parents. Francisco’s Civil War pension applications also identify Clara Salas as his wife.

FamilySearch has an entry online for Francisco and Clara in their New Mexico, Marriages, 1751-1918 index that records them married on 27 November 1879 at the Catholic church Nuestra Senora De Belen in Belen, Valencia County, New Mexico. No further information.

Identifying Francisco & Clara’s Parents

One of the first tasks I set out to accomplish that first day in the Family History Library was to find an actual copy of the marriage record. A transcribed English-translated copy was easily located in the very well indexed book New Mexico marriages, Belen, New Mexico : 1 February, 1856 – 1 December, 1900, located on the 3rd floor. And there it was… the names of Francisco and Clara’s parents, my 3rd great grandparents. The transcribed record identifies Francisco as the single legitimate son of Manuel Jimenes and Petra Ochoa, both deceased by the time of their son’s 1879 marriage to Clara. Clara is identified as the single legitimate daughter of Trinidad Salas and Maria Jesus Cerna, with no mention of Trinidada or Maria being deceased at the time of their daughter’s marriage. Francisco and Clara both resided in Belen at the time the marriage was recorded, and the marriage sponsors (padrinos) were noted as Bartolo Chavez and Antonia Vaca. That record is displayed at the top of this post.

Two new maternal surnames to add to my list: Ochoa and Cerna! And four new ancestors!

I was thrilled, but didn’t want to just settle for a translated and transcribed copy of the marriage record. I wanted a copy in the original language and original writing. Fortunately, the Family History Library also had that on file, in its U.S. and Canada microfilm collection. I spent the next morning patiently scrolling through microfilm roll 16734 of Church records, 1793-1956 by Catholic Church, Nuestra Señora de Belen (Belen, New Mexico).

Bingo! The Spanish language marriage record entry. My hope is that this record was written in the hand of the priest who actually married my 2nd great grandparents (I assume that’s his signature at the bottom), but I have no way of actually knowing that.

Jimenes Francisco - Salas Clara - marriage - 1879 - Spanish.jpg — The original handwritten Spanish language marriage entry for Francisco Jimenes and Clara Salas. Church records, 1793-1956 by Catholic Church, Nuestra Señora de Belen (Belen, New Mexico). Microfilm roll 16734. Click the image for larger view.

Although New Mexico was ceded to the U.S. by Mexico in 1848 as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (New Mexico Territory was formed in 1850; statehood was granted in 1912), at the time of my 2nd great grandparents’ marriage in 1879, records for their church (probably the whole diocese) were apparently still kept in Spanish.

Emotional Impact

I cannot describe how exciting a discovery this if for me and my father.

Dad’s maternal line had been a total brickwall to us until just a couple of years ago, when we first learned the names of his maternal grandparents, which allowed me to find and start tracking their New Mexico roots. Not having been raised by his mother, Dad knew nothing about his mom’s family history except her maiden name, and that she was supposedly from Nogales, Santa Cruz County, Arizona. Dad didn’t know his grandparents’ names, didn’t know his mother had two older half-brothers, and had no idea that her roots were actually planted in New Mexico instead of Arizona. Until I found that marriage record in May 2013 for his parents (my grandparents), which named his mother’s parents and their birthplaces.

For 15+ years, I have made good progress on some of my mother’s lines, decent progress on Dad’s paternal Nieto line, yet nada on his maternal line until that 2013 marriage record discovery. Each time I would share a new find with Mom about her ancestors, Dad would ask if I had found out anything about his mom’s family. It always crushed me to have to say no.

So this past year’s progress on Dad’s maternal line has been a really really big deal for us. When I opened up that book at the Family History Library two weeks ago today, and saw the marriage entry for Francisco and Clara, which identified their parents’ names (my 3rd great grandparents), I sat at my 3rd floor research table — with a bunch of new rowdy genealogy buddies who crashed my table — and silently cried while they chatted away. Eerily, Dad, who rarely calls me (he usually has Mom make the calls), called me at almost that very moment to answer a question I had texted him a few seconds prior asking about a Spanish language term I encountered in the marriage record (padrinos; I was only familiar with this for baptisms as the Godparents). So I quickly ducked into a quiet area of the stacks (those rowdy ladies were loud!) and got to tell my dad the names of his 2nd great grandparents. We both got really quiet on the phone. I have no doubt he had tears in his eyes on the other end of that phone call.

Fortunately, Dad’s maternal line has started displaying some AncestryDNA matches for me, so I am hoping to escalate my progress on these new lines this year.

Ironically, Belen is about 45 miles away from where an aunt, uncle, and several cousins live in the Albuquerque/Rio Rancho area. Yet they are from my mother’s side of the family (who has no other connection to New Mexico), not from Dad’s side of the family.

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#52Ancestors: Bible-Walking-and-Talking Great Grandmother “GG” Veronica Dorris

My 50th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

My 50th ancestor is my husband Jeff’s great grandmother Veronica Victoria Dorris (1883-1982). Called Ronnie by close family, her great grandchildren affectionally refer to her as “GG”.

I have briefly mentioned Veronica and her husband William Wallace Greene (1869-1944) before, when I found them in June 2012 on the then-newly released 1940 US Census. And I have written quite a bit more about her son, William Wallace Greene (1908-2003), the U.S. Army Lt. Colonel and surgeon I profiled as my week 5 ancestor, who helped treat concentration camp survivors when the camps were liberated at the close of WWII. Veronica and William Sr. also had a daughter, Nelle Dorris Greene, who I have not discussed yet.

My husband talks fondly of his GG, and still owns the Bible she gave him as a little boy — his very first Bible. Our Christian faith is important to my husband, so he has hung on to and treasured this special significant gift from his great grandmother.

Bible gift from Veronica Victoria Dorris — Christmas gift from GG to 9 year old great grandson Jeff Greene. His first Bible, well worn.

Until recently, I only briefly did any research on Veronica’s side. But have focused on this line quite a bit over the past month, and her family history has been fascinating. Veronica’s extended family is credited with pioneering and building up what became the city of Phoenix, and also being among those most influential in gaining statehood for Arizona. But, I will share those discoveries in later posts about those family members.

Birth and Childhood

Veronica was born 20 May 1883 in rural Mississippi, allegedly in the small town of Kilmichael (Montgomery County). I have not found a birth record for her, but secondary records indicate this as her birthplace. Her father was Luther Green Dorris (1856-1931). I have not confirmed her mother’s name, however. I find three different names listed on various family trees for the wife of Luther Green Dorris: a Dorcy, Charlotte Rebecca Ingram (the most referenced), and a Ledonia F. Since I don’t have a birth record yet for Veronica, I don’t know which of these women were her mother. I also haven’t yet found any marriage records for Luther to confirm the name of his wife or wives.

Veronica appears to be the oldest of five children born to Luther, and probably Charlotte. I have identified the following siblings, listed in birth order: Maud Mae Dorris, Luther Caswell Dorris, Reba Rececca Dorris, and Lizzie Dorris.

I also think Veronica was named after her aunt Veronica Emma Dorris, Luther’s youngest sibling, and only 13 years older than our Ronnie.

Arizona and Marriage

At some point Veronica moved away from her parents to Phoenix, Arizona, where her father’s brothers were already established pioneers and businessmen who are credited with helping to shape Phoenix’s history. Ronnie married in Arizona, and lived there the remainder of her life. I do not know when Veronica moved to Arizona, but it was at least by 1906, when she married.

I am greatly curious about why she moved to Arizona. Although she had a lot of family there, Veronica’s parents do not appear to have left Mississippi. She was a good Christian girl, but was she seeking a bit of adventure by moving to a wild west territory, yet safely, among a network of family there? Her wedding took place just 25 years after the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tucson. Did respiratory issues force her to move there? Did she move to help care for a family member? I have not yet found Veronica and her parents on the 1900 U.S. Census or the elusive 1890 one that probably no longer exists. I am hoping those records will lend a bit more evidence to the suspicion that Veronica left her family behind in Mississippi, or refute that suspicion and show me that her father — like so many of his brothers — moved to Arizona as well, but later returned to and died in Mississippi.

Veronica and William married on 14 June 1906 in Phoenix (now Maricopa County), Arizona (a territory for six more years). Ronnie was 24 when she married, I imagine this was considered late for a southern Christian woman. William waited until 37 to marry! The Arizona Republican covered their wedding (remember, Veronica came from an influential Phoenix family), describing it as “one of the prettiest church weddings celebrated in Phoenix in some time.” They called the couple “well known young people of this city” (William, young?..at 37?) and noted that “both of the couple are prominent members of the First Baptist Church.”

Wedding article about Jeff's great grandparents. — The Arizona Republican, 15 Jun 1906, Fri, Page 4. Courtesy of Newspapers.com. Click image to view a larger copy.

In a family history handwritten by her father-in-law on 25 May 1908, Veronica’s husband’s father mentions that his son William Wallace is “married to a dear girl Miss Ronnie Dorris a great church worker, who loves loves [yes, stated twice] “Daddy” Greene.”

Post-Wedding Years and Death

Veronica appears to have lived in Phoenix for the remainder of her life, even after her husband William died in 1944. I find her there on the 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 U.S. Censuses, as well as on city directories up through 1956.

Veronica Dorris with Children — Veronica with her son William Wallace Greene and daughter-in-law Jean Alice Harless.

In the 1940 Census, it notes that 8th grade was the highest level of education achieved by Veronica (her husband completed high school, but no college). Ronnie must have been immensely proud that her son went on to college, med school, and became a surgeon! She also lived long enough to know that her grandchildren finished college as well (her grandson went on to earn a Ph.D.).

She died 29 April 1982, and is buried in Tempe Double Butte Cemetery in Tempe, Arizona, in what looks like a Greene family plot, I assume next to or near her husband.

Veronica Dorris, Nelle Greene, Greene Boys — Veronica Dorris with her daughter Nelle and great grandsons (from her grandson). My husband is on the left.

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#52Ancestors: My Great Grandmother Agnes Viola Elizabeth Maud Mara Died 43 Years Ago Today

My 48th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

My 48th ancestor is my great grandmother Agnes Viola Elizabeth Maud Mara (1893-1971), who went by the name Viola. I have mentioned Viola in posts about her father, mother, brother, and mystery half-brother, but I have never actually profiled my great grandmother. Since today marks the 43rd anniversary of her death, I thought it appropriate to introduce Great Grandmother Viola.

Viola Mara — My mom has had this photo on display in her home.

I am named after my great grandmother; my parents gave me Viola’s middle name Elizabeth as my own middle name. Thankfully, Mom did not name me after any of her grandmother’s other names — Viola, Agnes, or Maud. Viola Elizabeth is the only name by which Mom knew her grandmother. She was surprised when I uncovered that long list of legal names when I found Viola’s birth certificate a number of years ago.

Birth & Childhood

Viola was born 21 February 1893 in Guelph, Wellington County, Ontario, Canada. Her parents were Thomas Mara (b. 1858) and Anna Sophia Allen (b. 1871). She and her younger brother William James Mara (1894-1952) immigrated with their mother to the United States (Michigan) sometime around 1898. I have not yet found a border crossing record or a naturalization record for Viola, her mother, or her brother. I do not think her father Thomas came with the family.

From what I can tell about her mother’s shady past, Viola and William must have had a difficult upbringing and unstable home. I have not found the family on the 1900 or 1910 U.S. Census; it is like their mother Anna Sophia was living off the radar. Viola does not surface until the 1920 U.S. Census, when she was 27, married, and a mother.

Viola Mara's birth certificate — Viola’s birth certificate, courtesy of Ancestry.com.

Marriage & Children

Viola married my great grandfather James Bruce Hayes (1888-1970) on 02 January 1912 in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. She was 18, he was 23. Viola and Bruce had nine children together, eight of whom reached adulthood. My grandmother Elsie Charlotte Hayes (1926-1992) was the seventh child. Bruce and Viola spent their marriage living in Royal Oak and Southfield, Michigan (both in Oakland County).

After Bruce divorced Viola, she moved out to Santa Fe Springs (Los Angeles County), California to live with her oldest son Bill and care for his children, and to be near my grandmother and Grandma’s older sister Cassie. I am told that I met Viola as a baby (I was not quite 2 years old when she died), but I do not have any memory of her or any photos with her.

Viola Mara, late in life — Viola, much later in life.

Death & Burial

My great grandmother Viola died on 06 December 1971, in Los Angeles County, California. It may have been in Santa Fe Springs, where she lived with her oldest son Bill (near my grandmother Elsie), but none of the records I have specify more than the county.

She is buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier (Los Angeles County), California.

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#52Ancestors: 2nd Great Grandmother Annie Sophia Allen Charged with Fraud and Deception in Divorce

My 47th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

I am almost caught up after being quite ill for much of this year.

Annie Sophia Allen birht register — Birth register from Ancestry.com.

My 47th ancestor is my 2nd great grandmother Anna “Annie” Sophia Allen (b. 1871).

My mother knew Annie when Mom was a very young girl in Michigan, and she and her siblings refer to their great grandmother as “Mamie Grandma”. She was the mother of my great grandmother, Agnes Viola Elizabeth Maud Mara (1893-1971) and my great grand uncle William James Mara (1894-1951). Annie also gave birth to an older son out-of-wedlock, Herbert Gerald Allen (b. 1889), who does not appear to have been raised by Annie.

Birth

Annie was born 17 September 1871 in Rockwood, Wellington County, Ontario, Canada. Her parents were William Barnabas Allen (1845-1916), a blacksmith from Rockwood, and his wife Lucy Jane Allen (1846-1931). The birth was registered 5 October 1871, in Eramosa District, by the doctor.

I have identified six siblings for Annie; I think she was the second oldest.

First Marriage & Divorce

In my last post, I wrote about Annie’s marriage to and divorce from my 2nd great grandfather Thomas Mara (b. 1858), as well as a possible explanation (extreme cruelty) for why she immigrated to Michigan with their two young children Viola and William (without husband Thomas) around 1900.

Second Marriage & Divorce

I also mentioned that Annie remarried on 03 December 1902 to a John Carr, the day before her divorce to Mara was issued (if it was even ever finalized).

Annie and John Carr divorced almost exactly 11 years later, on 08 December 1913 in Wayne (Wayne County), Michigan. They do not appear to have had any children together. Seeing the claim of extreme cruelty as the reason for her divorce from Thomas Mara made me curious about the reason for divorce from John Carr. It turns out that Annie is not the one who filed for divorce. Carr filed for divorce from Annie, on the grounds of “fraud and deception”!, which went uncontested by Annie! Unlike the ambiguous register entry for Annie’s divorce from Thomas Mara, this one clearly indicates that Carr’s divorce from Annie was granted.

Divorce register entry for Allen and Carr. Courtesy of Ancestry.com

Fraud and deception??? Remember… I have not yet found any proof that a divorce from Thomas Mara was ever finalized. The only record I found for that first divorce showed the divorce stats as “pending”.

I decided to take a closer look at the marriage entry again for Annie and John Carr. The register entry shows one previous marriage noted by Annie (I had assumed that was to Thomas Mara). Interestingly, her father’s name is noted, but her mother’s name is recorded as “unknown”. But even more interesting are the surnames given by Annie. She identified herself as “Annie S. Allen” (her maiden name), but also as “Annie S. James”. James??? What is this James surname? Mara was her first married name.

Did she marry someone with the last name of James in between Mara and Carr? Which would be really odd since she (I think) divorced Mara one day after marrying Carr. And even if another intermediary marriage did take place, that would make two previous marriages instead of just the one she noted on the record.

Was Annie lying about her first married name, claiming it was James instead of Mara? Perhaps knowing that she was not legally divorced yet from Mara, so she didn’t want anything linking her to last name Mara at this time? Although, I assume her kids went by Mara.

Allen Annie Sophia - Carr John - Marriage - Web - FamilySearch — Marriage register entry for Annie and Carr. Courtesy of FamilySearch.org.

Whatever the reason is behind this claim by Annie of James as her first married name, it definitely looks like she was trying to deceive her new husband John Carr and/or legal authorities. This has suddenly turned into a priority family line for me to research further! My hope is that Annie was not intentionally deceiving new husband John Carr or the authorities…that her cause for filing for divorce from John Mara (extreme cruelty) had Annie scared and trying to hide from Mara…a battered woman on the run, hiding her real identity.

Shady Lady

Mom has often told me that Mamie Grandma had a lot of gentlemen callers and friends (I think her own mom told her that). We were never quite sure what exactly to make of that remark. But Mom and I would joke about it, commenting that perhaps her Mamie Grandma was a prostitute or madame. When I started digging up the family history and pestering my grandmother’s one remaining living sibling with questions, Mom told me not to bring this up with my great aunt…it might be a sensitive subject with that generation.

And this was before we knew about the child she gave birth to at seventeen.

Accidents and tough times have and will always happen to women. Annie may have been desperately in love with illegitimate son Herbert’s father, then left abandoned and heartbroken when he found out she was pregnant. She may have suffered abuse from my 2nd great grandfather Thomas Mara . Both incidents may have left her vulnerable, emotionally scarred, and desperate. Or my 2nd great grandmother might simply have been lacking in any moral character….a floozy and a fraud. I am not judging her. I just think these findings are amusing and make for great storytelling.

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#52Ancestors: 2nd Great Grandfather Thomas Mara Charged with Extreme Cruelty in Divorce

My 46th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

I am almost caught up after being way behind most of this year due to illness.

My 46th ancestor is my 2nd great grandfather Thomas Mara (1858-1916). Thomas Mara was married to my 2nd great grandmother Anna Sophia Allen (b. 1871), with whom he had two children: William James Mara (1894-1952) and my great grandmother Agnes Viola “Viola” Elizabeth Maud Mara (1893-1971).

In doing a bit of research recently on Anna Sophia Allen, I took a closer look at the marriage and divorce records for my 2nd great grandparents.

Thomas and Anna Sophia married on 6 June 1892 in Guelph, Wellington County, Ontario, Canada. Thomas, a widow, was 34 years of age, worked as a machinist, and was a member of the Church of England. Anna Sophia, single (labeled spinster!), was 20 years of age, and was a member of the Methodist church. Anna had already given birth to illegitimate son Herbert Gerald Allen in 1889.

Not surprisingly, there isn’t even any place for a profession to be listed for the bride in this 1890s marriage register.

Thomas Mara & Anna Sophia Allen Marriage Record. Courtesy of Ancestry.com.

Anna Sophia and Thomas divorced on 4 December 1902. The divorce decree was issued in Michigan, where Anna lived at the time with her children William (age 8) and Viola (age 9). I don’t think Thomas ever immigrated with them to the United States; I find no record of him living here. And I always wondered why Thomas did not immigrate with his wife and children.

It was a closer look at this divorce record (the divorce register, not the actual certificate or court case) that caught me off guard, and perhaps provided an answer to my own question about why Thomas did not immigrate to the U.S. with his family. Sophia was the claimant in the divorce, and filed for it 12 August 1902 under the grounds of “extreme cruelty”. Thomas did not contest the divorce. Sophia’s allegations can lead one to assume that she and the children fled from a violent Thomas.

The register entry is a bit confusing. It indicates that the divorce was still “Pending” at the end of the year. Note how records above and below show a “Granted” status and are not crossed out like the pending ones. This is the only divorce record I find for them. Perhaps there is another corrected entry or follow-up entry somewhere, but I have not found it yet.

Mara Thomas Allen Sophia Allen - Divorce Register - 1902 — Divorce register entry for Thomas Mara and Anna Sophia Allen. They are listed on line 222. Courtesy of Ancestry.com

The Pending status made me wonder if maybe the divorce never went through.

Except that Anna Sophia remarried, to John Carr, so she had to have been divorced from Thomas Mara first, right?

Oddly…Anna Sophia Allen married John Carr on 3 December 1902. The day BEFORE her divorce from Mara. So at the very least, my 2nd great grandmother was a bigamist for one day. Or perhaps she was never legally divorced from my 2nd great grandfather, and spent the rest of her marriage to Carr as a bigamist. I will have to keep looking for proof that her divorce from Mara was finalized.

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#52Ancestors: Who are the Parents of Grand Uncle Harry Flanagan?

My 45th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

I am still playing catch up, due to being sick so much of this year.

Michael Flanagan Patrick Flanagan Harry Flanagan — My grandfather Michael John Flanagan (center) with two of his brothers. Uncle Pat is on the left. Mom and I think that is Harry on the right. This photo was most likely taken shortly before Grandpa joined the Navy at 17.

My 45th ancestor is my grand uncle Harry J. Flanagan (b. 1920). Harry was my grandfather Michael John Flanagan’s (1927-1997) third oldest brother…or at least from among the brothers that Grandpa knew about (more later on the siblings he never knew).

I never met Harry, and I don’t think my mom or her siblings ever met Uncle Harry. Like Grandpa’s second oldest brother Leonard Ward (b. 1917), I did not even know Harry existed until I found that very first lead about my grandfather’s family history, the 1930 U.S. Census record for their orphanage. Harry too was placed in the German Roman Catholic Orphan Home in Buffalo, New York when the boys’ parents were stricken with tuberculosis and died. Harry was 10 years old when mother Sarah Kennedy (1898- 1930) died from TB and 8 years old when father Patrick Thomas Flanagan (1897-1928) died of it.

Birth

Uncle Harry was born 22 April 1920, supposedly in Bellaire (Belmont County), Ohio, where all siblings except baby brother Michael were born. I say supposedly because this is the birth location listed in his orphan records from the German Roman Catholic Orphan Home (GRCOH), and the birth county he identified in his marriage record and his Army enlistment record. Yet Harry is the only one of the Bellaire-born siblings for whom I have no official birth documentation, which means no official documentation telling me the names of his parents.

1930 US Census Flanagan Boys Buffalo — 1930 U.S. Census Record, German Roman Catholic Orphan Home. Courtesy of Ancestry.com.

Bellaire Birth Records V1 1909-1920 — I found birth records for all of Sarah and Frank Ward’s children when I visited the Family History Library in February…for everyone except Harry. Nor is there a record for a Harry born to Sarah and Patrick Flanagan in 1920.

Although the older boys — Joseph and Leonard — were recorded under the surname Flanagan and as the children of Patrick and Sarah Flanagan on the 1930 US Census and in the GRCOH records, I have confirmed that these two boys (along with older sister Catherine) are the children of Sarah and her first husband Frank J. Ward. I also know that my grandfather Michael and his older brother Patrick Joseph are the children of Sarah and second husband Patrick Thomas Flanagan. Yet, I have no real proof about Harry’s birth or parentage. Although Harry consistently identifies himself as a Flanagan, and the child of Patrick Flanagan and Sarah Kennedy in documentation throughout his life.

To complicate matters, when Harry was born (in 1920), Sarah and Patrick Thomas Flanagan were not yet married. They married five years later in 1925, when Sarah was already 8 months pregnant with their son Patrick Joseph. And a 1920 Bellaire city directory records Sarah still living with her first husband Frank Ward. I believe Patrick Thomas Flanagan was still married to his first wife at this time too.

So Harry could be the biological child of either of these two sets of first marriages, or the love child of my great grandparents Patrick and Sarah.

Military

Harry J. Flanagan enlisted in the U.S. Army on 12 November 1941 at Fort Hayes, Columbus, Ohio (Army serial number 35037563). He joined as a private, under the warrant officers branch code. Harry had only completed two years of high school (Grandpa never completed high school either), and had worked in civilian life as a semi-skilled miner and mining machine operator. He was described as single with no dependents, 5 feel 9 inches tall, and 152 pounds.

From what I can tell, Harry served in World War II. He was released from service on 28 September 1945.

Marriage

Harry married Anna M. Sabatino on 15 December 1944, in Belmont County, Ohio. It was a first marriage for both, and Harry was still employed in the U.S. Army. He identified his place of birth as Bellaire, Ohio, and his parents as Patrick Flanagan and Sarah Kennedy. I find no later record of children born to Harry and Anna.

Death

I do not yet have proof that this is the same Harry J. Flanagan, but I find several references to an 8 October 1981 death date for him.

It appears he is buried at All Saints Braddock Catholic Cemetery in Pittsburgh (Allegheny County), Pennsylvania. His wife Anne, who died 30 September 1988, is buried there too.

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