Multiple marriages pre 1900
Greetings!!
This situation has me a bit befuddled. I already knew my great grandfather George W Parker had married his third wife while still legally married to his second wife but now it appears he had married his second wife while still married to his first wife. I'll get to that in a minute but let me preface this by saying multiple marriages were not illegal pre 1900 as long as both spouses knew about each other and consented. There in lies the rub, I'm not sure any of them knew about the other. Definitely the third wife did not know about the second as she filed for divorce on those grounds.
OK, so here is the story. First wife, Ruth, was my great grandmother. She died 30 May 1893 of influenza which turned into pneumonia. She died at her sister's house about 15 miles away from home. I often wondered why she was at her sister's and not home with her husband or in a hospital. But then thought perhaps she was at her sister's to be closer to a doctor. Who knows for sure? Maybe she and George were separated?
The next thing I found in my searches was that George had married Phoebe in 1895. She actually turned out to be his third wife, but I did not know that yet. Upon further researching I found a newspaper article that Phoebe had filed for a divorce in 1902 based on the grounds that she married George in good faith believing he was a widower having lost his wife, Ruth in 1893 only to have recently found out he had "another wife living with 2 children and not divorced". Needless to say she was granted the divorce because he did not divulge this information prior to their marriage.
But wait!! Another wife? And she was still alive? That cannot be grandma Ruth!! Two children? Who were this woman and children? Were the children actually grandpa George's? The newspaper article sure sounded that way. Back to searching, there has got to be more. I want to know who this other wife was.
It took almost two years but I finally found a small wedding announcement in a newspaper. He had married a Mary Jane Doolittle from Rockford, IL at the home of George Layman. George Layman was a close friend of my great grandfather's and owned the Spring House in Barryville, NY. George was married to a Mary Jane Doolittle, (not the same one). As it turns out I found 4 different Mary Jane Doolittles in Sullivan County, NY during the same time frame. Oh Lord, this is confusing!! Which one is it? With a lot of research and process of elimination I finally found the correct one. The Mary Jane that had married my great grandfather was actually Mary Jane McLean Doolittle, sister-in-law to George Layman's wife. She had been married to Tracy Byron Doolittle who passed in 1891 while being housed in the Elgin, IL Insane Asylum.
There were two sons born to Mary Jane and supposedly her husband Tracy. I say supposedly because I have some doubt as to whether those children were Tracy's or not. (More on that in a minute or two).
Recently, with the release of NY state marriage records, I discovered the marriage record for George and Mary Jane. One problem, it says they were married in 1890 not 1893!!! Holy crapoly grandpa, what on earth is going on? Do I think the newspaper was wrong? No! It was printed in 1893 and I seriously doubt they forgot to print the wedding announcement for 3 years. By the way, the month and day were the same. Do I think the state archives were wrong? No! What I think actually happened was grandpa George and Mary Jane were married in 1890 but because they were both married to their first spouses they kept it quiet. Once both spouses were deceased they made the announcement 6 months to the day after grandma Ruth passed and that is how it wound up in the newspaper 3 years after the actual marriage.
Now with regards to the two boys. I question the parentage of them because of why Tracy Doolittle was in the Asylum. He died, according to his death certificate, of "general paralysis" brought on by syphilis. Syphilis is a highly contagious, sexually transmitted disease, which at that time had no cure or treatment. According to research it would take 10 to 15 years to kill someone. During the "incubation" time a person would slowly lose their mind and be put in an institution for the insane. Such was the case with Tracy.
It is believed that if Tracy and Mary Jane had a sexual relationship any time during their marriage not only would she have contracted it but it would have been passed on to the two boys if Tracy was indeed the father. Given the time frame of their marriage and his death he would have already had the disease when they were married in 1883. There is absolutely no evidence that she or the boys ever had the disease. In fact, she lived until 1915, well beyond what would be the life expectancy. Her sons also never showed any signs of contracting the disease. One died in an accident while the other committed suicide after years of heart problems. Again, long after the life expectancy had they contracted the disease while in the womb.
The birth records indicate that Tracy was the father. But that of course does not prove that he was. It is something I may never know for sure but in my heart of hearts I believe my great grandfather was the father of those boys. Sadly though, that means he had a long term affair with Mary Jane while married to grandma Ruth.
The next thing I hope to do is to find out the date Tracy was admitted into the Asylum. That might shed some light and answer the question as to who the father really was. Getting that information is difficult at best. The state protects records of the insane and it might require me going to court to get the information. Time will tell, stay tuned, LOL.
Until next time,,,,,
This situation has me a bit befuddled. I already knew my great grandfather George W Parker had married his third wife while still legally married to his second wife but now it appears he had married his second wife while still married to his first wife. I'll get to that in a minute but let me preface this by saying multiple marriages were not illegal pre 1900 as long as both spouses knew about each other and consented. There in lies the rub, I'm not sure any of them knew about the other. Definitely the third wife did not know about the second as she filed for divorce on those grounds.
OK, so here is the story. First wife, Ruth, was my great grandmother. She died 30 May 1893 of influenza which turned into pneumonia. She died at her sister's house about 15 miles away from home. I often wondered why she was at her sister's and not home with her husband or in a hospital. But then thought perhaps she was at her sister's to be closer to a doctor. Who knows for sure? Maybe she and George were separated?
The next thing I found in my searches was that George had married Phoebe in 1895. She actually turned out to be his third wife, but I did not know that yet. Upon further researching I found a newspaper article that Phoebe had filed for a divorce in 1902 based on the grounds that she married George in good faith believing he was a widower having lost his wife, Ruth in 1893 only to have recently found out he had "another wife living with 2 children and not divorced". Needless to say she was granted the divorce because he did not divulge this information prior to their marriage.
But wait!! Another wife? And she was still alive? That cannot be grandma Ruth!! Two children? Who were this woman and children? Were the children actually grandpa George's? The newspaper article sure sounded that way. Back to searching, there has got to be more. I want to know who this other wife was.
It took almost two years but I finally found a small wedding announcement in a newspaper. He had married a Mary Jane Doolittle from Rockford, IL at the home of George Layman. George Layman was a close friend of my great grandfather's and owned the Spring House in Barryville, NY. George was married to a Mary Jane Doolittle, (not the same one). As it turns out I found 4 different Mary Jane Doolittles in Sullivan County, NY during the same time frame. Oh Lord, this is confusing!! Which one is it? With a lot of research and process of elimination I finally found the correct one. The Mary Jane that had married my great grandfather was actually Mary Jane McLean Doolittle, sister-in-law to George Layman's wife. She had been married to Tracy Byron Doolittle who passed in 1891 while being housed in the Elgin, IL Insane Asylum.
There were two sons born to Mary Jane and supposedly her husband Tracy. I say supposedly because I have some doubt as to whether those children were Tracy's or not. (More on that in a minute or two).
Recently, with the release of NY state marriage records, I discovered the marriage record for George and Mary Jane. One problem, it says they were married in 1890 not 1893!!! Holy crapoly grandpa, what on earth is going on? Do I think the newspaper was wrong? No! It was printed in 1893 and I seriously doubt they forgot to print the wedding announcement for 3 years. By the way, the month and day were the same. Do I think the state archives were wrong? No! What I think actually happened was grandpa George and Mary Jane were married in 1890 but because they were both married to their first spouses they kept it quiet. Once both spouses were deceased they made the announcement 6 months to the day after grandma Ruth passed and that is how it wound up in the newspaper 3 years after the actual marriage.
Now with regards to the two boys. I question the parentage of them because of why Tracy Doolittle was in the Asylum. He died, according to his death certificate, of "general paralysis" brought on by syphilis. Syphilis is a highly contagious, sexually transmitted disease, which at that time had no cure or treatment. According to research it would take 10 to 15 years to kill someone. During the "incubation" time a person would slowly lose their mind and be put in an institution for the insane. Such was the case with Tracy.
It is believed that if Tracy and Mary Jane had a sexual relationship any time during their marriage not only would she have contracted it but it would have been passed on to the two boys if Tracy was indeed the father. Given the time frame of their marriage and his death he would have already had the disease when they were married in 1883. There is absolutely no evidence that she or the boys ever had the disease. In fact, she lived until 1915, well beyond what would be the life expectancy. Her sons also never showed any signs of contracting the disease. One died in an accident while the other committed suicide after years of heart problems. Again, long after the life expectancy had they contracted the disease while in the womb.
The birth records indicate that Tracy was the father. But that of course does not prove that he was. It is something I may never know for sure but in my heart of hearts I believe my great grandfather was the father of those boys. Sadly though, that means he had a long term affair with Mary Jane while married to grandma Ruth.
The next thing I hope to do is to find out the date Tracy was admitted into the Asylum. That might shed some light and answer the question as to who the father really was. Getting that information is difficult at best. The state protects records of the insane and it might require me going to court to get the information. Time will tell, stay tuned, LOL.
Until next time,,,,,
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