Re: Reunion users: dissociate wrong father

Gerry <abc@xxxxxxx> wrote in
news:abc-382C65.16210717052006@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

In fact I'm not sure that I have the actual father's correct name
either, but it's all I've got. The mother was listed as a widow of
the fellow in the 1912 Chicago directory. I can't find a trace of
him, nor any marriage to my ancestor or his death record. Perhaps he
was invented to cover an out-of-wedlock pregnancy; that seems the
likeliest scenario for now.

Being listed as a widow in a city directory does not mean that the
husband is dead. I had one case where a husband and wife were listed
in the directory for several years, then for several years the wife
was listed as a widow, then mysteriously the husband is back listed
with the wife for many years after.

Of course being listed as a widow doesn't necessarily prove that she was
ever married, either.

The fact that I can't locate any fellow of the right name, of the likely
right age, no marriage record, no divorce record, no death record for the
fellow, suggests that he was either very slippery or very made-up. I'm
leaning toward the latter, but I could be wrong.

In case he ever emerges from obscurity at least he'll be in the database!

----
saki@xxxxxxxx
http://www.sakionline.net/familypage/
.

Relevant Pages