Monday, November 19, 2012

“Don’t Publish Ages”


Every now and then, in researching those dull, dry public documents, you run across stray marks and enigmatic notes that make you wonder what the full story is behind those little slips of the pen.

In researching the Snider family heritage in Perry County, Ohio, I’ve now moved into the twentieth century, where government records are clear, detailed, and—thanks to the perseverance of organizations like FamilySearch—readily available.

It was a snap pursuing the relatively recent family history of our Snider line when I got to Bertha Metzger, my husband’s grandmother. Born in 1904, Bertha lived a long life that spanned nearly the entire century. Her wedding in 1926 was recent enough to be documented using a format that provided all the detail that a genealogist appreciates:  information on date and place of birth, parents names—including mother’s maiden name—and sometimes even additional specifications on the parents of both bride and groom.

Not that that was a surprise to me, since we’ve already ascertained this information, but let me affirm that Bertha’s marriage record provided every single one of these items.

And then some.

For whatever reason, after the marriage license was fully completed in easily-readable ink, someone took a pencil and marked a note at the top of the file.

The license itself still retained that old-fashioned charm. A pre-printed format, it must have been drawn up in a more circumspect age. “In the matter of John Flowers and Bertha Metzger,” the document began, “To the Honorable Judge of the Probate Court of said County, The undersigned respectfully make application for a marriage license….”

The wedding did indeed occur as planned. The local paper of record, Zanesville’s The Times Recorder saw to it that it was duly noted in their Wednesday, May 19, 1926, issue:

John Flowers, coal miner, Clayton township, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Flowers, and Bertha Metzger, Jackson township, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Metzger, Rev. Fr. Caien, St. Joseph, officiated.

Unlike some other newspaper articles I know of, this little bit of reporting got it right: all the details that were supposed to be included were there. And all the details that were supposed to be omitted were absent.

The newspaper editor followed directions. For some reason, someone felt it would be the better part of discretion to leave off one customary detail in publication—for on the marriage license application, across the top of the page, someone had penciled in “Don’t Publish Ages.”


Why?

While Bertha was twenty one years of age—well within legal parameters for marrying—perhaps the issue was the age of her groom. Her intended, one John Ambrose Flowers, was nearly twenty years her senior. A rugged coal miner and farmer, John was a working man before Bertha was even born.

Perhaps it was the delicate sensibilities of the era—such times as preferred to “respectfully make application” for marriage—that required the discretion of bypassing customary notice in cases such as this.


19 comments:

  1. Oh shocking! I have several of those May-December hook-ups in my line. The creepiest though is the old geezer whose wife is a year younger than his son.

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    1. Well, that wasn't the case here. I have no idea how this match came about (I'm sure I'm in for more stories at some point) but this was not a second-marriage scenario.

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  2. This is a great story. I wonder why she married him? Was it for security? Did he have young children that neede a mother? Was it based on love? What happened to her?

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    1. You definitely have a love for stories--as I've seen after having stopped by your own blog the other night--so I can understand the questions. Unfortunately, several of those questions will have to remain unanswered for the time being, mainly because I have no way (yet) of finding out, myself! I can say John Flowers had no children from a previous marriage. This was his first marriage, as it was hers.

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  3. Yes this story does raise some questions. That is what makes family history so fun. There are always more questions to be answered when you find something.

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    1. Believe me, Grant, I'm on the search for some answers myself, though I'm caught up in the big picture right now until I accomplish my goal of documenting that link to First Families of Ohio status.

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  4. I don't think I've ever seen that written across any of the marriage records I've researched. How funny! I also have a May-December romance in my family history. And the subjects of this romance? My own dear Grandpa Debs and his first wife Sarah. He was 14 years YOUNGER than her. When they married, he was 22 and she was 36.

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    1. Now that's a switch, Jana. Ah, your Grandpa Debs. He's got quite a story! I've enjoyed reading along on your blog.

      It was a strange notation. It's not like there aren't others who have been in similar situations--my own parents being a case in point. Perhaps it was the insular nature of the small community in which they lived.

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    1. Yeah, me too, Iggy! It's had me wondering ever since I first discovered it. An odd thing to put on a public document.

      Glad to see you back, by the way! :)

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  6. That is curious. I've seen similar type age spans a few times in my various lines, but never anything indicating that they didn't want ages published. The questions never cease do they? Very interesting post.

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    1. Michelle, when we had first found this document with the note, we had thought perhaps it was due to the bride's young age. However, when I took a look at it this time, I realized that was a faulty assumption. She is of appropriate marrying age, especially for that time period. Who know who decided to indicate these instructions. A story we'll never know, I suspect.

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  7. In my mother's generation, all the women were sensitive about their ages. Not the men, though. But you never asked a woman her age. My mother always gave her birth year as one year later, so that she would be one year "younger." The wrong year even appeared on her death certificate. Well, OK, if it made her happier, Fair enough. Maybe all the forward-dated births on the old censuses have the same purpose?

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    1. Mariann, I always assumed, when I saw those census reports with skewed ages, that someone either wanted to make herself seem younger, or her husband seem older. I think it wasn't your mother's preference alone, but that of an entire era (or strata within that age). Can hardly blame her for going with the flow on that one...

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  8. Interesting bit of info..I suppose if no one knew their exact ages wagging tongues could only speculate:)

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    1. And oh, believe me, it's amazing how much that mere speculation can power those wagging tongues!

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  9. Maybe someone working in the records office knew the family of the bride or the groom and thought it was prudent to not make a big thing of the age . I , myself, do not think it's unusually large gap for that time period .

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    1. Magda, that's an interesting possible scenario. And while that type of age gap is unusual for the general population, my own parents had that same type of age difference. Interesting: considering that time period's norm. Good point!

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  10. Interesting post and comments, Jacqi! Thanks for sharing this story.

    Lisa

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