My Stanley line has really taken root over the past couple of years, from uncovering some secrets and learning some interesting facts. The first was my great-grandmother not only had been married before marrying my grandfather, this marriage took place when she was only 15 years old (not a legal marriage in the state of Illinois. Her and her beau eloped to Michigan to marry, as they couldn't marry legally in Illinois (but I guess there are ways around that as I will soon explain).
I had the original marriage certificate for Marietta and Fred. While working on my DAR (Daughter's of the American Revolution), the registrar noted that the marriage certificate appeared to have been altered, (someone had changed the certificate from 1918, to 1908, by making a 0 out of the one). I totally missed that. Pulling the register for the marriage showed the couple did in fact marry in 1918. It wasn't until Fred and Marietta had a son, and two more daughters, did the couple actually marry. Because of this delay in the marriage, the DAR believed Ray Hayes to be the father of Marideth, as they never divorced, and Marideth's birth certificate was a delayed birth certificate. Although Fred was listed as the father of Marideth, it was not issued until 1942. It took a little research to untangle this web of confusion.
Through my continued research of Marietta, Ray, and Fred, I found that in 1910, Marietta was living alone in a boarding house in Chicago and Fred with his mother in Michigan. After some painstakingly tough research, I was able to find Ray living in Kansas, working as a painter. Sometime during 1910, Marietta met Fred Stanley. By April 10, 1911, the two had their first child, my grandmother, Marideth. To further solidify my stance that Fred Stanley was the biological father of Marideth. We continued the search for Ray. Sometime between 1910 when Ray was a house painter in Kansas, he met and married Gertie Sherwood, which also showed that Ray had moved on with his life. In August of 1913, Ray was listed as an inmate at the Kankakee State Hospital and died in July, 1918, one month after Marietta and Fred officially married.
I've had always loved history, and genealogy allows me to combine that love of history with learning more about my family. Tomorrow is another day, and I'll share some interesting findings. Genealogy is WAY COOL!!!!