In
2008, my cousin Nancy Battick and I published an article in The Maine Genealogist on our ancestor
Emily (Woodman) Thurston’s divorce in 1849 from her husband called “Finding
Hidden Gold in Divorce Records: The
search for Emily Woodman of Newport, Maine.”
It had been assumed by many since Emily did not appear on the 1850
census in the household of her husband and children and no oral family stories
about her had been passed down, that she had died prior to that census. It was by luck that I came across her divorce
and then we discovered she was living in Bangor, Maine under her maiden name in
1850. The divorce explained why when
Emily’s husband, Stephen Thurston died in 1862, only his sons received a
guardianship. Emily had received custody of her daughters and he had custody of
his sons. Then we learned that Emily’s
oldest daughter and possibly her granddaughter would also divorce their
husbands. It would then make three
generations of divorce.
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| Emily (Woodman) Thurston |
The
divorce records shed light on these women’s lives and sometimes the unfortunate
circumstances probably many women endured in their married lives. Especially when a divorce would mean these
women would have to support themselves and their children at a time when there
were few jobs women held outside of the house.
The roles of men and women were well defined with the husband working to
support the family while the wife stayed at home to raise children and do all
household chores. Marriage shifted
support for a woman from her father to her husband.
Since
that article was published a few more details have been uncovered. First, we need to understand Maine law at time. A divorce to the petitioner meant that
person was legally divorced from their spouse.
However their spouse was still legally married unless they also
petitioned for divorce. So until the
Maine legislature changed the law in 1857, court records often show double
divorces. First a one spouse would file
for a divorce and then at a later date, the other spouse would then file for
their divorce. If this was not done, the
spouse who did not file a divorce would still be legally married and their
estate if they were the husband could still go to his divorced wife who was
legally divorced from him. So often the
motivation for the filing for the second divorce was to protect the estate or
to remarry. So it is understandable why
Stephen Thurston wanted to file for his own divorce from Emily, if he did not want
her to receive whatever his estate or if he wanted to remarry.
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| Stephen Thurston |
Stephen
first petitioned the Judicial Court in Penobscot County in the October term of
1851. For whatever reason, the Court
dismissed his case. It may have been he
did not meet the required proof necessary for a divorce decree. Just two years earlier his wife had accused him
of drunkenness and Stephen may still have struggled with the disease of
alcoholism. In 1852, Stephen still
determined to get his divorce chose another option outside of the Courts, he
petitioned the State of Maine legislature to be granted a divorce.
His petition
presented his version of the marriage.
Stephen claimed to always have behaved himself as a faithful, chaste and
affectionate husband towards his wife. However despite these facts, Emily
deserted him August 1848 leaving their four children in his care. He stated Emily was granted a divorce in 1849
and custody of their two daughters, Adressa and Mary Emily and he was awarded
their sons. Since that time, Stephen had
been a good, honest, industrious and peaceable citizen and continues to support
his sons. It was signed by 46 other men
in Newport. At the top of the list was
the name of his brother and his lawyer, Granville Flint. In February 1853, the legislature took no
action on his divorce petition.
So
Stephen, not to be deterred in his quest, went back to the Supreme Judicial
Court. However Stephen made no claims of
being a role model, but purely stated his wife, had been granted a divorce in
1849 and now wished the same be granted to him.
Stephen did ask for custody of his two daughters in this petition. The Divorce was granted in October 1853, but
no change made in the custody of his daughters.
Sadly, Stephen’s desire for a divorce resulted in him owing a large debt
and he was forced to sell his property in April 1854. And who came to purchase Stephen’s
property? None other than his lawyer,
Granville Flint
Lastly
in 2008, we speculated that Emma Augusta Badger of Etna, Maine was the same
Emma A. Badger, daughter of Jonathan Badger and Adressa Thurston. Adressa being the eldest daughter of Stephen
and Emily Thurston. Emma A. Badger had
appeared on the 1870 census of Etna living the household of her great-aunt,
Olive (Woodman) Glidden. Living next
door was a Samuel W. Sanborn whom she married January 25, 1874. Samuel deserted her the very next day for
parts unknown. With advancement in on line records, Samuel left for
Minneapolis, Minnesota where he lived the rest of his life as a single
man.
The
death certificate for Emma confirmed her parents as Jonathan and Adressa. Again since the article’s publishment, more
has been discovered about Emma’s life.
Emma (Badger) Sanborn was granted a divorce on October 4, 1876. On November 15, 1876 in Bangor, Maine, Emma
A. Sanborn married William Holmes. They
had 3 children together between 1877 and 1882.
However after 1884, Emma appears in Bangor Directories living alone with
her husband, who also appears living alone at a different address. According to the divorce petition by William
Holmes in 1887, he stated that in July 1883, Emma A. Holmes deserted him and
utterly refused to live with him. Of
course, we only have William’s side of the story and one can only wonder why
Emma would leave with three young children and never return for any
reason. As Emma did not appear in Court
to defend herself, William received his divorce. No mention of custody of the children.
Emma
was living Bangor as late as 1893.
However on February 5, 1898 in Boston, Massachusetts, Emma “Badger”
dressmaker, daughter of John and Adressa (Thurston) Badger married her 3rd
husband, Louis Schwartz, who had immigrated from Russia. He was a canvasser by trade. Emma and her husband were living in Boston in
1900, but by 1910, they were living in Salem, Massachusetts with her three
children by Holmes as well her son Charles’s wife and son. The sons also were listed as canvassers.
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| Emma (Badger) Schwartz in 1918 |
By 1920, Emma and Louis and Emma’s eldest
son, William were all living in Falmouth, Maine. Her husband and son were working for the
railroad.
Emma
died on November 7, 1927 in Portland, Maine with her funeral being held at the
residence of her daughter, Mrs. Stella Wright in South Portland.
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