The enigma surrounding the origins of William John DEMPSEY (1900-1961)

[TreeDigger]

That's right, just rub it in why dontcha 

Truth be told, I was already convinced William was Ann Stanton's grandson. However, I sometimes also jump the gun too quickly and have a tendency for 'genealogical multitasking', which makes me lose sight of (important) details. Or, you know, the obvious staring you right in the face *sigh*

[TreeDigger]

Still can't find any naturalization docs for William though.. or anything wrt a name change.

When he marries wife #1 in 1925 he already goes by Dempsey, stating he's been in country for 2 years. There's no doubt in my mind it's him, just really curious about the moment (and reason why) he decided to step into this alter ego.

(edit - reason why is probably because he jumped out of the marriage and didn't want to be found; there either are divorce papers somewhere or.. bigamist?)