Washington marriage, 1904

[shellyesq]

1905 is here - https://arminda.whitman.edu/islandora/walla-walla-city-and-county-directory-1905 

Ennis, Thorn J., farmer, h 2 miles n of city

I'm guessing Thorn was a misspelled Thom.?

[Erato]

Christopher Ennis was the father of the young Thomas J.  Apparently he was working for his father in 1904.  He must have had a farm near Walla Walla in 1907.  At that time my Thomas J. was in section 7 on the southeastern outskirts of Kennewick.

Both my Thomas J. and the other, younger one are mentioned in numerous newspaper articles.  For the most part they can be distinguished.  The younger one did become a prominent businessman. He was a real estate dealer, involved in a lot of large land deals and a hotel in Walla Walla.  Also, the younger Thomas J. was a Catholic; all of the articles which refer to the Knights of Columbus and other such religious organizations pertain to him.  My Thomas J. was some sort of Protestant and a member of the Odd Fellows.

[Lisa in California]

The full article mentions two suits for divorce & gives Pendleton as the location -  https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-statesman/140229122/

The only Pendleton a Google search is giving me is in Oregon and fairly close to Walla Walla, Washington, so maybe the article is referring to Grant Co., Oregon.

Yes, the Pendleton mentioned appears to be in Oregon.

Another source clipping-

Oregon Journal
Monday, Feb 05, 1906
Portland, OR
Page: 2

…My T.J. was born in Wisconsin on 15 January 1861. He was living in Grant County, Oregon in 1903. He was recently widowed and would have been 43 years old when and if he married 21 year-old Drusilla East in 1904. This is not impossible.

Perhaps it was common in the area/county / decade, but if your Thomas married Drusilla, he wasn’t the only older man to do so.  A family tree indicates Drusilla’s/Drucilla’s sister, Evalyn, was married in Pendleton in 1908.  Looking at just a few Oregon state marriage images before and after Evalyn’s marriage image, several couples had what might be considered large gaps in ages:
Ages 46 and 21
   “    27 and 20
   “    61 and 45
   “    28 and 16
   “    43 and 25, etc.

Evalyn was age 22, her husband was age 33.

Have you researched the history of Pendleton?  I wonder if times were tough and age-difference marriages were caused by financial necessity?  Were men looking for mothers for their children?  Were women looking for financial stability? Was there a short supply of eligible men?  Or, just possibly a way of life in the area?

[Erato]

"Were men looking for mothers for their children?"

I found this small article a bit weird.  In 1903 when Thomas's wife died, his daughters were hardly "little girls."  Elsie was 18 and Flossie was 15; the son Clarence was 12.  None of them needed full time maternal care and the two girls were old enough to handle the daily cooking and housework.  In fact, many years later, Elsie was recalled as "an especially talented cook" by the author of a blog about the Hot Springs resort in Ritter, Oregon.

If Thomas did indeed marry Drusilla, it's not hard to imagine that the introduction of a 21-year-old 'stepmother' caused some friction in the household.

[Lisa in California]

Did Thomas exaggerate for some reason or, more likely, did the newspaper reporter try to make the article more newsworthy?  It is odd.

Yes, I would think having a very young stepmother would be difficult for everyone.

The article that mentions the divorce stated it was due to cruelty.  If it was true, perhaps Drusilla wasn’t too kind to the children.

Added: if you haven’t already investigated Mrs. Holcomb, might you find any connection between Mrs. Holcomb and the East family?   

[Lisa in California]

I cannot (clearly) view an article that includes
T. J. Ennis
Residence Place - Ritter, Oregon
Death Date - About 1903
Obituary Date - 10 August 1903
Obituary Place - Walla Walla, Washington
Newspaper Title - The Evening Statesman

It looks like it is an obit for Mrs. Ennis.  Possibly M. H. Marvin, pastor of First Methodist Church, conducted the services.

You most likely already contacted churches/dioceses, etc. in the past to try to find Thomas’ marriage record but I just wanted to mention the above in case Thomas and/or Drusilla were parishioners of the First Methodist Church.


Added: found one that we could read (page 8 )…

https://washingtondigitalnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=EVENSTAT19030810.1.7&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------

[Erato]

It's Carrie's funeral and burial.  They were all buried in Walla Walla - Carrie, T.J. and his brother William (who died in North Dakota).  They even placed a memorial stone there for their father Thomas who died in the Civil War and was buried in an unknown, unmarked grave in the South.

[Lisa in California]

The Ennis’ certainly were/are very caring people.

My mum’s (young) cousin’s name was added to a family gravestone. His plane never reached its destination during WWII; they never found the crew or plane.  I never knew her cousin but mum mentioned him numerous times; he had a incredible sense of humour and was very kind to her.  It was touching to see his name included with his family’s names. 


Have you checked Methodist churches for Thomas’ marriage?

Added:  it’s odd that there isn’t a write-up for the wedding.

[Erato]

"it’s odd that there isn’t a write-up for the wedding."

This is another thing that makes me suspect that it was my man who married Drusilla, rather than that young fellow from Walla Walla. I think if two young people got married for the first time, it would have been a newsworthy event.  There would have been a religious service (especially considering the groom's devotion to his church), the families and friends would have celebrated, and the reporters would have taken note.  But that did not happen.  It's almost as if the marriage was a hasty, under-the-table thing that no one wanted to acknowledge publicly.  You have to wonder whether eyebrows were raised in Pendleton and Ritter.