Eadey vs Eadey vs Cooke — Bigamy in Innisville and Carleton Place

CLIPPED FROM
The Lanark Era
Lanark, Ontario, Canada03 Apr 1907, Wed  •  Page 8

CLIPPED FROM
The Lanark Era
Lanark, Ontario, Canada10 Apr 1907, Wed  •  Page 8

1901 census– he is with wife 1-

Name:	Alex Eddy [Alex Eady]
Gender:	Male
Racial or Tribal Origin:	English
Nationality:	Canadian
Marital status:	Married
Age:	25
Birth Date:	19 Jul 1876
Birth Place:	Ontario
Relation to Head of House:	Husband
Immigration Year:	1822
Religion:	Methodist
Occupation:	Laborer
Self Employed:	X
Hourly Wage:	250
Months Employed Other:	10
Can Read:	Yes
Can Write:	Yes
Can Speak English:	Yes
Language:	English
Province:	Ontario
District:	Lanark (North/Nord)
District Number:	80
Sub-District:	Ramsay
Sub-District Number:	5
Family Number:	6
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	NameAgeAlex Eddy25Mary Eddy29Rosie Eddy7Gertie Eddy2

1906– he marries wife 2

Name:	Alexi H Eady[Alexander H Eady]
Age:	30
Birth Year:	abt 1876
Birth Place:	Tp Drummond
Marriage Date:	8 Oct 1906
Marriage Place:	Lanark, Ontario, Canada
Father:	Jno R Eady
Mother:	Caroline Humphries Eady
Spouse:	Catherine Cooke

1921 Census he is widowed and back up in Northern ONtario

Name:	Alex[Alex Eady?]
Gender:	Male
Racial or Tribal Origin:	English
Nationality:	Canada
Marital Status:	Widowed
Age:	44
Birth Year:	abt 1876
Birth Place:	Ontario
Residence Date:	1 Jun 1921
House Number:	13
Residence Street or Township:	Head
Residence City, Town or Village:	Head Maria & Clara
Residence District:	Nipissing
Residence Province or Territory:	Ontario
Residence Country:	Canada
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Father Birth Place:	Ontario
Mother Birth Place:	Ontario
Can Speak English?:	Yes
Can Speak French?:	No
Religion:	Methodist
Can Read?:	Yes
Can Write?:	No
Months at School:	B6-00
Employment Type:	4
Nature of Work:	B
Income:	200
Municipality:	Head Maria & Clara
Enumeration District:	105
Sub-District:	Head, Maria, Clara (Townships)
Sub-District Number:	6
Home Owned or Rented:	Rented
Monthly Rental:	25
Class of House:	Single House
Materials of Construction:	Wood
Number of Rooms:	10
Enumerator:	Henry Beauchamp
District Description:	Stonecliff Village, Mackeys Station, Two Rivers Village
Neighbours:	View others on page
Line Number:	11
Family Number:	13

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Tue, Apr 02, 1907 · Page 2

CLIPPED FROM
Kemptville Telegram
Kemptville, Ontario, Canada04 Apr 1907, Thu  •  Page 2

Did He or Didn’t He Commit Bigamy? Scoundrel Andrew Whitten

James Watson– Bigamy and Shoes

Begging Your Husband for Forgiveness? What? What? What?

Even if it’s Convenient — You Can’t Marry Your Sister in law

1. Sixteen Wives– What Do You Get? Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt
2. I’m so Sick of that Same Old Love — Bigamous Relations in Lanark County
3. James Watson– Bigamy and Shoes
4. A Smith’s Falls “Frustrated Young Love’s Dream” Purdy vs Lenahan
5. She Came Back! A Ghost Divorce Story
6. One Night in Almonte or Was it Carleton Place?
7. Bigamists? How About the Much Married Woman? One for the Murdoch Mystery Files
8. The Wedding of Stanley Alexander Jackson and Margaret Elizabeth ForbesThe Thomas Alfred Code Journal – Letters-Part 15- Code Family–
9. Love and Runaway Marriages
10. Odd Ironic Wedding Stories –Or it was Almost Lonely ValleyMarriage Records Lanark County, Ontario, Canada–
11. Names Names NamesTill Death Do Us Part in Lanark County?Taming of the Beckwith Shrew?
12. A Smith’s Falls “Frustrated Young Love’s Dream” Purdy vs Lenahan
13. Going to the Chapel? Hold on– Not so Fast!
14. Another Episode in Spinsterdom–The Armour Sisters of Perth
15. She Came Back! A Ghost Divorce Story
16. Slander You Say in Hopetown? Divorce in Rosetta?
17. Go Ask Alice – The Saga of a Personal Ad Divorce
18. Bigamy–The Story of Ken and Anne and Debby and Cathy and…

“Sale” Fairs — Crops and Sometimes Fair Damsels

Sixteen Wives– What Do You Get? Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt

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Clipped from

1. Saint Mary’s Beacon,
2. 11 Feb 1897, Thu,

Clipped from

1. The Boston Globe,
2. 21 Jan 1897, Thu,
3. Main Edition,
4. Page 12

Clipped from

1. Lincoln Journal Star,
2. 06 Mar 1897, Sat,
3. Page 3

Clipped from

1. The Wichita Beacon,
2. 23 Jan 1897, Sat,
3. Page 3

When I saw this story it was one of many that I have read in newspaper archives. I hate to say it but it was a common thing. If you don’t believe me read the one about Lanark County.. Bigamy–The Story of Ken and Anne and Debby and Cathy and…

 

 

Come and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read. Also check out The Tales of Carleton Place and The Tales of Almonte

Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in The Townships Sun  Screamin’ Mamas (USA)  and The Sherbrooke Record

I’m so Sick of that Same Old Love — Bigamous Relations in Lanark County

James Watson– Bigamy and Shoes

A Smith’s Falls “Frustrated Young Love’s Dream” Purdy vs Lenahan

She Came Back! A Ghost Divorce Story

One Night in Almonte or Was it Carleton Place?

Bigamists? How About the Much Married Woman? One for the Murdoch Mystery Files

 

 

Bigamy–The Story of Ken and Anne and Debby and Cathy and…

One Night in Almonte or Was it Carleton Place?

 

One night in Bangkok and the world’s your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain’t free
You’ll find a god in every golden cloister
And if you’re lucky then the god’s a she
I can feel an angel sliding up to me

Almonte Gazette- November 21 1898

This week there is something for the gossips to roll as a sweet morsel under the tongue. The facts as we have learned them are as follows:

Some weeks ago, it will be remembered, a man named George McGrath, hailing from Ottawa, was arrested and fined for trespassing on the property of Mrs. D. M. Fraser, of the New England section of Almonte. His fine was paid and he was allowed to go. At the time there were allegations that McGrath and a domestic in Mrs. Fraser’s employ were thicker than they should have been.

However that may have been, on Wednesday morning’s Soo train McGrath, with his wife and two small children, arrived here to visit friends, with the intention of returning to the capital on the forenoon train of the same day. Mrs. McGrath’s relatives drove her and the children to the station, but the husband failed to turn up. Then the wife became suspicious and on inquiries being made it was learned that McGrath and the domestic in question had gone off together.

At this stage Chief Lowry was put on the track of the elopers, and he found them occupying the same room in McLaren’s Hotel, Carleton Place, at one o’clock in the (Thursday) morning. He arrested McGrath, who is now in the Almonte jail and the trial  will take place before Magistrate Munro this evening.

 

One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble
Can’t be too careful with your company
I can feel the devil walking next to me

Come and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read. Also check out The Tales of Carleton Place.

Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in The Townships Sun and Screamin’ Mamas (USA)

 

James Watson– Bigamy and Shoes

Bigamy–The Story of Ken and Anne and Debby and Cathy and…

Bigamists? How About the Much Married Woman? One for the Murdoch Mystery Files

 

 

 

 

 

Bigamists? How About the Much Married Woman? One for the Murdoch Mystery Files

I have written many stories about those dastardly gentleman of Lanark County that loved to dally their toes into bigamy. So I was very shocked when I found out the ladies were too on occasion. But this case was one for the Murdoch Mystery files.

It began innocently with this newspaper article:

January 18 1895 Almonte Gazette

Brockville—Mrs. James Dempster was arrested at Gananoque today on a charge of bigamy, and the circumstances of the case are somewhat romantic. The woman’s name was formerly Annie Graham, and in 1890 she married a man named Sherman Dowsley, a resident of Mallorytown, a village a few miles west of Brockville. She was only 17 at the time and the bliss matrimonial was conspicuously absent in this instance. After a month’s life in double harness the pair separated.

The woman travelled under the name of Dowsley until she recently assumed the name of McDonald and took up her residence in Gananoque. Here she ran across one elderly man named James.  Dempster, a man of comfortable means and had been in search of a life partner for a long period of time. Marriage was the result, and everything went happily along until a few days ago, when the first husband, Dowsley, turned up.

The angry husband, threatened to expose the pair unless given the deed to the Dempster’s farm, and when this was not forthcoming, carried his threat into effect. The arrest of the woman was the result. She was given a preliminary hearing before a magistrate and later the woman was committed to trial.

So what made her jump into such an early marriage only to desert it months later?  In other newspaper articles I found out that on July 4th, 1890, Annie Graham, along with three friends (2 male) were in a boat in Alexandria Bay most likely to catch view of American festivities. One of the gentlemen stood up and rocked the boat in fun and the boat capsized and they were thrown into the river. John Mayer and Annie Graham were rescued, but the other two drowned in 10 feet of water and their bodies never found.

So what happened to dear Annie? One thing is for certain- thankfully she was not sent to the Kingston Insane Asylum where many convicted were sent. On February 18, 1895 Annie, Mrs. Dempster or Dowsley was sentenced by Judge McDonald to two years, 6 months in the Kingston penitentiary.  I was beginning to feel really sorry for her until 4 hours later I pieced it all together. I have posted the following newspaper reports- so I won’t be challenged of making it all up. 🙂

But there is more to the story …

January 14 1895 Ottawa Journal

Then this…

February 12 1895– So who was W.A Williamson? Another one of Annie’s aliases? NO,  not so sweet Annie was in cahoots with yet another man Williamson, a local marble dealer, to try and  get Dempster’s estate.

 

The End or was it? Willamson received a suspended sentence for his part in the crime  to defraud “old man Dempster”while Annie got 2 years and 6 months. Rev. E. Thomas was furious and it became his sermon on February 25, 1895.

Amen

 

February 25, 1895

 

Name	Sherman Dowsley
Event Type	Marriage
Event Date	15 Oct 1890
Event Place	Brockville, Leeds, Ontario, Canada
Gender	Male
Age	21
Birth Year (Estimated)	1869
Father’s Name	George Dowsley
Mother’s Name	Susan Giles
Spouse’s Name	Annie Graham
Spouse’s Gender	Female
Spouse’s Age	17
Spouse’s Birth Year (Estimated)	1873
Spouse’s Father’s Name	Wm Graham
Spouse’s Mother’s Name	Dannie Ferguson

Actual certificate –From Ontario Marriages data base:

Sherman Dowsley Marriage 15 Oct 1890 Brockville, Leeds, Ontario, Canada Male 21 1869 George Dowsley Susan Giles Annie Graham Female age 17

7026-1890 (Leeds Co) Sherman DOWSLEY, 21, Farmer, Mallorytown, same, s/o George DOWSLEY & Susan GILES, married Annie GRAHAM, 17, Caintown, same, d/o William. GRAHAM & Dannie FERGUSON, witn: Susan EMSLEY, Emma LONG, Brockville. 15 Oct 1890 Brockville

Here are some punishments I found for bigamists:

15/1: Six weeks hard labour
15/1: One day imprisonment
30/4: One day imprisonment
30/4: One month hard labour
30/4: twelve months hard labour
31/5: Five months penal servitude
25/6: Five months penal servitude

James Watson– Bigamy and Shoes

Bigamy–The Story of Ken and Anne and Debby and Cathy and…

Bigamy–The Story of Ken and Anne and Debby and Cathy and…

Come and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read.

Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in Hometown News and now in The Townships Sun

James Watson– Bigamy and Shoes

Perth Courier, March 30, 1877

Bigamist—Mr. James Watson, shoemaker, formerly of Perth , was recently married to Miss Avery, Seaforth , Ontario .  Mr. George Curry, detective of Perth , being informed of the event, telegraphed to Seaforth on Wednesday to have Watson arrested for bigamy, as he has a wife and child in Perth .  For the past five years, Watson has neglected to support his wife in any way and now has taken himself another.  The friends of Mrs. Watson in Perth have gone to testify against the inhuman husband and he will no doubt have his just reward.

 

So what caused Mr Watson to become a bigamist? I found him on a military list on the Lanark  County Genealogical Society list from 1866, when a company of men were on duty at Fort Wellington. Perth had two or three distinct militia companies in the old days, and the history of the one recorded here belongs to the company officered by Captain Edmond Spillman, Lieut. Moffatt and Ensign Douglas.

• Pte. James Watson, shoemaker, brother of the late Wm. Watson, who ran a shoe repair shop for years in the Clements Block; whereabouts not now known.

 

Well if you ask me Pte. James Watson did not go missing– he just hightailed it back to Perth where he not only reestablished a shoe cobbling business but also dabbled in the wife-gathering business. Being on duty must have been stressful along the St. Lawrence seaway– well one must assume:)

Bigamy–The Story of Ken and Anne and Debby and Cathy and…

Ken married Ann, had two children then Ann and then died shortly after  the birth of her second child.

Six months later Ken married Betty.  Betty raised the two children from first marriage, and had three more in the next ten years.  Betty died shortly after birth of her third.

Three months after Betty’s death, Ken married Cathy, and the five children were in that household, alas and suffered several still births.

Ken married Debbie four years after Betty died, and then told Cathy that she was not wanted, because she was a drunkard.

Within the week, Cathy had found Debbie and dumped the five on Debbie.  Cathy went to the police and had Ken arrested for bigamy.  Ken raised bail and discovered that Cathy had walked out on him, so he left the children with Debbie while he tried to figure out the bigamy issues.

Two months later Ken was tried, and a jury found him guilty of bigamy.  The judge deferred passing sentence, because Ken announced that he had discovered that Cathy was not a widow and that her husband (Lionel) was on his way to the court to provide proof of the marriage of Lionel and Cathy.  Lionel was delayed and did not return to the court until the next sitting.  Ken sat in the gaol waiting waiting. Debbie organised for the eldest child to marry, and she then dumped the remaining four on the newly wed couple.

Ken was released from gaol, but Debbie would not have him back. Lionel would not have Cathy back.  Ken moves in with his children who are living with their eldest sibling and spouse.

Within the year, Debbie marries someone else.  Debbie states she was a widow. The clergy was the same chap who had married Ken and Debbie, he was also the same chap who had married Ken and Cathy.  He was not the clergy who married Lionel and Cathy.

Ken’s next child marries, and so that newly married couple takes on the three youngest and Ken too, and they go on to have some 16 children themselves.

Ten years later, Ken’s three youngest are adults.  Ken marries again, this time a childless widow, Elaine. Ken makes a will leaving everything to Elaine.  Three weeks into this marriage, Cathy calls on Elaine and tells Elaine that she (Elaine) is not the lawful wife of Ken.  Cathy claims she is that lawful wife.  Elaine tells Cathy where to get off.

Cathy died three years later, and exhaustion is the cause on her death certificate. Interestingly, her death certificate is issued with her surname shown as Ken’s surname, and the informant was Lionel’s brother.

Ken was only ever charged with one count of bigamy.  No charges were ever laid in respect of Ken’s marriage to Elaine…  The Seven Year Rule applied in that instance.

Nine years later, Ken dies.   Debbie learns of his death from the newspaper announcement  and yearns for a part of his estate.  Elaine  and Debbie go to court.  Elaine wins, Debbie is admonished by the judge because in effect she is claiming that the children of her current marriage are illegitimate. Debbie is told to pay all the court costs, including Elaine’s.  The court rules that Debbie is the “de jure wife” and that Elaine is the “de facto wife”

Debbie appeals to the higher court.  The full bench hears the appeal.  They support the earlier judgement and again award costs to Elaine, and  the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court reiterates that Elaine is the ‘de facto wife’ while Debbie is the ‘de jure’ wife.   By this time, Queen Victoria was already well and truly a widow of many years.

Within two years of Ken’s death, Elaine dies.  Ken’s five children had all been given “their share” by Elaine, and then they abandoned Elaine. Debbie lived a long life and died many many years after.

The End or was it?

Get It On
Bang a gong
Get It On

Related stories

Did He or Didn’t He Commit Bigamy? Scoundrel Andrew Whitten

James Watson– Bigamy and Shoes

Begging Your Husband for Forgiveness? What? What? What?

Even if it’s Convenient — You Can’t Marry Your Sister in law

1. Sixteen Wives– What Do You Get? Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt

2. I’m so Sick of that Same Old Love — Bigamous Relations in Lanark County

   James Watson– Bigamy and Shoes

   A Smith’s Falls “Frustrated Young Love’s Dream” Purdy vs Lenahan

   She Came Back! A Ghost Divorce Story

   One Night in Almonte or Was it Carleton Place?

   Bigamists? How About the Much Married Woman? One for the Murdoch Mystery Files

3. The Wedding of Stanley Alexander Jackson and Margaret Elizabeth Forbes

   The Thomas Alfred Code Journal – Letters-Part 15- Code Family– Love and Runaway Marriages

   Odd Ironic Wedding Stories –Or it was Almost Lonely Valley

   Marriage Records Lanark County, Ontario, Canada– Names Names Names

   Till Death Do Us Part in Lanark County?

   Taming of the Beckwith Shrew?

   A Smith’s Falls “Frustrated Young Love’s Dream” Purdy vs Lenahan

   Going to the Chapel? Hold on– Not so Fast!

   Another Episode in Spinsterdom–The Armour Sisters of Perth

   She Came Back! A Ghost Divorce Story

   Slander You Say in Hopetown? Divorce in Rosetta?

   Go Ask Alice – The Saga of a Personal Ad Divorce

   Bigamy–The Story of Ken and Anne and Debby and Cathy and…

“Sale” Fairs — Crops and Sometimes Fair Damsels

If you are tracing your family tree in Lanark County visit:

The Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum

Lanark Genealogical Society

Archives Lanark

North Lanark Regional Museum

Middleville Museum

Lanark Museum

Smiths Falls & District Historical Society

I’m so Sick of that Same Old Love — Bigamous Relations in Lanark County

Have you ever wondered why you have such a hard time tracing your ancestors? This might be the answer.

In 1898 Harry or Joseph O’Brien, was traced to Manitoba by Chief Constable McGowan, of Smith’s Falls, and captured in Portage-la-Prairie to be brought back to face his consequences. He was charged with obtaining $2.50 under false pretenses, and was put in the Perth gaol/jail awaiting trial.

O’Brien was also wanted for bigamy, and didn’t hesitate to own up to the fact that he had 14 wives.  His latest victim in the matrimonial line was a Miss Halliday of Smith’s Falls.  He also had two wives in Toronto, one in Carleton Place, and the others were scattered here and there. Was he punished? You tell me.

Many couples, particularly in the working class, entered bigamous unions throughout the nineteenth century. Most communities accepted these unions if they followed certain norms.

Policemen did not go around asking for proof that you were married, and therefore they didn’t go around checking that the marriage was lawful, or that you did not have a spouse from a previous undissolved marriage who was still living .

People had to report the apparent crime to the police, and then the police had to make inquiries and then determine if the evidence at hand was a likely offence.

In those days it wasn’t an offence to buy a ring, put it on a female’s left ring finger and move off to a different address and set up the household as though you were man and wife. Then when the couple later separated, and perhaps formed new partnerships, then perhaps a nosey busy body who had some prior knowledge, presumed there was a bigamist as a possible neighbour and went off to the police.

Within these parameters, neighbors and friends accepted illegal marriages, following in a long tradition of self-marriage and self-divorce. In fact, by the end of the century, judges followed community standards in their sentencing and often gave nominal punishment to both male and female bigamists. In the 1880s and 1890s, law enforcement officials were leery of bringing bigamy charges because of possible pressure from the locals.

Here are some punishments I found for bigamists:

15/1: Six weeks hard labour
15/1: One day imprisonment
30/4: One day imprisonment
30/4: One month hard labour
30/4: twelve months hard labour
31/5: Five months penal servitude
25/6: Five months penal servitude

So what have I got to add to this?

Someone in my family was ‘married’ 11 times. Only once was he charged with the crime of bigamy, but then he was pardoned when the first husband of the complainant turned up.

 And we wonder why we have a hard time tracing family trees!

If you are tracing your family tree visit:

The Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum

Lanark Genealogical Society

Archives Lanark

North Lanark Regional Museum

Middleville Museum

Lanark Museum

Smiths Falls & District Historical Society

Story 2-

Bigamy–The Story of Ken and Anne and Debby and Cathy and…