How Many Marriages Is Enough to Drive Me Crazy?
Following the evidence while cursing a cousin under my breath
I fight completionist tendencies. It has taken a lot of self-reflection to curb the urge to know everything about every person in a lineage. Part of what I tell myself is that not everything can be known. Some records simply don’t exist, or the event we’re trying to find records of never happened.
That said, there are times when I thrash against the notion that I need to just stop and let it go (more so than I usually do). Why? Because I am convinced it’s a puzzle I can figure out.
One such puzzle is that of Marie Baker, daughter of Seth Obed Baker and Grace May Colvin who was born in Oklahoma in 1918. She’s a cousin in my Lincoln lineage and, despite her distance from the main line, her story is a doozy. I don’t know if she was a “love ‘em and leave ‘em” sort or just kept getting stuck with the wrong guy(s). Given the outcomes of the former husbands’ lives, and those of her children, I’m leaning towards at least a little instability on her part. (If you’re a grandchild of hers, I’d love to get your input.)
This kind of entry in a lineage is tough. You want to document the facts, especially since the childrens’ obituaries are clear she was their mother and they had different fathers (with no mention of their siblings, interestingly enough). But, yet, there’s a lot to unpack in what’s hidden between the lines.
So, for this month’s behind the paywall, I’m going to document everything I could find on Marie’s life - her marriage announcements, birth announcements, marriage certificates, obituaries, and adjacent documentation for her children and husbands. So buckle up because, like I said, this is a doozy. Also, we should probably start with the fact that she went by several names. (See, I told you!)