The Divorce of the Dickersons

Nellie Patience Cook (1875-1951) was a first cousin, four times removed of my father.

She lived in Morris County, New Jersey. In 1895 she was married to Nathaniel F Dickerson (1873-1938) by Reverend Clark of the Methodist Church of Rockaway.

Three or four children were born from this marriage:

Raymond C Dickerson (1895-1900)

Elvin T Dickerson (1898-1900)

Vernon Cook Dickerson (1903-1960)

(In her divorce complaint, Nellie states that three children died in infancy.)

Two children, Raymond and Elvin, died on July 31, 1900 in Denville from dysentery. They share a gravestone in the Denville Cemetery.

In the 1910 census, Nellie was living with her son, Vernon, in Rockaway, without Nathaniel.

Nellie filed for divorce from Nathaniel in 1909. The records are housed at the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton.

Nellie's complaint stated that Nathaniel was having an affair with Sadie Virginia Dobbins, also known as Virginia Butler. Nathaniel left Nellie on December 13, 1903, two days after she gave birth to Vernon, claiming he was setting out to learn the plumbing trade.

A witness testified that Nathaniel and Virginia began boarding in her home in New York City on December 25, 1903. They presented themselves as married to each other.

The divorce was granted. Nellie was awarded $69 in fees.

In 1911, Nathaniel married Sarah Virginia Butler, widow of Dobbins.

Nathaniel did not pay the money to Nellie. She kept taking him to court as late as 1918.

As an aside, Nellie's name on her marriage certificate looks like "Netty," which can be confusing because Nellie had a sister named Nettie (1868-1945), who married Francis E Peer (1870-1932). In the divorce complaint, Nellie explained that a stray mark of ink makes the letter Ls in her name appear to be letter Ts and that her name is Nellie, not Nelly, Nettie, or Netty.

Newark, New Jersey Photograph: Bergen Street School 1917

Someone gave me a framed photograph of students at Bergen Street School in Newark, New Jersey- Class of June 1917.

Photographer was Ginsberg Studio in Newark, New Jersey.


On the back of the photograph are signatures transcribed below.

Girls
Mabel Lange
Cecelia Stecher
Alice Plant
Rae Galker
Mildred Gerlein
Florence Schmitt
Gussie J Koen?er
Gertrude Hagen
Gertrude Otto
Amelia T Kraemer
Clare Poerner
Alice Leonard
Ramona Bertrand
Dorothy Lack

Boys
Edw J Egan
Wm T Ohnsman (dutch)
Richard Throm
Nathan J Klein
Wilbert Greenfield
C Bleier
S Knaster
Elmer DeVine
Harold Lange
P Rittersbacher
Robert Dollinger
I Goldfinger
Aaron Galker
Wallace Wirtz
Arthur Hirschhorn
Morris Klein
Joe Menkes

Murnane and ODonnell of Bayonne, New Jersey

Mary ODonnell was an aunt of my maternal grandmother. She disappeared after the 1920 census in Bayonne (19 West Seventeenth Street). Mary was born June 1, 1899 in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey to Patrick Francis ODonnell and Delia Joyce. 

Someone wrote to me, inquiring about a marriage between Mary ODonnell and John Murnane around 1919 or 1920. Mary ODonnell is not an unusual Irish name. I have several in my family tree. Was this Mary ODonnell any relation to any of the people with the same name in my tree?

I checked the online New Jersey Marriage Index and found a possible match for 1920. This is an index by bride only and provides the husband's initials, not full name, for the years 1920-1929. The marriage records are housed in the Archives in Trenton and are organized by year by groom's surname.

The marriage certificate in Trenton showed that the entry in the index was indeed for the marriage of John Murnane and Mary ODonnell on July 3, 1920 at Saint Mary's Catholic Church in Bayonne. This Mary is my grandmother's missing aunt, shown by the names of her parents on the record.

The following year, the couple's first child, John Murnane, was born March 24, 1921.

Tragedy struck on July 30, 1925 when Mary gave birth to a baby girl prematurely. Both mother and baby died. (This day was also my grandmother's fifth birthday.) They were buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, Bergen County, New Jersey. (Mary's parents are interred at Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City.)

Cause of death: toxemia of pregnancy and PP [post partum] haemorrhage.

You can view all people in a plot at Holy Cross. Also buried with mother and daughter is Daniel J Murnane in 1964. I do not know who this is.

A hint for finding Mary, besides the inquiring person, was in the wedding announcement of Margaret ODonnell to William Joseph Coughlin in August of 1920. Margaret was a sister of Mary. "Miss ODonnell was attended by her sister, Mrs J Murnane, as maid of honor."

We welcome more cousins to the ODonnell branch.