Top

In every family, someone ends up with “the stuff.” It is the goal of The Family Curator to inspire, enlighten, and encourage other family curators in their efforts to preserve and share their own family treasures.

Add to Google

Next Edition:
Sept 2010

 

Archives

Entries in edwards (4)

Wednesday
Feb172010

Not So Wordless Wednesday: The Uinta County Courthouse of the Edwards-Paulen Marriage

DateWednesday, February 17, 2010 at 4:52PM

 

Uinta County Courthouse, Evanston Wyoming

When my grandmother, Arline Kinsel Paulen and Albert F. Edwards arrived at the Unita County Courthouse in Evanston, Wyoming to be married 11 August 1917, the Courthouse was already established as the oldest county courthouse in the state.

The building probably looked in 1917, much as it looks today, but its exterior architecture had evolved through at least three expansions. The earliest building was the 1873 jail, a brick structure erected in the center of the town square by order of Governor John A. Cambell, first Territorial Governor of Wyoming. Uinta County was the first new county estabished by the First Wyoming Territorial Legislature, and this first jail and courthouse was authorized to be built an an expense not to exceed $25,000. The jail was to be built first, followed by the courthouse in 1874. It wasn't long before both jail and courthouse outgrew their spaces, and in 1887 a new jail was completed and the former jail converted into courthouse offices.

The growing Evanston community demanded a still larger courthouse, and in 1910 a two-story addition was contructed at the front of the existing courthouse building. According to the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office, "It changed the scale and character of the courthouse from that of a relatively simple, territorial building to a more pretentious, more national building. The addition is essentially Georgian Revival style."

This is the building that Arline and Albert would have entered in 1917.

Sources:
Wyoming State Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. "Uinta County Courthouse." Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office. [article online]. Accessed 17 February 2010. Available from http://wyoshpo.state.wy.us/NationalRegister/Site.asp?id=471.

Simpson, Tricia.  "Uinta County Courthouse Evanston Wyoming". 2009. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License. Photograph.




AuthorFamily Curator | Comment1 Comment | | | Print ArticlePrint | in | tagged
Friday
Feb122010

Part 3, Questions Answered, Questions Posed -- What I Learned Reading Between the Lines of The Marriage Records of Arline Paulen and Albert F. Edwards

DateFriday, February 12, 2010 at 6:11AM

This is a continuation of the analysis of marriage records recently received from the Wyoming State Archives. Although I already held a decorative Marriage Certificate, I was surprised at how much more there was to learn from the primary documents.

Read more Reading Between the Lines, The Marriage Records of Arline Paulen and Albert F. Edwards,

Part  1, Introduction

Part 2, The Documents

 

"Mr. Edwards" and Arline. [note bride's gunbelt]

I was delighted to learn several new things about Arline and Albert from examining the original documents. Because Arline was an attractive young woman with a history of flirtations and numerous beaus, I surmised that she would marry a young man. The one photograph which identifies “Mr. Edwards” shows a man who seemed older than I expected. I thought the photo was mislabeled, but I was clearly wrong. The marriage documents indicate that Edwards was 36 years old when the couple was married in 1917, confirming the likelihood that the photo identification was correct.

I was also unsure where Arline might have met Edwards. I knew she was living and working in Salt Lake City at one time, but the Wyoming marriage hinted that Edwards might be from that state. The records show that both bride and groom claimed Salt Lake City as their residence, indicating that they probably met in Utah.

The Marriage Certificate from the State of Wyoming, “Utah” County initially confused me, but I surmise that perhaps this was a clerical error related to the bride and groom’s hometown, Salt Lake City, Utah. I looked closely at the letter formations on all the documents and found that the handwriting on the original decorative Marriage Certificate signed by Sims is unlike that on any other document except the official Certificate of Marriage. Perhaps a busy Court Commissioner was more likely to write “Utah” when he meant “Uinta” than would be a County Clerk or Deputy accustomed to writing the county name many times each day.

The county documents also reveal the county courthouse occupations of the two witnesses who signed the decorative Marriage Certificate. Undoubtedly, J.B. Martin, County Clerk, and M. I. McCraig, Deputy were pressed into service as witnesses for the matrimonial vows, and were not friends who tagged along for the nuptials.

On all documents, Arline Paulen is represented as “Miss,” an unmarried woman. I know that Paulen was her married name and that she was served divorce papers by her first husband John L. Paulen in 10 March 1917. I need to determine the date when the divorce became final.

Although, it is not of vital significance, my curiosity was also piqued by the notation of the date and time of day that the marriage and licensing took place. I began to wonder about the geographical location of Evanston, Wyoming in relation to Salt Lake City, and the motivation to leave Utah to be married. I know this marriage did not last long; why did they marry in the first place? More research is indicated for the answer to this question.

Beyond names and dates, examining these documents has given me invaluable social background for writing a narrative life history. I now know the wedding took place miles from the couple’s homes, probably on a warm summer day. I know that they were most probably alone, and had to rely on the county employees to serve as witnesses. I can only imagine the reasons for this marriage, and why it dissolved so soon thereafter. Those are questions for further research, or for the imagination of Miss Penelope Dreadful.

AuthorFamily Curator | Comment1 Comment | | | Print ArticlePrint | in , | tagged
Thursday
Feb042010

Part 2 The Documents, Reading Between the Lines, The Marriage Records of Arline Paulen and Albert F. Edwards

DateThursday, February 4, 2010 at 4:57PM

This is a continuation of the analysis of marriage records recently received from the Wyoming State Archives. Although I already held a decorative Marriage Certificate, I was surprised at how much more there was to learn from the primary documents.

Read Part  1, Introduction, Reading Between the Lines, The Marriage Records of Arline Paulen and Albert F. Edwards

 

The papers all seem very straightforward, but I learned quite a bit reading between the lines. I set my questions aside for a time, to transcribe and study the documents. The major points I learned are listed below in boldface type. I am not including complete transciptions here, but highlighting the key points of my inquiry.

Marriage License Reveals Arline is a "Miss"

This document gives permission for “any person legally authorized to solemnize Marriage” the authority to marry the named persons, Albert F. Edwards of Salt Lake County, Utah and Miss Arline Paulen of Salt Lake County, Utah, dated 11 Aug 1917. Signed J.B. Martin, County Clerk. The paper appears to be affixed in a file with fasteners and bears the seal of the County Clerk, Uinta County, State of Wyoming. Although the document resembles the Marriage Certificate in Arline’s papers, the text adds the demand that the bearer must return the License to the County Clerk within three months from the date of marriage with a signed Marriage Certificate or pay a penalty of $500.

Arline is listed as an unmarried woman, “Miss.”

License to wed is granted 11 Aug 1917.

I surmise, the State of Utah undertook its charge to record all marriages very seriously, even charging a stiff penalty for failure to comply.

Certificate of Marriage Shows Groom is Ten Years Older Than Bride

This document is a statement by Arthur W. Sims, Court Commissioner verifying the marriage of the two applicants at the Courty Court House in Evanston according to the “laws of the State of Wyoming.”

The marriage takes place on the same day that the license was issued, 11 August 1917.

Albert Edwards is aged 36

Miss Arline Paulen is aged 26

Witnesses to the marriage are M. J. McCraig of Evanston, Wyoming and J.B. Martin, also of Evanston, Wyoming. I wonder if these are local friends of the bride and groom.

Marriage Affidavit Gives Time of Day

This is obviously the front of the next copy, the outside informational summary for Albert F. Edwards to Arline Paulen filing for record in the County Clerk’s office 11 August 1917 at 12:45 p.m. and recorded in Book 80 of Marriage Records on Page 164, signed by J. B. Martin, County Clerk, by M. I. McCraig, Deputy.

The events at the county courthouse take place midday. Funny. Didn’t civil servants take lunch break in 1917?

McCraig, listed as a witness is not a friend, but an available Witness, probably not known to the couple

 

Statement of Applicant for a Marriage License Names Salt Lake City as Residence

This page bears two statements, completed and signed by the two parties. The top statement is signed by Albert F. Edwards swearing that his full and true name is Albert F. Edwards residing at Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah, over 21, and his bride to be is Arline Paulen of Salt Lake, Salt Lake, Utah.

The second statement is made by Arline Paulen a resident of Salt Lake City, Utah, bearing witness that Albert F. Edwards is a resident of Salt Lake City in the County of Salt Lake, Utah, and over age 21.

Both statements bear a sentence stating that there are no legal impediments to the aforesaid persons marrying according to the laws of their state of residence or this state. Each statement is signed by the applicant as well as by J. B. Martin, County Clerk, dated 11 Aug 1917.

Residence is Salt Lake City, Utah for both parties

Names and legal ages are confirmed

The final two photocopies are image copies of the actual record book where the county clerk copied the original documents into the record. Everything is in the same handwriting and signed by J. B. Martin, County Clerk, by M. I. McCraig, Deputy. I carefully compare these copies to the originals to see if there are any discrepancies, but the conscientious deputy has done a good job making a clear and legible record.

. . . More to Come

 

AuthorFamily Curator | CommentPost a Comment | | | Print ArticlePrint | in , , | tagged ,
Tuesday
Feb022010

Reading Between the Lines, The Marriage Records of Arline Paulen and Albert F. Edwards, Part 1, Introduction

DateTuesday, February 2, 2010 at 4:21PM

I love mail. After posting Organize and Preserve Original Documents Used in Your Genealogy Research, I took a closer look at the 1917 marriage certificate used to illustrate the article.

 

Although I had examined the certificate many times, the certificate posed at least three more questions and showed me the surprises that can be found in seeking out the primary source documents.

I wondered:

Was Arline Paulen really divorced from her first husband at the date of her marriage to Edwards?

Why did Arline and Albert Edwards marry in Wyoming when I knew she was living in Salt Lake City?

Where was Utah County, Wyoming? I couldn’t find it in the Red Book.

Who were the witnesses? Friends of the couple?

Was the certificate “real”?

A quick Google search for Wyoming vital records led me to the office of the Wyoming State Archives. My email query as to the availability of a marriage record for Arline Paulen and Albert Edwards was quickly answered. Yes, the record was available; I could receive a copy for 50 cents per page, payable by credit card over the telephone. It was so easy that I wish I had more Wyoming ancestors.

Less than one week later I received a large manila envelope in the mail containing six photocopies:  

  1. Marriage License
  2. Certificate of Marriage
  3. Marriage Affidavit
  4. Statement of Applicant for a Marriage License Marriage License
  5. Statement of Applicant for a Marriage License, with Corroborative Statement
  6. Statement of Applicant for a Marriage License, with Corroborative Statement

The first two items were from the Uinta County marriage book; the applicants’ statements werefrom the files of the Uinta County clerk.

I was glad to confirm the name of the bride and groom, and to discover their ages. I was surprised to find that the groom was ten years older than his bride. That was a surprise. In the next article I will post images and discuss what I learned from each document.

AuthorFamily Curator | Comment1 Comment | | | Print ArticlePrint | in , , | tagged ,