This is fascinating--and disturbing. It explains a lot, though--not just why the mother would say she was widowed when the father lived only a block away, but also maybe why the children put such distance between themselves and the parents. It also makes me think they truly were divorced--since it gives the mother a reason for lying about it. Now I just have to find the record! Thanks, Cheri.
On Saturday, April 19, 2014 3:47:15 PM UTC-7, Cheri Mello wrote: > I haven't been paying real close attention to this thread, but I have one > instance of an "orphan" in my family. It's in Alabama in the 1850s. The > father died leaving his wife and "orphaned "children. Not having a father > in Alabama (and other states in America) in the middle 1800s meant > "orphaned." > > As to this part of Grace CM's post: > <<Was being divorced or abandoned such a stigma that the children would > have been tainted in some way?>> > > Yes, being a child of divorced parents was a stigma. My dad's first > cousin, born in the late 1930s, was the daughter of divorced parents. Some > kids at school shunned her and would not play with her. This happened in > southern California in the 1940s. I remember growing up in the 1970s and > there was a foster home on the corner. My mother would not let us play > with those kids. We were told that their parents were "jail birds" and > that the kids would turn out like their parents (this might have been some > weird mental thing my mom had about the house on the corner). By the time > I was 11 or 12, I realized those kids were just like me and I remember > being friends with a couple of them while they lived in that particular > foster home. > > Cheri Mello > Listowner, Azores-Gen > Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das > Tainhas, Achada > -- For options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores.
