Week 39 - What Wasn't Written Down

Often, when family news wasn't written down, you learned it almost by accident. Sometimes someone would mention a story in passing, or a conversation would uncover a little piece of information that had never been recorded. Other times, the discovery came while researching.

Those unexpected discoveries are some of the most rewarding parts of family history. Just when you think you know the story, another clue appears and opens the door to a whole new chapter.

My grandfather Harry Edward 'Ed' Porter was a quiet, cheerful man who could often be seen in his enclosed front porch rolling a cigarette with a red can of Prince Albert sitting on the bench beside him. That is the way I picture him back in the 1960's when I was a kid. Grandpa always seemed to be outside, and Grandma always seemed to be sitting in her chair in the house. 

Ed Porter was the oldest child of William and Carrie (Barnhart) Porter. His siblings were Forest, Maudie, Raymond (Casey), and Arthur.  Young Arthur died at three months old. Ed was born August 1, 1888, in Rochester Township, Cedar County, Iowa.

(l-r) H Edward (my grandfather), Forest, William, Maudie, Raymond, Carrie

William & Carrie Porter family ca1905

One afternoon while visiting my Aunt Phyllis (dad's sister) in Allegan she was showing me an old photo album of family pictures and there was this one that she skimmed over and said nonchalantly 'that's dad with his first wife'... 

What? Whoa, slow down, back-up.

I had never heard that before. Divorce wasn't a word that my family bandied about in any conversations.

Of course, I had to follow-up on it. After my aunt allowed me to borrow the album and go to the local store in town to make a bunch of copies while she and my mom visited, I made sure that I had that picture copied. Years later, I came across that picture and did the necessary research.

l-r front William, Raymond, Ed

l-r back Maudie, Bessie, Carrie

Bessie Viola Strahl was the youngest of ten children of Mead Pingery and Alice Jane (Donaldson) Strahl of Dedham, Iowa. They came to Iowa in 1882 from Illinois. Bessie married first to William T Webber in Iowa. They divorced before 1911 when she married my grandfather on April 14, 1911, in Coon Rapids, Iowa. 

I have no stories about my grandfather's short-lived marriage other than they divorced October 23, 1913. The record shows that Ed filed, she claimed abuse, the courts sided with my grandfather, and she had to pay the court costs for the final decree.

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H Edward Porter & Bessie Strahl divorce 

Thurs 23 Oct 1913 col3

Carroll County Times

Bessie went on to marry for a third time to Neal Horine, a railroad man and they had one son Richard. They lived in Long Beach, California where Bessie died July 30, 1970, and was buried in Los Angeles, California.

Barbie