Reflections From the Fence: Social Media of 130 Years Ago, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Friday, February 10, 2023

Social Media of 130 Years Ago, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Thanks to Amy Johnson Crow, who year after year posts "challenges" her followers to share thoughts and/or photos in whatever manner suits each individual. Blogs, social media, or just in your personal memories. I have played before, and will play along a bit this year, God willing and the creek don't rise.

This week's challenge is: Social Media

Social Media is what we call it now, you know, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc. But, what about 130 years ago? Well, there were gossip/social pages and columns from the local newspaper. Some of the columns were named "Social News" or "Social Happenings". Quite creative, eh??

This newspaper social media can be a gold mine for family researchers, it really is one of my favorite kinds of research. I find marriage announcements, short and sweet, or extensive, describing the flowers decorating the place of the marriage and the corsages the ladies carried. Of course, there are death announcements and obituaries. They may tell us when and where that ancestor left life, and maybe what he/she accomplished. Hopefully, it will tell us names and relationship of survivors, place of burial. Sometimes it will tell us of children that have gone missing, never to be heard of again.

And, sometimes it will tell a story of bigamy, abuse of drugs and alcohol and some consequences. Like the story I am still unearthing of Isaac Marion Blanton, who eventually married a distant aunt of mine. I will add my usual disclaimer, this might not be the hubby of that distant aunt. His death certificate does not state his parents names, which I found a bit odd, as he had been married to my great aunt for close to 30 years. I have yet to find a published obituary for him either. But, I do have a small pile of circumstantial evidence. The search, as they say, continues, with an open mind.

But, I digress, this dude's (whether he turns out to be mine or not) story is something, and social media, errr, the newspapers of his time, were full of stories. Here are just a couple of short pieces, the in-depth stories are really something!!

Isaac, or Marion as he liked to be called, was married, had a couple of daughters, about 1886 or so, his wife died. Then - - -

According to social media/newspaper reporting:

From Our Mountain Home, Talladega, Alabama, published on March 9, 1887:
“MARRIED - - At Jenifer, Ala., February 23rd, 1887, by Rev. J. B. Stevenson, Rev. J. M. Blanton, of Oxford, to Miss Lula M. Hendrick, daughter of J. H. Hendrick.”

And - -

From the Post Gibson Reveille, Port Gibson, Mississippi, published Friday July 14, 1893:
“Romantic Marriage
A special dispatch to the Picayune from Water Valley, Miss., under the date of July 8th, says:
“Quite a romantic marriage took place here this evening, the contracting parties being Mr. Marion Blandon, a traveling insurance agent of Memphis, and Miss Carrie Hiersch, eldest daughter of Mr. David Hiersch, of this city. The young couple some time ago undertook to have the nuptial knot tied in the city of Memphis, but the parents of the bride forbade it. Being Jews, they were very much opposed and in some way put a stop to the proceedings, but the young couple abided their time and while the father of the bride was off at some springs in pursuit of health and happiness, Mr. Blandon came here and captured his bride. Rev. J. W. Price, of the Methodist Episcopal church, performed the ceremony under the spreading branches of a large oak, while mayor Cock, sheriff Duke, circuit clerk Sherman and Mr. J. A. Mauldin acted as witnesses. Reconciliation was effected between the young folks and the other of the bride and the couple returned to Memphis to-night rejoicing.”

And - -

From the Tuscaloosa Gazette, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, published on August 10, 1893:
“Isaac Marion Blanton, ex-preacher and insurance agent, was given a good drubbing by his irate father-in-law Hirsh, in Memphis, Tenn. Last spring Blanton ran away with, and married Miss Carrie Hirsh, who was a Jewess living at Water Valley, Miss., Hirsh began to look up the record of his son-in-law and found that he was a married man, having several wives living when he married Miss Hirsh, this exasperated the old man, who looked him up, gave him a thrashing and had him put in jail on a charge of bigamy.
The most peculiar thing is that Blanton is a small ugly man, a perfect wretch from whiskey and opium.
They say he has a half dozen wives most of whom are in Alabama.”

The Cliff Notes version - - Lula saw the announcement of his marriage to Miss Carrie Hiersch and wrote to Carrie's father accusing Marion of bigamy. She provided a photo of Marion to Mr. Hiersch.* There are varying reports of the day Mr. Hiersch confronted Marion, but, they all boil down to a beating and arrest. The case drug on for some months, in the end the judge ordered Marion into a hospital for the insane in Tennessee. At this point the reports cease and I pick up his trail at the time of his marriage to my distant aunt ca 1899. I have yet to find more wives, I did find the indications of records for 4 marriages, first wife, Lula, Carrie and the distant aunt.

Social media 1893 style, viewed from 2023, is a gold mine for this researcher. Love me my newspapers.