Family Memory (XXXVI): Math and my Great-Grandmother

So…I was looking for information about my family–related to photos we have, etc. Doing this, I forgot my great-grandmother’s birthday–which turns out to be January 5, 1878…mostly because I remember she died a month after her 100th birthday (Februar13, 1978).

As part of that, I found out she got married in May, 1896, shortly after turning 18. No big deal, really. That was pretty common in the 19th century. It wasn’t a big deal either that her husband was nine years older, born in 1868. 27-18…all good, right?

Anyways…that’s where the math comes in. My grandmother’s brother was born November 1, 1896. You go back nine months and…they aren’t married yet! Indeed, turns out she was still in high school at that point!

So it turns out–my great-grandmother wound up being forced to get married because she was pregnant and socially, it wasn’t acceptable for a girl to be pregnant out of wedlock…especially if she was from a family of ministers/clergy!

There’s a bright spot to all this. I suspect Marshall Hartwell loved Mamie Parks–that it wasn’t just a torrid fling. They got married 5/12/1896 and stayed together through thick and thin until he died on June 22, 1961. That’s 65 years!! So it may have been triggered by a whoopsie–but it wound up leading to a pretty good (and happy) life.

[Photo is from 1970-1971]