| Notes |
Emma Lucinda (?) Stafford turns out to be a most interesting subject. If this all happened in a novel, I'm sure someone would be suggesting a fantasy land story, not a real life happening. As you clearly know, Harvey Rathbun is the man who married Emma on 12-25-1884. A check of good ol' Harvey with the correct date and a 20-year time span will find all sorts of information on him.
Born 19 APR 1862, he married a Nellie Woolston during 1884 (no month given) in Saginaw, Michigan, later in that same year marrying Emma. Apparently within a very short period of time following the marriage to Emma, that marriage was set aside in some manner. One might well wonder how Nellie handled it.
Several years later, in 1890, Harvey marries a woman named Margaret Rathbun; said to have been born in 1864, she may have been a cousin if her surname is correct. Not to be overlooked in this most curious drama, Emma is also shown marrying a Charles Rathburn on the same day she married Harvey Rathbun. Where or how Charles comes into this picture I have no clue! The only record of him seems only to show up on Emma's marriage day. All of this comes from the LDS Internet site.
In 1889, Emma married George Dorn, that marriage terminated when George died in what may have been a construction accident January 19,1891. That 1892 book on the local history of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola counties gives some information that otherwise would have been lost forever, much as the loss of the 1890 census created a loss for families all across the nation. Emma is named as one of the children of James Irwin Stafford and his wife, Almina, Emma noted as being the widow of Dorn and the mother of one child, Iza B. Dorn's death in 1891, I am convinced, may partially explain the death date of 1892 as given in Emma's obituary, that date possibly being given by Iza Belle upon her mother's death in 1917. Iza would have been about six years old at the time of Dorn's death, could easily have confused the date in her head in 1917 at the time of Emma's death.
How did Emma and Iza Belle arrive at the Sweet name? I have no clue! My guess is that Emma simply moved from Genesee county to Saginaw county and started telling everyone she was a Sweet, her daughter was a Sweet, and everyone they came in contact with bought into it. Life was somewhat simpler in the "good old days." I jumped through hoops for several years trying to find a Harvey Sweet without success, finally coming to the conclusion that Iza Belle's marriage record showing a "Harvey" with no surname means that Harvey Rathbun, while not necessarily in attendance at the wedding, was given some portion of the "family" by having his name entered, albeit without the surname. John Stanley Wallace and Iza Belle Sweet, or whatever surname she should have had, married only a few months after John Stanley's father died in April of 1906, yet Alexander's name (no surname) is given on the register along with Clara, by then his widow. How Emma shows up as Emma Allison is yet another mystery!
My dad's sister, Marion Virginia Wallace, traveled from Saginaw about once every month to visit someone in Montrose when I was a kid. She may have mentioned someone's first name on several occasions, that name escaping me at this late date. Had I been more curious at that time, in the late 1940s and 1950s, the question should have been asked as to who it was Marion was going to visit. Looking back on it now, it's possible she was going to visit a Stafford during those years for all I know.
-Bob
Obituary:
- Sweet--Mrs. Emma L. Sweet, died at the Saginaw General hospital at 3:45 o'clock Wednesday afternoon of panaplegia, aged 49 years. Emma L. Stofford [sic] was born in Genesee county, Michigan, November 4, 1867, where she grew to womanhood and was married to Harvey Sweet. After marriage they lived in Genesee county until Mr. Sweet's death in 1892 when Mrs. Sweet came to Saginaw. Since coming to Saginaw she has been connected with Saginaw General hospital. She was an attendant of the M.E. church. She leaves one daughter, Mrs. J.S. Wallace; her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Irman [sic] Stafford of Clio; one sister and three brothers, Mrs. William Brown of Thetford, Mich; Harley and Wallace Stafford of Montrose and Bert Stafford of Detroit. The funeral will take place at an hour to be decided upon later from the home of Mr. Wallace, 1018 Congress avenue.
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1867 - 1917 (49 years)
