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Archiver > CACONTRA > 2003-05 > 1052926578


From: "JEAN PAYTON" <>
Subject: [CAContraCosta] My grandparents marriage record
Date: Wed, 14 May 2003 11:37:57 -0400


> Dear Listers:
>
> I am hoping that someone on this list will be able to do a look up for me.
> I have addressed this message to several Lists and I apologize if you
> receive more than one of this message. This is my story:
>
> My grandmother Ethel LAWES b. 1887 in Ontario, Canada travelled to
Chicago,
> Cook Co., Illinois about 1910 and stayed with her sister until she found a
> job. She was hired by the Fred Harvey Restaurant system which operated
out
> of the Santa Fe Railroad line. As the story goes Fred Harvery hired women
> to be waitresses to prepare and serve meals to people who were travelling
> westward from the 1880's to 1950's. She was required to sign a contract
> stating that she would work for Fred Harvey and that during her contract
> that she could not marry, could not become pregnant. At the end of their
> contract the Railroad would take them where they wanted to be dropped off.
>
> My Grandfather Herbert Scott BOYER (s) born in Freedom, Owen Co., Indiana
in
> 1882 supposedly was also hired by either the Railroad or the Fred Harvey
> Restaurant System. He also had signed a contract.
>
> Now these two people met while employed by Fred Harvey System or Santa Fe
> Railroad. At the end of their contract these two people supposedly married
> about March to June 1912. They travelled to Douglas, Cochise Co., Arizona
> where my father was born May 11, 1913. I found the home in which they
were
> living, I also found a page from the City Directory of Douglas, Arizona
> showing that Herbert S. Boyer and Ethel Lawes Boyer (s) were living on 820
> 13th Street in Douglas. They also had an insurance policy on the home
they
> were living in at the time. I also found out that Herbert was employed at
> the White House Cafe in Douglas, Arizona
>
> When my father was 10 months old my grandmother asked the local priest to
> take her to the train and make sure they got safely onto the train and
left
> Douglas. She was taking my father and was going back to Inwood, Ontario,
> Canada where her family was living. She left my grandfather behind. He
> evidently wasn't a very good husband and father. He had extracurricular
> activites that were not conducive to a good marriage. My grandmother
> divorced him.
>
> Now Herbert returned home sometime later to his family in Freedom, Owen
> Co., Indiana where he lived the rest of his life. He married in 1931 to
> another woman and they had no children. He died in September 1960. My
> father died in October 1959 and my grandmother died in December 1962.
>
> I am looking for a marriage license for Herbert Scott Boyer (s) and Ethel
> Lawes. Herberts' birthdate was April 26, 1882 and my grandmothers' birth
> was May 16, 1887. Herberts' parents were William Scott Boyer(s) and Mary
> Elizabeth Perry. My grandmothers' parents were Henry Lawes and Emily
Moore.
>
> According to one of Herbert's descendants Herbert never left home for more
> than two days in his whole life so he thinks I may have the wrong one but
I
> have pictures of him and my grandmother together and my father listed
> Herbert as his father on his Social Security Application. I have not been
> able to find another Herbert Scott Boyer(s) born in that time frame
> anywhere. When I wrote Social Security I was given the information from my
> fathers application and this matches this Herbert Scott Boyer(s).
>
> If there is someone who could do a marriage lookup for me I would be most
> grateful as I have been looking for many years and I just came across the
> Santa Fe railroad map showing me where all of the train stations were
> between 1880 and 1950 and that is why I am writing this message in the
hopes
> that I might be able to locate the marriage record.
>
> My grandmother also married a second time to a man from Dupage County,
> Illinois about 1916-1918 and I have not been able to locate that marriage
> record either. The second husbands name was William H. HAWBECKER.
>
>
> Thank you in advance for reading this long message and I hope someone is
> able to help me.
> Jean Payton
>
>
>
>
>
> ==============================
> To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records,
go to:
> http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237
>
>


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