What Happend, John Friend?
WHAT HAPPENED, JOHN FRIEND
The Case of His Short-Lived Marriage to Caroline E. Story
John F. Friend had been married twice, however, his first marriage could hardly be much of one since he barely had a family with his first wife, Caroline. Yes! I know it seems rather cruel to think in such a way considering today when two people gets married suddenly, then two or three, maybe, weeks later gets divorce? But as a family historian I try to look in with objective’s eyes, and it’s not often easy to view it in that way, especially when time periods differ from one century to another. Unless one of these individuals wrote their feelings down. We’ll never know for certain how things went then. How am I supposed to view this? Like I said through an objective’s eyes.
After the Civil War, John Friend and his family moved to various locations within Adair County, Missouri. There were no reasons behind the move, other than, creating opportunities for some of those in the family, even more so than most as some of the men kept going more West, such as John’s three brothers who gone prospecting for silver or gold. Of course, others gone South to help with restoring peace and the government system. Southerners called them “carpetbaggers” since they never stay very long, and yet, the southerners were still a bit sore over the lost of the war, which we all know lasted for years, even for over a century.
Back to John’s situation at hand. At some point of time, Mr. John Friend met Miss Caroline E. Story. Miss Story and her family had moved from the State of New York as young girl before the Civil War outbreak. Her father, Alfred Story, perhaps was one of the thousands of Easterners to rush to Missouri during the debacles of the Kansas-Nebraska divide of those for or against the continuation of the slavery movement. Many historians argued that this chain of events may have been the start of the Civil War. But we all know that its true start was the day President Lincoln called for volunteers to fight in this war. Nevertheless, Missouri was the last slave holding State of the Union. It was a hot mess during the Civil War for many anti-slavery believers were faced with hostilities or death. The Story Family choose to transplant their roots in Clay Township in Adair County, but I would have to do extensive research to learn how they survived before and during this time period in their lives.
John and Caroline decided that October 27, 1867 they would be married. Whether it was a church or civil ceremony, it certain it was celebrated by both sides of the families. Who doesn’t love a wedding party? Their own family didn’t occur right away, it was nearly two years later before the birth of their first child. Except it didn’t last long enough to enjoy the life of one’s preconscious little baby girl that came into their life. And when tragedy hits, it hits hard for a short-lived family.
Victory E. Friend having been born to John and Caroline (Story) Friend on January 11, 1869 near Willmathsville, Missouri. For nearly a year, both John and Caroline enjoy the little girl in their lives. Until one year and four days later trade struck their baby. She died so unexpectedly. There are some resources that told me that this baby girl was born on different dates. One source, I found over ten years ago when I found that John and Caroline had a child. The birth date was given by way of the child’s age age at death---one (1) year and four (4) days---on the death date of January 15, 1870. Then a few years later, another source states she died on May 15, 1870, and yet, it also states that the child was only one (1) year of age. The last source seems to be right as far as the month of the death goes since another source added a photograph with that month visible enough to read. Though, a friend tells me that it’s hard to read the entire photo because it was unfocused or blurred. That means that I need to physically go there to hand read it myself or trust someone else to do it. For now, I’m sticking to the first source for the baby’s birth and death data.
Resources Cited About Victory's Birth & Death Indo
Back to John and Caroline’s situation. Whatever happened at the death of their baby girl, the federal government still doing their jobs, and that job was the decadal enumerations. On June 12, 1870, both John and Caroline were entered into the census as a couple with no children to show for their union. I’m not going to bother to say what township or town they lived in as it didn’t offer such matter, but they must have lived near Willmathsville as that was their postal delivery location.
1870 U.S. Federal Census
Township 64 Range 13, Adair, Missouri, USA
Since my discovery of Victory E. Friend’s burial information, I’ve been putting various pieces of the puzzle together with this part of my family. I learned, not sure how I made the actual discovery, but I found that Caroline was living in Newton, Iowa in 1880 and 1900, then died in 1908. Caroline supposedly married a man named Mr. Thomas C. Lowery, a blacksmith, who once was a soldier of the Civil War. To this day, I still haven’t found their marriage information. Bellevue me I’ve tried various of ways in the naming of both. Nothing. Okay, whatever! They had two daughters, one to adulthood while the other one died at the age of nine. It seems to me; this marriage is considered what we might know as it is a common-law marriage. An agreement of two people to live together for life, well, they apparently done that when Caroline died in 1908.
Okay, we have some idea what happened to Caroline. What happened to you John Friend from the time after the census enumeration until the spring of 1878 when you showed up in Nebraska. Did you leave the area for a time? Did you ever file for a divorce at some point? Or was there just some mutual agreement to go your separate ways and Caroline ended up in your old stomping ground? How ironic that finding was at the time. So, the search goes on.
Recently, I’d contacted a court clerk about the possible divorce records of John and Caroline. The gal at the Adair County Circuit Court finally wrote me on July 2nd and was disappointed to not have found any know records of John Friend and Caroline Friend. She found “nothing”, and she locked through two decades of records. Well then, it means I need to check one more location---Jasper County Circuit Court in Iowa and see what they can find for me.
Did this divorce occur in Jasper County, Iowa? Did John and Caroline left Adair County to go there away from family? Did they tried to save what was left of their marriage, or tried to? These and many other questions will never be answered unless something shows up to learn more of their fate, other than what changed for the both. But Jasper County, Iowa seems to be the place to find some answers, right?! For now, I ask. What happened, John Friend? It’s your story to tell.
Read John Friend Family (Family History Record) CLICK HERE
Cheery-O, Folks! Until next time, Ihope to find some answers or perhaps, more questions.
 | Author of this GenBlog Matthew D Friend The Blind Genealogist |
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