October is family history month and, sometimes when researching the family, you will stumble across some bad news and maybe find out that your ancestors did some things that might surprise, disappoint, or shock you. And with that in mind, did you ever hear the old saying that, “if it bleeds, it leads,” with respect to the news? I am not sure if this was true, but it does seem that bad news sells papers, and it appears that the editors of the the old Port Byron Chronicle were all to happy to share personal details in what we might call “victim shaming” today. So let’s take a look at some bad news from the past, and although I will use initials in some cases to respect family privacy, the names were printed for all to see.
Divorce was always a cause for a mention, and in 1901, the paper notes that “A divorce always attracts more attention than a marriage.” In 1845, an article states, “In A Pickle – Catharine Pickle of Clinton Co., Penn., got into a pickle by marrying one Jacob Pickle; she wishes to get out of the pickle, and to avoid all future pickles, by procuring a divorce from Pickle, and thus become unpickled.” This light-hearted mention was certainly due to the name and the need to fill column space. (I didn’t dig too deep, but there was a family with this name in Clinton County, Pa.) A more serious mention of divorce is seen in 1909, when F.G. caught his wife M.G. fooling around with W.S. in Sodus and then filed for a divorce. Usually these cases were awarded interlocutory decrees which allowed for separation but delayed the final award for a year. In 1935, the paper gave a full length column to the bad or good news of a divorce that took place in Reno between Dr. H.B. and his wife, and his quick remarriage to J.N. The old and new wives traveled and appeared in court together so it seems that there were no hard feelings between the two ladies. Maybe the first wife was happy to be done with him! Heading west was not that rare as the 1901, paper mentions that the State of Arizona awarded a divorce to local couple E.T and W. T. Sometimes, the news of a divorce action was just a simple “M.T., of Savannah, has commenced an action for divorce against his wife, M.T., of the same place.” A mention of divorce led me to the story of H.S., who ran away with the fifteen-year-old daughter of Mr. M.L., after M.T. told the young lass that he had gotten a divorce. He had not, so H.S. would be charged with abduction and bigamy.
It was not uncommon to name the victim of violent crimes. In 1903, a local businessman J.T. was charged with the rape of twelve-year-old A.R. at his business. In 1913, the paper names two young ladies who had been attacked. In one, M.G. was charged with rape against V.E., but had since married her. (So that made it okay?) Further down the page we read that G.M. was charged with attempted rape on the seven-year-old G.P.. There are many more.
The paper also never shied away from naming those who attempted suicide. In 1911, it was reported that “Mrs. G.D., who since the loss of her child has been suffering from melancholia attempted suicide last Friday.” Today we would say that Mrs. D. was suffering from postpartum depression. Age and sickness were often the motive for such acts. In 1912, A.V. had been in “poor health” at Willard and upon returning home, took his life. In 1913, the paper mentions two on the same page when Mrs. A.G. took her life by swallowing acid, and D.M. did it with a shotgun.
Being injured or killed by a train or trolley was not uncommon. In 1905, Egbert Romer was instantly killed by a train in Troy. In 1932, George Panek and Bert Wayne were killed while working on the tracks and they didn’t hear the approaching train. In 1911, Antonio Verdi was struck by a trolley when crossing the tracks. In 1909, the paper noted the twelfth fatal auto accident in Syracuse when a family ran into a street car. And George Morgan had his foot amputated by a train when his foot got stuck in-between the rails and he had to dive to the side to save his life, but lose his foot. The papers record many such accidents when people were not aware of how quickly the trains were approaching.
There are so many more of these life events. So, the hobby of genealogy is a lot like being a detective. You will find both the good, and the bad.