Questions That the Records Can't Answer

There are a lot of questions I have for my ancestors as I research them, that the records cannot answer. Here are just some of the questions I wish I could ask about!!

FLORENCE HALLIDAY'S FIRST MARRIAGE

In January of 1916, my grandmother, Florence Halliday, married Harold Edwards in Eldon, Iowa. I knew about this early marriage quite a while ago, including the facts about the birth of a son, the divorce, and my grandmother's subsequent remarriage to my grandfather. But a couple of years ago, I found a newspaper article talking about the wedding. "The marriage took place on the stage in the last act of '$1 for a Kiss' of the Moore and Watterson show playing at Eldon, Iowa."[1] Turns out that Harold Edwards was a former actor who had become a salesman. According to the marriage license, my grandmother was 16, but she was actually 18.[2] 

So just a few of my questions to my grandmother would be:

• What were you thinking? 
• Why did you give your age as 16?
• What drew you to this man? Was he a sweet talker?  
• What was it like getting married on stage?

THE DEATH OF MICHAEL PHILIP MARTIN

My great-grandfather, Michael Philip Martin, died on 7 August 1923 in Hocking, Monroe County, Iowa. I have his death certificate, which lists his cause of death as "killed by fall of slate in coal mine," so I knew he was killed in a mining accident.[3] But a graphic newspaper article gave the rest of the story. 

"Two of Mr. Martin's sons were working with him at the time the accident occurred. A huge chunk of slate about 7 feet long and 12 inches thick fell on his head, almost mashing him to a pulp. It required three men to remove the slate." [4]

By a process of elimination, I realized that one of those two sons was, in fact, my grandfather, George Michael Martin. Another article provided an even more graphic and grisly description of the injuries. At the time, Michael Phillip was 47 years old and left a wife and nine children.

So my questions to my grandfather would have been: 

• What was it like to work in a coal mine? 
• How old were you when you started working in the mines? 
• How did you manage to go back into the mines after that accident?
• How did your mother react? 
• Did your family receive any benefits from the mine owners? Or did you, as the oldest son, become the main breadwinner of the family?

Since I knew both my grandparents quite well and usually even spent a week or two with them every summer, I wish I had thought to ask more about their lives. While I suspect that neither would have talked about these two episodes, I might have gleaned some hints about how they affected the rest of their lives.

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This week's #52Ancestors prompt is Questions That the Records Can't Answer.

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[1]"Married in Eldon," The Gazette (Cedar Rapids), 1 February 1916, p.2, col. 3.

[2] Iowa Marriage Records, 1880-1947; digital image, Ancestry. Wapello County, p.90-93, #1454, Edwards-Holiday, January 1916.

[3] Death Certificate #68-508, (Amended in 1951). Mike Martin 8/7/23, Hocking, Monroe County, Iowa. 

[4]Albia newspaper clipping, undated, and no paper listed.