Clarence & May (and Leonard) ... continued

We left off that Clarence and May were married. As I said, I have what I'll call an "abundance" of information on May and little or no information for Clarence so I'll continue on as best I can about May, but my cup runneth dry on Clarence. I've already shared that they had three children and that Clarence died in January 1929 in this post. Actually the date of his death was January 6, 1929. Imagine my shock to see that May had another child in May of 1929 - a daughter she named Virginia ANDERSON.... hmmmm, things are getting interesting!

Of course, I went digging (as we genealogists do at times) but I didn't have to look far - and found another marriage record for May. Because this child Virginia was born in the month of May, I assumed that I'd find something for possibly the previous summer.... not so! Remember, Clarence died on Jan 6... May got married to Leonard C. Anderson on January 16... yes, 1929. This would be my reasoning that May and Clarence indeed were not divorced. If she were actually divorced she would have married Leonard sooner, already being with child. Clarence's death opened the door for their marriage. Tucked away in a small bible I found the certificate of marriage for the couple in Washington DC, January 16, 1929; witnessed by Leonard's brother Walter Anderson.

Now May, who was with Leonard in Washington DC must've been seeing him for some time obviously. When I interviewed her brother Marshall back in 2000 he told me that May used to ask him to ride the train with her to DC so she could "go see her boyfriend.. that Anderson." THAT Anderson??? The general feeling we got from him was that the Kidwells (May's family) didn't exactly approve of this relationship, and May was 'running off' with this man. Which is exactly what she did...

This photo is May and Leonard and May's two first born children - Pauline on the far left and Edna. The date of this picture is unknown.

Next time I'll share a letter from home that May received from her sister (BEFORE this marriage took place) and more about the children that May and Leonard had together.