Mom's Marriages

May 17th was the day Mom celebrated her wedding anniversary to Darwin S. Warriner.  She always told me that the best way to get married is to get a confidential marriage license because then you don't need to take a syphilis test.  But I always thought that she had other motives.  It got me a bit curious about her marriages, so I did a bit of research.  

When Mom married the first time, it was in September, 1939.  I found an announcement in the Detroit Free Press, dated Sept 26, 1939.  When she married Charles "Bill" Tompsett, he was 18 and she was 17.

Her next marriage was to Darwin S Warriner.  It occurred on May 17, 1950, and even though they lived in Detroit, Michigan, they traveled all the way to Woodstock, Virginia to get it done.

Curiously, she and Darwin married a second time.  This time, it was 6 months later, on November 3, 1950, and they did it in Detroit, Michigan.

Why did they go to all the trouble of getting married twice? I am not certain of their motives.

Many years ago I attempted to verify Mom's marriage to Paris Young and found that the rules are very strict. Confidential marriages are not posted in the newspaper.  A curious person cannot go on a fishing expedition, send off for a search of marriage records, and expect to receive any information. You must provide the exact date of marriage and the exact full names of the bride and the groom.  If you do that, you will receive a letter that will either verify what you already know, or will state that they did not find any evidence of a marriage based on the information you submitted. Since I knew the date of the marriage-July 11, 1975, and the full names of the parties involved, I was able to get verification that Mom did indeed marry Paris Young.

Did she marry anyone else?  I don't think so, but because of the confidential marriage rules, I guess we'll never know for sure!