Two Husbands for Isabella

While researching for the book that I'm writing about my maternal grandfather William (Will) Liming Redles, I searched for a marriage record for his parents, G. Albert Redles and Isabella Liming, to confirm when they were married.  According to the 1900 census, they had been married for 31 years, which would put the year at about 1869.[1]  I wasn't sure if they had gotten married in Philadelphia (where they lived for many years), in Wilmington, Delaware (where they were living in 1870), or in Mt. Holly, New Jersey (where Will was born in 1873).  (Click on each image below for a larger view.)

The 1900 Burlington County, New Jersey, census for G. Albert and Isabella Redles (dwelling 54) showing that they had been married for 31 years at the time of this census.

I found a Delaware marriage index record on ancestry.com for Rev. G. Alfred Redles and Isabella Sheppard who were married on June 7, 1869.  I thought these names were too much of a coincidence. Since this looks like it's an index record, I thought it possible that the original record was handwritten and was misread, and that "Alfred" should have been typed as "Albert." Or maybe the indexer mistakenly used the first name of the clergyman who performed the ceremony, Alfred Lee.[2]

1869 Delaware marriage record index for G. Alfred Redles and Isabella Sheppard

Both the G. Alfred in the marriage record and Will's father G. Albert were clergymen, and both married a woman named Isabella. G. Albert accepted the position of Assistant Minister of St. Andrews Church in Wilmington, Delaware, in June 1868.  Rev. Alfred Lee, who is noted as the clergyman for the marriage of G. Alfred Redles and Isabella Sheppard in the above record, was the rector of St. Andrews Church where G. Albert was the assistant minister. There is no G. Alfred Redles recorded in the journal of the Diocese of Delaware's convention held on June 2, 1869, just a few days before G. Alfred Redles and Isabella Sheppard were married.[3]

I went back to the census records. Enumerators for the 1910 census were instructed that if a person was married, "inquire whether they have been married before, and if this is the first marriage, write 'M1,' but if this is the second or subsequent marriage, write 'M2' (meaning married more than once)."  In the 1910 census, there is an M1 for G. Albert and M2 for Isabella under Column 8 for marital status. [4] I don't recall seeing this before!

The 1910 Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, census record for G. Albert and Isabella Redles (dwelling 225) showing Isabella's marital status as M2 indicating her marriage to G. Albert wasn't her first marriage.

On familysearch.org, I found a marriage record for Isabella Liming of Philadelphia and Joseph K. Sheppard of Salem, New Jersey, married on March 4, 1862.  There is a death record on familysearch.org for a Joseph K. Sheppard who died in June 1865 of heart disease at the age of 28.  His obituary on genealogybank.com notes that the funeral will be at the home of his mother Ann in Salem, New Jersey. There is no mention of a wife.[5]

Marriage record for Isabella Liming and Joseph K. Sheppard, March 4, 1862, from familysearch.org.

However, I think that I'm on the right track. My great grandmother Isabella Liming was married twice, and I believe that her first husband was Joseph K. Sheppard. I would like to find more evidence, like a marriage record for Isabella and Joseph that lists her parents William and Anna!

Catherine

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[1]  1900 U. S. census, Burlington County, New Jersey, population schedule, Beverly, p. 3, dwelling 54, family 55, G. A. Redles, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 November 2013), citing NARA microfilm publication T632.

[2]  Delaware Marriage Records, 1744-1912, Rev. G. Alfred Redles and Isabella Sheppard, June 07,1869, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 November 2013), citing Delaware Public Archives, RG 1325, Subgroup 003, series 004, Volume 82, page 247.

[3]  Journal of the Proceedings of the Seventy-ninth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Delaware held in Christ Church, Delaware City, On Wednesday, June 2D, 1869.  H. & E. F. James, Wilmington, Delaware, 1869, 15, 25.

[4]  Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of the Census, Thirteenth Census of the United States April 15, 1910.  Instructions to Enumerators: Including supplemental Instructions for the Collection of the Statistics of Manufactures and of Mines and Quarries.  Washington: Government Printing Office, 1910, 29; 1910 U.S. census, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Philadelphia, p. 10A, dwelling 225, family George A. Redles, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 November 2013), citing NARA microfilm publication T624.

[5]  "New Jersey, County Marriages, 1682-1956," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-9880-30953-46?cc=1803976&wc=MMVF-D4W:1105263986 : accessed 01 Dec 2013), 004541227 > image 741 of 847;  "Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VK8R-PSL : accessed 01 Dec 2013), Joseph K. Sheppard, 1865; "Died."  Obituary for Joseph K. Sheppard.  Public Ledger, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 30 June 1865, 2, digital image, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 30 November 2013).