52 Ancestors #9: Divorce drama of Charles D. Essler

At the end of the hallway at my parent’s house hang portraits of my dad’s great-grandmother, Isabelle LeMaitre, and her 2nd husband, Walter Seaver. Notice I didn’t say my dad’s great-grandparents. Walter, although loved by Isabelle, wasn’t our blood relation. Of her three husbands, she loved him best.

My dad’s great-grandfather, Charles Daniel Essler, was Isabelle’s first husband. She married him at 17. They divorced when she was 34. She was left with four children between the ages of 3 and 13. You might understand why it isn’t his portrait on the wall!

Charles Daniel Essler’s beginning is a little fuzzy. From his death record, I know Charles was born on May 4, 1848 in Pennsylvania. I believe his parents to be John and Catharine Essler, both born in Germany in the early 18-teens. I have not been able to prove this, however, as I can’t locate an actual birth record.

 

Marriage #1

Charles Daniel married Margaret Summers (1854-1941) prior to 1870 (they appear on the 1870 census).  Together, they had three children: Ida May (b. 1870), Emma (b. 1873) and Nellie (b. 1878).  The couple divorced between 1880 and 1884. He left Margaret with three young children. They both remarried in 1884 – Margaret to James Orr. 

Marriage #2

On June 4, 1884, at age 36, Charles married my 2nd great-grandmother, Isabelle LeMaitre (1866-1951). She was 17. They had five children:

• Walter (b 1885, died in infancy)
• Edward (1887-1981)
• Marian Veronica (1889-1975, my great-grandmother)
• Florence (b. 1892)
• Ina Lillian (1897-1975)

After 15 years of not-so-blissful marriage, they divorced in the year 1900. According to my daddy, Charles Daniel had a bit of a drinking problem … I suspect that is what led to each of his divorces. Isabelle remarried a few years after to Walter Seaver (1861-1920), and after that to William Haggerty (1865-1942).

Marriage #3

Charles Daniel can be found living on a farm with a new wife, Minnie (1883-1973), in the 1905 Minnesota Territorial and State Census on a farm in Todd County. Minnie had been living there for 2 years at the time of the census. A little math tells me they married about 1903. She was 19 at the time. He was 55. They had one child, Charley D Essler (b. 1910).

I don’t know much about Minnie, not even a maiden name. She died using the Essler name, however, and I have no record of her remarrying. She was buried beside her beloved. She lived an entire lifetime without him.

I find that sad since she would have been only 31 when Charles Daniel died.  Their son was 4.  I can only imagine what a young mom, seemingly without any support or livelihood at the time, would have to do to keep things together in 1914. Minnie isn’t my relative, but her life with and after Charles Daniel raises some curiosity. 

Until I really started tracing my family history, Charles Daniel was just a name on my great-grandma’s birth certificate.  He didn’t rank much higher than that in her life.  I’m fascinated by the stories … and conjecture … that come from a man born in Pennsylvania of German blood, who traveled with family to Wisconsin, then on to Minnesota, and finally found his resting place in Clinton, Missouri.  

Charles Daniel Essler was pronounced dead on October 8, 1914 from “carcinoma of the liver”.

Sometimes he was a farmer, other times he was a moulder. He seemed to always own his home and at least provide a living for his families. I don’t think his children really had much to do with him after he left their lives. That’s a hell of a legacy for a man to leave. But, someone loved him … and she waited 59 years for the reunion.