Floyda Files for Divorce: Favorite Discovery

1901 divorce papers of
Floyda Mabel Steiner

For this week's #52Ancestors challenge, I asked my husband about our favorite discovery in his family tree.

His pick: Learning about his Grandma Floyda's first marriage--and how/why she divorced her first husband.

Finding a Clue in Floyda's Marriage Certificate

Floyda Mabel Steiner (1878-1948) married my husband's Grandpa Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970) on June 10, 1903.

When I ordered and received their marriage certificate, I was surprised to see that Floyda listed herself as divorced, with a previous married name of Floyda M. Gottfried.*

Digging Deeper into Floyda's Life

It didn't take long to find Floyda and her first husband, Aaron F. Gottfried, in the 1900 U.S. Census. They were living in Salem township, next to the town of Upper Sandusky where she was born. There were no children listed in the household.

Next, I paid to obtain Floyda's first marriage certificate. I learned she was married on May 18, 1898, in her home town of Upper Sandusky, OH.

When Was Floyda Divorced?

Now I had to narrow down the period for her divorce and get the story. In 1900, she was living with her first husband. In 1903, she was getting married for the second time. According to social items published in local newspapers, she was using her maiden name in 1903 when her engagement to her second husband was announced.

Clearly, the divorce took place between 1900 and 1903, far enough in the past that I could expect to get info about what happened. Since Floyda was sticking so close to home, I picked up the phone and dialed Wyandot and Crawford counties, and threw myself on the mercy of county clerks. I explained who, what, and when I was seeking, and asked for their help, please. Crawford county had nothing, but Wyandot county had the divorce papers in their files!

"Extreme Cruelty"

All I had to do was pay 10 cents per page for photocopying. (I sent more, and the cost was still peanuts.) In exchange, I received a dozen pages detailing the legal proceedings during the court term of April, 1901.

Floyda was requesting a divorce from her first husband on the grounds of "extreme cruelty." This was highly unusual at the time. Divorce was considered somewhat shameful and it was courageous of a woman, in particular, to initiate the end of her marriage. But it sounds like Floyda had good reasons.

She told the court that her first husband once kicked her in an angry fit, scratched her face until it bled, and "frequently drew his fist," threatening that if not for the law, he would strike her. He also called her names and said she "was not his equal in birth, education, etc." For his part, her husband denied the charges.

Asking for Alimony

In another move uncommon for that period, Floyda warned the court to restrain her first husband from disposing of his considerable property (then worth $1,700, the equivalent of more than $52,500 today). She believed he would try to thwart her ability to receive alimony, if the divorce was granted.

On May 21, 1901, Floyda was granted the divorce she sought. She was awarded $215 in lump-sum alimony, plus court costs, and she was given the legal right to use her maiden name again.

Floyda Remarries

1903 wedding announcement of
Floyda Steiner & Brice McClure

Two years after her divorce, Floyda married her second husband Brice in a "quiet wedding" at the Upper Sandusky home of one of her sisters. They boarded a train after the marriage dinner to go to Wabash, Indiana, where Brice worked for the railroads.

Floyda and Brice had one child, Marian Jane McClure (1909-1983), born in Cleveland, Ohio. They were very devoted to her and, when she married, they embraced her husband (Edgar James Wood, 1903-1986) as part of their family

Telling Floyda's Story 


When I tell the story of Floyda's divorce to her descendants, I emphasize how brave she was, in 1901, to take the bold step of going to court to get out of an abusive marriage.

It was just as courageous of her to return to her home town after her divorce, and resume an active social life until she remarried and moved away.

Floyda's father had passed away decades earlier, and her mother was nearing 70 years old at the time of this divorce. Seeing Floyda in a troubled marriage must have difficult for the whole family ... and then seeing Floyda happily remarried must have been very joyful!

So let me salute Floyda as our "favorite discovery" of a powerful, emotional episode in #FamilyHistory.

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*At the time, Floyda's second marriage license was not yet available publicly--the only way to see it was to pay for it. I believe in having the actual documentation for parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents in my hands so I can examine every detail. I really got my money's worth!