Olive and Rosebud Osborn, Teen Brides

The Osborn girls

From my husband's side of the family tree, I admire the romantic names of the Osborn sisters, as shown in their baptismal record at left, from 1868. The full names of these three sisters appear nowhere else but on their baptismal record! 

Harriet "Hattie" Verona Osborn was the oldest, Olive "Ollie" Violet Osborn was the middle girl, and Rosebud Charlotte Augusta was the youngest of the Osborn sisters. 

Olive gets married

On the 26th of April in 1874 in Toledo, Ohio, teenaged bride Olive Osborn (1856-1891) married William Henry White Wood (1853-1893). They were my hubby's great uncle and great aunt. 

When Olive married William, she was 17, her husband was 20.

Olive and Stephen, then Olive and William

This wasn't Olive's first marriage: In 1872, at only 15, she eloped to Detroit where she married Stephen Sylvester Babcock. Olive said she was 16, the minimum age to marry in Michigan at the time, and her older sister "Hattie" was a witness. No documentation of how that marriage was dissolved. Stephen married again later.  

Olive and William settled in Toledo and had a large family, their youngest born late in February, 1891. Sadly, Olive died in March of 1891 from "peripheral septicemia." William contracted typhoid some months later and died in 1893 from "typhoid relapse."

Rosebud and John

Rosebud married five months after her sister Olive, wed to John C. Werts in Toledo, Ohio in September, 1874. Although 16 was the minimum age to marry in Ohio, Rosebud was only 15. No record of her having a parent's consent to marry. She and John also raised their family in Toledo.

Thinking of Olive Osborn Wood and her husband, William Henry White Wood, on the anniversary of their wedding in 1874.

Married Twice Because His Mama Wanted a Pastor to Preside

My husband's first cousin once removed, George Ellery Wood (1885-1976) was married for the first time on this date 117 years ago. As shown above, George E. Wood was the groom, Amanda L. Krueger (1890-1947) was the bride. They claimed to live in Detroit, Michigan, where this marriage was recorded, but in reality both lived in Toledo, Ohio. 

George was an iron worker, he wrote on this marriage license, and he and his bride both listed their parents and ages correctly. Directly above, the part of the marriage ledger where the officiant is named: a Justice of the Peace.

The family story is that George and Amanda eloped to Detroit on this Saturday in March, returning home the same day. George's mother was not happy. George was her oldest child, and she insisted the couple be married again in Ohio, where they actually lived, and by the clergyman of her choice: Reverend George Candee, an ardent abolitionist. 

And so on Tuesday, March 31, 1908, George and Amanda stood in front of Rev. Candee and were again married. Above is the proof. Interestingly, the bride and groom claimed on this marriage license application that neither had been previously married, perhaps because George's mom didn't want anyone to know about the elopement ten days earlier? Also note by the star on the image above, the notation "don't publish please." Hmmm? 

In any case, the couple had three children together and remained married for nearly 39 years until Amanda's death from heart problems in 1947. She was buried in Forest Cemetery, Toledo, Ohio. When her husband George died in 1976, he was buried by her side.

This "historic event" of two marriages in 10 days was discussed by descendants for decades. My post is for the #52Ancestors challenge by Amy Johnson Crow.