Piggly Wiggly

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Columbia, SC. 13 July 2023.

You know you're in the South when a Piggly Wiggly is your local market. We're currently visiting family in South Carolina and celebrating a birthday.

Blacksburg

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Virginia Tech. 23 Apr 2022.

Happy Friday! The photo above is from Spring 2022 next to the Duck Pond at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. We're currently here for a quick stop, then heading further south this afternoon for a long weekend with family. It isn't quite as floral here yet, but the forecast calls for near 80 today.

The divorce decree

 

Davidson County, TN. Circuit Court. 24 Sep 1887.

Thanks to the helpful team at the Metro Archives in Nashville, above is a copy of the divorce decree in the case of Fred E. Day and Agnes Day, issued in September 1887. This confirms Fred paid the court costs for the divorce and Agnes failed to answer the complaint. Most probably she did not answer because she was no longer in the relationship, on tour out of state, and may not have had notice the divorce had been filed. There's not much else to go on.

The Tennessean. 7 Aug 1887.

The Circuit Court Clerk's Office also wrote back to me that they do not have records going back earlier than 1925. The courthouse burned twice and was flooded during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Any records that do exist would be with the Metro Archives (see above). Now I wait for the Marion County Clerk in Indiana to see if there's more information from the start of Agnes and Fred's relationship. 

On the stage

 

Evansville Journal. 24 Jan 1882.

Another article I had previously overlooked when searching for references to Agnes Atherton's career on the stage. The clipping above shows Agnes (listed as "Aggie") performing in Evansville, Indiana with Fred Day in January 1882. The couple were married in Indianapolis in October 1881. This indicates they performed on stage together at least in 1882.

News of the marriage between Agnes and Fred made it to the Springfield, Illinois newspaper the Daily Illinois State Register on 6 November 1881.

Daily Ill. State Register. 6 Nov 1881.

I am really hoping the marriage record and certificate from Marion County provides some interesting details about Agnes.

Another look at the records

Back in September and October 2023, I dove into the story of Agnes Atherton O'Brien, the multi-talented sister of my 2nd-great-grandfather John J. O'Brien. I previously looked at the news clippings of her quick marriage and later divorce proceedings brought by Fred Day in Nashville, Tennessee in 1887. At the time, I had not checked whether a copy of the divorce case file might be available from the Davidson County Circuit Court. From the news article below, a final decree of divorce was approved by the court around 24 September 1887.

The Tennessean. 25 Sept 1887.

I'm now in the process of completing the public records request form for the case file.

In addition to the divorce case, I am requesting a copy of the marriage record from the Marion County Clerk's Office in Indianapolis. From the Indiana Marriages index on Ancestry and FamilySearch, the marriage occurred on 20 October 1881. Maybe these documents will shed more light on Agnes.

Something I overlooked when I wrote about Agnes and Alfred M. Gillette in October 2023, is that on the 1910 US Census entry, the couple is listed as married for 20 years. This would put their marriage to be about 1899-1890, if one existed.

Ancestry. 1910 US Census. Cincinnati, OH.