Signs they briefly lived together

 

Ancestry. Michigan Marriage Records. 1883.

Sometime after the October 1881 Indianapolis marriage of Agnes Atherton and Fred E. Day, the couple returned to the home of Fred's mother, Eliza Day, in Detroit. Either gigs dried up for Fred, or the couple were trying out domestic life in Fred's home city. Fred took a job as a brakeman with the railroad alongside his brother Brayton in Detroit, and appears in the 1883 City Directory living back at his mother's home with Brayton (Agnes does not appear in the record).

Between September and December 1883, Agnes performed at the Opera House in Saginaw, Michigan.

Saginaw Evening Express. 3 Dec 1883.

In the entry at the top of the post, Agnes is recorded with her married name Agnes Day, as a witness along with husband Fred to the marriage of James O'Donoghere and Lizzie Mitchell. This occurred on 27 November 1883 in the Springwells neighborhood of Detroit. James was a fellow railroad employee and immigrant from Ireland. It does not appear there's any connection between James and Agnes, other than Irish heritage.

By January 1884, Agnes was performing with another company in Cincinnati, and then went on an extended tour throughout the Midwest. She did not return to Michigan until August 1884, and she was back on the road again shortly afterward. This seems to mark the end of the relationship, as Fred filed for divorce once he moved to Nashville in 1885.

I think this has given me a fresh perspective on Fred, learning about the full spectrum of his life before and after his marriage to Agnes. They were young, talented performers, and at this part of their lives, Fred was back at home while Agnes' career was taking off on the stage. Perhaps the relationship was the push Fred needed to make the jump to his next phase of life, inspiring him to go to Nashville, and later Chicago and California.