Seven husbands - #1

Leta and her first husband Ralph Chetister were both born on the same day—April 14, but he was two years older. They married on April 19, 1913. He was 21, and she was 19. They had two children. First was Vivian—my grandmother—born on December 29, 1913.

Wait a minute!

Yes, I counted on my fingers, too: May=1, June=2, July=3 and so on. December is only eight months from April. First children are usually late (yes, I know—not always), but in all likelihood, Leta was already going to have her first baby before she married Ralph. As one of my friend says, “the first baby can come any time; the second takes nine months.” In any case, I doubt if Leta knew she was pregnant, and I doubt even more that this was a marriage of necessity because of it. I suspect it was more a case of they couldn’t wait.

The second child, lest we forget, was Dale who was born on October 13, 1916. These were Leta’s only two children, even though she was only about 31 when she divorced from Ralph.

I’m not sure that as a small child, I understood that Grandma Eckman and Grandpa Chetister were once related, even though they were the parents of my grandmother. After all, they didn’t have the same name. Although I remember him vaguely, I don’t recall them every being at the same place at the same time, like at a birthday party or for Christmas. As he died in 1971 when I was only seven, I barely remember Grandpa Chetister—Ralph—at all, just some vague visits to his house. And this enormous heavy wood desk that we acquired after he died.

So far I have not uncovered exactly when Leta and Ralph divorced, or very many of her other marriage and divorce dates. I am still working on them. However, I have put together a loose time-line based on what I know so far.

Per Vivian’s report cards, Leta and Ralph were still married during at least part of the 1924-1925 school year (fifth grade), but she was married to someone else by the time Vivian was in sixth grade (1925-26).

Husband number two was Albert Mohr. Still using report card signatures as a guide, Leta and Albert were married from sometime in 1925 until June 5, 1927.  On that day, Albert Mohr was killed in a drive-by shooting while standing on the front porch of their home.

Husband number three was a fellow whose last name was Freeman. Again, using Vivian’s report cards as a guide, this marriage began between October 1927 and January 1928. This source ends at the end of Vivian’s ninth grade year, as there are no more report cards, so Leta was still married to Mr. Freeman” through June 1929, at least.

End of Part #1. Stay tuned.