Sepia Saturday 477: Sixth in a series on the odd 1860 separation of my great-great-great grandparents Zebulon and Hannah (Hance) Blakeslee — a summertime census mystery.
After the 1866 divorce of my great-great-great grandparents Zebulon and Hannah (Hance) Blakeslee, their lives took different paths.
Zebulon moved to a new town and married a younger second wife. But Hannah took a different route, characterizing herself as a “widow” until her dying day — a portrayal so convincing that it has taken me years to unravel what really happened with their marriage.
How was Hannah so successful at recasting her life? Perhaps because the tenor of the times made her explanation plausible — and her family seems to have gone along with the socially-acceptable ruse.
A sea of war widows
When the Blakeslees separated circa 1860, the U.S. was undergoing a period of rapid change. Better transportation led to greater mobility, and women’s rights were also expanding — so moving to Delaware County with her daughters Mary and Rhoda to escape an unhappy marriage was a viable option for Hannah.
When Zebulon’s divorce petition was granted in 1866, the U.S. Civil War had recently ended — leaving in its wake a sea of bereaved war widows. By then, Hannah no longer lived where she had when married, and none but her family members knew about Zebulon — so why not become one more “widow” at a time when there were many?
Hannah’s daughters and their families appear to have concurred with her decision. For when the census takers called in subsequent years, she was consistently listed as “widowed” — even though Zebulon was still alive in Jessup, Susquehanna Co., Penna., according to his census returns.
| 1873-1886: Hannah (Hance) Blakeslee in New York and U.S. censuses & Binghamton, N.Y., city directories – Sources: FamilySearch/Ancestry | ||||
| Year | Record | Name/Age | Job/Status | Household |
| 1873 | Binghamton, N.Y. city directory | Hannah Blakesley, 61 | Widow Zebulon, domestic | 196 Court |
| 1875 | NYS Census, Binghamton 4th Ward, Broome, N.Y. | Hannah Blakeslee, 65 (indexed as “Hannah B. Cackster”) | Now a widow | Son-in-law William W. Whitney |
| 1880 | US Census, Binghamton, Broome, N.Y. | Hannah Blakesley, 68 | Widowed/ Divorced (hashmark in column) | Grandson Albert E. Whitney, 4 Butternut |
| 1885 | Binghamton, N.Y. city directory | Hannah Blakeslee, 73 | Widow Zebulon | 4 Butternut |
| 1886 | Binghamton, N.Y. city directory | Hannah Blakeslee, 74 | Widow Zebulon | 4 Butternut |
Hannah’s tale turns true
I have not yet located a death record for Zebulon — or any record past his 1880 U.S. Census entry, at age 70, in Jessup Township, Susquehanna County, Penna. Nor do I know where he is buried.
Zebulon’s date of death is given as 5 Jan. 1880 in a multigenerational chart of Hannah’s Hance family — published in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record as “John Hance and Some of His Descendants.” 1Hance, Rev. William White, “John Hance and Some of His Descendants.” New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. XXXV, No. 2 (1904), p. 130.
However, Record articles at that time were not sourced –and his date of death appears be inaccurate.
Zebulon was enumerated in the 1880 federal census and I have not found him in the 1880 mortality index — indicating he was likely still alive on 5 Jan. that year.
Yet as the 1880s progressed Zebulon probably did pass away — lending credence to Hannah’s public persona as his “widow.” And her family went along to the end — giving her marital status as “widowed” on her death certificate and memorializing her as the “Wife of Zebulon Blakeslee” on her tombstone.
There will be more on the Blakeslees once I (hopefully!) obtain their divorce decree and related records. Meanwhile, please visit the blogs of this week’s other Sepia Saturday participants here.
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