Mary Florence (Pelyea) Fields (1882 - 1936)

Born 19 Apr 1882 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Ancestors

Wife of Charles Percy Myers — married 3 Apr 1909 (to 17 Jul 1913) in York, Ontario, Canada

Wife of Lewis William Fields — married 28 Aug 1914 in Ontario, Canada

Died 22 Jul 1936 at age 54 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Brett Rutherford [send private message]

Biography

Florence Pelyea married her first husband Charles Percy Myers, Apr 3, 1909 in Toronto. Their son Oliver Latimer Myers was born Apr 26, 1910 a year after the marriage. According to the divorce records shown below they moved to Chicago around June of 1910.

On June 28, 1913 Florence filed for divorce from Charles, she filed this with the Superior Court of Cook County, Illinois. Florence was granted a divorce on July 17, 1913 and married Lewis Fields in New York on Aug 28, 1914. Somewhere between Aug 28, 1914 and Aug 16, 1915 Lewis and Florence came to Canada and lived in Toronto. The date Aug 16, 1915 was the date of birth of Martha Ida Fields (she could have been born in the US) the first child of Lewis and Florence. Lewis appeared to have adopted Oliver, when Oliver died at age 9 his obituary and death certificate showed him as Oliver Fields.

Florence is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery, Toronto with her two son's Oliver and Alfred they are in an unmarked grave.

Florence is the daughter of Edward Pelyea and Martha Hedges. She had two brothers Edward Napoleon Pelyea and Oliver Pelyea.

Florence Pelyea's Divorce from First Husband . This is an outline of what the divorce records say. This will also provide a time-line for Florence who lived in the US for a couple of years. .

On June 28, 1913 Florence filed for divorce from Charles, she filed this with the Superior Court of Cook County, Illinois. The Judge hearing the Divorce was William E. Dever and Mr. Charles Aaron was the Lawyer for Florence. Florence was called as a witness in her own behalf, and was asked questions about her reasons for filing for divorce.

Florence was asked various questions, they asked her where she lived and she told them where she worked so she might have been a little nervous. She indicates that she moved to Chicago Three years ago and works at the Calumet Hotel, Grand Crossing as a Waitress making $5 a week. .

When she came to Chicago she lived at 78th and Cottage Grove. She was asking for divorce because her husband had left her alone with a child Apr 7, 1911 and never came back, he told her his reason for leaving is that he didn’t want to be tied down, and that he liked to ramble, then he went to work that morning and didn’t come back. She said that he went away on the street car one morning and that was the last she saw of him. She did try and find him; she said that two detectives in Grand Crossing told her that since she had no pictures of him it would be hard to find him. .

She told them that she had one son named Oliver and than they asked her if that was the child she had in her arms. She had her child with her in court and was holding him the. She told them that she had been supporting him by herself the whole time and that she wanted custody of him. Florence confirmed that her husband worked as a Decorator, when asked how much he earned Florence said that she didn’t know that he kept his pay to himself and that she would guess that he would have made about $20 a week.

Mrs. Louise Pearson called as a Witness: The next witness was Mrs. Louise Pearson who confirmed that she had known Florence since Nov 1910. She was asked if she knew Charles and how he treated Florence, her answer was that she did know Charles and that she didn’t know of any ill treatment on his part against Florence and that he was well behaved whenever she visited, which was about once a week, she said that he seem to be a pleasant speaking young man, capable young man with a good opinion of himself. She than told the courts that Florence’s husband left her April 1911 and that she had heard about him leaving from the neighbours.

The reason why she was told this was because she had secured Charles a job as a decorator since this was his business and the person that hired him told her that they found a paint pail with a note in it from Charles saying that he was going away for good, that he was ashamed of himself. She went to Florence and was told that he had deserted her. She told the courts that Florence worked at whatever she could find to support herself and her child.

Mrs. Alfred Anderson called as a Witness: The next witness was Mrs. Alfred Anderson. She met Florence about a week after Charles left her. She appears to have been a good friend of Florence’s she said that they spent a great deal of time together. She confirms that Florence worked and that Charles never returned.

Mr. Charles Aaron was the Lawyer for Florence: Mr. Aaron the Lawyer for Florence that the court order alimony and legal fees. The court agreed and allowed $10 a week in alimony and $50 for lawyer fees. Florence received Custody of Oliver. They were going to try and find Charles at the last known address and summons him to court, it doesn’t appear that they found him and Florence was granted a divorce on July 17, 1913 and married Lewis Fields in New York on Aug 28, 1914. Somewhere between Aug 28, 1914 and Aug 16, 1915 Lewis and Florence came to Canada and lived in Toronto. The date Aug 16, 1915 was the date of birth of Martha Ida Fields the first child of Lewis and Florence. Lewis appeared to have adopted Oliver, when Oliver died at age 9 his obituary and death certificate showed him as Oliver Fields.^[1]

Mary was born in 1882. She was the daughter of Edward Pelyea and Martha Hedges. She passed away in 1936.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ information originally from Donna Borden at ancestry.com, edited by Brett Rutherford June 2, 2015
2. ↑ A source for this information is needed.

• Find A Grave Memorial# 92047684

• Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938 and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947, Archives of Ontario; Series: MS935; Reel: 536

• Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1801-1928, Archives of Ontario; Series: MS932; Reel: 138, Myers

• 1891 Census of Canada, Year: 1891; Census Place: Thorold Town, Welland, Ontario; Roll: T-6376; Family No: 117

• 1901 Census of Canada, Year: 1901; Census Place: Merritton, Lincoln & Niagara, Ontario; Page: 2; Family No: 13