Temperance (Peters) Ryker (1853 - 1928)

Born 27 Mar 1853 in Arkansas, United States

Wife of Nathaniel Calvin Ryker — married 21 Jan 1886 (to 1896) in Washington County, Arkansas, United States

Wife of Andrew Harper — married 8 May 1901 (to 1905) in Washington County, Arkansas, United States

Wife of James L. Cavin — married 1921 (to 1 Feb 1924) in Arkansas, United States

Died 21 Jan 1928 at age 74 in Washington County, Arkansas, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Richard Ryker [send private message] and L Adcox [send private message]

Biography

Temperance Peters was born on 27 March 1853 in West Fork Township, Washington County, Arkansas to Aaron Peters (1820-1904) and Martha Ann Remey (1827-1906). ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Temperance Peters married (1) Nathaniel Calvin Ryker (1857-1921) on 21 January 1886 in Washington County, Arkansas. ^[4]
They had (at least) 1 child in 1887: ^{[5] [6] [7]}

Hercules Bolten Ryker (1887-1951) ^{[5] [6] [7]}

m. Verna ^[7]

Temperance (Peters) Ryker married (2) Andrew Harper (1833-1916) on 8 May 1901 in Washington County, Arkansas. ^{[8] [6]}
She was his fifth wife. She received a limited divorce, a divorce from bed and board, in Arkansas. Then he filed for divorce due to abandonment. ^{[citation needed]}
He remarried in 1905. ^{[citation needed]}

Temperance (Peters) Ryker Harper married (3) James L. Cavin (1837-1924) on 1921 in Arkansas. ^{[citation needed]}

Temperance (Peters) Ryker Cavin died on 21 January 1928 and was buried in Brentwood Cemetery, Brentwood, Washington County, Arkansas, United States of America. ^[9]

BIRTH:

Birth Date: 27 Mar 1853, per cemetery headstone

Birth Place: Arkansas, per census records

Possibly born in West Fork Township, Washington, Arkansas, based on her census location at age 8 years old.

DEATH:

There is conflicting information. She either died in 1928 or 1929

DEATH INDEX:

Ancestry.com. Arkansas, U.S., Death Index

Name: Temperan Ryker

Death Day: 21

Death Month: Jan

Death Year: 1929 ... [says 1928 on gravestone]

County: Washington

Roll number: 19241933

BURIAL:

Find A Grave Memorial# 69791883 (headstone pictured)

Temperance Peters Ryker

Birth: Mar. 27, 1853

Death: Jan. 21, 1928 ... [says 1929 on death index]

Burial: Brentwood Cemetery, Brentwood, Washington County, Arkansas, USA

Created by: Frances Allen Titsworth

Record added: May 13, 2011

1st MARRIAGE:

Source: familysearch.com, Arkansas Marriages, 1837-1944

Name: N.C. Ryker

Age: 28, b.1858

Spouse's Name: Temperance Peters

Spouse's Age: 33, b.1853

Spouse's Marital Status: Single

Marriage Date 21 Jan 1886

Marriage Place Washington Co., Arkansas

2nd MARRIAGE:

Source: Ancestry.com. Arkansas, County Marriages Index, 1837-1957

Name: Andrew Harper

Age: 67 [born about 1834]

Residence: Brentwood, Washington, Arkansas

Spouse's Name: Temperance Ryker [maiden Peters]

Spouse's Age: 48 [born about 1853]

Spouse's Residence: Brentwood, Washington, Arkansas

Marriage Date: 8 May 1901

Marriage License Date: 8 May 1901

Marriage County: Washington

FHL Film Number: 1034253

Notes:

There were no children from this marriage (reference her 1910 census)

Andrew sued to divorce in 1905. (reference section for Newspaper Clippings)

3rd MARRIAGE:

Source: familysearch.com, Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957

Name: James Cavin

Event Type: Marriage

Event Date (Formatted): 11 Aug 1921

Event Place: Washington, Arkansas, United States

Age: 84 [b. about 1837]

Residence Place: Prairie Grove, Washington, Arkansas

Spouse's Name: Temperance Harper [photocopy says Mrs]

Spouse's Age: 68 [b. abt 1853]

Spouse's Residence: Place Prairie Grove, Washington, Arkansas

Marriage License Date: 10 Aug 1921

Page: 425

HUSBANDS:

1st husband: Nathaniel Calvin Ryker (1857-1921) - Find A Grave# 19854475

2nd husband: Andrew Harper (1833-1916) - Find A Grave# 69791883

3rd husband: James L. Cavin(1837-1924) - Find A Grave# 15794014

NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS

Newspaper: The Leavenworth Times (Leavenworth, Kansas)

Dated: Tue, Jan 30, 1912 - Page 1

WAS DIVORCED FROM BED AND BOARD IN ARKANSAS

Now Asks for Absolute Divorce – “Divorce from Bed and Board” Not Known in Kansas.

A divorce suit has been filed in the district that has a feature of more than usual interest.. It is the suit of Andrew Harper against Temperance Harper.

The petition recites that the couple were married in May, 1901. They lived together until 1904 when the defendant abandoned Harper. In 1905 Harper, then a resident of Washington County, Arkansas, sued for divorce and was given a “Divorce from board and bed” by the chancery court of that county. He now asks this court to grant him absolute divorce.

The divorce from bed and board is something that is unknown in this state and attorneys who have had knowledge of the doings of the court of this county for many years say that this is the first case of this kind that has come to their knowledge. Here a wife may ask for a separate maintenance without divorce, but any divorce must be absolute.

-------------

Newspaper: The Leavenworth Times (Leavenworth, Kansas)

Dated: Fri, Mar 15, 1912 - Page 5

DIVORCE SUIT RAISES INTERESTING QUESTION

Can Person Divorced “From Bed and Board” Be Reckoned Guilty of Abandonment?

Some time ago Andrew Harper filed a petition against Temperance Harper, his wife, asking the divorce court of Leavenworth to grant him a divorce from her on the ground of abandonment.

In his petition Harper alleged that this wife, in the district court of Washington County, Arkansas, obtained a decree from him divorcing her from bed and board. This was not what is called an absolute divorce, but it a limited one. The court of Arkansas had jurisdiction to grant the wife a limited divorce.

Yesterday Ben F. Endres, as attorney for Mrs. Harper, filed a demurrer to the husband’s petition, claiming that his petition dies not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against his wife. The wife claims that inasmuch as the Arkansas court divorced her from her husband from bed and board, she cannot be charged with abandonment at this time.

This suit is a novel one and the outcome will be looked to with considerable interest.

Census / Timeline

1860 census, West Fork Township, Washington, Arkansas, United States. ^[1]

1870 census, West Fork, Washington, Arkansas, United States. ^[2]

1880 census, Crawford, Washington, Arkansas, United States. ^[3]

1886 marriage of Temperance, to 1st husband, N. C. Ryker, in Washington Co. AR

1900 census, Crawford & Reed Townships, Washington, Arkansas, United States. ^[5]

1901 marriage of Temperance, to 2nd husband Andrew Harper, in Washington Co. AR

1910 census, Fort Smith Ward 1, Sebastian, Arkansas, United States. ^[6]

1920 census, Prairie, Washington, Arkansas, United States. ^[7]

1921 marriage of Temperance, to 3rd husband James Cavin, in Washington Co. AR

1924 death of 3rd husband, James L. Cavin (assume in Arkansas)

1925 City Directory, Muskogee, Oklahoma, Ryker, Temperance (wid Calvin) h311 S 6th [living in household of son Hurcules Ryker]

1928 death of Temperance (either in Oklahoma or Arkansas)

Sources

^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [8] [6] [7] [9]}

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2}
   "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8WS-RDW : 18 March 2020), Temperance Peaters in entry for Aaron Peaters, 1860.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2}
   "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNCN-MN4 : 19 March 2020), Tenna Peters in entry for Aaron Peters, 1870.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2}
   "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNWT-W42 : 26 August 2017), Tenpy Peters in household of Aaron Peters, Crawford, Washington, Arkansas, United States; citing enumeration district ED 212, sheet 641B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,058.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1}
   "Arkansas Marriages, 1837-1944", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F734-GL9 : 11 January 2020), Temperance Peters in entry for N.c. Ryker, 1886.
   "Arkansas Marriages, 1837-1944", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQLZ-HLK : 11 January 2020), Temperance Peters in entry for N.c. Ryker, 1886.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3}
   "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3XD-3MW : accessed 16 November 2021), Tenpy Ryker, Crawford & Reed Townships, Washington, Arkansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 102, sheet 3A, family 46, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,079.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4}
   "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKK3-QWL : accessed 21 August 2020), Temperenee Harper, Fort Smith Ward 1, Sebastian, Arkansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 148, sheet 3B, family 59, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 65; FHL microfilm 1,374,078.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4}
   "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDFP-YLL : accessed 21 August 2020), Temperance Rey in household of Hercules B Ryker, Prairie, Washington, Arkansas, United States; citing ED 148, sheet 13A, line 12, family 288, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 84; FHL microfilm 1,820,084.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1}
   "Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V4F1-9MH : 9 March 2021), Temperance Ryker in entry for Andrew Harper, 8 May 1901; citing Marriage, Washington, Arkansas, United States, county offices, Arkansas; FHL microfilm 1,034,253.
   "Arkansas Marriages, 1837-1944", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQB2-XQ1 : 11 January 2020), Mrs. Temperance Ryker in entry for Andrew Harper, 1901.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1}
   Temperance Peters Ryker Find A Grave: Memorial #69791883 retrieved 21 August 2020