Ruth Tenney (1837 - 1918)

Born 7 May 1837 in Hamburg, Erie, New York, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Henry Rose Rice — married 8 Dec 1859 in Marengo, Calhoun County, Michigan, USA

Wife of Nathan Monroe Norton — married 3 Oct 1869 in Jackson County, Michigan, USA

Wife of John M. Chambers — married 22 Jun 1897 in Steuben County, Indiana, USA

Descendants

Died 12 Mar 1918 at age 80 in Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Sara Rice [send private message]

Biography

Ruth is the child of Alvah Tenney and Maria Babcock

The Story of Ruth

Ruth Tenney was born in 1837 in Hamburg, New York. She and her family moved to Michigan shortly afterward. They settled on a farm in Marengo, Calhoun, Michigan. Ruth was a beautiful woman with gorgeous black hair and startling blue eyes. People couldn’t help staring at her. She was not just superficially pretty. Ruth was kind and generous with everyone. She was always willing to lend a helping hand wherever it was needed.

In 1858, Henry Rice began working on her father’s farm. Ruth took notice of Henry immediately. Henry was tall, dark and handsome with beautiful blue eyes of his own. She did what she could to capture his attention. It didn’t take long for Henry to become enamored with Ruth. They married on Dec 08, 1859 and moved to a farm of their own. ^[1]

When the Civil war started in 1861, Henry was 37 years old. He felt he was a little too old to be a soldier and did not enlist when the younger men were volunteering. Instead, Henry and Ruth worked the farm and began their family. Their daughter Ella was born in 1863. Henry was ecstatic.

In February 1865, the Union recruiters came around again and made an impassioned plea for any man regardless of age to enlist. Henry decided to go. On March 4th, 1865, he left his daughter and pregnant wife and marched off to Tennessee.

The war officially ended on April 9th, just a month after Henry left, but the troops weren’t dismissed. Unfortunately, Henry contracted dysentery in June and was sent to a Military hospital to recuperate. Instead of getting better, Henry died in September, a month before his son William was born. Henry’s family took in Ruth and the kids, but Ruth knew she couldn’t stay there forever.

In 1869, Ruth met Nathan Norton, a man twenty years her senior. Nathan came to Michigan from Macedon, New York to visit his brother Ansel. He was a widower with adult children back in Macedon. He met Ruth and fell for her youthful beauty. Ruth didn’t much care for him, but she married him anyway. ^[2] Initially they lived in the town of Grass Lake, Jackson, Michigan^[3]She thought the marriage could provide security for her family. As it turned out, his children weren’t happy about the marriage, and Ruth’s children didn’t like Nathan. The newly united family moved in with Ruth’s father on a farm in Bellevue, Michigan. ^[4]The men worked the farm, while Ruth and Ella, kept house.

In 1885, Nathan was 65 years old. His eye sight and hearing were failing. He wasn’t able to help much on the farm. Nathan had been talking about wanting to visit his children back in New York. William worked for the railroad and was able to arrange a one-way trip for Nathan. Nathan promised to be back in a month. He never returned.

After, a year, Ruth sent a letter to Nathan’s daughter, Rachel Ann, asking when Nathan was coming home. She did not get a response. Ten years later, Ruth decided she might as well get divorced on grounds of desertion. She began the process, but a traveling salesman named Levi Hunter came by and told her that he believed Nathan had died, so she stopped the divorce process.

In 1897, Ruth married a local farmer named John Chambers. ^[5] They lived in Bellevue, Michigan. ^[6]He died in 1904. Ruth’s funds soon dwindled. In 1907, she applied for a widow’s pension from her first husband’s civil war service. The U.S. Pension office began gathering information and asked Ruth for all her husband’s death certificates. She was able to produce Henry’s and John’s, but she didn’t have Nathan’s. Ruth told them she didn’t know when he died. So, the government began their investigation.

The truth came out in 1907. The Pension Office discovered that Nathan didn’t die until 1905. It seems my Grandma Ruth was a bigamist. She was married to both Nathan and John for seven years at the same time. The government wasn’t convinced that she didn’t know that Nathan was alive. She was denied the pension. The government said she forfeited her rights to a pension based on “the adulterous cohabitation of a widow. She knew of his whereabouts and did not take ordinary precautions to ensure that she was free to marry. When asked why, she stated ‘I do not know. I supposed he was dead, I guess.’”. ^[7]

Ruth appealed the decision. They questioned her children, Nathan’s and John’s children and even her neighbors as to whether Ruth really knew she was married to two men at the same time. No one really knew for sure. They all just said she was a fine woman and not capable of immorality. Finally, in 1908, they decided that since all her husbands were dead, she could receive a pension of $12 a month. In 1910, Ruth lived in Paradise, Grand Traverse, Michigan. with her daughter, Ella.^[8]

Ruth never married again. She maintained her innocence until her death in 1918.^[9] She is buried with her third husband in Bellevue Cemetery. ^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ Year: 1860; Census Place: Marengo, Calhoun, Michigan; Page: 613; Family History Library Film: 803539.United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.
2. ↑ Ancestry.com. Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

   Name: Ruth Tenney Rice

   Gender: Female

   Age: 35

   Birth Date: abt 1834

   Marriage Date: 3 Oct 1869

   Marriage Place: Grass Lake, Jackson, Michigan, USA

   Spouse: Nathan M. Norton

   Film Number: 000941634

3. ↑ Year: 1870; Census Place: Grass Lake, Jackson, Michigan; Roll: M593_678; Page: 100B. United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.
4. ↑ Year: 1880; Census Place: Bellevue, Eaton, Michigan; Roll: 578; Page: 279D; Enumeration District: 075. United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.
5. ↑ Michigan Old Soldiers' Home, Kent County, Michigan Records. Grand Rapids, MI Public Library.
6. ↑ Year: 1900; Census Place: Bellevue, Eaton, Michigan; Page: 15; Enumeration District: 0060; FHL microfilm: 1240709. United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
7. ↑ National Archives and Records Administration Title: U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2000;
8. ↑ Year: 1910; Census Place: Paradise, Grand Traverse, Michigan; Roll: T624_648; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 0048; FHL microfilm: 1374661. United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.
9. ↑ Ancestry.com. Michigan, U.S., Death Records, 1867-1952 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

   Name: Ruth Chambers

   Gender: Female

   Race: White

   Marital status: Widowed

   Death Age: 80

   Birth Date: 1838

   Birth Place: New York

   Death Date: 12 Mar 1918

   Death Place: Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, USA

   Father: Alva Sinmay [Tenney]

   Mother: Maria Babcock

   File Number: 196

10. ↑ Find a Grave Memorial 20765894