My recent Goodman ancestors are something else, I tell ya. I've spent an incredible amount of time researching my great-great grandpa Thomas Goodman, his origins, and his untimely death. Every mystery solved seems to create even more questions.
Thomas's parents Joseph and Idella were married in 1871. See marriage certificate here.
In 1880 Joseph and Idella are living together with their two younger children, but 8 year old Thomas lives with his maternal grandparents. I do not know why.
In 1888, Joseph remarries. See marriage certificate here. I assumed Idella must have died because I could find no trace of her between 1880 and this date. She's only in a handful of family trees throughout the internet and no one has sourced any documents after the 1880 census. It appears Joseph and his second wife had a child named Rosie before they were married. Rosie was raised by an adopted mother but Joseph and his second wife are listed as her parents on her marriage certificate.
As it turns out, Idella was alive and well during all of this. She remarried a man named Edward Hampton (spelling varies) in early 1889. See the marriage bond and certificate (bottom half) here. Notice on the bond that Joseph signed as the surety for this marriage! He also signed as a witness on the certificate along with a man named Albert Miller.
Barely six months later, Idella married for a third time to Albert Miller! See marriage index and certificate (right page, top) here.
I'm having a very hard time imagining the circumstances that led to this series of events. I can find no record of Idella, Edward, or Albert after 1889.
Joseph and Idella's two sons Thomas and Charley grew up to be riverboat gamblers and moonshiners. Whatever happened between Joseph and Idella, it created a dark and stormy family culture that lasted many generations. Thomas was an unruly drunk who was shot and killed in 1906. His only child, my great grandpa, battled depression and died mysteriously (probably suicide) in the Ohio River at the age of 52. His son, my grandpa, was a safe cracker and went to prison more than once. Domestic violence plagued them all.
What do you ladies and gentlemen think about all this!? Maybe it's not as strange as it seems to me...Any ideas, questions, comments, or help would be much appreciated!
