Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois- Divorces 1890-1910 (find, search, certificate, grandmother)

[SDSpirit]

My great grandmother states in the 1900 Census for Cook County, Ill ward 22 that she is divorced. In the next census 1910 ward 26 Chicago, she states she is a widow. Where can I find out if she did indeed get a divorce or was this a sham to throw off why she was alone with seven children.

Her name: Augusta Sophia Lindenau born Sweden 4 May 1851.
His name: August Elias Fredericks or Fredericksson born Sweden 29 Aug 1854. Surname Fredericksson was his Swedish surname, changed to Fredericks when they immigrated in 1881.

Evidently they married in Sweden but I haven't obtained their marriage certificate yet.

Children:Linnea born in Sweden
August Alfred born in Sweden
Charles F born in Sweden 1881
Bernard born in Illinois 1884
Elsie born in Illinois
William born in Illinois
Frederick born in Illinois.

Augusta's parents: Lars E. Lindenau and Johanna Andersdotter
August's Parents: Fredric Larsson and Christina M. Jansdotter

Any help on this possible divorce would be extremely appreciated.

[bjh]

Not sure why you would think it was a sham.

Have you looked for a death record for the husband?

[daliowa]

Cook County Clerk's Office - Genealogy Online

Site to search Cook County vital records indices.

I did a quick look for August's dc, checked both surnames & didn't find it. There are often mistakes in transcription to the index, so you may want to check again yourself.

It was common for women whose husband's had left them to call themselves widows.

He also could have passed on outside of Chicago.

Try searching census for him. www.familysearch.org

Check the cemetery where his wife is & see if August is there also.

[daliowa]

https://www.familysearch.org/learn/w..._Vital_Records

Info on obtaining Cook County divorce records.

[PA2UK]

Originally Posted by SDSpirit

My great grandmother states in the 1900 Census for Cook County, Ill ward 22 that she is divorced. In the next census 1910 ward 26 Chicago, she states she is a widow. Where can I find out if she did indeed get a divorce or was this a sham to throw off why she was alone with seven children.

It's unlikely she had that many children out of wedlock, if that's what you mean. It's more likely they were divorced and she was claiming to be a widow to avoid the stigma of being divorced. Either that or one of them is just an error. Perhaps whoever the informant was got it wrong and thought she was divorced but was really a widow. Perhaps the enumerator assumed that if she wasn't married, she must be a widow.

[RVcook]

I have run across this exact situation several times in research and yes...it can be ridiculously confusing to determine whether a female ancestor was really a widow, got divorced or was actually abandoned by her husband. And then there are those 'rare' situations where ALL of those scenarios existed for ONE ancestor...yes, really...!

I've successfully used Genlighten researchers for several Chicago based inquiries and have been quite pleased with both the expedience and cost of their services. I note that a search of the Cook Co., Divorce Index (1871-1963) to locate the names of the parties costs a mere $10. Scanning and copying actual file pages is additional, but if you are really curious, you may just want her to take a look at the index for you. Here's a hyperlink to this provider's information:

Divorce Research: Cook County Circuit Court Archives | Genlighten

HTH

RVcook

[RVcook]

One more thing...

Something I found while examining the Chicago City Directories is that August Fredrick, painter appears in the 1896 directory living at 241 W. 43rd. However, the first appearance of "MRS" Augusta Fredricks, living at 48 Mohawk, occurs in the 1897 edition of the directory. (And FWIW, 'August' who is listed as a 'painter' is noted directly above her, and living at 241 W. 43rd.) In the 1898 edition, Augusta is listed as 'Widow Of August' and is living at 315 Sedgwick yet, August is still living on 43rd. It should be noted that there was a one time listing of an August L. Fredericks, tailor, living at 89 Hudson Ave in the 1896 directory, but he does not appear after that. This particular August may warrant further investigation, although if I were to request a search of divorce records, I would focus on the time period between 1896 and 1905, as sometimes it takes a while to navigate the legal system especially if there was abandonment involved.

RVcook