This is a continuation of my discussion about the perception that those who came before us led more rigid and strictly “conventional” lives. My great-grandparents, as detailed in the previous posting, were all born during America’s Gilded Era, when Victorian principles were adopted and family life was conventional and predicable. At least that is our perception of the time – in reality, life presented challenges and complications to the people of that era, just as is does with us today. All four sets of my great grandparents experienced some unconventional aspect of their lives. In my previous post I addressed my paternal great grandparents, one set divorced and the other set estranged.
In this post, I address my two sets of maternal great-grandparents. For one couple, and like one set of my paternal great-grandparents, there was a long-term separation. And for one great-grandfather, the story is one of tragedy compounded with further estrangement and manipulation, really a very sad reflection on the key players of a 100-year-old misfortune that still has an impact on his descendants today.
