My grandmother Dorothea Alice (Trombly) Brown (1923 - 2024) passes away age 100

+13 votes
390 views

Hi Wikitreers,

I need collaboration with the many questions which were left behind in my paternal grandmothers passing…she married my paternal grandfather, but to our surprise both had the application as a 2nd marriage. The union brought forth 3 sons two now deceased.

The question we always had that never was answered was who was her first husband?

The last name Brown is a whole other mystery we never knew who or why she took this last name?

She was a really sweet grandmother living to the ripe age of 100 yrs and a military veteran of WWII.

She will always have a special place in my heart for her but also so many questions she left behind.

Thank you

Note: Supposedly Mr. Brown was another military man she might of been married briefly to? Where is she in Census can not find her in 1930/1940. She travelled I believe to every state in her lifetime per family story and moved many times in her younger life so finding her in census might be impossible  

One of My most treasured photo of my grandparents 

WikiTree profile: Dorothea Brown
in Genealogy Help by Andrew Simpier G2G6 Pilot (706k points)
edited by Andrew Simpier
Its an odd thing to do, indicate a new marriage as a remarriage when their marital status is clearly marked as divorced within the document.  Its like a record indicator for the clerk that this couple was married to each other before. Could be wrong, but how often do you see this on marriage records for divorced people.
Dorothea’s parents also remarried which is ironic if that is he case. I’d love to see the divorce records for John.

Olive married again in 1949, that shows they were divorced before that event in 1949. John and Dorothea are saying they are married in 1950, I believe that to be correct  https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/11993382/Olive-Scornaienchi

That seems reasonable. Another off life’s irony is Olive married another man named John

Olive's maiden name was originally Tschirigi. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XC98-559

Never fails to astound me, but humans have a passion for pattern.
Both women looked similar my grandmother and his last wife Arlene.

His father my great grandpa John Simpier Sr. married 3x all Danish women. Two were sisters.

I am cross eyed trying to keep track of our discussion. Wish Wikitree would fix how conversations track in here. surprise

 To recap what I think I understand. 

John married first, to Olive in 1940 in Washington. Then two weeks later he enlists in WWII in Oct of 1940. 

Dorothea was single in 1944, using her maiden name Trombly,  enlisted in WWII that year in Massachusetts.

Doris and John somehow met, location and date unknown.

John divorces first wife Olive about/before 1949 which is the year his ex wife Olive remarries.

John and Doris ( who is using the surname Simpier)  appear in the 1950 census together as a married couple. No marriage record has been found to support the marital status. Doris is expecting their first child.

7 years later there is a marriage registration for them. In that document Doris uses the last name of Simpier, not her maiden name or a surname from a previous marriage. 

She is however listed as divorced, as is John. John is divorced from his first wife Olive. No previous marriage has been proven for Doris although the family thinks she was possibly married to a Raymond Plunkett. No evidence of this has been found and she is not using his last name.

For Doris to be divorced she either had to have been married to another man before 1957 (no evidence of that so far) or Doris and John divorced after 1950, then reconcile and are married for a 2nd time in 1957. On the document the clerk has written the word "remarriage". 

Doris and John divorce for the final time within 3 years of their 1957 marriage, sometime before 1960. 

John marries Arlene Munson Stroh in 1960 and then dies in 1979.

Doris had one known relationship after her divorce from John which resulted in another child with the last name Bell b. 1964. She did not marry the father. 

Doris seems to have remarried again as well, to an Unknown Brown. The date of marriage is unknown/unproven, however at her death she is using the married name of Brown. 

Excellent breakdown and timeline of facts…I hope to unravel the questions someday this is very helpful!

yes Good Luck!!!

5 Answers

+12 votes
 
Best answer

So sorry to hear of your loss sad. I have started a search and came across this birth record for Dorothea. Seems her last name was spelled "Trombley" on the record and her mothers maiden name is recorded as "Barry". 

Birth Registration

by Lorraine Nagle G2G6 Pilot (214k points)
selected by Andrew Simpier
I’m so appreciative I don’t have this record and have looked for it in past. It’s amazing! It’s 100% her and we finally now know the place of birth. We knew it was New Hampshire didn’t know the exact place! I had parents birthplace correct. The name is misspelled. Trombly and Borrie. Even has her doctor who delivered her. Oh I’m in awe taking it in

I hope we can find more about her this is a huge find for my family and our shared tree.

She was in the Catholic orphanage part of her life with her siblings some not all of them.

Thank you we miss her and have some wonderful memories she was always a mystery to me as we didn’t live close to her over the years but stayed in touch.
How was she in an orphanage when her parents were alive? Or was she adopted? That would explain "Brown" maybe
I was told the kids were in the orphanage because the family was going through the depression and hardship but that the parents my great grandpa and grandma went back and got them out later (no adoptions)
+10 votes

Here she is (Doris Trombly) along with her siblings?cousins? in 1930. She is in an infirmary. My aunt spent 2 years in an infirmary due to Tuberculosis, wonder if this is a similar situation. 1930 Census Tewksbury Town, Massachussets

by Lorraine Nagle G2G6 Pilot (214k points)
100% her in this census her sisters Georgianna, Janet the other sister and surprisingly brother Paul on it as well!

That’s 4 of the children I’m so curious about how long they were in there

Oh wow so nice to get a few answers
+9 votes

Here is Doris on the 1940 Census in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Age 16, a lodger.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4FV-QCQ

by Lorraine Nagle G2G6 Pilot (214k points)
Ok, so still single. She may have had a brief marriage overseas?? Timeline 1944 - before 1957 now, did a search in the states with no luck on a marriage. But records might not be available.  I am wondering about her daughter Rita as well. Her maiden name is Bell?
Yes.  Rita my aunt passed. Dorothea never married her father (living)
family thought married to a Raymond Plunkett (Need source to confirm)
Family says she never went overseas and I don’t recall her talking about overseas.
That still doesn't explain the "Brown" surname, unless she was married more than once before your grandfather. And no known children from a previous marriage?

Marriage app to John Simpier shows they are both on 2nd marriage. So once prior. The Brown name we know came after they divorced from what I know smiley

Hmm, wonder if you got the original marriage record if it would show her married name. Odd that it wasn't recorded that way on the record I found. Perhaps its actually a clerical error for Dorothea.
The marriage record part is hard to find. I can’t even find her divorce from John Simpier yet
Rita Bell was born in 1964, so their divorce was previous to that year?

Yes that would make sense yes plus John remarried Arlene in august 1960

+7 votes
by Lorraine Nagle G2G6 Pilot (214k points)

I’m leaning not her in that 1950 census even though name is same and state of birth as I did find her in the 1950 census with my grandfather 

See Name: Doris A Simpier

Sex: Female
Age: 26 years
Birth Year (Estimated): 1924
Birthplace: New Hampshire
Marital Status: Married
Race: W
Relationship to Head of Household: Wife
Event Date: 10 April 1950
Event Place: Everett, Snohomish, Washington, United States
Enumeration District: 31-111
Line Number: 26
Page Number: 34

 

 

Household  Role  Sex  Age  Birthplace 
John C Simpier  Husband  34 years  Washington 

Digital Folder Number: 108916953
Image Number: 37

Citing this Record
"United States 1950 Census", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6X1H-M81F : Wed Oct 04 19:21:59 UTC 2023), Entry for John C Simpier and Doris A Simpier, 10 April 1950.
That's interesting. So that really tightens up the timeline for a first marriage. We know she was single in 1944, six years later she marries John Simpier. When was she discharged from service, and under what name?

She married John in 1957 but had first son John in 1950 and her second in 1956. The third after marriage. So curious if she was divorced before 1950 or after but we know married between 1944-1950 we assumewink

Edit: likely married first husband while in military based on timeline of events 

No, never mind, I dont think they (the family I asked if you recognized them) are connected to you.
Didn’t look familiar but easily can be conflated
Ah, sorry. I saw the indication of married on the 1950 census and forgot you had a marriage registration for 1957. So they were married in 1950, just not to each other it seems.
Ohhh I didn’t pick up on it. Your right. How is that possible lol the marriage records do say 1957 I thought but it shows married in 1950. Odd?

Maybe they said they were married on census?
Yes they did on the 1950 Census. Not so odd, would have been scandalous behavior back then. Maybe the enumerator just assumed. And/Or they truthfully said they were married, there is no where on the census to say to who. If they were waiting to get divorced before they could actually get married it took a long time to settle things, 7 years.
Ah that does seem reasonable and she probably was showing as she was pregnant with her first born and gave birth in September
Divorce for both of them was between 1950-1957, that might help narrow down your search. Dorothea's first marriage was sometime between 1944 and 1950. Her divorce from John was sometime between 1957-1964 (Rita's Birth).
+5 votes
Annette Estella Borrie Trombly findagrave ID 186863573
by Chris Mckinnon G2G6 Pilot (651k points)
Just found a new member of the family but unfortunately he was a premature birth and would of been my grandmothers brother. We never knew about him. Joseph Trombley 1922-1922. Will add him soon…

Edit: he is now on Wikitree….nobody knew about this baby boy who died premature. I don’t know if he had a burial. He has a birth and death certificate. He has a name and lived one day of life.

Apparently he is buried at St. Anne in Palmer, Mass…

That’s 12 children born not 11. He has two living elderly siblings living…my great aunts

It’s possible with the birth gap years 1931-1934 another child but maybe not it was the Great Depression

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