Thomas Sutherland: 1891-1946
A “Gretna Green” Wedding
I had heard other genealogists talk about American “Gretna
Greens”—towns just across state borders that were popular wedding sites for
eloping couples either due to lax rules for obtaining wedding licenses or
immediate issuance of licenses. Those genealogists suggested that when a
wedding record can’t be found in the expected community or state, that you look
for a record across state lines. Until I started researching my husband’s first
cousin-three-times-removed, Thomas Sutherland, I had never found a Gretna Green
marriage in our families’ trees.
Thomas Sutherland was born March 6, 1891 in Coatbridge,
Scotland to parents Thomas Sutherland and Jeanie Spence Sutherland. He was the
eighth of their nine children (the sixth to survive past the age of two).
Thomas’ father Thomas was an iron forgeman working in the
family forge business in Airdrie. He died at the young age of 50 when Thomas
was only thirteen years old. Perhaps finances were tight after his father’s
death, for five years later in 1909, Thomas’ eldest brother John and wife
emigrated to the United States, settling in Detroit. Three years later, Thomas
decided to join his brother in America, setting sail on the ship Cassandra in
April 1912. He landed in St. John’s, New Brunswick on April 30, 1912, stating
on the passenger arrival form that he was headed to Detroit, presumably to stay
with John Spence Sutherland. According to information provided on his
naturalization documents, he traveled by train from New Brunswick to Detroit.
 |
| Thomas' arrival in New Brunswick |
Thomas must not have enjoyed Detroit or perhaps wanted
independence from his brother, for he quickly relocated to Pennsylvania. On his
World War I draft card, Thomas states that he was working as a millwright for
the McKay Chain Company in McKees Rock, Pennsylvania, and he was living at 746
Thomson Avenue. He was drafted into the army, serving as a mechanic in the
Seventh Division Transportation Company from Dec. 5, 1917 to July 30, 1919,
with one year of his service spent in Europe.
Upon returning to McKees Rock after the war, Thomas returned
to his job at McKay Chain, and rented a room at the home of Herman and Pauline
Schuette, where he appears on the 1920 census. The Schuettes’ divorced daughter
Catherine Hough and Catherine’s eleven-year-old daughter also resided in the
home. Thomas and Catherine were both 28 years old and probably spent a lot of
time together. Apparently familiarity turned to love, for on July 6, 1921, the
couple married in Youngstown, Ohio. (See Naturalization Papers)
But why Youngstown? The location confused me. At first I
thought Thomas might have changed jobs and moved to Youngstown, but there was
no evidence of that; he was still employed by McKay Chain at the time of the
1930 census, where he appears living with his wife Catherine and stepdaughter.
There was no indication that Catherine Schuette Hough had any connection to the
town either. The towns were about 65 miles apart. Why would they choose to get
married there? I suddenly realized that they might have eloped—as a divorcee,
Catherine might have preferred a quick wedding, and her first wedding was also
performed in Ohio. I decided to do some Googling to see if there was any
mention of Youngstown being a “Gretna Green” for Pennsylvanians.
To my delight, I found a wonderful You Tube presentation
sponsored by the Mahoning Valley Historical Society and the Tyler History
Center in Youngstown called “Bites and Bits of History: Youngstown as a Gretna
Green”. The speaker and researcher, Roslyn Torella, explained that Ohio became
a popular wedding spot for Pennsylvanians because Pennsylvania required that
both the bride and groom be at least 21 years of age, while Ohio permitted 18
year olds to marry. A veritable marriage industry grew up in Youngstown, which
became known as the “Marrying City.” Most couples arrived by train, and cabbies
were good at identifying prospective couples, and would drive them to the
license office at the courthouse, and then to a minister who would give the
cabbie a kickback from the marriage fee. Two ministers, the “Marrying Parsons”
of Youngstown, married 12,000 couples over a fifteen year period!
The “Gretna Green” industry came to a halt in late 1910,
when an Ohio judge enforced Ohio laws requiring wedding licenses be issued only
to brides who were residents of the county issuing the license. The courthouse
in Youngstown then began turning away Pennsylvania couples.
So how did Thomas and Catherine manage to get married in
Youngstown in 1921 when neither of them were residents of Mahoning County?
Perhaps Catherine produced her original marriage license from her first
marriage to Percy Hough in 1907, which claimed she was a resident of Mahoning
County (and also claimed she was 18 even though she was only 16 at the time).
On that certificate, she said she was born in what looks like “Louisville, OH”
although records suggest she was born and raised in Pennsylvania. Or perhaps
she just lied on the license in 1921 and made up an address in Mahoning County
that she claimed as her residence. I can’t find Thomas and Catherine’s license
or marriage record online, so can only speculate about how they managed to
marry.
Sadly, Thomas and Catherine’s marriage didn’t last. While he
claimed they were still married when he filed his naturalization papers in
1934, Catherine, now calling herself Pauline, had already married again around
1931 to an Anthony Woolman. She had a daughter with him named Jessica who was
three years old in 1935 when they made the newspapers after having seen a
suspected murderer. She filed for divorce from Woolman in April of 1943,
stating in court that she married him in 1930 after divorcing her “first”
husband. Presumably she means poor Thomas, but he was of course her second
husband.
Thomas also eventually remarried. At age 55, he married
Florence Sweet on March 11, 1946. The marriage record is rather interesting. He
states he had never been married before, conveniently forgetting his nine-year
marriage to Catherine/Pauline. He also swears he has no communicable disease. Florence
states that she is a widow—as far as I can tell, she was a
several-times-divorced woman, who most recently had gone by the name Florence
Nagel, her third husband’s surname. In addition, both Thomas and Florence list
the same home address, so were either both boarders in the same home, or were
living together before the marriage.
Shockingly, Thomas is dead just months later at a Veterans
hospital. The death certificate also contains some interesting information. The
VA doctor reported that Thomas died from cerebral arteriosclerosis caused by “syphilis
tertiary” and “acute and chronic cystitis”. Syphilis tertiary refers to the
third phase of syphilis, which is neurosyphilis. So Thomas was untruthful in
his marriage license when he said he had no communicable disease. The death
certificate also stated that he had been under the doctor’s care in the
Veterans hospital for these conditions from March 19, 1946 until the date of
death on August 28, 1946. That means he sought treatment for third stage
syphilis eight days after marrying Florence.
Did Florence know about his condition when she married him?
He must have been in poor shape, after all. Perhaps the marriage was a
practical arrangement, guaranteeing that she would care for him until death in
return for inheriting his estate. Or perhaps he suffered a stroke or something
shortly after the marriage that brought his condition to light.
Thomas was buried in the Union Dale Cemetery in Pittsburgh.
His headstone shows the dates of his WWI military service.
Gretna Green elopements often sound very romantic, but in
reality very few impulsive marriages are successful or lasting. Poor Thomas
Sutherland may have thought he’d found the perfect partner in Catherine
Schuette Hough, but like so many road-trip weddings, Thomas and Catherine’s
journey together was a short one.
Sources:
Divorce Court Double Play: Woman and Daughter Apply on Same
Day. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh PA, 23 Apr 1943. Page 13. Accessed on
Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92181952/catherine-pauline-schuette-sutherland/
Headstone photo by Rob and Debi
Felton, Findagrave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/99022523/thomas-sutherland
Naturalization record from
Ancestry.com: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2717/images/47295_302022005557_1077-00540?pId=696092
Death Certificate from Ancestry.com: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/5164/images/42410_2421401696_0668-02910?pId=6382158
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