Thursday, September 15, 2016

My Parents Married Twice!

I think we all expect that our parents were married, and married once. However, that was not the case with mine. 

My father's name was Samuel Thomas Morgan, and he was born on 18 December 1909 in Mebane, Alamance County, North Carolina. His parents were Samuel Goodloe Morgan, born 6 April 1879, and Laura Augusta "Minnie" Wilson Murphy (widow of Jeter Earnest Murphy), born 24 January 1873. My father's parents were married on 24 December 1902 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, My father had one older sister, Mary Allen Morgan, who was born on 14 June 1905.

My mother's name was Sara Edith Weatherly, and she was born on 10 July 1910 in Rome, Floyd County, Georgia. Her parents were Walton Carey Weatherly, born 24 September 1882, in Cleveland, Bradley County, Tennessee, and Elizabeth Holder, born 19 July 1885, in  Lindale, Floyd County, Georgia. My mother was the second of four sisters: 

  • Nita Elizabeth "Beth" Weatherly, born 27 March 1910 in Rome, Georgia
  • Sara Edith "Edith" Weatherly, born 10 July 1911 in Rome, Georgia
  • Carolyn Penelope "Nep" or "Neppie" Weatherly, born 12 January 1914 in Rome, Georgia
  • Harriette Ann "Harriette" Martin Weatherly, born29 September 1917 in Mebane, North Carolina
My Grandfather Weatherly had moved from Rome, Georgia, to Mebane, North Carolina, in April 1914 to accept a position as treasurer of White Furniture Company and purchased a home there. His wife and three daughters followed soon after.

My parents met in Mebane in the local public school. At first, my father dated my mother's older sister, Beth, but later focused on Edith. They were in love and ultimately wanted to marry. Unfortunately, my mother was underage. They eloped to Danville, Virginia, on 15 January 1931 where my mother lied about her age. My father also lied about his place of birth for some reason. Here is an image from FamilySearch.


They returned to Mebane and acted as if nothing had happened, and they continued to live apart.

At some point, Edith's father found out about the illegal marriage and was livid. He demanded that they be married again in Mebane, legally this time. My mother asked if she could be married at the First Baptist Church there, and her father told her, "No!" She was to be married at home instead. The marriage took place on 24 January 1933. Here is an image from FamilySearch.


As a result of the clandestine elopement and marriage, my Grandfather Weatherly held a very low opinion of my father for the remainder of his life. By this time, the Great Depression was in full swing. My father had earlier attended Davidson College and Duke University but withdrew from Duke when his parent's finances - which had been considerable - collapsed. I'll share more about that situation in other posts.

There are no wedding photographs of either of my parents' weddings.

1 comment:

  1. Found the blog and am enjoying your journey. Look forward to the continuing journey.

    CWJ

    ReplyDelete