According to the Marion County (Iowa) index of marriages, “Homer S. Tidball” (35) was married to Mary Elizabeth “Lizzy” Brown (35) on August 8, 1900 at the “house of Samuel Brown in Indiana Twp (Township)”. There are no known photos of the couple.
Here is a copy of their Marion County marriage record:
Lizzy’s obituary (below) states that she was born August 29, 1866 in Gosper Country, Indiana. Her family moved to Marion Country, Iowa, near Swan, when she was a child. Later, her family moved to Donley (Donnely), Marion Co., Iowa (specifically to Durron place). It says this is where she met Homer Tidball.
This is where the mystery continues. Again, using her obituary as a reference, it says that Lizzie moved to Tarrington, Wyoming with her brother, W.H. Brown, in February, 1910. It does not mention her husband, Homer, going along. According to my research, Homer “Tedball” shows up in the 1910 Seattle, WA census (taken April 15). It is unclear exactly whether the Seattle Homer is the same as the Iowa Homer. If they are the same, we aren’t sure when and why he went to Seattle – he could have gone any time between his marriage (late-1900) and early 1910. However, he does not show up in any of the Seattle city directories for these years, 1910 included. I suspect he arrived in early 1910, after the that year’s directory was published but early enough to be included in the April census. I suspect this because it is unlikely he was missed by so many city directories (which list people and businesses at the beginning of a year). This suspicion is still open for additional debate.
If Homer went to Wyoming with Lizzie in February 1910 then deserted her, he would have had to travel to Seattle, find a job and a place to live all in a very short time. I suspect he left before then. This is another broad assumption.
It is likely that he traveled to Seattle by train, given the railroad link to California was established in 1869 and full passenger service to the Seattle area was established between 1900-1910.
It is a strong possibility that Homer left her in late-1909, prior to her going to Wyoming in January. She and her brother may have gone to Wyoming because her husband had abandoned her. Her obituary mentions that Tarrington was a “homestead populated by many people from Marion County Iowa), largely Dallas and Newbern.” Perhaps this migration of locals gave her a chance to make a clean break and start a new life.
Of course, this could all be wrong. Homer could have gone to Seattle any time between 1900 and 1910 and chose not to be listed in the city directory, fearing he might be found.
From her obituary, I assume Lizzie never remarried in Wyoming.
So, the remaining questions about this phase of Homer’s life are:
- Are these 2 Homers the same person?
- Why and when did Homer leave for Seattle?
- How did Homer get to Seattle?
- Why did he and Lizzie have no children (she married Homer at age 34)? Was this a reason for him leaving?
Mary Elizabeth Tidball’s March 17, 1925 Iowa Obituary:
Click here to see if we can find Iowa Homer in Seattle…