Nettie Gurley

I didn't worry too much about Nettie Gurley.  It looked like she married a nice man, had two children and lived happily.  Boy was I wrong.  First, here is her marriage record to Richard Manahan. Notice that she was pretty young when she married, but her mother is the one who gave permission for her to marry.

I had seen this death certificate before, but I didn't think it was her because it says that she died in Toledo instead of in Norwalk.  I finally decided to take a closer look at it when I found it again.  It also says that she was divorced which I thought was incorrect.  I had to do some much further research to determine what had happened.

I finally found a newspaper article from 1927 that states their divorce.  I had started looking at 1927 because that was how long it said she had been at the Toledo State Hospital.  Yes, the Toledo State Hospital is a mental institution.  I was very curious about a lot of things.  The divorce happened in the early part of 1927 and by the end of 1927 she was sent by court order to the hospital.  I was feeling pretty bad for her.  I ordered the court records for the divorce and received them in the mail.  If anyone wants a copy of them, let me know.  It states that Richard filed for divorce because Nettie was a neglectful from her duties as a mother and wife.  She would go out and spend money and ignore her family.  It never states Nettie's side of the story because she failed to show up for court.  Apparently she was having a pretty difficult time and eventually was sent to the hospital where she died.