Talking While Sleeping Leads to Divorce

John William McRae was born July 8, 1881 in New Albany, Indiana. He was the eldest child of William Rice McRae and Sarah 'Sallie' Cooper. John married Lula Hoover on December 13, 1905. At this time, John was living in Carmi, White County, IL while Lula was from Griffin, Posey County, IN. Not too many days into their marriage (the first newspaper article was published on December 29, 1905), John was dreaming or half asleep when he started talking about Kansas. This peaked Lula's attention, and she started asking more questions.

As it turns out, John had previously married a Miss Lou Gillahan on March 18, 1903 in Johnson County, KS. While in Kansas, John went by the name Will. In the spring of 1904, John and Lou had a child together, Raymond. By that fall, John went back home to Griffin, IN. When he returned home, he told people he was single while others he told he was divorced. In November 1905, John wrote to Lou in Kansas and asked for a divorce. The next month is when he married Lula. Per Johnson County court records, no divorce suit was ever filed for John and Lou. According to newspapers in Illinois and Kansas, both women filed for charges of bigamy against John.

John's trial began in Posey County Circuit Court on March 7, 1906. The beginning of the day was spent selecting a jury. The afternoon brought testimony from John's first wife, Lou, who had traveled from Kansas for the trial. John stated that Lou had informed him of  a divorce being finalized before he married Lula, but the letter showing John asking Lou to file for divorce just a month before his wedding to Lula proved otherwise. After this evidence was presented, John changed his plea from not guilty to guilty. The judge took a day or two to announce the sentencing. John was sentenced to four years in the penitentiary in Jeffersonville. In late March of 1906, Lou filed for divorce and custody of minor child. He was charged with 'gross neglect of duty and with having been convicted of a felony and sentenced to prison for said crime.' I cannot find any further information on how long John actually served in prison.

One newspaper article states that Lula also filed charges of bigamy against John, while another article states that she "will stand by him and believes him innocent of intentional wrong-doing".  John and Lula were listed on the 1910 US Federal Census Record in Bethel Township, Posey County, IN along with their daughter, Margaret (age 1). Per Margaret's birth certificate (listed as Maggie Frances McRae), John and Lula had another child that was no longer living by the time of Margaret's birth. This all would have been after John was done with his prison sentence. However, Lula married Perry Harmon (1880-1957) in 1915. She later married Joseph Whalen (1886-1961) in 1918. John did marry a third time to Nellie Nickens (1898-1975) on June 14, 1918 in Fairfield, Wayne County, IL. John and Nellie are listed on the 1920 US Federal Census Record in Lynn Township, Posey County, IN. They did not have anyone else living with them at this time. John and Nellie are listed on the 1930 US Federal Census Record in Dalton City, Moultrie County, IL. He is listed with six children at this time: James W., Francis E., Charlotte A., Georgia M., Betty J., and Veda A.. All of these children were under the age of 10, so it is safe to assume that these were the children of John and Nellie. They also had Nellie's father, William Nickens, living with them at this time. John's occupation was listed as 'paper hanger'.

John died October 5th, 1937 in Decatur, Macon County, IL after being hit by a car. He suffered from a compound fracture of the right leg, fractured ribs, and abdominal wounds. His death was later ruled an accident. Per his obituary, he had three additional children with Nellie in between the 1930 Census and his death: Johnny, Carl, and Helen. His obituary also acknowledged two other children from "a former marriage": Raymond McRae of Pueblo, CO and Margaret Swallows of Evansville, IN. Margaret's obituary acknowledges all of her siblings as half-siblings, so this proves that Raymond was the son of Lou and Margaret was the daughter of Lula, with the remaining children belonging to Nellie.

We may never know the reasoning behind John's departure from Lou in Kansas. Was he not ready to settle down? Was it an easy way out of a bad marriage? Did his subconscious sabotage his marriage to Lula before it even really had the chance to begin? Whatever the answers may be, it seems like John found happiness with Nellie and their nine children before his early demise.

Resources:

Evansville Courier and Press (IN), Mt. Carmel Republican (IL), Olathe News (KS), The Bethany Echo (IL), The Decatur Daily Review (IL), The Evansville Journal (IN), The Olathe Register (KS), 1920 US Census, 1930 US Census, Findagrave.com, Indiana US Marriage Index