Bigamy in Oswego

July 12, 2013 — ancestor, bigamy, Kansas, Oswego

My great-grandfather, Edward Scott, was the telegraph operator in Oswego, KS.  His first wife, my great-grandmother, divorced him for having another family.  He was born in Ohio, the son of a Civil War veteran. His mother, Maria Pendergrass moved to Kansas with Edward after her husband died.  He and Sarah Helena married and  had four daughters together, the last daughter born in 1905.  By then Edward already had a son who had been born in 1902, with his other woman, Edna.  Edna and Edward married in 1909 and lived in Oswego until he died.  This must have been a major scandal at that time. Labette, where is daughters lived is very close to Oswego.  I can’t imagine how he could keep this situation secret for very long.  Somehow my great-grandmother was able to get a teaching job and make ends meet.  She managed to get my grandmother through undergraduate school with a teaching degree before she married my grandfather. That seems like a big deal at the turn of the century.  I don’t know if he saw his daughters after the divorce or not.  He is one of the black sheep never mentioned.

Edward Ewing Scott (1874 – 1941)