Week 24: Father’s Day – Abandonment & Divorce–Did George W Lancaster Ever See His Children Again?
For many years, I did not know what had become of my 2x-great-grandmother, Martha Jane Polly who married George W. Lancaster. She was with their family in the 1880 census and then gone. Also gone were their two children, Lonnie and Margaret. I assumed she had died and searched for clues to her death and burial, but never found any records. I couldn’t find any records of the two lost children either. Then I received an email from a descendant of one of George and Martha’s children. There had been a divorce and a remarriage, and Martha died in Tulare County, California in 1932. [1] Life Before the Divorce George W. Lancaster married Martha Jane Polly on 25 Oct 1871 in Kaufman County, Texas. [2] Twenty-two years and six children later, they were divorced on 23 December 1893 in Pima County, Arizona Territory. [3] They had six children, all born in Texas, except Reginald, who was born in Phoenix, Arizona Territory: William Carlton, born 21 July 1873, Rockwall Co, Texas [4] Lonnie O