Shakin' the Family Tree

*laughter* Well, it gets better, in a sense. Their secret marriage was much more successful for them than for John's first cousin, my great-grandfather, Ed, just over five years later. Ed and Mae only managed to keep it a secret 10 days:

San Francisco Call, 18 Jan 1908, page 7

YOUNG BERKELEY COUPLE
ARE SECRETLY MARRIED
Miss Mayme Dempsey the Bride
of Edward J. Brennan, Jr.
in San Rafael
BERKELEY, Jan.17 -- Friends of
Miss Mayme Dempsey, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Luke Dempsey of 1014 Dela-
ware street, have learned that since
January 7 the young woman has been
the wife of Edward J. Brennan Jr., son
of Mr. and Mrs. Edward J. Brennan of
1519 Hearst avenue. The young couple,
who are living in San Francisco, where
Brennan is employed, were married in
San Rafael. The secret, which was
known to only a few of the friends of
the couple, leaked out today.

P and I eloped while he was on leave in April 94, then had a proper wedding exactly six months later at home. It was just a few months ago I learned we had kept a family tradition. *g*

And then there's the Curtis connection. Ed's father was Ed, and his mother was Josephine Curtis; they married in 1884. James and Ed Sr's other brother John arrived in Berkeley in the 1870s and married Anne Curtis in 1878. She died in 1883 of malaria. She left 3 small children, including Herbert, who was only 5 weeks old. Anne and Josephine's sister, Theresa, moved into the household care for the children. Over time she and John became close, and in 1888 they married and had 3 more children before John died in 1894.

The part about John's family that I wish I knew is why after his death his first 3 children (including Herbert, who had only known Theresa as his mother) never lived iwth her again. Only her children by birth did, at least on the censuses. That seems very sad, given they were her niece and nephews as well as her step-children.