Old Newspapers Reveal Surprise

It shouldn't be a surprise any more, really. I mean, once I discovered that my great-grandfather, Daniel Hardie, had 3 wives, the second of whom had an illigitimate child prior to the marriage, I should be inured to surprises. I guess having ingested some silly childhood mental mantra-myth that goes "no one in our family (except poor, unfortunate Uncle Eddie) has ever been divorced" explains why I am surprised by today's findings reported in the 1924 Utica Observer-Dispatch and in The Ostego Farmer and The Ostego Republican.

Background
Mary Brown (1888-1976) married Pearly Hanlon in 1907. They had 2 children. Last March we visited her grave in Oneonta, NY. She was buried in a plot with her children, notably sans first husband Pearly. I was curious where he was buried -- and actually still am. I figured Pearly had died prior to Mary's second marriage. Au contraire!

News Articles

Pearly Hanlon of Oneonta, charged with desertion of his wife and children, threw himself upon the mercy of the court and sentence was suspended on the plea of his attorney Tennant. He assured the court that a position was awaiting him on the D. & H. and that arrangements had been made to have the company pay a stated sum to the wife.
-- The Ostego Farmer, March 7, 1924

Several cases appear reflecting matrimonial infelicity. Among these is one in which May (sic) Brown Hanlon seeks a divorce [OMG] from Pearley (sic) Victor Hanlon, and there is another in which Pearly Hanlon is seeking damages from William T. Norwood for alienation of affections.
-- The Ostego Farmer, March 1, 1935

Alienation of Affections

At common law, alienation of affections is a tort action brought by a deserted spouse against a third party alleged to be responsible for the failure of the marriage. The defendant in an alienation of affections suit is typically an adulterous spouse's lover . . .
-- Wikipedia

It may be readily obvious, but Mary Brown's second marriage was to one William T. Norwood. So much for my mental mantra-myth . . . How on earth do such myths get transmitted anyway?