52 Ancestors: Troublemaker - Emery McAboy

This week's blog prompt brought to mind my "black sheep ancestor", William Warren McAboy, who I wrote about HERE nearly 10 years ago.  But as I pondered on it further, I thought about his young son who was once the "troublemakerED" (I made up a new word) - Emery James McAboy.

Emery was born 22 Jan 1870 in Clinton, Illinois.  I am guessing his first name comes from his grandfather and one of my favorite ancestors, Emery Waller.  If you've been with me awhile you'll remember that it was Emery Waller who I was able to obtain a headstone for.  You can read about that HERE.  And, perhaps, his middle name came from his paternal grandfather, James Robert McAboy.  Emery was the third child of Rebecca (Waller) and William Warren McAboy and the older brother of my great grandmother, Mabel (McAboy) Fitzgerald.  

Emery's father assaulted him on 11 Sep 1889 and the event made several newspapers on 13 Sep 1889.

The Clinton Public, Friday, September 13, 1889, page 3

Decatur Daily Dispatch, Friday, September 13, 1889, page 2

Clinton Register, Friday, September 13, 1889, page 3, part 1

Clinton Register, Friday, September 13, 1889, page 3, part 2

And then the courts got involved - I can imagine the feeling in the city was bitterness against William.

The Clinton Public, Friday, September 20, 1889, page 3

And finally, just two weeks after the incident, William was fined $200 for striking his son for going to a ball game without his father's consent.  

Clinton Register, Friday, September 27, 1889, page 3

Fortunately, from what I can tell Emery went on to live a meaningful life but I do wonder how this incident affected him.

Today I found new information - Emery was married to Nellie Hatch on 12 October, 1893 in Clinton, Illinois and at some point in 1900 the couple relocated to Fresno.  I believe that together they had a daughter, Laverne McAboy.  I knew about Laverne before today but I had no idea Nellie existed until I found Emery and Nellie's divorce record from 5 April 1906.

Tulare-Advance Register, Thursday, April 5, 1906, page 3

Now what made this even more interesting is that Emery was then married to India Slawson just two days later, on 7 April, 1906 (California, County Birth, Marriage and Death Records 1849-1980).  It looks like Emery and Nellie had been separated for awhile, especially when I found that Nellie was married to Thomas Key on 14 April, 1906 (California, County Birth, Marriage and Death Records 1849-1980)  Boy wouldn't I love to know the story behind the divorce and those two marriages.

Together Emery and India had two more daughters, Eloise in 1907 and Maurine in 1912, and stayed in Fresno throughout their married lives.

And then, as it always happens, Emery died on 18 Feb 1929 at the age of just 59 years old.

Fresno Morning Republican, Wednesday. February 20, 1919, page 16

The second obituary puzzles me for two reasons.

Fresno Morning Republican, Tuesday, February 19, 1929, page 9

M'Aboy???  Where did that come from?  From now on when I search for the name McAboy I'll have to also use M'Aboy - no wonder it was nearly impossible for me to initially find this obituary.

And Emery JOHN?  Everything I've seen shows his middle name as James so where did this come from?  

Emery was cremated and I have been unable to find any information on his final resting place.  I'll need to contact Lisle funeral home, who has taken care of arrangements for many of my family members over the years, to see if they can give me any information.  Or, maybe the death certificate will show it so I'll order that.

While Emery was not the actual troublemaker, he sure had to endure his troublemaker father.