Edith Florence Morra Cabanaw Hackbirth Walter Harlos-one tough (or mean) lady!

I have been trying to keep up with "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" and so far so good! This week's theme is "Tough Woman". As I think all of the women in my tree were tough, I still get drawn to my father's side of the tree. I don't know very much about that side of the tree but have enjoyed researching and sharing my findings with the family.

I have decided to share the story of Edith Florence Morra Cabanaw Hackbirth Walter Harlos.

My dad and his siblings grew up with Edith in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She lived with them until they moved to Lafayette, Indiana. He remembers her being mean! Let's see if we can find out why she was so mean....

My first record of Edith is the 1880 U.S. Federal Census 1. She lived on Lincoln Street in Reed City (Richmond), Michigan and is listed as Edith F. Shelpman. Listed are:
Robert Shelpman-33 years old
Abigail A. Shelpman-25 years old
Edith F. Shelpman -4 years old (this puts her birth year around 1876)
Charles Shelpman-3 years old
Anna M. Shelpman-8 months


The next record I have of Edith is her marriage license 2. On September 18, 1893, she married Arzen Jacob Cabanaw in Plymouth, Indiana. Listed are her parents Frank Morra and Abigail Topper.  So now I know her father was Frank Morra even though she is listed in the 1880 census as Shelpman. So Frank must have died or Abigail had Edith out of wedlock. Funny thing is, I can't find any record of a Frank Morra anywhere!

Another interesting tidbit....in the 1880 census she is listed as being 4, but this marriage license lists her as being 19. A fluctuating age.......

Edith also was to marry Arzen earlier but he had an affair with Edith's sister Anna. She had a child and Edith would not let Arzen out of the engagement. Edith and Arzen had one child, Vida Bell. Sometime before 1897, Edith and Arzen were divorced. Arzen went on to marry Edith's sister, Anna.


On March 25, 1897, Edith married Frederic John Hackbirth in St. Joseph County, Indiana 3.

Fred and Edith Hackbirth

She appears again in the 1900 census 4 living in Grant, Indiana with Fred and her two children: Vida who is 5 and Pearl who is 2.5. It also lists their marriage year as 1893. I guess Edith didn't want anyone to know that she had been married before! (Edith and Fred also had a son, Earnest, born in 1902 and Pearl does not show up in any other census, I am presuming she is deceased.)

On October 18, 1909, a decree 5 was granted to Edith for a divorce from Fred. Imagine getting a divorce in 1909, this was virtually unheard of! The reason for the divorce was that Fred was cruel, non-supportive and a drunk!

Never fear! Edith married again, this time to Arthur Walters on November 29, 1909 in Berrien, Michigan. This time Edith listed her name as Edith Shettman (Shelpman) as her maiden name. She is also listed as being the age of 34.

Edith and Art

Edith and Art are still living in Berrien, MI in the 1910 census 6. They are listed as having one child, just Hackbirth (Ernest). You will notice that Vida Bell is not listed, you can find out all about her here. This census also has the Edith had 3 children, 2 living confirming that Pearl died sometime between 1900 and 1910.

In 1920, I found Edith still in Michigan, this time in Avon 7. She is living with the Cross (Kroff) family as a housekeeper and also has Edith L Walter listed as 6 years old. Edith L Walter is Edith F Walters granddaughter, the daughter of Vida Bell.

And lastly, Edith married Henry Harlos on February 11, 1927 in Fulton County, Ohio. This marriage license has some great information in it.

Edith and Henry Harlos

• She lists her age as 45. If we are going by the birth date from the 1880 census, she should be 51. 
• She lists her father as Robert Shelpman, Not Frank Morra as stated on her first marriage license. 
• She lists her mother as Abigail Hoover. In the first marriage license, she lists her mother's maiden name as Topper. This is a mystery for another post!
• She states she is a widower and does not have a living husband. She married Art in 1910 and according to his obituary, he died in 1956.
• She also states she was previously married only once. 

In 1930, Edith, Lucile (her granddaughter) and Ernest (her son) are all living in Butler, Indiana 8. It states she is married but there is no husband listed. 

In 1940 Edith is living with Lucile and her new husband Charles Rose in Butler, Indiana 9. 

Edith

Edith died March 4, 1952. I know she spent her last days in the Indiana Poor Asylum in Allen County, Indiana. 

So I didn't find out why she was so mean! I should also mention that Edith was raised Catholic but at the end of her life was a member of the United Brethern Church. I would guess her many marriages led her to changing her religion. 

I would like to find out if she is the daughter of Frank Morra or Robert Shelpman!

1. Year: 1880; Census Place: Reed City, Osceola, Michigan; Roll: 600; Family History Film: 1254600; Page:115B; Enumeration District: 223; Image: 0241
2. "Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959," index and images, FamilySearch
3.St. Joseph County, Indiana; Index to Marriage Records South Bend City Marriage, W. P. A. Book Numbers Indicates Location of Record; Book: 15; Page: 241
4. Year: 1900; Census Place: Center, Grant, Indiana; Roll: 373; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 0028; FHL microfilm: 1240373
5. Ancestry.com. Michigan, Divorce Records, 1897-1952 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
6. Year: 1910; Census Place: Oronoko, Berrien, Michigan; Roll: T624_638; Page: 9A; Enumeration District:0084; FHL microfilm: 1374651
7. Year: 1920; Census Place: Avon, Oakland, Michigan; Roll: T625_789; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 159; Image: 282
8. Year: 1930; Census Place: Butler, De Kalb, Indiana; Roll: 585; Page: 13A; Enumeration District: 0027; Image:1087.0; FHL microfilm: 2340320
9. Year: 1940; Census Place: Butler, DeKalb, Indiana; Roll: T627_1036; Page: 16B; Enumeration District: 17-28

John Michael Easterday (Ostertag)-Hessian Soldier turned American Patriot

I always thought that my ancestors were the group of immigrant that flowed through Ellis Island in search of a better life in America.

What I have found is that the majority of my ancestors have been in America for hundreds of years!

One ancestor in particular came to America, not of his own free will was John Michael Easterday/Ostertag.


He is thought to have been born in Guenzertsreuth, Germany around 1754, as many documents point to a Michael Ostertag being born in that town around that same date but many of the dates don't match up to the American dates.

He was brought to this country to fight for the British in the American Revolution.

Page 4 of Descendants of Michael Easterday of Washington County, Maryland by Dr. Howard G. Lanham Edition 1 for Ostertag/Easterday Family Association International Reunion Included with family history In possession of Anne Smittle

In America, Michael fought against George Washington for Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. Sometime during this siege, Michael decided to leave his position and fight with George Washington. It is not sure if he was captured along with the rest of his regiment and imprisoned in the "Hessian Barracks" in Frederick, Maryland or if he was drawn to the area as this is where most of his comrades were. But we do know he did not leave America. He opted to settle in Frederick County, Maryland and start a family.

He married twice, had eighteen children, became a naturalized citizen, owned and operated a flour mill and bought and sold many tracts of land in the Frederick/Washington Counties located in Maryland. He died in 1837 and is buried in a cemetery in Boonsboro, Maryland.

John Michael Easterday is my 4th Great Grandfather on my Father's side. He had a daughter, Tracy Easterday who married William Henry Topper. They had a child, Letitia Topper who married John Wesley Palmerton. They had a child, Harley Palmerton who married Vida Bell Cabana.

Vida Bell Cabanaw, a Life Cut Short.

I recently met some wonderful cousins that had a beautiful picture of my Great Grandmother, Vida Bell Palmerton/Moritz (nee Cabanaw) as a child around the turn of the century.

Vida Bell Cabanaw possibly around age 4

When I started researching her, I had a name (misspelled), and a few photos. Not much to go on, I was also told that she died young, right after she gave birth to my grandmother. What unfolded was a turbulent short life that my Great Grandmother led. Whenever I think of my ancestors, I think of an idyllic life on a farm with a loving family. Unfortunately, this was not the case for Vida Bell. 

 Although I knew she was no longer with us, I felt like I got to know her and her family and then was overwhelmed by great sadness when I found her final resting place.

Vida Bell Cabanaw possibly around age 7

I can only give a timeline of events and don't know how they transpired, it makes me wonder...Did she have a mental illness? Was her mother the culprit of her instability? Was she a wild child that couldn't be controlled? I will never know. 

The bits and pieces I have uncovered are interesting to say the least.

Here is what I do know. Her existence started out unlike any other. Her father Arzen Jacob Cabanaw met and was engaged to marry her mother, Edith Florence Morra. But during this engagement, Arzen had a daughter with Edith's half sister Anna Mayo Shelpman. That daughter was Mary Mabel Cabana (b. 1894). Edith would not release Arzen from his engagement to her, so despite the affair, he married Edith in 1893. Daughter Vida Bell was born in 1895. After a while, Edith and Arzen were divorced at which time Anna Mayo and Arzen were wed. 


Vida Bell first shows up in the 1900 census living with her mother Edith and Edith's new husband, Fred Hackbirth.

Fred and Edith Hackbirth circa 1897

Also showing up on this census is another daughter, Pearl, although she does not show up again in any other records. The family lived in Grant County, Indiana.

The marriage between Edith and Fred began in 1897 and dissolved in 1909 on the grounds of cruelty, non-support and drunkenness. Vida Bell had a half brother, Ernest Hackbirth who was born in 1902. 

In 1910, Vida Bell is listed as an inmate at the State Reform School for Girls in Adrian, Michigan. (Her mother Edith is now living in Berrien, Michigan with her third husband Art Walters.) This school was founded in "1879 for the reception, care, and training of convicted female juvenile offenders between the ages of seven and twenty. Each girl is detailed for a certain period to look after all the domestic duties in the cottages, all becoming proficient in this important branch of household lore. Washing, ironing, mending, cleaning and decoration are also looked after. A sewing school is in operation, and every girl is taught to sew, put garments together and make calico dresses. During this preliminary instruction, when any girl shows an aptitude for sewing, cutting, and fitting, she is advanced to the dress-making department where custom work is done. There is a horticultural department, and all learn the cultivation and propagation of plants,shrubs, and flowers. Music is taught in many branches, and all the ordinary accomplishments so acceptable and necessary in a happy home, are sought to be developed as much as possible. There is a fine orchestra selected from among the girls with musical talent in the Home."

I don't know why Vida Bell was sent (or sentenced) to the reform school. It could have been that her mother filed for a divorce in 1909 and was unable to care for Vida Bell and her half brother by herself. Or Vida Bell could have been an unruly girl that warranted being placed in the girls home. 

In the 1906 Biannual Report of the Michigan State Industrial School for Girls, the cause of commitment to the school were listed as: prostitution, disorderly conduct, larceny, willfully wayward, lounging on streets, attempted suicide or some were mothers. The records for this school are sealed and can only be accessed by the person themsleves. Well, that isn't going to happen, so we will not know why she was committed to this school. 

Vida Bell was eventually released from the State Reform School for Girls. On December 30, 1912, Vida Bell was married to Harley Palmerton in Auburn, Indiana. 

On December 29, 1912 the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported: 

"Mr. Harley Palmerton who has served three years in the navy returned home this week from China, for a visit with relatives. He thinks of re-enlisting."

Hmmm.....I wonder why they got married. Clearly he did not want to be at home. How did they meet? It was a short engagement...or did they already know each other? 

Right after they got married, Vida Bell's father fell ill. 

On March 17, 1913 according to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette:

 "Mrs. Harley Palmerton was called to South Bend this week on account of the illness of her father, Arzon Cabana."

There were happy times ahead. On October 17, 1913 Lucile Edith Palmerton was born!  

Top Photo: Harley, Lucile and Vida Bell Palmerton. Bottom Photo: Vida Bell on right, her mother Edith in the middle holding Edith Lucile and Abigail Topper, Vida Bell's grandmother on the left. 

From what I can tell, she was living the high life! Traveling to see relatives in nearby counties, always in the paper, The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported on March 31, 1914;

 "Mr. and Mrs. Harley Palmerton and daughter Lucile returned home from Auburn, where they were the guests of their aunt, Mrs. E.H. Crooks."

However, in 1914, Harley Palmerton had joined Company K and was stationed in the Philippines. This was the demise of Harley and Vida Bell's marriage. Harley was "tired of traveling in double harness." (I admit, I had to look that up....it means being married.) Vida Bell was alone. Did Harley still support her and their daughter? Why did he leave her?

The Fort Wayne Sentinel April 12, 1917

It must have been too much for Vida Bell as she tried to commit suicide around Thanksgiving in 1915.

The Fort Wayne News, November 26, 1915

 It was in all the papers, it even made it into the Indianapolis Star. Vida Bell said she was treated badly by her family when she went to visit her daughter. She was not allowed to take her daughter home with her even though her employer was allowing her to bring the baby with her to the farm she worked on. She was despondent and declared to Joseph Moritz, (more on him later) that she was going to take her life. She drank carbolic acid and badly burned her throat and mouth. She was not expected to recover.

Ernest Hackbirth on left with Lucile Palmerton in the middle and her mother Vida Bell Palmerton on the right. 

Vida Bell did recover from her suicide attempt and asked for a divorce in 1917 along with custody of their daughter, $20 a month and her maiden name back. It took 3 years for Vida Bell to request a divorce from the time that Harley left her to rejoin the Navy.

Vida Bell in an undated photo

It wasn't easy for a woman to request a divorce from her husband in the early 1900s. I can only speculate that she was not able to keep her child as she didn't have the means to do so. Unless I can find the divorce papers, we won't know for sure. We do know that their daughter Edith Lucile (or Lucile Edith) was raised and cared for by her grandmother.

Remember Joseph Moritz? He was the man that Vida Bell told she was going to die. He claimed that he only knew her as she lived in the same area and he just happened to be outside washing his car when she drank the acid. Well, they got married in 1917, after she received a divorce from Harley.

Joseph and Vida Bell Moritz sometime between 1917 and 1919.

Joseph and Vida Bell lived in Fort Wayne at 1319 Summit Avenue (It's still standing!). Joseph was a clerk at Wolf & Dessauer (a department store famous for its Christmas lights and was eventually sold to the L.S. Ayers family. He also had two brothers that owned a prosperous fruit and dry goods store.) I have spoken to a relative of the Moritz family and he said Vida Bell was known to be very colorful. The Moritz family also thought she married Joseph for his money and was very suspicious of her. He did say she always had a good time!

If she finally did find love, it didn't last very long. Vida Bell died of tuberculosis in the morning of September 16, 1919 at the Irene Byron Hospital in Fort Wayne. She is buried at Lindenwood Cemetery. She was 25 years young.

Fort Wayne News Sentinel, September 16, 1919, page 10

I felt sorry for her, I rooted for her, I was saddened when she tried to commit suicide and then I was heart broken when she finally met her demise. It was a life I was just learning about and it ended abruptly.

Poor Vida Bell, we will never know the full, true story.  I hope I did her life story justice, I just wish I knew more.

Undated photo of Vida Bell