Hey, does anybody know how or where I can find a copy of an old divorce decree from Colorado?
One of my great-grandmothers divorced her first husband to marry my great-grandpa, but I haven't been able to find the divorce papers. #familytree #geneaology
The story is intriguing: great-gma was from a farming family & had several sisters. When she was 19, she married a man about a decade her senior. Several years into it, they had a son (my grandpa's older half-brother). Somewhere in there, one of great-gma's sisters married into a wealthy ranching family & great-gma moved to Stratton, CO, to be closer to her sisters.
Great-gma worked in a soda fountain/cafe attached to the movie theater, & sold ice cream & treats to moviegoers.
Turns out one of those moviegoers must've been the handsome young butcher's apprentice, a blond-haired, blue-eyed fellow closer in age to great-gma. We don't know the details, but she came to Stratton with one husband & left with another: my great-gpa.
They settled in Cripple Creek, where my grandpa was born less than a year later.
Family has always talked about great-gran getting a divorce & remarrying... but I can't find paperwork for either the divorce or the remarriage. No Decree of Dissolution, no marriage license, nothing. I have my grandpa's birth certificate, along with other papers related to my great-grands: birth certificates, military service records, that sort of thing. But on the divorce? Nothing.
@Impious_Jade
Hi! Have you looked for divorce records in nearby states? If CO divorce law was restrictive or took a long time, she (or her ex) might have gone to Reno or even Mexico. If she had extended family in less restrictive states further away, I'd check there, too.
@kaylcrawford Yeah I've wondered if maybe she went to Kansas or Wyoming. Figured I'd start with CO, and expand to another state if I didn't find anything.
So I've always wondered what the story was there. Did great-gran have an affair with my great-gpa? What was the reason for the divorce? I don't think no-fault divorce was a thing in the 1920s in Colorado, but I don't know for sure - I've even had trouble finding info on the laws from back then.