I am not sure where Joe and Nellie were living after the Sheriff’s Sale in 1913 of Joe’s property in Ambrose, Divide County, North Dakota. I also am unsure of when Joe and Nellie split up and got divorced.
By November of 1917, according to Joe’s marriage license and certificate for his second marriage, Joe is living in Raymond, Sheridan County, Montana. Joe married Blanche Black on November 17, 1917 at Plentywood, Sheridan County, Montana.44 At the time of the marriage, Joe was 34 years old and Blanche was 19 years old.
How did Joe meet Blanche H. Black, his second wife?
Blanche was born, the 7th of 9 children, on February 16, 1897 in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois to Richard Marian and Olive Jane (Atwood) Black.45
The 1900 U.S. census shows the family living in Oregon Township, Ogle County, Illinois.46 Her father is a carpenter at the Schiller Piano factory and her 2 oldest brothers also work in the piano factory. There are only 8 children at the time of the census; the last one was not born until 1902.47
The 1910 U.S. census poses a bit of a mystery. Blanche seems to be listed twice on the census, once at the Illinois Home for Girls in Geneva Township, Kane County, Illinois (taken on May 13, 1910) and a second time at the orphans home in Du Quoin, Perry County, Illinois (taken on April 18, 1910).48, 49 Both records state that she is 14 years old (she is actually 13 years old). Her mother is still alive, so Blanche is not an orphan, although her mother may have surrendered her to the orphanage. The 1910 census shows her mother in her future husband’s household with Blanche’s sister, (Olive) May; both are working as servants in a private household.50 It is possible, but a bit unlikely, that between when the 2 censuses were taken Blanche was moved from the orphanage to the Illinois Home for Girls and recorded twice. Without further information it cannot be determined if either record is showing the correct Blanche Black.
I found one other record for a Blanche Black between 1910 and when she married Joe. It places her in Minneapolis, in 1915, working as a cook; she would be 18 years old.51 If this is the correct Blanche Black, there should be a reason for her being in Minneapolis. As it turns out, her sister Olive May married William F. Pagel on October 25, 1910 in Minneapolis and Olive May resided there until her death in 1946.52, 53 Without further information it cannot be determined if the record I found for Blanche Black is correct, but I suspect that it is because of Blanche having a sister already living in Minneapolis.
Based on what I found about Blanche’s and Joe’s whereabouts previous to their marriage, we will probably never know how Blanche and Joe met.
On September 12, 1918 Joe registered for the WWI draft. On it he states that he lives in Raymond, Sheridan County, Montana and that he is a farmer for Burt Hermes. His nearest relative listed is his wife Blanche.54
Joe and Blanche would not be together for long. Sometime between late 1918 and June 1919 Joe and Blanche visited White Bear and stayed with Adlore and Ellen (my grandparents) in their small home on Fourth Street. It was told that the family was frightened because Blanche coughed all the time. As it turns out, Blanche was sick with tuberculosis. She died on February 23, 1920 from chronic pulmonary tuberculosis at Hopewell Hospital, Minneapolis City Hospital’s quarantine hospital and tuberculosis sanatorium.55 Blanche was only 23 years and 7 days old.
Blanche did not die at home, she died in the hospital. Although the Tri-County Press article states that she was buried at Daysville, I have yet to locate her in any of the cemeteries in the Daysville area.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Thanks for visiting, come back soon,
Cynthia
© 2025 Copyright by Cynthia Vadnais, All Rights Reserved
Footnotes for Joseph Albert Vadnais (1883-1954) (Part 2 of 3) post
interesting thank you oxoxoo