Annie E. Cheney
My 2X great grandmother, Annie, was married three times - first, at a very young age, to an elderly invalid, the second to a Civil War veteran who had abandoned two wives before marrying her and would go on to marry three more times after their divorce, and the third to the “love of her life.”
Annie disappeared during her divorce in 1899, having “fled the state,” according to court documents. In 1932, she joined her family in Creede, Colorado shortly before her death.
Who was this mystery woman? Who were her parents? Who was the elderly, invalid relative her family forced her to marry so that she could care for him without forfeiting her honor? Who was her third husband, the love of her life? Where was Annie for all those years after her divorce from her second husband? Why is Annie the only relative in the cemetery who does not have a headstone?
Annie E. Cheney - my abiding brick wall.
Maternal grandmother, Josephine Davis.
Stories
When I was a little girl, my maternal grandmother, Josephine, would tell me stories of her childhood. She described their arrival in Creede (a small mining town in Colorado) sitting on the back of their covered wagon (not a Calistoga, she would say) watching the residents silently gathering on their front stoops to observe their passage through town. She was 14 at the time and had a shadowy foreboding about this town – with good reason, it turned out, for within the year, her beloved brother, Bob, would be buried in the cemetery above town, a victim of the 1918 Flu Panedemic and her parents, Robert (Lynn) and Maude, would be divorced. She always referred to it as the worst year of her life, although she grew to love Creede, marrying a local boy, raising four children, and spending the next 62 years of her life there.
Annie with second husband, John Farney Woodruff and two of her children. The portrait behind them is John’s Civil War portrait (my cousin has this picture in a trunk of other Woodruff memorabilia.)
One of my favorite stories was of her maternal grandmother, Annie. The story she told was of a woman forced to marry at a very young age to care for an invalid old uncle. “It wasn’t proper, you see, for her to bathe and change him if they weren’t married,” she would whisper. After he died, Annie married a “scoundrel” by the name of John Farney Woodruff. He had been a brave hero in the Civil War, but he was a dreadful family man, carousing with “loose” women and shaming Annie time after time. When he was seen by the town folk escaping from a burning “house of ill repute” in Cripple Creek, Annie had had enough. She gathered up all her children and left Mr. Woodruff.
“But then,” my grandmother would say in a wistful voice, “my grandmother met the love of her life, Mr. Fry. I used to sit for hours listening to her tell of her wonderful life with Mr. Fry. He was so romantic, and he loved my grandmother so.”
I had always been mildly curious about Annie, but it took a visit by my second cousin, Linda, to light the flame that has become my passion for the past several years. As we looked through family pictures we had both collected, Linda would say, “But where did Annie come from? Who were her parents? It’s such a mystery!” We set out to find the answers to those questions but discovered that, although there was plenty of information about John Woodruff and his other wives, family historians and even a published genealogist had completely skipped over Annie, his wife of 22 years and mother to eight of his twelve children. How could that be? Linda was right! This was a real mystery!
My cousins and I have been able to assemble a pretty clear picture of Annie’s life while she was married to John, but who her parents were and anything about her life before she married John in 1877 and after they divorced in 1899 remains a mystery hidden behind a seemingly-impenetrable brick wall.
Birth and Death
Several phone calls, a trip to the Adams State University Nielsen Library Reserves, and a letter to the Colorado Archives produced Annie’s obituary1 and death certificate.2
Annie’s death certificate offered similar information, but with one new clue: her father was born in France.
With all this information, I would surely be able to uncover her life’s story. Annie’s father may have been born in France, his last name was Cheney, and they had lived in Cincinnati, Ohio when Annie was born. I smile when I remember how naïve I was.
Marriage
The 1880 Census3 revealed some information about Annie’s life with John. They were now in Lone Oak, Missouri, with two daughters. Edna was born in Indiana around 1878 and daughter, Maude (my great grandmother) had been born in 1879 in Missouri.
Divorce
Browsing around through the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection uncovered a shocking bit of information! John had sued Annie for adultery and desertion!4 That didn't quite match Annie's story about leaving John because of his infidelity!
My cousins and I speculated that John must have been bitter about Annie leaving him, so filed suit against her as a way to save face and ruin her reputation. My cousin, Kathy, uncovered a divorce record5 with more information about their marriage and about their children:
Several letters and calls to the Colorado Archives revealed that not only did they not have the original divorce records, they didn’t even have this record report. According to the clerks, this indicated that the records were most likely misfiled. Time after time, my inquiries were met with, “I’m sorry, we have not been able to locate those records.”
Darn it!
My big break came during a trip to Denver for a research project. After a fun and productive morning at the Denver Central Library, I realized with a start that I was only blocks from the Colorado Archives office. I’d communicated with them remotely, but I had never visited their offices. Walking with a sense of urgency, I approached the counter where a woman looked up from her computer and asked how she could help me. I read off Annie’s and John’s information, and handed her the divorce record. As she entered the information, my heart fell as she frowned and shook her head, saying she wasn’t finding anything. I started to turn away, but then saw that a tall gentleman was standing behind her and seemed very interested in what he was seeing on the screen. He said, “Don’t add the record number there, put it in here.” I held my breath as I saw the woman’s face light up. She looked up and said, “Do you have time to wait? It looks as if these records are in our downtown storage facility. We’ll need to send someone down there, but it could take several hours.”
Legal pocket holding Woodruff divorce pleadings.
“Yes, yes, however long it takes!” I said excitedly. My heart was pounding so loud, I thought everyone could hear it. I took a seat and waited. Within about an hour, a man came into the office wheeling a cart with a big, fat legal file pocket sitting on top. He started unpacking the file pocket, gently laying each folder in front of me. “Careful, my dear, these are very fragile.”
The woman at the counter came over to tell me that I could either make copies of the over-sized pages at the copy machine or she could make the copies – explaining the difference in price. I assured her I could make the copies, but as I stood trembling at the copy machine, I realized I couldn’t do it. The pages were like rice paper and seemed as if they would disintegrate beneath my touch. When I turned to ask if the clerk could make the copies for me, I discovered she was standing right behind me smiling. I didn’t even have to say anything, she just took my place and made the copies for me.
I didn’t want to read them at the office, so I tucked everything away in my briefcase and rushed out to catch an Uber to the hotel. I ordered pizza and then sat down to study the documents. What a tale they revealed!
Woodruff divorce verdict . . . see transcript
Annie did not show up for her divorce hearing and, according to the Teller County sheriff,6 she had fled the state. In the pleadings, John accused Annie of having an affair with one Henry Fry, employed at the Holthusen Ranch. This was a very big clue, as Annie’s third husband had always been referred to only as “Mr. Fry.” In addition, John declared that he had ample means to take care of their five minor children.7
The jury, hearing no objection from the absent Annie Woodruff, found in John’s favor, awarding him custody of the minor children and finding Annie guilty of adultery and desertion.8
Whether or not Annie originally left John because he had humiliated her one too many times, and whether she had taken her children with her when she left (as she'd told my grandmother), it is clear that by the time John sued her for divorce, Annie could not be found and John had possession of the minor children. Maybe the stories she told my grandmother were a romanticized whitewashing of a scandalous affair. But as I discovered later, John had deserted his first wife after all three of their children died within the first year of their births, he abandoned his second wife and infant son to marry Annie, and was married three more times after Annie left him. My grandmother and her sister always referred to their grandfather as “old John Farney” with a curl to their lips and a snarl in their voices. We will never know what actually happened between John and Annie, but it is my strong feeling that Annie did leave John because of his infidelity, finding a new love in Henry Fry. It is quite likely that John responded to Annie’s desertion by publicly shaming her, exerting his male advantage to gain custody of the children, and running her out of town. It would be a sad tale if not for my grandmother’s memory of Annie’s romantic stories recounting her happy years with Henry Fry, saying that he was the love of her life. I recently found a 1910 Trinidad, Colorado directory entry9 that lists an Anna Fry, widow of Henry. If this is, indeed, our Annie, then she only had 11 years with her beloved Henry, but from the stories she told my grandmother, it was a mighty romance.
Where is Annie?
Perusing local newspaper archives, I discovered that Annie had visited her daughter, Maude Lane, a few times shortly before she died. The gossip columns reported her as a visitor from Walsenburg, Colorado.10 But where had she been from the time she and John divorced in 1899 and her visits to Creede 20 years later?
I was trembling as I picked up the card and looked at the postmark. December 30, 1913. Annie was right here in Colorado in 1913! I jumped up, holding the postcard to my chest as if it would fly away as easily as it had drifted in. I started walking in circles, mumbling, “Oh, my God, oh, my God!” and then, overcome with this discovery, jumped up and down in sheer ecstasy, screaming, "Oh, my God, oh, my God!" My husband raced into the room and tried to calm me down, saying, “What’s the matter? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” I looked at him as if he’d appeared out of a dream and showed him the postcard. “Look, Annie was in Trinidad in 1913! Look, Randy!” His eyes glazed over, he got a serious look on this face, and said, “Jesus, Shannon, I thought something happened to you.” As he walked out of the livingroom shaking his head, I smiled and thought, “Something did happen to me and you will NEVER understand!” – a thought I’ve had about several people over the years who do not share my passion in family research.
Notes
I have listed what I know of Annie’s life in the notes below (see the References section for sources.) The mystery of Annie E. Cheney before she married John Farney Woodruff is my ultimate brick wall and the abiding obsession that drives my family research. My husband and I had a trip planned in our RV that would have traced Annie’s path from her birth in Ohio, through Indiana, where she was married, to Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado, where her children were born. The COVID-19 virus stalled our trip. We are hoping to be back on the road soon in search of Annie’s origins.
Name
Annie's obituary and death certificate list her name as Annie E. Fry
Annie's death certificate lists her father's name as Cheney (presumed last name)
John's divorce suit against Annie lists her name as Annie Woodruff
1880 Federal Census lists Annie's name as Anna Woodruff
Creede Candle refers to Annie as Mrs. Anna Fry
Son, Lee Roy Woodruff’s, death certificate lists “Mother’s Maiden Name” as Mary Fry Phelps.
Annie told her granddaughter, Josephine Davis, that she had been married off at a very young age, so there may be records of Annie under another surname.
Birth
Annie's obituary and death certificate list her birthday as 15 September, 1858 and her birth place as Cincinnati, Ohio.
1880 Federal Census lists Annie as 23 years old and born in Ohio.
Parents
Annie's death certificate lists her father as Cheney, born in France.
Annie's death certificate lists her mother's maiden name as unknown.
Some people have listed Anna's parents as Francis and America DeMaro from Ironton, Ohio - where John Woodruff was from. That was a very exciting prospect until research showed that their daughter, Anna, had married and moved to Lunleith, West Virginia. Please see https://www.shannonfield.com/anna-demaro-research for more information on my research of the DeMaro family.
Marriages
Unknown husband (presumably married before 1878)
Annie’s granddaughter (my grandmother), Josephine Davis, described stories Annie told about being married off by the family to an elderly, invalid uncle so that she could care for him without losing honor.
John Farney Woodruff (married 10 October 1877; divorced 14 September 1899)
The 1880 Census shows John and Annie (Anna) living as man and wife in Lone Oak, Missouri, with their two daughters, Edna and Maude.
John's divorce pleadings declared that he and Annie had married in Shoals, Indiana on 10 October 1878. Their divorce was final on 14 September 1899.
Henry Fry: Presumably married after 14 September 1899; Presumably widowed - date unknown
John's divorce pleadings accused Annie of having an affair with Henry Fry.
It is presumed that Annie and Henry Fry married sometime after her divorce in 1899.
The 1910 Trinidad, Colorado (Annie’s last known residence) City Directory lists Annie Fry as widow of Henry.
The Creede Candle refers to Annie as Mrs. Anna Fry when reporting that she was in town visiting her daughter.
Annie's obituary and death certificate name her as Anna Fry.
Anna's death certificate lists her as widowed.
Children
Edna Latitia Woodruff (28 August 1877, Indiana–1888, presumably Kansas)
On the 1880 Census, Edna is listed as Edner Woodruff , born about 1878 in Indiana.
The Woodruff Family Bible lists Edna's birth as 28 August 1877 and her death as 11 February 1888.
I have found no documentation for Edna's death. Annie's oldest daughter, Maude, named her first daughter Edna, in memory of her older sister.
Anna Maud Woodruff (1879 Missouri–1954, Colorado)
Anna Maude (my great grandmother) married twice: Robert L. Davis (6 children) and Charles Lane (1 child).
Maude was a midwife and was often called to stitch up miners who had been injured in the mine.
Annie died at Maude's and Charles Lane's Ranch on Moonshine Mesa, Creede, Colorado.
Robert Franklin Woodruff (1881–1881)
Robert Franklin Woodruff is listed in the Woodruff Bible as John and Annie's son, but I have found no other documentation about his birth/death.
David Henry Woodruff (1882–1900)
David is listed as a minor child on the pleadings in John and Annie's divorce. This was a surprise, as none of our family members still living had heard of David.
A newspaper clipping found by my cousin, Kathy, in the Colorado Springs Gazette may explain his death, although I have not been able to verify this, yet. A cryptic entry:
“To Investigate a Death: Henry Woodruff, a young man 17 years of age, died at the Sisters' hospital, and an autopsy will be held tomorrow morning to discover the cause of death. Deceased had been sick from typhoid fever for some time past. He was thought to have recovered but suffered a relapse. Dr. Cunningham, the attending physician, states that the fever did not cause the death. The parents of the deceased live at Divide.”
William Wilson Woodruff (1885 Missouri –1918, Wyoming)
William was a switchman on the Union Pacific district terminal and was killed in 1918 in a train accident in Laramie Wyoming.
Florence (Floss) Woodruff (1887 Kansas –1958 Arizona)
Florence (Flossie) married Ted Bennett, a local forest ranger and author of the book, “Boomtown Boy.” While her sister, Maude, lived on a ranch off of Deep Creek Road in Creede, Flossie and her husband lived on his family's ranch (the McCall Ranch) off of Middle Creek Road in Creede.
Lee Roy Woodruff (1889 Colorado –1953 Arizona)
An interesting story about Lee - my cousin, Linda, interviewed Lee Roy's son before he died. He said that they had come to Creede once to visit Maude and her family, but they left early because his dad (Lee) had determined that Maude's grandchildren were hoodlums and miscreants and he didn't want his son around them. By all accounts, Maude and her children were highly thought of in the community and the grandchildren were reported as high-achieving students, so what they must have done to provoke such a reaction in their great uncle is a mystery.
Warren Browning Woodruff
Warren was called “Brownie” by his family. Interestingly, his daughter was named Goldie.
Residence
Annie's obituary and death certificate both list her birthplace as Cincinnati, Ohio.
John's divorce pleadings claim that he and Anna were married on October 10, 1877 in Shoals, Indiana.
The 1880 Census indicates that John and Annie's oldest daughter was born in Indiana.
Maude’s (Annie’s daughter) death certificate and obituary lists her birthplace as Marysville, Missouri.
The 1880 Federal Census lists John and Annie's residence as Lone Oak, Missouri.
Florence's (Annie's daughter) death certificate lists her birthplace as McPherson, Kansas.
Annie's two boys, Lee and Brownie, were born in Florissant, Colorado.
A postcard I found in my uncle's papers was postmarked 30 December 1913 and addressed to Annie in Trinidad.
Creede, Colorado newspapers reported in the gossip sections that Annie was visiting from Walsenburg, Colorado.
Annie's death certificate recorded Annie's place of death as Creede, Colorado.
Appearance
Annie was described by my grandmother and by my second cousin as a petite woman who was always dressed formally and wore button up boots.
Health
Annie's great grandson, John Jackson, used to tell a story about how he and his brothers and cousins used to tease Annie, taking advantage of the fact that she used an ear trumpet to hear. The grandchildren would silently mouth words to make Annie think they were talking. She would lean closer and closer, and when she realized they were teasing her, she would chase them and call them little rascals.
Annie's great granddaughter, Polly Davis, said she remembered the ear trumpet and said that the kids kept the trumpet to play with after Annie's death.
High blood pressure was listed as a health issue on Annie’s death certificate.
Death
Annie died 5 June 1932, in Creede, Colorado. She is buried in the cemetery above Creede.
Annie's great granddaughter, Polly Davis, would tell us about her memories surrounding Annie's death. Annie was staying with Polly's family until Annie's daughter, Maude, could get a little cabin ready for Annie to stay in at their ranch on Moonshine Mesa. When Maude had everything ready for Annie to move out to the ranch, Annie became distressed and told Polly's mother, Caroline, that she was afraid to go to the ranch because she had a premonition that she was going to die there. Caroline soothed her, saying, "Oh, no, Grandmother, Maude is so excited to have you and she's fixed up your little place so pretty. Nothing is going to happen to you. We spend all our time out at the ranch, so everyone will be there with you." Sadly, soon after Annie moved out to the ranch, Maude went to wake her one morning and discovered that Annie had passed away in her sleep. The coroner listed cause of death as probable cerebral hemorrhage due to high blood pressure.
Polly was just a child, but said that she remembered seeing Annie laid out in the parlor. She could see Annie's “little feet” in socks, poking out from under her dress. Knowing that Annie would never be seen without her button-up boots, and that her feet were always cold, Polly surreptitiously moved close and pulled Annie's dress down to cover her feet.
References
1. “Annie E. Fry” obituary, Del Norte Prospector, “The Creede Section, 10 June 1932, p. 2, col. 2, par14.
2. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment certificate of death no. 6023D, Mrs. Anna E. Fry (1932); Bureau of Vital Statistics, Creede.
3. 1880 U.S. census, Bates County, Missouri, population schedule, Lone Oak, p. 214A (stamped), dwelling 36, family 37, J. F. Woodruff; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 25 October 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 673.
4. “Divorce Suit,” (Cripple Creek) Morning Times, 20 July 1899, p. 1, col. 6, par 3.
5. "Colorado Statewide Divorce Index, 1900-1939," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPTX-XLNB : 7 September 2019), John T Woodruff, 14 Sep 1899; citing Divorce, Teller, Colorado, United States, Colorado State Archives, Denver.
6. El Paso County, Colorado, District Court Records Case # 85001257; John T [sic] Woodruff v. Anna Woodruff, divorce; original documents, Teller County Colorado, Court Records, Denver Archives Location 100383, Docc; Sheriff’s Affidavit, service attempted, Anna Woodruff cannot be found and is believed to have fled the state. Signatures: James T. Stewart, Sheriff by J. D. Harrigan, Undersheriff.
7. El Paso County, Colorado, District Court Records Case # 85001257; John T [sic] Woodruff v. Anna Woodruff, divorce; original documents, Teller County Colorado, Court Records, Denver Archives Location 100383, Docc; Plaintiff’s declaration, means and willingness to care for minor children.
8. El Paso County, Colorado, District Court Records Case # 85001257; John T [sic] Woodruff v. Anna Woodruff, divorce; original documents, Teller County Colorado, Court Records, Denver Archives Location 100383, Docc; Verdict, signed C. S. T. Cady, Foreman.
9. R. L. Polk and Company, (1910). 1910 City Directory: Trinidad, Colorado. Detroit, Michigan: R. L. Polk and Company. || p. 106. Anna Fry (wid Henry); Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line], accessed 25 October, 2020.
10. “Mrs. Annie Fry,” (Creede) Creede Candle, 8 September 1923, p. 3, col. 2, par 22.
11. Maude Davis (Buena Vista, Colorado) to Mrs. Annie Fry, postcard, 30 December 1913; privately held by Field [P.O. Box 846, Creede, Colorado 81130,] 2020. Holiday greetings from Maude Davis to her mother, Annie Fry, establishes residences for both daughter and mother.
12. “To Investigate a Death,” (Colorado Springs) Colorado Springs Gazette, 8 December 1899, p. 2, col. 4, par 3.