Category: Sympathy Sunday

Sympathy Sunday: Dolores (Guymon) Montgomery

Posted on by spuddled

Today’s story takes a few twists and turns and is one I uncovered recently while working on the never-ending “Census Project.” At the center is my fifth cousin twice removed, Dolores R. Guymon. Usually I would include a link pointing back to Dolores in the database portion of this website, but since I only just identified Dolores while working my way through census and other records, she’s not in my online database yet. So instead I’ll link to her mother, Elizabeth “Lizzie” (Slatten) Guymon. Eventually a branch will be added there for Dolores. Anyway…

Dolores was born 10 September 1906 in Missouri. She was one of four children, one being the Bedonna I wrote about in an earlier post. In 1910 “Delores” and her family were enumerated in Sherman, Missouri1, and in 1920 “Deloris” and family were in Bethany, Missouri.2 On 28 July 1926, at her parents’ home “on South Twelfth Street,” Dolores, then 19, married George William Montgomery, 27.3 To my knowledge, George is not related to “our” Montgomery line, but you never know, especially since my Montgomery branch is something of a brick wall.

I love the detail you can sometimes find in old newspaper articles. Before we jump ahead to the sympathy part(s) of this story, a few tidbits about Dolores’s life in 1926, courtesy of contemporary Missouri newspapers. We learn, first of all, that she was a student at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, had been in the college’s glee club, and in January 1926 was made a member of the college sextette, a mark of vocal distinction.4 Interestingly, Google tells me that Stephens College, founded in 1833, is the second-oldest institution that continues to function as a women’s college. Umm, it is also billed as the pet-friendliest campus “on the planet”!!5 In March of that year, Dolores played the part of widow Sadie Jordon in the Stephens College production of “Icebound.”6 Dolores’s hometown paper, the Bethany Clipper, noted in April that she had spent the Easter holidays in Bethany with her family before returning to college in Columbia. The article further noted her involvement in Stephens College athletics, both as an assistant instructor in tennis and as part of a basketball tournament.7 In May, Dolores was an attendee at a formal banquet held by the Kappa Delta Phi sorority at the Daniel Boone Tavern.8

More details concerning Dolores’s athletic prowess appeared in the Bethany Clipper in June. An article titled “Local Girls Honored At Stephens College” notes that “two of Bethany’s champion tennis players” had been separated for a year but reunited to win another championship at Stephens College as part of the commencement week activities. One of the two was Dolores; the other was yet another Bedonna; after noting in an earlier post that the name sounded so unusual, there seem to be Bedonnas everywhere suddenly. This one was Bedonna Lingle; the two girls won the girls’ doubles championship at Stephens. The article goes on to describe how Dolores was one of only 10 girls (of 600) awarded a Stephens sweater. She was also voted “the most perfect girl in health of body in the entire college.”9 She graduated during that commencement week, even though she was only 19. Did she start really young? Graduate in only one year? I don’t know.

Later in the summer Dolores won a prize for having the highest score at a bridge party10, then participated in a scavenger hunt (hosted by our friend Bedonna Lingle). Prizes were awarded to the winning scavengers: a sunburst pin for the winning lady, and “cigarets” with a leather holder for the winning man. After the hunt, the group dined on “nut sandwiches, bean salad, pickles and grape juice” before going swimming until 2 a.m.! One of the other attendees was none other than Dolores’s future husband, George Montgomery.11

Two weeks later the Clipper told of the announcement of Dolores and George’s engagement. The festivities began as a bridge party hosted by Dolores’s parents, but later when ice cream and cake were served, nasturtiums were passed to each guest which contained hidden hearts with the wedding date noted on them.12 An article then appeared on 4 August which described the wedding that had taken place. Only the immediate families were present as Dolores and George exchanged vows beneath an arch surrounded by red roses beneath a white wedding bell. George’s sister Opal was maid of honor, Dolores’s brother Victor was best man, and Dolores’s sister Bedonna played the wedding march. After a wedding “dinner” (the 1:00 p.m. kind), George and Dolores left for their six-week honeymoon to California. Dolores wore a suit and hat of “reindeer brown.”13

After an eventful 1926, Dolores and George apparently settled down to married life. In 1930 they were enumerated in Cypress Township, Harrison County, Missouri. George is listed as 30 years old and a farmer; “Delores” is 23 and not employed outside the home. They do not have any children. The census also tells us (one of the more random questions asked on any of the censuses) that the couple had a radio set in their home.14 Perhaps Dolores liked to sing along.

Four years later George’s sister Opal (the aforementioned maid of honor at their wedding) married Wesley F. Gillman. She was 26 and her husband was 33.15 A week prior to her wedding, Opal was the guest of honor at an entertainment during which “guests showered Miss Montgomery with beautiful and useful kitchen utensils.” Thankfully the newspaper article about this event clarifies that the gifts were in fact not thrown at Opal but were delivered to the bride in a toy wagon pulled by children dressed as tiny brides. From the article we also learn that Opal was an English teacher at the local high school.16

But now for the sympathy. A little less than two years after her wedding, on Leap Day 1936, Opal gave birth to a daughter, Margaret Louise, in Saint Joseph, Missouri. On the following day, 1 March, Opal died. Her death certificate provides additional details: baby Margaret was in a breech position, complicating delivery. Fifteen hours after Margaret’s birth, Opal died suddenly of a pulmonary embolism.17 Wesley Gillman, Opal’s widow, would live until 1977, but perhaps he felt he couldn’t adequately care for a baby girl. Whatever the reason, the Bethany Republican-Clipper tells us what happened next, some 10 days after Opal’s death18:

In 1940 the family was enumerated in Cypress Township; oddly, Margaret is still listed with the Gillman surname and is described as George’s niece rather than his adopted daughter. Also in the household is a son, George T. Montgomery, a year younger than his adopted sister.19 By 1950 Margaret is still listed as George’s niece, but she is now named as Margaret L. Montgomery.20 More sympathy is in order for the family, as three years later George and Dolores’s son, George Thomas “Thomas” Montgomery, would be killed in a car accident on Highway 69, succumbing to head and chest injuries.21 An article about the accident describes how Tommy crashed head-on into a loaded tractor-trailer at 1:30 a.m. on 23 July 1953, one mile from his home. He had been out with friends that evening, and one of his friends encouraged him to stay overnight due to the late hour, but Tommy did not want to disturb his father by calling home to relay the change of plans. Those on the scene of the accident were positive he had fallen asleep behind the wheel of the 1953 Ford he had received for his 16th birthday. The article notes that he was survived, among others, by “a sister Miss Margaret Montgomery.”22

George, Sr., would survive his son by 10 years, dying in Bethany, Missouri, in December 1963. He was 64.23 Dolores died on Valentine’s Day 1977 at the age of 70. Both are buried in Bethany’s Miriam Cemetery.24 As for Margaret, her own wedding took place just a few weeks after Tommy’s death. She married Glenn A. Mason on 16 August 1953; both were 17. They would have three children: Tom, Peggy, and Michael, and would be married for over 65 years. Margaret died 19 March 2020, and Glenn on 28 September 2021.25

  1. 1910 Census (n.p: 1910, n.d), Sherman, Harrison, Missouri; Sup 3, Enum 109, Sheet 4A. ↩︎
  2. 1920 Census, Bethany, Harrison, Missouri; Sup 3, Enum 98, Sheet 15A. ↩︎
  3. Ancestry.com, “Miss Dolores Guymon to Be Married at 12 O’clock Today,” wedding, , 28 July 1926, Bethany [Missouri] Clipper; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : online 30 May 2026). ↩︎
  4. “Makes College Sextette,” Bethany [Missouri] Clipper, 20 January 1926, pg. 7 ↩︎
  5. https://stephens.edu/ ↩︎
  6. “‘Icebound’ to be Given by Stephens College,” Columbia [Missouri] Missourian, 17 March 1926, pg. 4 ↩︎
  7. “The Clipper Listener,” Bethany [Missouri] Clipper, 7 April 1926, pg. 7 ↩︎
  8. “Stephens Sorority Has Formal Banquet,” Columbia [Missouri] Missourian, 10 May 1926, pg. 3 ↩︎
  9. “Local Girls Honored At Stephens College,” Bethany [Missouri] Clipper, 2 June 1926, pg. 6 ↩︎
  10. Bethany [Missouri] Clipper, 23 June 1926, pg. 7 ↩︎
  11. “Seventeen Find New Thrill For Youths,” Bethany [Missouri] Clipper, 7 July 1926, pg. 4 ↩︎
  12. “Dolores Guymon Honored at Announcement Party,” Bethany [Missouri] Clipper, 21 July 1926, pg. 6 ↩︎
  13. “A Quiet Home Wedding,” Bethany [Missouri] Republican-Clipper, 4 August 1926, pg. 5 ↩︎
  14. 1930 Census, Cypress, Harrson, Missouri; Enum 41-10, Sup 2, Sheet 5A. ↩︎
  15. www.findagrave.com, www.findagrave.com, Memorial ID 21139813. ↩︎
  16. “Shower for Bride,” Tri-County News [King City, Missouri], 18 May 1934, pg. 6 ↩︎
  17. Missouri Office of the Secretary of State; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1969 ↩︎
  18. Bethany [Missouri] Republican-Clipper, 11 March 1936, pg. 1 ↩︎
  19. Ancestry.com, 1940 Census, Cypress, Harrison, Missouri; SD 3, ED 41-11, Sheet 6A. ↩︎
  20. 1950 U.S. Census, , Cypress, Harrison, Missouri, enumeration district (ED) 41-15, 3, dwell. 26, George W. Montgomery; digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62308/ : accessed 30 May 2026). ↩︎
  21. Missouri Office of the Secretary of State; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1969 ↩︎
  22. “Tragic, Sad Death of Tommy Montgomery,” Harrison County [Missouri] Times, 30 July 1953, pg. 1 ↩︎
  23. Missouri, Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1971, 63-047778, George Montgomery, 31 December 1963; online images, State of Missouri, Missouri Digital Heritage (https://s1.sos.mo.gov : online 31 May 2026). ↩︎
  24. Missouri Office of the Secretary of State, “Missouri, U.S., Death Records, 1968-2015,” death records, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62145/ : accessed 31 May 2026), Dolores R. Montgomery. ↩︎
  25. www.findagrave.com, www.findagrave.com, Memorial ID 21139813. ↩︎

Sympathy Sunday: Madeleine Hoffmann

Posted on by spuddled

Our 11th recurring theme for 2026 is Sympathy Sunday, so you can assume this post will be at least somewhat depressing. In past years I’ve highlighted a “sympathy” theme from time to time, though in those instances I wasn’t always posting on Sundays, so it was actually Sympathy Saturday. Of course, I also had Funeral Card Friday, Sunday’s Obituary, Tombstone Tuesday…

Anyway, we are directing today’s sympathy at my second great-grandaunt, Madeleine Hoffmann. She was born 9 May 1839 in Mackwiller, Alsace, France. She was the daughter of Nicolas and Marie Madeleine (Freyermuth) Hoffmann and was the fourth of nine children born to them. She was born three years after Jacob Hoffmann, our emigrant ancestor.

Her civil birth record confirms her birthdate and place, though it suggests the spelling of her first name may actually have been Madelaine. It further notes that she was born at 7 a.m., the legitimate daughter of Nicolas Hoffmann, aged 38, a journalier or day laborer and of Madelaine Freyermuth, 30. The two witnesses who came forward to confirm the details regarding Madelaine’s birth were Chrétien Friederich, a 35-year-old weaver, and Nicolas Bach, a 30-year-old day laborer. Chrétien’s wife, Marie Elisabeth Hoffmann, was Madelaine’s paternal aunt. Marie Elisabeth and Nicolas’s mother was named Caroline Bach, so it seems likely Nicolas Bach was a relative as well.1

Sadly, the next information I have for Madelaine is her death record from 1842. This record confirms her death took place at 8 a.m. on 6 June 1842 in Mackwiller and that she was three years old. Her parentage details are repeated here: her father Nicolas Hoffmann was now 43 and a day laborer, listed as born in Mackwiller. Her mother Madelaine was 37 and was born in Weyer. There were again two witnesses. The first this time was Charles Freyermuth, 37, a stonemason. He is listed as a neighbor of Madelaine, though it seems plausible he may also have been a relative since he and Madelaine’s mother both shared the Freyermuth surname. The second witness was Martin Faess (if my paleography skills are holding up). He was a 49-year-old weaver, and AI tells me that the blurry word describing his relationship to Madelaine is actually oncle (“uncle”).2

I’ll have to keep researching to see where he fits into the family tree (assuming AI knows what it’s talking about here). Especially since the very next record in the Mackwiller registre de décès (death register) is for a Marguerithe Faess, aged 11, the daughter of this same Martin Faess and his wife Marguerithe Anthony, who died exactly two weeks after Madelaine.

These records for both girls are bittersweet. Since both died so young, they would not have had any descendants or a larger impact on society by which they would be remembered, but because these records do exist, we can at least commemorate them here in a small way.

  1. Registres paroissiaux et documents d’état civil de la commune de Mackwiller > Etat civil > Registres d’état civil > Naissances > 1826-1852 ↩︎
  2. Registres paroissiaux et documents d’état civil de la commune de Mackwiller > Etat civil > Registres d’état civil > Décès > 1824-1846 ↩︎