At the Courthouse with the Lipps

I suppose we all have at least one of those ancestors whose name vexes us in our research.  One such of those in my background is my 2nd great grandmother, Mary (Maria) Hanick/Hanink/Harnink/Hannink/Henank/Heineke/Henning.  I doubt I have exhausted the potential spellings of what seems to be a somewhat common Dutch name.  Most of the census records state she was born in Michigan, and I've found a long list of family members in the Grand Rapids area with one or more of the variations above.  Then there's that one document that says she was born in Ohio.  <sad face>

A lot of what I know about Mary I've learned through articles or notices in newspapers where Mary has been in a court of one kind or another.

Mary was born in 1856, so she was barely 17 years old in 1873 when she appeared in Police Court in Buffalo, NY, to sue her future husband, John Lipp, for "seduction under promise of marriage".  An 1848 law passed in New York state made it illegal "under promise of marriage<to>seduce any unmarried female of previous chaste character".   John's bail of $800 seems to be a significant sum in that time period.  Mary gave birth to my great grandmother, Jane, five months later in January 1874, so it was probably pretty straightforward for Mary to prove she had indeed been deflowered.  But John Lipp was no "catch".

Buffalo Courier, September 3, 1873

Mary and John had their second daughter, Charlotte (Lottie), in October 1878.  Less than a year later, in September 1879,  John sued Mary for divorce.  Again the case was decided in favor of Mary.  I've no idea what this means to have had a divorce decided in your favor, because I don't know the terms of the suit.  Perhaps she counter-sued.

Buffalo Courier, September 22, 1879

A third child was born in November 1879, a few months after the divorce was settled, a son named Eugene.  I've found no record of his ever being referred to by the surname "Lipp".  It appears he lived his life using the surname of Mary's second husband, John Henning.  Yes, she married someone with a name sounding similar to her maiden name, adding even more confusion to my ensuring I'm looking at the proper ancestor.

I would say that Mary was lucky to be rid of Mr. Lipp, but for this.  In the article below, one year after her divorce, Mary would be a single mother with three young children to care for, so desperate circumstances must have led her to put one child out for adoption.  This case was settled in the County Court.  It doesn't say which child, so I don't know whether it was my great grandmother, Jane, or her younger sister, Lottie.   What a scene it must have been in the court room for the two women involved going at each other!

In her 1950s correspondence with my mother, Lottie wrote that, as a child, she had lived for a time with an aunt during hard times, so for all I know, the Lowe family below could have been relatives, although I've not yet found any evidence to support this premise.

Buffalo Morning Express, November 2, 1880

Censuses from 1900 and on show at different times the three women living together.  The son, Eugene, is not listed in any of the censuses, but turns up later in various newspapers around the country as a professional billiards player.  Lottie married and moved to Ohio, and later to California after she was divorced.  Jane was married twice, and as a widow turned her home into a boarding house in Niagara Falls.  Mary, once in her dotage, lived with Jane until she died on Christmas Eve in 1936.

When I read these articles as a sequence, as well as other information I have about these women, I feel deep sorrow for the difficulties they all endured in just day to day survival.