That Divorce Record? It's only an email away

I've known for a long time that my 2nd great-uncle Charles Prosser was divorced from his first wife, Amanda, ever since I found him and his second wife Anna on the 1900 census of Chicago, Illinois.But I didn't know when or where until Ancestry introduced a new collection, "Michigan, Divorce Records, 1897-1952". There I found that Amanda Prosser had sued for divorce on the grounds of desertion, first filing in December 1884. For whatever reason, the divorce was not final until 1899.

"Michigan Divorce Records, 1897-1952," Ancestry > 1897-1923 > 1897 Alcona-1898 Eaton > image 487 of 695, Summary of Returns Relative to Divorces, St. Clair County, Michigan, p.451, no. 322-6, Amanda Prosser vs. Chas D. Prosser (1884).

I knew I wanted the original divorce papers, but it wasn't until earlier this year that I finally emailed, then called the St. Clair County Clerk's office in Michigan to ask. Their response was that the record was only one page, but it was worth getting. Soon afterward, I received it in the mail.

St. Clair County Clerk's Office, Divorce record for Amanda and Charles Prosser (1899), Port Huron, MI.

It didn't take me long, looking at this page, to realize that it solved a mystery. Several years ago, I found a birth announcement for Charles and Amanda's son, born on 15 April 1886.

"Born," Crawford (MI) Avalanche, 15 April 1886, p.4, col. 2

Looking at the divorce record, it's obvious to me that son was James L. Prosser, who would turn 14 "on the fourth day of April 1900". And he was listed with his father Charles and stepmother Anna on the 1900 census of Chicago:

1900 U.S. census, Cook County, Illinois, population schedule, Chicago, enumeration district (ED) 274, p.5B, dwelling 57, family 110, Charles Prosser household; NARA microfilm T623, roll 255.

Like many census records, this has more than one error. Lewis Prosser (evidently named for both grandfathers, James Qua and Lewis Prosser) was born in April 1886, not 1894, and was sixteen years old, not six. Charles Prosser and Anna Leguille had been married in Chicago just the year before, in August 1899. Evidently he was an honorable man (unlike his father) and waited until the divorce decree was signed in July 1899 before marrying again.

I haven't found out what happened to James Lewis Prosser, but it's only a matter of time. For me, genealogy is a life-long pursuit, and there's always something more to find!