Western States Marriage Index

Scholefield Family Tree

Continuing up through the generations in a vital records check, the data for George and Clara Moore Scholefield themselves is mostly complete. The only missing data is the exact date when the couple was married; therefore, a check of the Western States Marriage Record Index is next. This index holds records for Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Unfortunately, searches for Scholefield, Moore, George and Clara in Arizona, as well as Clara Moore and Scholefield in the entire collection does not return a result for George and Clara’s marriage.

Other searches for records within the index turn up the following results for other family members:

Confirmation of Max Brodie’s marriage to Helen Scholefield on 10 Oct 1907 in Tucson, Pima County, Arizona.1

A conflicting date for James Armour Moore’s marriage to Matilda Jane Burnett Crampton. Previous information indicates that they married in 1861 in San Bernardino, California, but the index reports their marriage on 3 Jun 1869 in Phoenix Precinct, Yavapai County, Arizona.2 This puts their marriage after the births of their three children?! Of course, it is also possible that there was another couple with similar names and the information for the 1861 marriage is correct.

A possible marriage for James and Matilda’s son James Arthur Moore appears. Based on the date and place, it is likely he married Mollie A. Shanley on 21 Sep 1891 in Globe, Gila, Arizona.3

Another confirmation: Charles T. Connell married Susie Moore on 20 May 1882 in Globe, Gila, Arizona.4 He resided in San Carlos, she in Globe. And it is interesting that Susie’s marriage is indexed, but not Clara’s.

Even more confounding is that John F. Crampton, Susie and Clara’s half brother, appears to have married a Rovilla Snelling on 14 Feb 1882 in Richmond Basin, Gila, Arizona.5 Since Susie and John were both married in 1882, the reported year that Clara and George were married, why does Clara and George’s record not appear right along side Clara’s siblings records? As a side note, Rovilla appears to have later married a Joseph V. Crowley on 12 Dec 1906 in Globe, Gila Arizona.6 John may have died before that date, or they were divorced.

Indicating the need to search for all possible ways that a person might have been named in a record, Sarah Jane Crampton’s marriage is located under the name of Sarah Jane Moore — her mother’s second husband’s name. Her marriage to Charles H. Kenyon is confirmed as occuring on 27 Nov 1872 in Maricopa County, Arizona.7

Mary Ellen Crampton’s marriage is also under the surname Moore. She married Henry T. Fitzgerald on 1 Mar 1874 in Maricopa County, Arizona.8 He was a resident of Yuma County. And she resided in Maricopa Wells, Pima County. A comment on the record states that “Mary is daughter of James A. Moore.” It is interesting that the girls were willing to go by the name of their new father and John kept his real father’s name. However, it is also possible that it was assumed that James Moore was the girls’ father since their real father had died before the family even arrived in Arizona. Since John married a decade after his sisters, maybe he was able to establish his true parentage — the girls may have even been less concerned because they expected their names to change when they married anyway.

So, all of Clara’s siblings marriages have been located — I will need to continue to dig for information about Clara!

1. Brigham Young University – Idaho, “Western States Marriage Records,” database, Special Collections & Family History (http://abish.byui.edu/specialCollections/westernStates/search.cfm : accessed 9 Oct 2008), entry for Max Biodie [Brodie] to Helen Scholefield, 1907; citing Pima County, Arizona, marriage records vol. 3, p. 334.
2. Ibid., entry for James A. Moore to Jane Crampton, 1869; citing Yavapai County, Arizona, marriage records vol. A, p. 9.
3. Ibid., entry for James A. Moore to Mollie A. Shanley, 1891; citing Gila County, Arizona, marriage records vol. 1, p. 25.
4. Ibid., entry for Charles T. Connell to Susie Moore, 1882; citing Gila County, Arizona, marriage records vol. 1, p. 4.
5. Ibid., entry for John F. Crampton to Rovilla Snelling, 1882; citing Gila County, Arizona, marriage records vol. 1, p. 8.
6. Ibid., entry for Joseph V. Crowley to Rovilla J. Crampton, 1906; citing Gila County, Arizona, marriage records vol. 2, p. 89.
7. Ibid., entry for Charles Henry Kenyon to Sarah Jane Moore; citing Maricopa County, Arizona, marriage records vol. 1, p. 7.
8. Ibid., entry for Henry T. Fitzgerald to Mary Ellen Moore, 1874; citing Maricopa County, Arizona, marriage records vol. 1, p. 11.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.