Wednesday, September 3, 2014

#52Ancestors (35) Anna Harriet McDonald (1878-1915)

Anna 'Annie' Harriet McDONALD was a maternal great-great-grandmother. While not truly a 'black sheep,' she was certainly persona non grata in my family.

Annie was born 5 December 1878 in Adrian, Lenawee, Michigan. She was the middle of three daughters born to William McDONALD of Scotland and Helen THOMAS of New York.

Annie married Lorenz 'Lawrence' Simon HUMMEL in Adrian in 1896. They had two children: my great-grandfather William in 1896 and his sister Alma in 1903.

In a previous post about her husband, we learned that Annie filed for divorce from Lawrence, citing 'extreme cruelty' yet Annie left her husband and children behind for a tiny monetary settlement. It appears there was already another future husband in play. Their divorce was finalized in Hillsdale County, Michigan in June of 1909. Later that year, Annie remarried.

Husband #2 was Bertie J. ABBOTT. He was recently divorced and had a young son. Bertie and Annie married in Detroit and they spent time between Michigan and Ontario, Canada. Bertie worked as a railroad engineer and that may explain their various residences. They had no children of their own.

In 1915, Annie died in Windsor, Ontario after a year-long battle with tuberculosis. Though her death record states she was buried in Adrian, no cemetery marker has yet been located. She was only 36 years old. Her husband Bertie went on to marry two more times before his death in Montreal in 1930.

This is the only known family photo of Annie:

Lawrence, William and Annie Hummel
c 1896
© 2014 Sally Knudsen