Smith Kent v Catherine Meyer/Myer Kent
Quick Entanglement, Divorce in Williams County, Ohio, 1860
By Pamela Pattison Lash (updated 25 November 2021)
I have been updating the divorce detailings I started over twenty years ago and have discovered so much information that was not available before. This particular story is really two stories that converge on one woman – Catherine Myer/Meyer Kent Boillot Duhamel Burchell.
He made her acquaintance and nine days later he proposed. He thought she was a person of fair and virtuous conduct. He quickly found out that she was not. Love at first sight had put blinders on his common sense.
Smith Kent, b. 1830 OH, the son of Ashford and Nancy Thompson Kent, lived in Springfield Twp, Wms Co, OH according to the 1850 federal census, p103B, as follows: Ashford Kent 64 VA, Nancy 60 OH, Thomas 27 OH, Isaac 22 OH, Smith 20 OH, Elcy 18 OH, David 16 OH, Rachael 15 OH, and Louisa 11 OH. Smith's mother, Nancy, died on 14 Nov 1855 @63Y 7M 10D and was buried in the Beaver Creek Cemetery, Pulaski Twp, Wms Co, OH.
According to his testimony in the Williams County Civil and Criminal Court records (Journal 6 p55 - 27 Nov 1860; Roll 14 case number 114), Smith Kent made the acquaintance of Catherine Meyer on 1 Mar 1859. He proposed and was married to her on 10 Mar 1859, Williams Co, OH (Marriages V3 p49). Catherine turned out in four months time to be "a common prostitute" when on 11 July 1859 she was delivered of a full grown child which was not his, but that of an unknown Besconcon. After the birth of the child Smith abandoned Catherine and had not lived with her since then.
The 1860 Bryan, Pulaski Twp federal census, p181A, bears out this fact that Smith Kent 30 OH was residing with his father Ashford 71 VA and sisters Rachel 24 OH and Louisa 20 OH plus an unnamed female 6/12 IN. Who this child was is not currently known, but presumably she is not the child mentioned in the divorce. The court granted Smith a divorce after listening to the testimony of Polly Shoe, Louisa Kent, and Mrs. Charles Chapman. Catherine did not appear in court nor did she contest this divorce.
However, E Smith Kent was a Civil War soldier with the Co K 68th Ohio Infantry; he died on 15 April 1862 at Crump’s Landing, TN. Catherine filed and received his CW pension on 3 February 1863 and later for minor Lewis Joseph Kent. In fact Catherine had two sons, both named Kent – Lewis Joseph (7 July 1859 – 1902 Archbold, Fulton Co, OH; married Jessie/Jennie Bair c1880) and Edward E Kent (28 May 1862 – 14 February 1950 Kendalville, Noble Co, IN; married Minnie Schwartz). Both boys were born in Williams Co, OH, with the former mentioned in the original divorce filing. It would appear that Smith Kent and Catherine reconciled.
In the 1860 Stryker, Springfield Twp, Wms Co, OH federal census p56B, Catherine’s Myer family was listed as John 61 FR, Mary 61 FR, Catherine 22 FR, and Lewis 1 OH. In the 1870 Springfield Twp, Williams Co, OH federal census the Myer family appeared as John 72 FR, Mary A 72 FR, Peter Bruot 33 FR, Lewis 11 OH, Edwin 8 OH, and Catherine 33 FR. Note that Bruot should be Boillot. Catherine married Peter Pierre Boillot on 3 March 1870 Williams Co, OH. Peter was a Civil War soldier who served in Co L 2nd Ohio Artillery. Peter filed and was given a divorce from Catherine c5 October 1882 according to DeKalb Co, IN Order Book 1876-1883.
The story now turns to another Williams Co, OH divorce detailing.
John Duhamel v Marie Duhamel (Journal 12 p105 - 13 June 1883; Roll 39 Box 128 case number 1142 - 28 Apr 1883)
The couple was married on 15 Mar 1876 in New York City, NY. John, parentage unknown, was born in Nov 1824 in Paris, France. According to the 1880 Stryker, Springfield Twp, Wms Co federal census, p663A, John was listed as 58 Paris, FR, laborer, married but living alone.
He charged that Marie was willfully absent for three years or more. She lived at 132 Madison Ave, NYC. A legal notice appeared in the Bryan Press, 8 June 1883. He was granted a divorce. Nothing further is known of Marie Duhamel.
On 13 June 1883 in Wms Co (Marriage V5 #357) John married Catharine Kent. In the 1900 Letcher Twp, Sanborn Co, SD federal census p245, John Duhamel, who immigrated to the US in 1873, first settling in NY, was listed as John Nov 1824 (75) FR and wife Katherine, who came to the US in 1854, Apr 1837 (63) FR, married 24 years with two children, both surviving. Note that Katherine was married before her marriage to John Duhamel and they were married 17 years before the 1900 census. Why the Duhamels were living in South Dakota is not currently known. Wms Co, OH Death V3 p29 showed John Duhamel died on 26 Jan 1908 and was buried in French Cemetery.
Catherine Myer Kent Boillot Duhamel next married ex-convict George Burchell on 9 November 1910 in Williams Co, OH. George, the son of John and Ellen Cochran Burchell, was convicted in 1892 of being a part of the murder of Arthur Brown in Bryan, OH. George was in the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus in 1900, but the Governor of Ohio later pardoned him. By the 1910 Bryan, Pulaski Twp Williams Co, OH Federal Census he was George 42 OH single, blacksmith. I wrote a small book on this murder titled, Native Sons Gone Wrong, published by the Williams County Genealogical Society. George would outlive Catherine and marry again. Catherine died in October 1914 as Catherine Duhamel, so perhaps she was divorced again.
