#109 ELOPEMENT OF 13 YEAR OLD COUSIN
BIRDIE SCHLEY
-Chicago Tribune, Sept 20 1925
I discovered cousin "Birdie" during one of my random rabbit-home researches. The headline immediately grabbed me--the elopement of a thirteen year old girl with a 20 year old man. Such an elopement was not only socially scandalous, but also clearly illegal under Illinois law. Minimum marriage age in Illinois in 1925 was 16 for girls (with parental consent), 18 for boys (with parental consent), 21 without parental consent. A 13 year old, like Birdie could not legally marry, even with her parents' consent, and that permission was unlikely to be given.
Bertha Freida Beatrice "Birdie" Schley (Sligh) was born in Chicago on Feb 20, 1912. Her parents were James Edwin Schley (1858-1945) and Bertha Graf (1890-1978). While this was her mother's first and only marriage and Birdie her only child, James seems to have been married at least twice and had a child from each. James and Bertha were married on June 12 1908 in St. Joseph, Michigan. James was employed as an auto parts machinist; Bertha sewed piece-meal at home.
Birdie's childhood was in Chicago's West Side, a patchwork of immigrant enclaves, heavily industrialized with rail yards, meat-packing plants and manufacturing workshops close to residential streets. Jobs were often hard, low-paying and physically demanding--packinghouses, garment factories, bakeries, metal works. Houses were brick three-flats, frame cottages and converted tenements. Some blocks were tidy and stable, others were overcrowded with poor sanitation and high rents. The Schleys were renters. At 13, Birdie would have been in 8th grade in a public school where classrooms were crowded, discipline strict, and teachers expected neat handwriting and memorization. She would carry a small satchel with a few notebooks and a lunch wrapped in waxed paper. Subjects like arithmetic, geography, and penmanship were compulsory, and there were likely weekly music or sewing lessons for girls. In 1925, Birdie’s world of fun should have included street games with friends (hopscotch, jump rope, marbles, or “kick the can.”), movies at a nickelodeon or neighborhood theater, where silent films with live piano accompaniment were still popular (though talkies were just around the corner), roller skating on smooth sidewalks or at roller rinks, learning popular Charleston steps, playing the family piano, or singing along to phonograph records, and going to church or community socials, which often had picnics, bake sales, and games. At 13, Birdie should have been wrapped up in friendships, hobbies, and big dreams — not adult responsibilities. In 1925 Chicago, there was plenty to see, hear, and taste, and the West Side’s mix of cultures meant she could be sampling Italian pastries one day and Polish dumplings the next, while looking forward to the next big adventure with her friends.
But when Birdie eloped, her innocence was lost and her life forever changed.
There are so many unanswered questions about Birdie's story--but primarily, what would cause a 13 year old grade 8 girl to run off? Possibly, she saw elopement as an act of love, influenced by romantic fantasies common in magazines or the silent moves. She might have been flattered by the attention from an older man and mistook infatuation for commitment. Twenty year old Ted Tomason worked for her father and boarded in the Schley home, so they were in close contact. Possibly he exploited her emotionally, presented as her ally and convinced her to run away with him. Birdie, in her note to her mother, suggested that her home environment was strict, abusive, possibly controlling, and that she saw elopement as an escape from her domineering father and an unstable home life.
Birdie was also a couple of months pregnant when she ran away. A son, George Edwin Tomoson, was born on April 3, 1926 in Chicago.
Birdie's life between 1925 and 1929 are unknown. Where was she living and with whom? Where was Ted? In August 1929, a marriage license was issued in Sioux City Nebraska for Theodore Tomoson, 27, and Bertha Tomoson, 27. Interesting to note that Bertha added ten years to be of legal age, instead of her actual age of 17. Also she was not using her own surname and was calling herself Mrs. Tomoson. So had she been living with Theodore? The 1929 issuance of the license is a necessary first step to an offical marriage but the key is whether a marriage ceremony (in front of a judge or clergyman) happened and a license properly filed afterward. There is no record that Theodore and Bertha went through these final steps to a legal marriage
There is also further suggestion that a wedding did not happen because on the1930 census (taken April 1, 1930), Birdie and her son George were back living in Chicago with her parents, James and Bertha. Theodore is nowhere to be found. Birdie is listed as Bertha Tomoson, aged 18, divorced, grade 8 education, working as a "department store inspector." This job was an entry-level position where she likely stocked shelves, assisted customers, checked goods for damage.
In the 1940 census, Bertha, was still living in Chicago with her son, George, and her mother (father has moved out). She still calls her herself, Bertha Tomoson, aged 34 (6 years older than she was), widowed (Theodore was alive) and working as a saleslady in a department store.
I like to think that Bertha, aged 29, finally found joy and contentment when, in September 1941, she married Stuart Walker Thomas, aged 31, a department store salesman. The couple moved to Manito, Illinois. Stuart served in the US Army signal corps during WWII, was a cabinet maker, a teacher, a member of the U of Illinois Alumni; Bertha worked as a postal clerk. The couple shared an interest in local history and were life members of the Illinois Historical Society. Bertha's son, George, took his step- father's surname, a tribute to the man who welcomed him into his home and cared for his mother.
Stuart, aged 68, passed in September 11, 1978. Bertha, aged 84, died May 9, 1996. They are buried together in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Havana, Illinois. George, aged 57, predeceased his mother on April 18, 1983.
Life did not work out so well for Theodore Tomoson. Whether he actually married Birdie or not is unknown but on February 27, 1932 in Dakota City, Nebraska, he did marry Virginia Avis Bancroft (a divorcee, widow?) During the Depression, Theodore did bridge work for the Works Progress Administration (WPA), part of Roosevelt's New Deal. The WPA employed millions of jobless Americans on public works projects and bridge construction was a major focus.
Theodore and Virginia had nine children born between 1935 and 1944 but the marriage became chaotic and unstable. In May 1943, Theodore was charged with assault and battery; he beat Virginia unconscious and was also charged with abusing one of their six children. In March 1944, Virginia began divorce proceedings; she sued for $300 and for an injunction restraining Theodore from molesting her or their minor children. (They made up for a brief time and had another son.) In November 1946, she again petitioned for divorce on grounds of cruelty and inhumane treatment; she asked for custody of their nine minor children and permanent alimony. In April 1947, the demands were revised to $15 weekly support and costs plus custody of two children. When the divorce was finalized in November 1947, she was granted $20 weekly alimony and custody of "a" child.
I am not sure which child initially was with their mother but the 1950 census lists Virginia as a live-in housekeeper in Sioux City and none of her children are living with her. However, her two youngest daughters, Laura,10, and Mildred, 12, were listed as "orphans" and living in the Annie Wittenmeyer Home for Dependent Children in Davenport, Iowa; in 1950, the facility was operating as a state-run institution for dependent and neglected children. Her two youngest sons, Teddy, 9, and Dale, 8, were "lodgers" in a private orphanage in Woodbury, Iowa.
On July 22 1950, Virginia married Hilbert Rindles in Sioux City. Virginia. aged 60, died August 10, 1972 in Sioux City.
Theodore Tomoson, found work as a painter and paper hanger, He died, aged 49, in Sioux City on November 4 18, 1954. None of his children are mentioned in his obituary.
Bertha Freida Beatrice Schley b. Feb 20, 1912 in Chicago, Ill m.?? Theodore Tomoson (1905-1954) m. Stuart Walker Thomas (1910-1978) in Cook Co., Ill d. May 8, 1996 in Hopedale, Ill my 2nd cousin 2x removed (Netterfield-Pierson line)
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