Web Sleuths Take On Mystery Of Detroit Marriage License

DETROIT, MI — Samuel McDonald and Ophelia Curry were married in Detroit on Nov. 7, 1935. Carrie Pretzer LeVan knows that because she found their marriage license in a trunk she bought at an auction. But she doesn’t know much else about the couple, save the precious little information about them on the document.

He was born in Missouri, and she was born in South Carolina. They were 32 and 29, respectively, when they were married. She worked as a maid, as many African-American women did at the time, and he was a bookkeeper. His parents were Donald and Rhoda Wallace McDonald. Hers were Matt and Martha Romans Curry. Neither had been previously married.

LeVan is using social media to hopefully return the marriage license and other paperwork, including a deed to the McDonalds’ home on Lumpkin Avenue, to the couple’s heirs. So far, the post has been shared tens of thousands of times, and morsels of information are coming in to help unravel the mystery of the couple.

One person posted on Facebook that U.S. Census Bureau records showed Samuel made $1,100 a year as a bookkeeper. Their mortgage was $25 a month. Someone else posted that Ophelia died in 1994 at age 98. She didn’t have a formal education. It’s unclear if the McDonalds had any children, but Ophelia may have had 15 siblings.

Of course, early records sometimes contain discrepancies, and the search has turned up plenty of them. Still, LeVan wrote on Facebook that she is grateful for the response. A sister of Samuel was located in Memphis, Tennessee.

“All of you are amazing!” she wrote. “I am overwhelmed with the amount of times this has been shared and the work people have put into finding the family! Thank you!”

Photo by Robert Cheaib via Flickr Commons