The secret wife of Dionysius Virgil Stephens: part 5 (Elizabeth Bauschell)
Newspaper records show that Elizabeth Gooddy Bauschell was having trouble paying state and county taxes on her property in May of 1899, several years before the 1907 marriage. For a while, her grown son had lived with her, but Census records show that he had moved on and married. So maybe Elizabeth Bauschell saw a marriage to the Reverend D. V. Stephens as a solution.
A very short marriage
According to a 1912 newspaper article,
D. V. Stephens testified in court that
his new wife had stayed with him "but
for two days," and also told him "that
she did not love him."
Who is Elizabeth Bauschell?
I know very little about this woman,
but I've learned a few things from
documents and family stories. The
chronology in the sidebar indicates
that she was not tied down to one
location. She was in England, Florida,
Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi,
and California. Her husband died
in Kentucky, so I can guess that
she was also in Kentucky.
" . . . that kind
of man."
I heard an interesting
story
about why Elizabeth Bauschell did not
stay with D. V. Stephens. Nell O'Shields
heard from Charity Catherine Jones
Stephens (the daughter-in-law of D.
V.) that "Mrs.
Bauschell" said she didn't know
that D. V. "was
that kind of man," or "like
that." Nell's understanding of
that statement
is that D. V. Stephens had a greater
interest in sex than did Elizabeth.
So far, this is as close as I've come
to learning something about my step-great-grandmother,
Elizabeth Bauschell. I'll keep looking.
Any answers out there?
Elizabeth Bauschell lived until 1959,
so I'm confident that she appeared
in many photographs. If you have
any pictures of her, or if you know
anything about her, her family, or
her history, please contact me at
the e-mail address below. I'd love
to learn more about her.
Here's a photo provided by her great
granddaughter. That's Elizabeth on the
right, in 1938.
Back to Mary Kitchens narrative (part 1)
Back to Rebecca Reaves narrative (part 2)
Back to beginning of Elizabeth Bauschell narrative (part 3)
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