As such, I though I'd dig up a post (or three) from the past regarding Hu's successful attempts to attain a copy of Ginger's marriage certificate form N.O., where she married her first gooberhead hub, Jack Culpepper... here is the first thoughts on the topic, as presented back on July 31, 2010...
As for a 'Ginger angle' to New Orleans - the only one I know is that on March 29, 1929, at the ripe old age of seventeen, Ginger Rogers was married to Edward Jackson Culpepper (i.e., GooberHead Hubby #1) in the office of a New Orleans justice of the peace....if I could only figure out where THAT was when I am down there... anyway, Lela was TOTALLY against it, to the point of saying, "Let me tell you something, young lady, if you pursue this idea and marry Jack Pepper, you have lost me for GOOD! I shall return to Fort Worth, and I shall never want to see you again, EVER again, and that's FINAL!" ...not sure, but I think Lelee was just a bit apprehensive about the nuptials... but my, how wise mama was...
...with another mention in a post from August 5, 2010:
So, as I noted in my last post, New Orleans was the spot where Ginger tied the knot for the first time to Jack Culpepper... which was the first of five fellows that were EXTREMELY fortunate enough to marry Ginger, yet even MORE extremely dunderheaded enough to lose her... it's just a major mystery to me why NONE of these dudes could get their act together.
Anyway, I actually went into the police headquarters in the French Quarter and asked about marriage records, since Ginger said the 'ceremony' was at the justice of the peace, and I assumed it was in the French Quarter (although it could have been in some other part of New Orleans.) When I told the fellow behind the counter I was looking for Ginger Rogers' marriage record, I bet y'all can guess what he said... "Was that when she married Freddie?"
Anyway, they did not have records there, but did ultimately get me to the right source, which is the state capitol, Baton Rouge, where to go if the record is over 50 years old. So, I looked it up on their database, and sure enough, there was Edward Culpepper marrying Virginia McMath in March 1929 in Orleans Parish... so, of course, Huey rips off a check for $5.00 to obtain a copy of this document...why not?
...AAAND the final post mentioning the license, from August 13, 2010:
Received the License from Louisiana...which documents Ginger's marriage to GooberHead Hubby #1, Edward Jackson Culpepper... Here is that document:
A few things that jump out at me are:
1. It is March 26th, not the 29th as noted in Ginger's bio - but what's three days when recollecting an event held 60 years prior to transcribing her bio? Huey gives Ginger a pass (surprised?)
2. Somebody fibbed JUST a bit about her age - she WAS seventeen, as she notes in her bio, but the license notes age eighteen, which may well have been the minimum age for marriage, even in those days. Well, she was just a few months away from eighteen, so close enough, especially in New Orleans :-] .
3. Lela was a witness to the proceedings, which was a BIT of a surprise, seeing how she was so vehemently against the ill-fated union - but I guess her daughter's first wedding could not be missed, no matter what the circumstances.
4. Kinda weird (and I am a bit bummed) that they didn't have to sign anything... sure they signed SOMETHING SOMEWHERE, but not on this record.
5. What is with Ginger's middle name? "C.Lee"? Haven't read about that ANYWHERE... the 'C' is evidently 'Catherine', which of course should have been 'Katherine'...
6. Whats with the abbreviation of 'Independence, MO.'? They spelled out 'Palestine, Tex.' (which should be 'TX.' , no?) ...goes to show proper syntax has always been an issue...
And, I guess that's about all I caught. Overall, I just think it is pretty dang cool to be able to hunt down this stuff and analyze it for a bit... I might just hunt down a few more... four to go! Hey, if the first one is out there, seems like the others would be easy to obtain, right?
...so, there ya go...
always wanted to obtain (but haven't...yet) the other licenses, just to say I have them... but they are also small slices of GingerHistory, which have some pretty interesting info upon them, as the last post above indicates...
Well, we will be back later in the week, and hope to get more Ginger stuff cooking... until then...
KIG, y'all!!!!
Hu
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Have a great holiday Huey. You and yours.
ReplyDelete...thanks, Elaine! It was a great time... NOLA is a very cool town... we have a few weeks of 'back to normal', then we're off AGAIN for a vacation to Kansas City, where Ginger of course spent her early childhood... so always a cool Ginger Angle involved!
DeleteKIG, EGM!
Hu
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