Back to Family Story outcomes, S22

by Marisa Weber

“TWO WOMEN CLAIM SAME MAN AS HUBBY” reads the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The year is 1910. The Philadelphia Athletics are World Series Champions, Saint Mother Theresa is born, and your great-great grandfather is convicted of bigamy. Wow, what a year.

My great-great grandfather was born Henry Charles Jaixen on December 28^th, 1881, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to John Henry Jaixen and Sophia Elizabeth Meist. Henry Charles was the youngest of nine and grew up in the city of Philadelphia. Then enters Mary McGivney, aka, my great-great grandmother, aka, “the first wife.” They wed on December 14^th, 1903, when Henry Charles was 21 years old, and Mary was 19. A year later, their first son, Carl Joseph Jaixen was born on August 11^th, 1904. Two years later, their second and final son, Stephen Patrick Jaixen (my great grandfather) was born on October 1^st, 1906. 

Henry Charles and Mary lived what seemed to me, a happy, prosperous life, until he was charged with bigamy on September 30^th, 1910. While I was never able to discover how the charge came to light, the newspaper clippings I discovered on ancestry speak for itself. The clipping entitled, “Two Women Claim Same Man as Hubby,” describes how Mary sent out a warrant for Henry Charles’ arrest following the discovery of his second wife. Henry Charles was held at a $1,500 bail for court by Magistrate Morris, and charged with bigamy, a serious offense at the time. 

Henry, who sometimes went as Harry, had changed his name to Henry, or Harry Jackson when marrying the second wife. Her name was Etta Ida Albertson. Miss Albertson was born on November 25^th, 1889, in New Jersey. I am unsure of when Miss Albertson moved to Philadelphia, but when she married Henry Charles, she was known as Mrs. Henry Jackson, making Mary McGivney, Mrs. Henry Jaixen. 

At the first hearing of the trial, Miss Albertson pleaded with my great-great grandmother to drop the charges, but Mary was firm in allowing the trial to continue onward. The real kicker was a newspaper article published on October 1, 1910, recounting the events of the first hearing the day prior. Titled, “Wife Number 2 Willing to Share Her Love”, the article recounts how Miss Albertson had proposed to give her services as a housemaid to Mary if she would drop the bigamy charge. However, Mary refused her offer, and the trial went on.

Henry Charles was let off without prison time after Mary decided to drop the charges. Mary filed for divorce in December 1910 immediately following the conclusion of the trial. The separation was finalized on October 23, 1911, on grounds of desertion. Three days later, Henry Charles married Etta Ida Albertson, and the pair become Mr. and Mrs. Henry Jaixen. 

Years later, my great-great grandmother remarried a man named William G. Tamplin and lived a happy life. She did not have any more children but was given many grandchildren and great grandchildren to succeed her. As for Henry Charles, he and Etta Ida had two more children: Beverly, born in 1912, and Harry Lorraine, born in 1914. In 1929, the family relocated to Bremerton, Washington. Henry Charles lived in Bremerton until he died at the age of 66 in 1948. I was not able to find any pictures of Henry Charles throughout my research but was able to obtain a picture of his gravestone in Washington. Although I do not support his actions, I hope that both Henry Charles and Mary were able to find happiness in their new lives.