Mrs. Nedd's Second Marriage

The first part of Mrs. Nedd's story was posted last week. If you haven't read it, go to "Who Was Mrs. Nedd?"

Brief overview: Gaynelle Moritz, age 16 (she claimed she was 19) married Earl Joseph Nedd, age 22, in Davenport, Iowa on 15 July 1907. She filed for divorce in Omaha in January 1909. In 1910, she and her two-year-old son, Louis, were living with her parents in Omaha. Earl Nedd lived in Centralia, Washington.

Two days after the census was taken, 21 April 1910, Earl, age 24, married Mynie Mae Hoard, age 19.1 By this time, Earl’s parents had also moved to the northwest, to Portland, Oregon. The elder Louis was general manager for an excavating company.2

Soon, Gay also remarried. She really was 19 this time. She chose a tall, slender man with blue eyes and brown hair, Harry Boyd Browne. Born in Michigan about 1884 and living in Douglas County Nebraska with his mother in 1910, Harry worked in the mail order beauty and women’s health products business.3 The company was called the Madame Josephine Boyd system of Chicago, which had an office in Omaha; Harry was one of the owners.4

Gay and Harry ran off to Chicago (another destination wedding) and tied the knot on 16 July 1910.5 In 1911, Harry’s company was sued for $5,000.00 by Mrs. Lillian Bell, “a beautiful divorcee,” for using her photograph in their advertising without her permission.6 Lillian was awarded $1.00 for her efforts.7

Gaynelle may have assisted Harry with his business during this time, for ads using her maiden name ran in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Philadelphia Inquirer:

“LADIES CAN MAKE at least $5 daily at home evenings, no canvassing; experience unnecessary; nothing whatever to buy. Particulars free. Gaynelle Moritz, Omaha, Neb.”8

On the other hand, these ads may have represented Gay's own business, for she apparently obtained a copyright on a "system of fat reduction and general health."9

This second marriage lasted not much longer than the first one, but no record of a divorce has been found online, as yet. Certainly, it had ended by 25 August 1913 when Harry remarried in Oceana County, Michigan to Agnes Gabrielson.10

Meanwhile, Earl and Mynie Nedd had moved to San Francisco, California by 1917 when Earl registered for the World War I draft.12

Who was Gaynelle's third husband? Next week.

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1 Lewis County, Washington, “Marriage Records, 1824-2014,” digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 March 2017); entry for Earl J. Nedd and Mynie Mae Hoard, 21 April 1910.

21910 U. S. census, Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, population schedule, enumeration district [ED] 217, p. 16-B, dwelling 20, family 19, Louis W. Nedd household; digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 March 2017); NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 1289.

3 1910 U. S. census, Dundee, Douglas County, Nebraska, population schedule, enumeration district [ED] 98, p. 4-B, dwelling 102, family 105, Jane Browne household, see Harry B. Browne; digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 March 2017); NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 845. For Harry’s physical description: “U. S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” digital images Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 March 2017), card for Harry Boyd Brown, serial number 16, Local Draft Board, Cook County, Illinois.

4 “One Beauty Doctor a Man,” Omaha Daily Bee, 27 October 1911, p. 5, col. 5; Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9728124/omaha_daily_bee/ : accessed 22 March 2017).

5 Cook County, Illinois, “Marriages Index, 1871-1920, database Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 March 2017); entry for Gaynelle Nedd and Harry Boyd Browne, 16 July 1910.

6 “One Beauty Doctor a Man,” Omaha Daily Bee, 27 Oct. 1911, p. 5, col. 5.

7 “Lillian Bell Gets $1.00 Verdict,” Omaha Daily Bee, 2 Nov. 1911, p. 5, col. 4; Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9728081/omaha_daily_bee/ : accessed 22 March 2017).

8 “Salesladies Wanted,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 18 Feb. 1912, p. 40, col. 4; Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9730823/gaynelle_moritz_ad/ : accessed 22 March 2017). Also, “Personals,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 22 Oct. 1911, p. 38, col. 5; Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9730862/gaynelle_col_5/ : accessed 22 March 2017).

9 Catalog of Copyright Entries, Part 1. [B] Group 2 Pamphlets, Etc. New Series. 1911:3; (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1911), 1123; digital image Hathi Trust (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924112597723;view=1up;seq=1157 : accessed 23 March 2017), Moritz, Gaynelle, co. Omaha, Neb.

10 Oceana County, Michigan, “Marriage Records, 1867-1962,” digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 March 2017); entry for Harry Brown and Agust [Agnes] Gabrielson, 25 August 1913.

11 “U. S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” card for Earl Joseph Nedd, serial number 145, Local Exemption Board, San Francisco County, California. Names wife: Mynne Hoard Nedd.