Verna Mae Elliott1,2,3

Family Chart
ID# 9008, (1896 - 1980)
FatherThomas W. Elliott5,1 (23 Jan 1867 - 8 Feb 1953)
MotherIda S. Miller4,1 (27 Nov 1872 - 13 Aug 1915)

Key Events:

Birth: Mar 1896, Paxtang, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania6,7,8
Marriage: 13 Oct 1919, Paxtang, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania, Leslie Odos Morris (Dec 1896 - 26 Oct 1951)9,10,11
Divorce Filing: Jul 1962, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania, Leslie Odos Morris (Dec 1896 - 26 Oct 1951)12,13
Marriage: Mar 1963, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania, Walter L. Thompson (5 Jun 1894 - 4 Jan 1972)14,15,16
Death: 198017
Burial: Woodlawn Memorial Gardens, Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania18
ChartsDescendants of Jacob K. and Christiana Ohl Riegel

Copyright Notice

Narrative:

     
Verna Morris and baby
courtesy Larry McWilliams
1519 Verna Mae Elliott was born in Mar 1896 in Paxtang, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania.6,7,8
     She appeared on the 1900 Federal Census of Swatara Twp., Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania, in the household of her parents, Thomas W. Elliott and Ida S. Miller.5
     Verna married first Leslie Odos Morris, son of William A. Morris and Margaret Jennie Reigle, on 13 Oct 1919 in Paxtang, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania, with Rev. Harry B. King officiating. He was the widower of Maude McNatt.9,10,11
     Verna and Leslie settled in Ohio after their marriage. They appeared on the 1920 Federal Census of Madison Twp., Richland Co., Ohio, on Lucas Rd., enumerated 6 Jan 1920, reporting that they were renting their home. Also listed as living with them as boarders were seven farm laborers, ranging in age from 16 to 48.20
     Verna and Leslie moved back to Pennsylvania about 1924.21
     Leslie apparently married Olive Mae Holloway about 1926. While no marriage record has been found, they held themselves as married.22,23
     Verna appeared on the 1930 Federal Census of Shiremanstown, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania, at 217 Main St., enumerated 3 Apr 1930, living in the same dwelling as Reuben Zimmerman and his family, reporting she did not own a radio. Hers was listed as a separate household, but with no indication that rent was being paid, so they may have been relatives, although no relationship has been discovered. Her children Mae and Jane were listed as living with her.24
     Verna appeared on the 1940 Federal Census of Mechanicsburg, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania, at 6 West Green, enumerated 24 Apr 1940, reporting she was renting her home. Her children Mae and Jane were listed as living with her, all reporting they had lived in the same house in 1935. Rubin Zimmerman, in whose home they had been living in 1930, was also listed as living with them, described as a lodger, and reporting he had lived in Shiremanstown in 1935.25
     She was working as a housekeeper in a private home by 1930. By 1940 she was a sewing operator in a textile factory. That year she reported having worked 36 hours the last week of March, and 52 weeks the prior year, earning $780.24,26
     Verna appeared on the 1950 Federal Census of Mechanicsburg, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania, at 300 E Main St., enumerated 10 Apr 1950, listed at the side of what seems to have been a four-unit building. Nine lodgers were also listed in her household. Her daughter Jane, her husband, and their two children were list in the upper unit..27
     Leslie died on 26 Oct 1951 in Elmira, New York, apparently unknown to Verna.28,29
     Verna filed for divorce from Leslie in Jul 1962 in Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania, claiming desertion. The suit claimed he was living in Harrisburg. While he had held himself to be married to another woman in the 1930 census, it seems they had not been divorced.12,13 On 8 Feb 1963 the master assigned to review the suit reported he was recommending the divorce be granted, presumably because Leslie did not respond to summons. He announced he would file his findings with the court after ten days. No record of the court's action has been found.30
     Verna married second Walter L. Thompson in Mar 1963 in Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania.14,15,16
     Verna died in 1980.17 She was buried in Woodlawn Memorial Gardens, Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania.18
     
Research Note, 6 Feb 2015:
The evidence that the Verna M. Morris who appears in the 1930 and 1940 census with her two daughters is the same Verna Mae who married Lester Morris is not totally firm. The assertion that they are the same is based on the following evidence: Lester is known to have returned from Ohio to Pennsylvania between 1920 and 1930 because he appears in Luzerne Co. with his third wife in the 1930 census; Verna is known to have had at least one child, presumably by Lester, because of a photo held by his family inscribed "Verna and baby"; Verna has not been found anywhere else in 1930 or 1940; and the online obituary of the older daughter shows she was born in Madison, Ohio, where Verna and Lester were in 1920. It seems unlikely there would be another Verna M, married name Morris, living in Pennsylvania with a child born in Madison Ohio.

Children:
     Children with Leslie Odos Morris:

  • Dorothy M. Morris31 (31 Aug 1920 - 1 Apr 1924)
  • Mae Theodora Morris24,25,32 (3 May 1922 - 18 Feb 2004)
  • Jane Louise Morris24,25,15 (5 Nov 1923 - 14 Oct 2010)

Children:
     There were no children with Walter L. Thompson

Citations

  1. [S5272] Leslie Odos Morris and Verna May Elliott, Application for Marriage License, Dauphin County.
  2. [S5274] Thomas Elliott household, 1900 U.S. Census, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania, shows name as Verna M. Elliott.
  3. [S5267] Leslie Morris household, 1920 U.S. Census, Richland Co., Ohio, shows name as Verna Morris.
  4. [S5274] Thomas Elliott household, 1900 U.S. Census, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania, shows the girl as daughter of Ida's husband and that the parents had been married longer than the age of the child.
  5. [S5274] Thomas Elliott household, 1900 U.S. Census, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania.
  6. [S5274] Thomas Elliott household, 1900 U.S. Census, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania, shows month, year, age 4, and state.
  7. [S5272] Leslie Odos Morris and Verna May Elliott, Application for Marriage License, Dauphin County, shows age 23 at marriage 13 Oct 1919, town, and state.
  8. [S5267] Leslie Morris household, 1920 U.S. Census, Richland Co., Ohio, shows age 23 and state.
  9. [S5272] Leslie Odos Morris and Verna May Elliott, Application for Marriage License, Dauphin County, shows date, town, state, and officiant.
  10. [S5267] Leslie Morris household, 1920 U.S. Census, Richland Co., Ohio, shows married.
  11. [S12457] "Divorce suit," The Evening Sentinel, 6 Jul 1962, shows date and city.
  12. [S12457] "Divorce suit," The Evening Sentinel, 6 Jul 1962.
  13. [S5268] Lester Morris household, 1930 U.S. Census, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania, shows married, with Lester's first marriage at age 29 and third wife's at 38, placing the marriage at about 1926.
  14. [S12456] "Marriage Licenses," The Evening Sentinel, 19 Mar 1963, shows license issued to Walter L. Thompson and Verna M. Morris.
  15. [S5444] Jane L. Kitzmiller obituary, Malpezzi Funeral Home, shows her mother as Verna Morris Thompson.
  16. [S500] Findagrave.com, online, memorial # 145933513, Verna Morris Thompson, includes tombstone photo showing same.
  17. [S500] Findagrave.com, online, memorial # 145933513, Verna Morris Thompson, shows year and includes tombstone photo showing same.
  18. [S500] Findagrave.com, online, memorial # 145933513, Verna Morris Thompson, includes tombstone photo.
  19. [S693] McWilliams, "Descendants of Jacob Reigle."
  20. [S5267] Leslie Morris household, 1920 U.S. Census, Richland Co., Ohio.
  21. [S5442] Verna M. Morris household, 1930 U.S. Census, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania, shows daughter Jane, age 6, as born in Pennsylvania.
  22. [S5268] Lester Morris household, 1930 U.S. Census, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania, shows married, with his first marriage at age 29 and hers at 38.
  23. [S693] McWilliams, "Descendants of Jacob Reigle", shows c. 1926.
  24. [S5442] Verna M. Morris household, 1930 U.S. Census, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania.
  25. [S5443] Verna M. Morris household, 1940 U.S. Census, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania.
  26. [S5443] Verna M. Morris household, 1940 U.S. Census, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania, shows occupation as sewing operator, industry as textile.
  27. [S12455] Verna Morris household, 1950 U.S. Census, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania.
  28. [S693] McWilliams, "Descendants of Jacob Reigle", shows month and year, as Nov 1951, town and state. Information taken from McWilliams family Bible owned by Maggie Reigle Morris and given to her daughter Margaret, according to email "Re: Maude McNatt Morris" 2 Feb 2015 Larry McWilliams to author.
  29. [S1500] "U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007," Ancestry.com, record for Leslie O Morris, Soc. Sec. No. 127-05-2278, shows date, as 26 Oct 1951.
  30. [S12458] "Notice of Filing of Master's Report," The Evening Sentinel, 8 Feb 1963.
  31. [S12454] Dorothy M. Morris, Certificate of Death.
  32. [S1500] "U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007," Ancestry.com, record for Mae Theodora Morris, Soc. Sec. No. 204-03-6957.