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Ralph A. Woodhurst was born in Michigan on August 27th 1893 to parents Daniel Esaias Woodhurst and his wife Louise C. (nee) Altenbern.
The US 1900 Census finds him at age "6" living with his parents at 2315, Ganson Street, Blackman Township in Jackson Co., Michigan, and attending school.
The US 1910 Census finds him at age "16" living with his parents in the household of his grandparents in Summit township, Jackson Co., Michigan. He was working in a shop.
He first married in Jackson on November 25th 1914 to Vina Pearl (nee) Hills. The register of Marriage Returns describes him as a tinner aged "21" and her as aged "21" Her mother's maiden name was Ferris.
His WW1 Draft Registration Card dated June 5th 1917 describes him as married with a child and occupied as a tinsmith employed by the major hardware store Smith-Winchester Co. in Jackson City; he was tall, fair-haired and blue-eyed.
A city directory for 1918 lists him as a tinner with Smith-Winchester and living at 602 Gilbert Street in Jackson.
At about this time he was convicted of some unknown offence and imprisoned. In 1919 Vina divorced him on the grounds of his "imprisonment". She filed for divorce on August 1st 1919 and it was granted, without his contesting it, on October 2nd.
The US 1920 Census finds him at age "26" and divorced, listed as an inmate of Michigan State Prison in Jackson City and described as (having been) employed as a waiter. His former wife has not yet been located in this census.
The US 1930 Census finds him at age "36" and divorced, together with his widowed mother Louise, living in Gilbert Street, Jackson in the household of Charles H. Keitzman, the husband of his sister Ruth Esther. He was employed as a manager at a sporting goods store.
Meanwhile the woman he would next marry, Mary Agnes (nee) Lynch, was living in Dwight Street, Jackson City with her siblings and widowed mother. She was aged "33" and still single, working as an office clerk in a wheel factory. A relative reports that Mary Agnes was born on February 19th 1897 to parents Peter Lynch and his wife Mary (nee) Morrissey, who had married in Jackson on November 15th 1892; Mary Morrissey came from Moveen, County Clare in Ireland.
Ralph and Mary married on October 31st 1931. He was residing at 610, Gilbert Street and occupied as a department manager whilst she was residing at 237, N. Gorham Street and occupied as a book-keeper.
A city directory for 1932 lists him as a department manager for the Smith-Winchester Co. and gives his home as 744 Carlton [Street].
The US 1940 Census finds Ralph and Mary still in Jackson City where he was in the same job.
They divorced two years later. The divorce record states that the application was filed by Ralph on December 1st 1941 on the grounds of extreme cruelty. The case was not contested and the decree absolute was granted to him on September 18th 1942.
Ralph remarried in 1945 to a divorcee Lyla Kathryn (nee) Beatham. Born in Stockbridge, Michigan on April 30th 1906, Lyla had previously married in Toledo, Lucas Co., Ohio to Clay Paddock. The licence application, dated December 27th 1927, describes her as a stenographer and him as an electrician born in Indiana on January 15th 1904 and residing in Jackson. She divorced him on February 18th 1938 on the grounds of desertion.
The license for the marriage of Ralph to Lyla describes him as aged "51", residing at 228, W. Michigan Avenue in Jackson and occupied as a salesman. It describes her as aged "37", occupied as a secretary and also residing at 105 (or perhaps 108), S. Brown Street in Jackson. Her father was named as Harry Beatham and her mother as Martha (née) Siegrist. Ralph and Lyla married on February 1st 1945.
A city directory for 1945 lists him as a salesman for Smith-Winchester and living at 108, S. Brown Street. Directories for 1952 and 1956 list him as a manager at Smith-Winchester and living at 3444, Roosevelt Road.
The American Social Security Death Index (SSDI) states that he died in January 1977. He had been residing at 49203 Jackson [City] and his SSN was 367-03-8809. The Michigan Deaths Index (MDI) states that he died on January 14th and that he had resided also in Summit Township. He was buried at the Oakland Cemetery in Stockbridge, Ingham Co.
The SSDI and MDI state that Lyla was born on April 30th 1906 and died on February 2nd 1983. Her SSN was 374-03-5226 and she too had resided at both 49203 Jackson and at Summit Township.
The SSDI and MDI state that Mary Agnes died on October 27th 1980. Her SSN was 386-07-4054 and she too had resided at 49203 Jackson. She had last received benefit at 49201 Jackson. The SSDI mistakenly gives her year of birth as 1898, but the MDI and her death certificate agree upon 1897. She was buried among her parents and siblings at St. John's Cemetery in Jackson. Her tombstone inscription reads simply "M. Agnes Woodhurst 1897-1980".