William B. Mulholland was the brother of my great grandfather, Samuel J. Mulholland. While you may have been told that divorce was uncommon a century ago, his story suggests that people could be as fickle in the past as they can be in the present. William must have been quite the lady’s man, as he managed to marry three different women, and each of them had multiple husbands. He was a pro at marrying, but not so skilled at keeping a wife around. The photos we have of “Uncle Bill” show a handsome, debonair man of the times, even though he was periodically broke.
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| William B. Mulholland |
William lived on his parents' large farm with his family and attended a local school through elementary. His mother died when he was only nine, but his much older sisters took on raising the two youngest children and keeping up the house for the farming males.
Like my great grandfather Sam, youngest brother William B. Mulholland inherited farm land in Superior Township from his father in 1888 and started as a farmer when he married his first wife, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Wylie, in 1892. William was already 31 when he married, but must have been a good prospect with his 40 acre farm. Lizzie was almost ten years his junior and had only recently emigrated from Scotland. She was noted by the family as one of the "cousins" living in Livingston County, although no formal relationship is known. While born in Scotland, her family was from Monaghan County, Ireland like the Mulhollands. Her uncle Hugh Wylie arrived in Michigan in the 1860s, initially living near the Mulhollands but later moving to Livingston County where Bill was rumored to have met Lizzie.
William and Lizzie left the farm and moved closer to town (Ann Arbor) in 1896 although he continued farming. But the marriage was not a successful one and they divorced in 1899, with Lizzie charging her husband with extreme cruelty.
In the census of 1900, both Lizzie and William, now living separately, report themselves as “widowed,” all too often a euphemism for divorce at a time such behavior was not socially appropriate. Elizabeth married a neighbor, Charles Alger, in 1902 and moved to New York with William and Lizzie's daughter, Rhubena Mulholland, born in 1893.
In the census of 1900, both Lizzie and William, now living separately, report themselves as “widowed,” all too often a euphemism for divorce at a time such behavior was not socially appropriate. Elizabeth married a neighbor, Charles Alger, in 1902 and moved to New York with William and Lizzie's daughter, Rhubena Mulholland, born in 1893.
In the meantime, with the marriage ended and to put some distance between himself and Lizzie to avoid scandal, William went to work on another, more rural farm in the area for a widowed older woman, Mary P. Stropes. He lived there with Mary, her son George J. Marsh, and her elderly parents, George Washington Stropes (he preferred to be called G.W.) and Philenda Stropes. Mary's nephew, Alvin Marsh, also joined the household after his mother died. William eventually married the 52-year-old widow after the death of her father—it was her third marriage and his second. He farmed the land owned by his new wife and adopted both the boys.
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| William B. Mulholland with daughter Rhubena and first wife Lizzie |
The Marsh boys moved to nearby Ann Arbor. George Marsh lived there for the rest of his life, marrying Hannah Buckholz and having three children. Alvin returned to farm in Scio Township after his biological father, Henry Marsh, died.
Several years later, William also moved into town, boarding at a house on Fourth Avenue which he bought when the owner died. He regularly had boarders to earn extra income and periodically had his brother Sam, also divorced and an alcoholic, staying with him. His niece, Mae Mulholland, remembers William from the Ann Arbor years, noting the children secretly called him "Fat Bill" even though he wasn't any heavier than Sam.
William B. worked odd jobs and never had a great deal of money, with some periods more stable than others. He seemed to be a dapper gent and have a way with the ladies, as William married again for the third time at 53 according to official marriage documents. But no evidence of this later marriage to Marie Harris (nee Carter) appears after the marriage certificate, and within a couple of years they are living separately, William still in Ann Arbor and Marie (continuing to use her Harris name) in Dexter. It was a very, very short marriage. William had been Marie's third marriage and she married again for the fourth time at 66.
William appears to have been estranged from his family in his later years as was Sam. William died indigent and possibly homeless in 1942, considered a "pauper" by his remaining Michigan relatives. His daughter Rhubena's step-father, Charles Alger, received a letter in New York from The Heirs Research Bureau seeking daughter “Ruby,” his only known immediate family, to settle William's estate in July 1943.
Rhubena went to Michigan to make arrangements and held a memorial service although she did not know any of his family, except perhaps for Sam’s wife, Carrie and her Mulholland cousins (Edna and Margaret), girls she would have played with as a child. Rhubena knew William was her father but had very little knowledge of the Michigan families, nor did she know anything of his life and multiple marriages.
Rhubena went to Michigan to make arrangements and held a memorial service although she did not know any of his family, except perhaps for Sam’s wife, Carrie and her Mulholland cousins (Edna and Margaret), girls she would have played with as a child. Rhubena knew William was her father but had very little knowledge of the Michigan families, nor did she know anything of his life and multiple marriages.
His story in later years is based on the information Rhubena wrote in a letter after his death to her cousin Edna:
"Your uncle [my father] did not die a pauper. I received $100 in cash outside of paying off all his debts and paying John Martin whom I appointed administrator $40. It seems the man [he] sold the [Fourth Avenue] house to in the first place lost it and it was rented and the money held for my father by the supervisor. John Martin is rather a poor correspondent altho' he types. I still do not understand why it was not all eaten up by his sickness in A.A. and by board. John Martin paid the debts and sent me the remaining $100 and I was still sick and did not ask too many questions....
"Uncle Bill" in Ann Arbor
"You probably have heard that I sent a marker which Mr. Martin erected. Wonder if Ada [Mulholland Winney] has died yet? She was pretty wobbly. I never write to a lady who could treat her brother so....Of course it is not so pleasant to tolerate pauper relatives. But just remember Bill Mulholland's daughter NEVER was a pauper and it isn't likely ever will be one.
"The Wylie's all came to the funeral and there was something about the way Lil Martin* (told me she was my first cousin) laid flowers on the casket made me feel they were really for me. It was as if she was trying to cover a certain cold shabbiness from me.
"I couldn't stop crying when I saw how the Wylie's all claimed me the supposed pauper's daughter. They could have denied me like sort of a black sheep or a mistake of some sort by one of their members. Lettie asked me why I cried so and I said, 'Because you have not come because of the corpse but because of me.' 'Certainly, you are ours we would not fail you,' was the answer.” [letter from Rhubena Mulholland Shaal to Edna Mulholland, November 1943]
Perhaps a sign of his isolation, his death certificate was issued under the name William "Franklin" Mulholland, an ironic mistake for his actual middle name of Benjamin.
Rhubena had her father buried in the Dixboro cemetery next to his parents and many siblings. While he may not have been close to them all in life, he is with them in death and only a short distance from the farm where he grew up.
* Lil Martin (nee Mulholland) would be Rhubena's cousin as her mother was the sister of William, not a Wylie. Possible Lettie is Letitia Wylie Nisbet, daughter of her mother's uncle Hugh. Rhubena clearly had limited knowledge of her Michigan family.
Rhubena had her father buried in the Dixboro cemetery next to his parents and many siblings. While he may not have been close to them all in life, he is with them in death and only a short distance from the farm where he grew up.
* Lil Martin (nee Mulholland) would be Rhubena's cousin as her mother was the sister of William, not a Wylie. Possible Lettie is Letitia Wylie Nisbet, daughter of her mother's uncle Hugh. Rhubena clearly had limited knowledge of her Michigan family.
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