AL AL - Louise Walker Sanders, 20s?, Tuscaloosa, late 1930s

[Coffee56]

I can’t seem to find any additional info on whether Louise was found and no other info to confirm she is still missing. I’m not sure if she was ever reported missing but she seemed like someone who may have fallen through the cracks.

Louise moved from her home to Birmingham where she married. In the late 30s she left for a visit with family in Chicago. She never returned. In 1971 her husband died and there wass an estate to settle. According to the article she was tracked to Tuscaloosa.

I have lots of questions after reading the article. Did she ever even leave? Did she visit her family? What led them to believe she was in Tuscaloosa?

The Tuscaloosa News - Google News Archive Search

 

[StarrChance]

I can’t seem to find any additional info on whether Louise was found and no other info to confirm she is still missing. I’m not sure if she was ever reported missing but she seemed like someone who may have fallen through the cracks.

Louise moved from her home to Birmingham where she married. In the late 30s she left for a visit with family in Chicago. She never returned. In 1971 her husband died and there wass an estate to settle. According to the article she was tracked to Tuscaloosa.

I have lots of questions after reading the article. Did she ever even leave? Did she visit her family? What led them to believe she was in Tuscaloosa?

The Tuscaloosa News - Google News Archive Search

Hi Coffee56, I have found it very very difficult to find records for her, a middle initial could make a difference. The one strange discrepancy I found was in the marriage certificate James Sanders said he was 21 (born 1914)

Name: James Sanders
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Birth Date: abt 1914
Marriage Date: 3 Oct 1935
Marriage Place: Jefferson, Alabama, USA
Spouse: Louise Walker
Film Number: 002407746

Death certificate states born in 1916
Name: James Sanders
Birth Date: 11 Jul 1916
Death Date: 5 Nov 1971
Gender: Male
Residence: Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
Place of Death: Detroit, Wayne, Michigan

The marriage certificate isn’t a typo as the original certificate is there with his writing/signature
One scenario I can think of is if possibly Louise was underage and they both put up their ages?

 

[NYCGenealogist]

So I pulled the probate file for James Sanders's estate from the Wayne Co surrogates court archive. It looks like his mother ended up becoming the administrator for the estate and the probate case was closed March 5, 1974 without tracking down Louise.

That article was incorrect, by the way- you can close an estate without tracking down a potential heir if the heir is given enough time to present themselves in court and due diligence is done in searching for them.

And @StarrChance- incorrect birth dates on records for the era are SUPER common. I typically say until around 1945, nothing is going to be consistent. Men especially tend to age themselves up to seem more mature. I have a 1930 census record consistent with the details in the long form marriage record (mother's name was Leola) that indicates that she was 14 in 1930- so 19 in 1935 would make sense. He was just making himself look older.