Here’s the obituary for Louis Wiselogel, father of Lula Wiselogel Wilson Grether, Emmett’s sister-in-law. I found it while I was looking for something else (naturally)!
Source: St. Andrews Bay News, December 12, 1935, page four, via Florida’s Hidden Treasures.
Lula married Emmett’s older brother, big shot politician and gubernatorial candidate Cephas Love Wilson in 1893.
Lula Wiselogel Wilson. Source: FloridaMemory.com
It was not an easy marriage for Lula; a modest, lovely and unassuming woman, she was in the spotlight as often as her husband Cephas, and suffered the humiliation of his infidelities joked about in the Florida state newspapers.
One Wilson family genealogy mentioned that the gossip about Lula and Cephas was ‘terrible’ during the early 1900s, as she filed for divorce at least once because of Cephas’ caddish ways.
I’m sure Louis Wiselogel took Lula’s side, but I wonder how he counseled her to stick with the marriage, knowing how painful and tough it was on his daughter.
I can also imagine Louis telling Lula, while she had reason to sue for divorce, and no one who knew Lula would have blamed her for leaving, divorce was unheard of for a woman of her social standing. Louis probably told her while this was an untenable situation, she had to make the best decision not just for herself, but also for her family.
Cephas Love Wilson Sr. died on June 25, 1923. About two years later, Lula was remarried to a widower, John D. Grether, of Jacksonville. From all reports, Lula and John Grether were happily married.
What I think is interesting about the obituary is one of the pall bearers — Ira Martin. Ira was Lula’s former son-in-law; her daughter Kathleen’s first husband whom she wed at 15, and divorced by 25.
By 1930, Ira and Kathleen had remarried other people, but Lula and her father apparently remained fond of Ira. Divorce was still considered a big deal in the 1930s, but by this point, it seems Lula and her father wouldn’t have advocated sticking with a no-win situation.
That they understood that some relationships simply don’t work out.
Cephas Love Wilson’s son-in-law, Ira Martin, with Cephas’ grandson, Ira Jr., in 1917. This was taken in front of Cephas’ house, on Jefferson Street. Source: Ancestry.com
And that family isn’t always defined by a marriage license or blood connection.
Categories: Family Florida History
jsmith532
Professor,
Communication, Arts, and the Humanities
The University of Maryland Global Campus
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