Snowy Day Discovery

Having the day off to due the latest winter storm that hit the MidWest, I had some time to browse through the many databases available at Family Search. I entered the name of my great grandmother, Irene Larkins (sometimes spelled Larkin.) My Grandma Irene was married several times, but I had never before encountered the name of Emmett W. LaTourette, the man she married on January 21, 1915. The marriage record, according to the database Ohio Marriages, 1800-1958, took place at Seneca County, Ohio. Gram Irene listed her name as: Mary Irene Larkin, and her birth year as 1892. She provided her parents' names: Thomas Larkin and Mary L. Cross. Emmett W. LaTourette stated that he was born in New York, and his parents were James W. and Emma LaTourette. Emmett stated that he was single, while my Grandma Irene stated that she was divorced.























So far, I have not found any other evidence of my Grandma Irene and her brief marriage to Emmett W. LaTourette. She married again, before 1920, so no census record exists showing her name as Irene LaTourette. (She married Mr.LaTourette after 1910, but before 1920.) An obituary of Mrs. Emma LaTourette, which appeared in the May 10, 1949 issue of the New York Times, stated that she was the wife of James W. LaTourette, and had a daughter named Mrs. Lucy Huber, and a son, Emmett LaTourette. Mrs. Emma LaTourette had been a resident of Staten Island, New York for seventy three years, before her death at the age of 90. She was very active in the Molly Stark Council of the Daughters of America. An entry on FindaGrave indicates that Emmett W. LaTourette died in 1970, and he was buried at the Bethel Methodist Churchyard in Tottenville, New York.


My memories of Grandma Irene are of a wonderful, caring great grandmother, who loved me very much. She was a talented seamstress and baker, and she was very generous to my family.















When I was only two years old, she paid for my mother and I to take a train trip across the country to see my Uncle Tom and Aunt Evelyn and their three children in California. She had so many delightful qualities, and I only wish that she could have found true love. Reading between the lines, I think she had her heart broken many times.