Edward Coyle - Researching a Black Sheep, Part I

 

Edward Coyle, my paternal great uncle, has taken me on quite the research journey so far, and I’m pretty sure he isn’t finished with me yet.

He was the brother of my great-grandfather, William Henry Coyle, and for many years I knew very little about him. I first discovered him as the five-year-old son of James and Maria Coyle on the 1870 census in Jeffersonville, Indiana – along with his brother William (my great-grandfather) and a sister, Elizabeth. I tracked him through census and area city directories, but nothing remarkable showed up – not married until much later in life, no children, worked as a general laborer. There were many more interesting ancestors that kept me busy, and Edward was tucked away in some quiet research folder on my hard drive.

But then while digging around on Fold Three for other Coyle ancestors, I unexpectedly stumbled on a military record for him.  On the US Army Register of Enlistments for 1900, there he was – Edward Coyle, age 34, a glassworker born in Jeffersonville, Indiana, enlisted August 21 in Louisville, KY and assigned to the 18 Infantry, Company B. But wait…. under remarks, it was noted “Deserted April 8, 1901. Apprehended June 25, 1902. Dishonorably discharged August 13, 1902 at Ft. Thomas, Kentucky.”

Military service has been a huge part of many of my ancestors’ lives, and this was the first hint I’d had of any of them serving with anything other than honor. I had to learn more.

And it was surprisingly easy. A simple name search for Edward in the Louisville newspapers gave me an immediate, and fascinating, hit. In the June 24, 1902 edition of The Courier-Journal, under the glaring headline “WIFE BETRAYS”, was Uncle Edward, and he held nothing back in his interview with the reporter. The fact that he was married was only the first surprise Edward had in store for me.

Headline from the June 24, 1902 pg 8 story in The Courier-Journal. You can read it here:

This one newspaper clipping was chock full of genealogical gold, spoken by the ancestor himself. Most importantly, Edward confirms that he is, indeed, MY Edward by mentioning his brother David, who was also living in Louisville. And while he doesn’t give exact details, he named his wife as “Sarah” and said they met about 10 years earlier in Peoria, IL where he had moved, and she “shortly thereafter” became his wife. They then moved to Alexandria, Indiana where he worked. These were enticing clues I was sure to follow up.

When he and Sarah began to have troubles, he enlisted in the Army to get away from her and start over. He had hopes of going to the Phillipines, but the Army had other plans and he went from Columbus, Ohio to San Francisco, California. Edward was apparently not pleased with this lack of excitement, and when Sarah began writing to him asking him to return, and even sent him the money to do so, he simply left California and returned to Louisville, where he laid low and found work at a distillery.

The couple got along for a while, but eventually trouble found them again and after Edward had one too many Saturday nights out, Sarah kicked him out and threatened to turn him into the police. She followed through on her threats, telling every patrolman and detective in their part of the city that Edward was there and AWOL. As the War Department at the time was paying a $30 reward for the arrest of deserters, it only took about two weeks before the jig was up and Edward was behind bars.

He remained optimistic, though, commenting to the reporter, “I think I’ve got a chance to beat the case. You know the law requires that a married man has to get the consent of his wife when he enlists. Well, I didn’t get her consent, and possibly on this account I am enlisted illegally.” Apparently, the Army took a dimmer view of the situation, as he was dishonorably discharged about two months later.

I have not been able to track Sarah beyond her mention in this article, but assume that the couple was divorced shortly afterward. Edward remained in Louisville after his discharge, showing up in several city directories as a boarder in various rooming houses and working various jobs in either the glass or paint manufacturing industries. But between 1909 and 1910 he moved into a boarding house owned by Cash Cornelius and his wife, Anna Elizabeth “Lizzie” Branstetter Cornelius, and the fun began.

Life was never dull at this boarding house located at 1426 West Main in Louisville. The local police were well acquainted with the address and often referred to it as the “Red Onion House”.  The Cornelius’ were married about 1883 and were childless; they had operated a boarding house across the river in New Albany, Indiana before moving to Louisville. Cassius “Cash” Cornelius was a blacksmith, and Lizzie ran the boarding house.

In March of 1909, Edward was arrested along with Cash and Lizzie as a result of a fight at the “Red Onion” house. Lizzie was charged with keeping a disorderly house, Cash with malicious cutting (a victim claimed they had attacked him with a knife), and Edward with being an accessory to the cutting. And so it began. It’s not known if Edward was actually boarding there at the time as he is listed in the 1909 directory at another boarding house, but directories were usually a year behind in their information due to the time it took to gather, print and distribute the books. But by the 1910 census he was there and remained there until 1914. Lizzie and Cash remained there until Cash’s death in 1918.

A year or two before he moved out, Edward switched professions and became the proprietor of a chile parlor located a block or so from the house. During the 1910’s, “chile parlors” enjoyed a huge popularity among certain social circles, and were known hotspots of illegal activity, including illegal alcohol, gaming and prostitution. Many of the parlors used booths for their seating which were enclosed by curtains to ensure patrons their privacy. Edward’s establishment never appeared in the police blotters (at least not publicly announced in the newspapers) as far as I can tell, but several incidents at the Red Onion house involved young girls who had been to various chile parlors before somehow ending up at Lizzie’s establishment – and often the girls themselves claimed to not know how they got there.  

The Courier Journal, 16 May 1912 pg 6

After Cash Cornelius died in 1918, Lizzie, who seems to have left her nickname behind and was now going by her first name Anna, moved from the infamous address. The following year, Anna Cornelius was the proprietor of the F.C. Hotel and lived at 219 S. 15^th, while Edward had for several years operated a saloon just a few blocks away. Two years later, in August of 1920, the two were married. If the 1920 census is to be believed, they owned their home on Portland Avenue outright and yet neither were working that year, although they were both only 54 years old.  I’m curious as to whether either of them received some sort of financial windfall – possibly insurance or inheritance from Cash, or the sale of one or more of their business interests.

From 1920 until his death in 1926, Edward is shown living at the Portland Avenue address and working as a paintmaker at Reliable Paint Company. Anna doesn’t appear in the directory until after his death, when she is listed as his widow at the Portland Avenue house. Anna died in 1942 and the two are buried in Cave Hill Cemetery although their graves are not marked.

You would think this is the end of Edward’s story, wouldn’t you? You would be wrong.