The Parkins Divorce and Jennie Updates

Back in February, I mentioned that I was waiting on some records. Well, they are here! I have now confirmed that Jennie Featherston-Parkin and Sadie Featherston-Acker both got remarried. I even found some newspaper mentions that relate to what happened between John and Jennie.

Newspaper Articles are First!

On February 7th, 1902, Jennie was arrested in East Orange on a charge of neglecting her children¹. We don’t get anymore details of what led up to the arrest. We know that the Children’s Aid and Protective Society was the complainant for the charge. We also know that in the 1905 New Jersey State Census, 3 of the 4 Parkin children are living in the Orange Orphan Society². Likely the arrest is what spurred the children being sent to the society. Two months after her arrest, her husband is suing her for divorce³.

I have a feeling there is a deeper, more complicated story behind what is going on with the family. The article tells us that John was living with Jennie until January 7th⁴. That’s exactly a month before she was arrested for neglect⁵. I hope to get the divorce papers from the New Jersey Archives, whether its making a trip there myself or hiring someone to pull the records for me. That’s where this part of the story stops until I can take care of that. We don’t have to stop looking for Jennie though. We still had an order in for a possible second marriage record.

The 2nd Marriage of Jennie Featherston

This is definitely the Jennie I was looking for! It looks on this record like her husband’s name is James Relly⁶. Or some form of Reilly, you know how it goes. 😂 I also don’t want to think about the “William Moore” as witness. That’s going to go into the worry about later list.

There is some good news, bad news with this record. The good news first, to help digest the bad news. Jennie didn’t die between 1901 (her last known mention in her father’s obituary⁷) and 1905 (her children being in a children’s home⁸). That’s great. Bad news. This marriage happened in September of 1905⁹. That’s after the 1905 census. That means, logically 😅, I should find Jennie at 394 Washington Street in the 1905 New Jersey Census¹⁰!

Yep, Not There.

Which means she moved in between June and September of 1905… maybe. I thought I might look up James, since his address is given too. One thing that had to be true, is they had to be in the same place at the same time at some point. Or they wouldn’t have gotten married. Maybe, if I find James in 1905, Jennie will be near.

It says 37 N Clinton Street, but that family is definitely living at 17 N Clinton Street¹¹. Which I thought was James Reilly’s address. There is a James Reilly in that household but not my James Reilly and before you think I’m being stupid here. First, the “mother’s” name is Mary and not Nora. Which sometimes you can let go. This James is also 10 years younger than the James I’m looking for. Which to be fair, I’ve seen from the rural side of my mother’s tree, but not on my Dad’s side, they are usually more consistent on this side of the family.

I thought maybe I was going up the wrong tree for a few minutes. That is until I took a look at the city directory for 1905, that makes it clear there are two James J. Reillys¹². One that lives at 17 N Clinton and one that lives at 14 N Clinton. Genealogy is fun isn’t it. 🤣 The older one is a motorman/hackman for the trolley, and the younger is a bookkeeper. At least they have separate occupations so that could help me keep them straight at least. Anyone else having a brief thought that Phillip Reilly (trolley man’s father) and Patrick Reilly (bookkeeper’s father) are probably brothers or cousins maybe? I can’t even say they are neighbors because for some reason the city directories list the bookkeeper’s family at 17 N Clinton but the census calls it 37 N Clinton. If I need to, I’ll circle back around to this Reilly conundrum, but not unless I need to.

Found James! His mother too¹³. At least James was less difficult then his future wife to find on the census.

So Back to the Bad News

I know you thought the bad news was already given. Turns out bad news likes to multiply. I still didn’t find Jennie in 1905. I would just chalk it up to she was missed in the census… except that I also can’t find her after 1905 under her new married name. 😂 I’m going to need more caffeine, snacks and records for this!

Even though I did not find Jennie, I did find her husband James in 1880¹⁴, 1900¹⁵, 1905, 1915¹⁶, 1920¹⁷ and 1930¹⁸ censuses… In 1920 and 1930 he is listed as married but living with his sisters and he is the head of the household.

James and Jennie Reilly are IMPOSSIBLE 🤣

I know, nothing is impossible. I just haven’t found the right record yet. I also found James in the 1908¹⁹, 1910²⁰ , 1912²¹, and 1914²² city directories at 14 North Clinton Street. He is supposed to be there in the 1910 US Census. This sent me searching for 14 North Clinton in 1910²³.

Well… 😒 Nora is there with two of her children, but neither of those are the one I am looking for. It’s very clear that Jennie did not spend any significant time living with her second husband. He’s not listed as divorced or a widower but is listed as married which is strange since they don’t seem to have lived together for long, if at all.

Sadie Featherston’s 2nd Marriage

This might seem like a random jump at first but let me explain. Jennie’s sister Sadie was married for the 2nd time in 1907²⁴.

The witnesses to this marriage were James and Jennie Reilly. So we know they were still together in 1907. This made me think, maybe if I find Sadie, I will find Jennie. This post is getting a little long so I will go ahead and share that I have found Sadie’s 2nd husband, William, with his family in the census in 1880²⁵, 1900²⁶, 1905²⁷, 1910²⁸ and 1915²⁹. He is listed as single in all of them. These four are really frustrating me now. 😂

Next Steps

• Get the Divorce Documents for Jennie Featherston and John W. Parkin from 1902.
• Figure out how or if the witnesses of Jennie’s second marriage have a connection to the family. William Moore especially.😭
• Look for some type of divorce or separation announcement for James and Jennie.
• Look for death records of Jennie and Sadie after January of 1907.
• Find James, Jennie, or Sadie in 1910. All three are still missing in my research.

Source Citations

Sorry for the repeated citations. I’ve tried a few footnote plugins but I haven’t found a good one that allows me to repeat numbers easily. My posts take about a month of gathering sources and writing and I don’t want to overthink the citations. I just want to be sure I’m including them. 😂

1. “Two Neglected Cases in East Orange,” Newark Evening News, 8 Feb 1902, p. 8, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (accessed 15 Aug 2026). ↩︎
2. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, p. 05-A, dwelling 77, family 78, line 40,53,61, Orange Orphan Society; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 Dec 2024). ↩︎
3. “John W. Parkin Wants Divorce,” Newark Evening News, 4 Apr 1902, p. 8, col. 6; digital images, Newark Public Library (https://newark.historyarchives.online : accessed 8 Mar 2026). ↩︎
4. “John W. Parkin Wants Divorce,” Newark Evening News, 4 Apr 1902, p. 8, col. 6; digital images, Newark Public Library (https://newark.historyarchives.online : accessed 8 Mar 2026). ↩︎
5. “Two Neglected Cases in East Orange,” Newark Evening News, 8 Feb 1902, p. 8, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (accessed 15 Aug 2026). ↩︎
6. New Jersey New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics, marriage certificate 272 (1905), Relly-Featherson; New Jersey State Archives, Trenton. ↩︎
7. “Featherstone,” Newark Evening News, 02 Nov 1901, p. 3, col. 1; digital images, Newark Public Library (accessed 4 Nov 2025). ↩︎
8. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, p. 05-A, dwelling 77, family 78, line 40,53,61, Orange Orphan Society; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 Dec 2024). ↩︎
9. New Jersey New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics, marriage certificate 272 (1905), Relly-Featherson; New Jersey State Archives, Trenton. ↩︎
10. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 2, p. 28-A, dwelling 429, family 911, line 21, George Bauer household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026). ↩︎
11. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, p. 15-B, dwelling 143, family 2, line 67, Mrs. Mary A. Riley household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
12. J. H. Baldwin, Baldwin’s Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex, 1905-6:, 302; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
13. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, p. 09-B, dwelling 152, family 1, line 92, Mrs. Nora Riley household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
14. 1880 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, enumeration district (ED) 099, p. 511-C, dwelling 55, family 67, Phillip Rilley household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 780. ↩︎
15. 1900 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange Ward 3, enumeration district (ED) 177, sheet 05-B, dwelling 87, family 105, Nora Reilly household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 968. ↩︎
16. 1915 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange Ward 3, p. 09-A, dwelling 132, family 158, line 45, Mary Reilly household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 Aug 2026). ↩︎
17. 1920 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, enumeration district (ED) 41, sheet 08-B, dwelling 95, family 170, James J. Reilly household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T625, roll 1029. ↩︎
18. 1930 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, enumeration district (ED) 395, sheet 09-A, dwelling 77, family 190, James J. Reilly household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T626, roll 1330. ↩︎
19. J. H. Baldwin, Baldwin’s Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex, 1908:, 450; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
20. J. H. Baldwin, Baldwin’s Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex, 1910:, 483; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
21. J. H. Baldwin, Baldwin’s Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex, 1912:, 519; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
22. J. H. Baldwin, Baldwin’s Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex, 1914:, 567; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026). ↩︎
23. 1910 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, East Orange, enumeration district (ED) 164, sheet 13-B, dwelling 209, family 234, Nora Rilley household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 883. ↩︎
24. New Jersey New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics, marriage certificate 645 (1907), Dickson-Fetherston; New Jersey State Archives, Trenton. ↩︎
25. 1880 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, South Orange, enumeration district (ED) 111, p. 220-A, dwelling 268, family 289, Richd. A. Dickson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 781. ↩︎
26. 1900 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 6, enumeration district (ED) 60, sheet 22-A, dwelling 288, family 472, Richard Dickson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 964. ↩︎
27. 1905 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 6, p. 34-B, dwelling 482, family 765, line 58, Richd. Dickson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026). ↩︎
28. 1910 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 13, enumeration district (ED) 108, sheet 13-A, dwelling 178, family 253, Richard Dickson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 881. ↩︎
29. 1915 New Jersey State Census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Newark Ward 13, p. 13-A, line 35, Richard Dickson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2026). ↩︎