William Henry Manley & Ruhama Worchester (& Martha Adelaide Johnson)

William Henry Manley, Father of Ruhammer Manley, and my 3rd great  grandfather was born in Sandwich, Mass. in October of 1851 and moved to the neighboring town of Wareham, Mass as a teenager.  He married Ruhama Worchester on Feb 18, 1874.  Ruhama lived less than a year after their marriage.  On Sept 27, 1875 he married his second wife, Martha Adelaide Johnson who was 14 years old at the time (although their marriage record states she is 16, all the other records have her at 14).  Martha was born in Feb 1861 in Massachusetts probably in Wareham.

William was a Nail Smith at the time of their marriage.  Here is a link to a video tour of the Tremont Nail Factory where William worked in the 1870's:

Tremont Nail Factory Video

They moved to Taunton and he worked as a laborer.  In 1910 he reports working in a stable.  They had four children in the house in 1900:  Ruhammer, Louis, Charles, and Effie.  Interestingly, their oldest child Ruhammer (my great great grandmother) was named for William's first wife.  Her mother is listed as Martha in a couple of censuses but on the 1900 census she is reported to have been born in Sept 1875.  That is the month that he married his second wife.  This leads me to believe that Ruhama Worchester is Ruhammer's mother and that she died in childbirth, and William married as much to have the child cared for as for anything else.  Also I highly doubt that a second wife would want her child named after her husband's first wife.  Martha is listed as having 5 children, 4 of whom are living in 1900.  So no matter how the children are counted, we are missing at least one of her children.

William Henry died in about 1926 in Taunton.  Martha lived with her daughter, Effie, in 1920.  Why William was residing at another home is an open question.  It is possible it was a nursing home.  Martha died around 1927.

I believe there is enough evidence to consider Ruhamer Worchester as our blood relative, specifically my 3rd great grandmother.