Who says you can't pick your family?

In my genealogical research, I've found that sometimes the most interesting families are the ones who I have no blood ties to. My great grandfather, Albert Womble's, wife died in 1909. In 1916, he married his housekeeper, Lou Brennen. Supposedly the marriage was just one of convenience.

The family story is that Albert was being pressured by his family to divide his four living children, who at the time of his wife's death ranged in age from 9 to just over 1 year old among his relatives. Apparently, he didn't want to do this, so he and his housekeeper got married as a way to keep the family together.

In 2007, I sent away for Albert and Lou's marriage certificate from the Massac County, IL courthouse. To my surprise, the marriage certificate revealed that Lou Brennen had been married before and that she had her maiden name restored. Now, I have no idea what that means, but it seems to suggest that she wasn't a widow. Another interesting find on the certificate was that she's referred to as Mrs. instead of Miss. I feel that this is a clue to something, but don't know what. Maybe just a sign of the times!

According to her marriage certificate, Lou was born in Johnson County, IL, but her death certificate says she was born in Massac County, IL, which is also where her parents were married in 1877. Lou was born on 25 Oct. 1878 according to her death certificate.

I haven't done much extensive research on this line mainly because I don't see the real point, and yet I'm strangely drawn to them. I grew up hearing so very little about my grandmother, Virginia's life. She was Albert Womble's only living daughter. I had heard that my grandmother was ashamed that her father had married a servant. However, I later found that odd because I found a letter that Virginia wrote to her stepmother and it sounded very affectionate. I have no idea what to believe about their relationship, but the letter seems more truthful than what someone else tells me about Virginia's feelings towards her stepmother. From other relatives, I've heard that one of Virginia's brothers found Miss Lou, as Albert's children called her, to be very kind to him.

The little research I've done has revealed that the Brennen family lived mainly in Massac County, IL. Lou had a couple of brothers and five sisters. According to Ancestry.com, one of her sister's died in 1919. Lou and three of her sisters had their picture taken together. I would estimate that it was taken sometime before 1919 and probably before 1910 based on their clothing styles in the picture. According to the 1900 and 1910 census records, Lou and her sisters worked as servants even at the tender age of 11.

I would love to learn more about this family, but I worry about loosing my focus on the Wombles. Yet, I'm interested to learn more about someone who was around my grandmother and possibly influenced her life choices, whether she was aware of it or not.