Ah, John Hubert Christopher, what a tangled legacy you’ve left us to unravel. When I took on his case not much was known of his life or who his parents were. As it turns out John taught me a ton about DNA, the clues in common sources lying in plain sight and collaborating with others. If you bear with me I’ll walk you through this case. Let’s start with the easy stuff.

I started with a very basic tree completed by John Hubert’s daughter-in-law, Annette Christopher (Chytry), with only a few names, dates and connections, but John’s line went no further than himself; no parents were listed. He was born somewhere on 11 Aug in either 1899 or 1901, he swaps between those two years in the documentation. Just like his birth year, he lists his birthplace as being many different places as well, most commonly it’s either Tennessee or rural Montgomery, Alabama. He was married three times and fathered five children. He’s not found in the 1900 or 1910 US censuses, in fact the first time John Hubert Christopher shows up in any documentation is when he’s 17 or 18 on his WWI draft card. He’s living in Huntsville, Alabama and working in the textile industry, at the Merrimack Manufacturing Company, probably as a spinner. A great article on the history of this mill was written by Sarah Huff Fisk and Debra Jenkins called Merrimack Mill History (the article starts on pg 75).

John married his first wife, Pauline E Bragg (b. 1906- d. 1983), on 20 Nov 1919 in Etowah County, Alabama and they had two sons, Gilford Ernest (b. 1920- d. 1990) and Norris Wesley (b. 1924- d. 2002). The couple were living in Merrimack, Alabama, on the outskirts of Huntsville, in the 1920 census and both working as spinners at the local cotton mill. Not long after, John and Pauline moved to Columbus, Georgia and were divorced in Nov 1925. In April of that year John placed a notice in the Columbus Daily Enquirer notifying Pauling of the pending divorce, presumably because they weren’t living together any longer. Reading through the court documents is pretty fun (here, here and here). His reason for divorcing Pauline is stated in the court docs as:

Cruel Treatment.

Petitioner shows that he was very affectionate and kind to his said wife from the time of marriage until the 15th day of December 1924 and, during that time his said wife had not the least , cause to complain of your petitioner; notwithstanding this said defendant has treated petitioner in a cruel and inhumane manner, so as to make it impossible for him to continue his habitation with her and consequences thereof, on the day last mentioned, he separated from the defendant and has ever since refused to renew his cohabitation with her; petitioner specifies in part the acts constituting the cruel treatment of the defendant towards him as follows:

(Cursing) petitioner and using to him vulgar and coarse and degrading expressions, on the morning of the separation she seized a knife and threatened to cut my damn throat, defendant was ever quarrelling, and threatening to kill your petitioner, she struck me on my head with a piece of stove wood, and I suffered with pain for several days, plaintiff did not condone said acts.

Pauline was tiny at 5′ 4″ and 123 lbs. It makes me laugh reading through it, but I’m sure he was sincere in front of the judge and his attorney.

John married his second wife, Addie Belle Bottoms/Hicks (b. 1909- d. 1967), on 18 Jul 1926 in Columbus Georgia. As a side note, Addie switches between maiden names quite often; she either uses Bottoms or Hicks. John and Addie had three children, Willis John (b. 1927- d. 1984), James Hubert (b. 1930- d. 2008) and Fannie Myrlene (b. 1934- d. 1994). In the 1930 census they are living together in Columbus, Georgia and both of them are working as spinners at the local cotton mill. John and Addie divorce some time in 1946 and John marries one more woman.

John’s third wife was Lillie M Torbush (b. 1906), her maiden name was Henderson. They were married 26 Jul 1947 in Phenix City, Alabama, right across the state line from Columbus, Georgia. The marriage record sheds a bit of light on John’s story because he lists his parents as being John H Christopher and Mary Stone. This is the first time in the records that I have in which we see any mention of his parents.

I’m pretty sure that John and Lillie divorce before he dies, but I’m not certain if they had any kids together. John passes away in New Orleans, Louisiana on 12 Dec 1970 from hypertensive cardiovascular disease as stated on his death certificate. And that was the easy part, let’s move on to the more challenging work in Part 2.

Here’s the family tree to this point:

JOHN HUBERT CHRISTOPHER  b. 11 Aug 1899 or 1901 in Tennessee or Alabama – d. 12 Dec 1970 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

First wife: PAULINE E BRAGG  b. 1906 in Texas; married 20 Nov 1919 in Etowah County, Alabama; divorced John in Nov 1924 in Columbus, Georgia; d. 1983

• GILFORD ERNEST CHRISTOPHER  b. 01 Nov 1920 in Calhoun County, Alabama – d. 08 Oct 1990 probably in Calhoun County, Alabama
• NORRIS WESLEY CHRISTOPHER  b. 29 Jan 1924 in Calhoun County, Alabama – d. 05 Feb 2002 in Calhoun County, Alabama

Second wife: ADDIE BELLE HICKS or BOTTOMS  b. 26 Aug 1909 in Alabama; married 18 Jul 1926 in Muscogee, Georgia; divorced in 1946; d. 09 Jun 1967 in Muscogee County, Georgia

• WILLIS JOHN CHRISTOPHER  b. 12 Jul 1927 in Georgia – d. 020 Apr 1984 in Tampa, Florida
• JAMES HUBERT CHRISTOPHER  b. 21 Dec 1930 in Columbia, Georgia – d. 27 Jun 2008 in Monterey Park, California
• FANNIE MYRLENE CHRISTOPHER  b. 30 Jun 1934 in Georgia – d. 21 Feb 1994 in Columbus, Georgia

Third wife:  LILLIE M HENDERSON  b. 02 Mar 1906 in Columbus, Georgia; married John (her second marriage) 26 Jul 1947 in Phenix City, Alabama