By "embarrassment" we mean, in the parlance of an earlier era, the fact that she was showing up in the United States without husband and with child in an era in which that no doubt put a stigma on her both where she was from and where she had arrived. And, indeed, I'm not going into all of that as it gets into a discussion on morality that perhaps credits her era more than ours.
But the interesting things was, at least according to the papers, how well the situation was handled by all involved, and in an era in which there was no social support of an official nature, although there was plenty of a private nature.
Miss Knowles was described by the papers as a "girl", not a young woman, and therefore we have to presume that she was relatively young. My guess is that her being referred to as a girl, however, means that she was in her late teens or early twenties. The father of her child was one former U.S. Army pilot, Pearly R. Spiker, of Baltimore, Massachusetts.
Mr. Spiker had served as an Army pilot during the Great War. We are left wondering if he made it to France but he definitely made it to England where he became friends, the Cheyenne newspaper informs us, with Miss Knowles. As the paper relates, they became more than friends actually, and the infant Spiker resulted.
So what occurred? A nasty divorce?
Well, I'm certain some harsh words must have been exchanged when the news arrived, and apparently it did arrive before Miss Knowles, as Mrs. Spiker was there to meet her. But that wasn't to confront her, but actually to beg to immigration authorities that she be allowed to enter the country. Mrs. Spiker wished to adopt the infant and Pearly's brother Guy wanted to marry her sight unseen. Immigration authorities were perplexed but they did allow her in the country, placed in the care of another couple, which again suggests that Miss Knowles was fairly young.
So what happened?
The Spikers remained married. Pearly Spiker was a steel worker and the Spikers operated a candy store, starting in 1922, out of their home in Baltimore. They did adopt the baby, Alfred Ray, and raised him as their own. And in fact, it turns out that Pearly confessed his affair to Cora upon his return to the U.S, and perhaps following the revelation of an infant, and Cora had been the one who sent for the girl and the infant.
In 1952 he retired and they moved to Florida. Following his death, Mrs. Spiker, Cora, returned to Baltimore and lived with a daughter in Baltimore until her death in 1968.
Emily did marry Guy. Cora Spiker had praised her morality upon her entry into the country (and vouched for her husband's as well), and perhaps that praise was well put, but the marriage to Pearly's brother Guy wold last only a year when Emily left him for another former soldier she'd met during the war. The whole thing made national news as it played out.
Alfred Spiker fought in World War Two and became an engineer. He died in 2000.
No comments:
Post a Comment