A news item appeared in the Elizabethville Echo of 29 October 1931 which told of the efforts of George F. Laudenslager of Millersburg to seek help from the police in finding his missing wife. In following this story to its conclusion, there are some missing pieces of information and perhaps a reader of this blog can give additional details. It must be noted at the outset that the financial condition of the family, if a reason for the disappearance, was probably a result of the Great Depression.
The first indication that Charlotte M. “Dolly” [Hartman] Laudenslager had disappeared was reported in the Harrisburg Evening News of 24 October 1931:
No Trace of Woman
State police reported today they had found no trace of Mrs. Dolly Laudenslager, 22, missing from her home in Pine Street, Millersburg, since Tuesday. The woman’s husband, who asked police to search for her, said his wife left home because he was out of work and she feared the family would be in want during the winter.
____________________________________
The Elizabethville Echo article, pictured above, gave additional details:
ASKS POLICE AID IN SEARCH FOR MISSING WIFE
State Police last Friday, were asked by George F. Laudenslager of Millersburg to help search for his wife, Mrs. Dolly Laudenslager, who has been missing from her home since October 19th.
Mr. Laudenslager also hopes that newspaper announcements of her disappearance will induce her to return home, because of her three children.
The husband could find no reason for her leaving home, except the possibility that she feared the coming winter because of his uncertain employment. She was formerly Miss Dolly Hartman of Millersburg.
Mr. Laudenslager has given authorities the following description: height, four feet, eleven inches; black curly hair, hazel eyes and weight about ninety pounds.
___________________________________
Three years later, as per law, when no word was received of Dolly Laudenslager‘s whereabouts, George F. Laudenslager filed for divorce:
The Harrisburg Telegraph of 21 October 1934, reported the following:
Suit for divorce was filed in the Dauphin County Common Pleas Court by George F. Laudenslager, against Mrs. Charlotte M. Laudenslager, Pine Street, Millersburg, charging desertion….
____________________________________
And, on 20 November 1934, the Harrisburg Evening News, noted that the suit was going forward:
DIVORCE PROCEEDINGS – Divorce proceedings started in the Dauphin County Court late yesterday are: George F. Laudenslager against Charlotte M. Laudenslager, Millersburg, desertion….
_________________________________
After a summons was issued for Dolly Laudenslager to appear in Dauphin County Court, the Sheriff of Dauphin County, George N. Barnes, in three weekly legal notices (25 July 1935 – 8 August 1935), published that the subpoena was returned “non est inventus,” meaning that she was not found in his jurisdiction, so service was not possible. The legal notice was published, to notify her that she was required to appear in Harrisburg on 4 August 1935 to answer the complaint.
__________________________________
No information could be located in the Harrisburg newspaper to indicate that Mrs. Laudenslager answered the summons.
________________________________
Both the Harrisburg Telegraph and the Harrisburg Evening News reported on 27 February 1936, that the divorce was granted on the grounds of desertion. Then followed in the Lykens Standard, 6 March 1936, a similar notice:
HUSBAND GRANTED DIVORCE: The Dauphin County Court Friday approved the recommendation of a master to grant a divorce to George F. Laudenslager, Halifax, R.D., from Mrs. Charlotte M. Laudenslager, Millersburg, on the grounds of desertion was approved by the Dauphin County Court today. The decree will be signed on the payment of costs.
__________________________________
Genealogical records show that George F. Laudenslager re-married after the divorce. With his second wife, Mary Emeline Lentz (1917-2005), he had at least three known children, who it appears from the 1940 census, were included with Charlotte’s children in the extended family. George died on 11 December 1962 at Lebanon, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, and is buried at Enders, Dauphin County.
No records have been seen as to the whereabouts of Charlotte after she disappeared in 1931, with the following exception. In Findagrave, there is a Charlotte Moore Hartman (1909-1983) who is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery at Millersburg along with her father, Charles L. Hartman (1870-1925). This Charlotte, who other records indicate died in Philadelphia in June 1983, age 74, is obviously the same person who deserted her family in 1931. Where she was and what she was doing in the interim is the unknown that perhaps a blog reader can answer.
____________________________________
News articles from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.