An update on Mary Evelyn Sorenson, the daughter of Alfred and Mae Sorenson. Between Ancestry’s Social Security Applications and Claims Index database and the death certificate of the person who had that Social Security Number, I had an idea that I’d found what had happened to my first cousin twice removed. However, her death certificate did not list parents, so I wasn’t certain that I had records for the right person.
In July I requested the Social Security SS-5 for the person with Mary’s Social Security Number. That’s the original application for a social security number. It has date of birth and parents on it usually. Here’s what I got:
Many of the items in this application match what I know about Mary Sorenson:
- Father’s full name.
- Mother’s first name.
- Approximate year of birth.
- Place of birth.
- Name matches the name of Mae Sorenson’s daughter in the daughter’s announced marriage to George Grantzow.
That’s a lot of matching points. And unless someone took over her identity it’s the same woman who died in 1990, the S.S.N. and date of birth match the death certicate. I’m considering it pretty safe to assert these are all the same person.
Armed with that information, I was able to find a marriage record for Mary Evelyn Sorenson and Herbert George Fredericks in Los Angeles from 1935.
For some reason, Mary Sorenson thought her mother’s maiden name was Radtke. The other indication I have for Mae’s maiden name comes from Mae’s marriage record, which gave her name as Gibbons. She was raised in an orphanage, so I don’t know how accurate either name is.
I can start to put together a timeline for Mary Sorenson now:
| Date | Event | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Mar 1914 | Birth | Madison, Wisconsin | Death certificate SS-5 |
| 1 Jan 1920 | Census, recorded living with parents | Madison, Wisconsin | 1920 US Census |
| 8 Sep 1935 | Marriage to Herbert George Fredericks | Los Angeles, California | Marriage certificate |
| 24 Feb 1937 | Residence | Redondo Beach, California | SS-5 |
| 1 Apr 1940 | Census, living with Herbert Fredericks | Inglewood, California | 1940 US Census |
| 23 Nov 1943 | Marriage to George William Grantzow | Unknown, but announced in Madison, Wisconsin | Two announcements in the Wisconsin State Journal |
| 23 Jan 1948 | Divorce from George Grantzow | Madison, Wisconsin | News in Wisconsin State Journal |
| 7 Jun 1948 | Marriage to James “Shorty” Reigle | Dubuque, Iowa | Announcement in Wisconsin State Journal |
| 1 Nov 1949 | Marriage license with James “Shorty” Reigle | Madison, Wisconsin | Announcement in Wisconsin State Journal |
| 18 May 1951 | Divorce from James Reigle | Madison, Wisconsin | News in Wisconsin State Journal |
| 7 Jun 1951 | Divorce from James Reigle vacated | Madison, Wisconsin | News in Wisconsin State Journal |
| 26 Mar 1952 | Divorce from James Reigle | Madison, Wisconsin | News in Wisconsin State Journal |
| May 1956 | Name under Frances Marie Sorenson | U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 | |
| Oct 1956 | Name under Frances Marie Newton | U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 | |
| Nov 1957 | Name under Frances Marie Vonhauzer | U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 | |
| 16 Nov 1958 | Residence, name under Evelyn Tanner | California | Mother’s obituary in Capital Times |
| 13 Oct 1990 | Death, name as Frances Marie Newton | Lynwood, California | Death certificate |
There’s still a lot of gaps in her life that I could research and document, in addition to better documenting the known events.
- how and when did her marriage to Herbert Fredericks end
- what was the deal with incongruent marriage records for Mary and James Reigle
- how did Mary get the name Evelyn Tanner, and did she marry to get that name
- when and where did she change her name to Frances Marie
- did she marry to acquire the surname Newton
- did she marry to acquire the surname Vonhauzer