The Caroline Gee McGavin Question

The other day I wrote up a case for the support group at Family Search.

Undocumented Spouse
Caroline Rowe Gee KWCV-H3F is show as having two spouses.
The male Frances Gates Person identifier: KWCV-H3F does not exist. He is not listed in the Utah 1860, 1870, 1880, 1800 or 1910 census in Utah. He is not listed in the Tooele Cemetery records. His death is not listed in the Eastern Idaho Death Index and only one Francis Gates is listed in the Idaho Death Index, but the birth date was 10 Feb 1870, He would have been 14 years of age at the alleged marriage.

The history of Caroline Rowe Gee found at https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxseXNhbmRlcmdlZXdlYnNpdGV8Z3g6NjIzMzQyOWE4MmMzYzZjMQ

does not mention him as a spouse. His death date is not entered into the data and his birth date is only approximated. He does not have any parents listed. There are no possible duplicates listed. The marriage date is listed as 1884. At that time she was married to Robert McGavin and was not residing in Tooele, Utah.

She was married to Robert when she was 13 years of age and had her fourth child Roland in April 1883 in Tocqueville, Utah and her fifth child Emma in July 1885 in Basin, Idaho and I do not believe she was married to someone else during the interim.

When I receive instructions from you I will separate out Frances Gates from Caroline's record, because I believe that Frances does not exist.

Ivin Laurence Gee

They responded as follows:

3/28/12
3:50 AM:
Dear Ivin Gee,

Thank you for contacting FamilySearch regarding Caroline Rowe Gee with two husbands.

Her husband Robert McGavin also had two wives at the same time. Caroline Rowe Gee and Rozelia Gee. Was this a polygamous marriage?

Francis Gates obviously did exist as several people have entered him in new FamilySearch and attached him to Caroline. He is just in the wrong place. As he has been sealed to Caroline we need some more information from you.

We presume that you are a relative of Caroline but we need to confirm this.

With this information we should be able to help you.
Thank you
Sincerely,
FamilySearch

My Response was as follows:

Caroline Rowe McGavin was the second wife of Robert McGavin. His first wife was Rozelia Gee the half sister of Caroline by Lysander's second wife Theresa Bowley . They were both in a polygamous marriage.

Frances Gates as a male does not exist. There are 8 combined records for this male Frances Gates. Someone entered this in error that did not know the family. Caroline's mother Maryette Rowe was married first to Hirum/Hyrum Gates and had two daughters by that marriage. Their names were; Francis Gates Born 15 February 1847 in Council Bluffs and Elizabeth Gates born 18 Jan 1849 in Salt Lake City.

Shortly after the birth of Elizabeth, probably in the fall, Hirum Gates absconded with Emily Amanda Rockwell, Porter's daughter, and went to California to the gold fields. Hirum also left his second wife, Sarah Maria Sayles in Salt Lake City. Hirum's first wife Poly Mayo died before he married Maryette. Because Lysander Gee lived on the lot in Salt Lake City next to Hirum Gates, he took Maryette Rowe Gates as his third wife and they were sealed by Brigham Young at Lysander's home five months after the civil marriage in February of 1850.

Frances and Elizabeth were farmed out to others to raise and that is how Frances ended up in Southern Utah.

Frances Gates was Caroline Rowe Gee McGavin's half sister as they have the same mother although they were sixteen years apart. In the record of Frances Gates we find the following:

Frances Gates Person identifier: KWNW-FCK Born 1847 in Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie, Iowa, Death 20 may 1925 in Kanosh, Millard, Utah

Has the following name variations in NFS

Frances Gates

Francis Gates

Frances Andrew

Frances Andrews

Frances Gates or Andres

Frances Wiley

Frances A. Andrews

Francis Andrews Gates

Sarah Frances Andrews

There are 90 combined record for this female Frances.

Hirum lived in California a short time before he died leaving Emily Amanda Rockwell Gates a very wealthy woman. She was too young to claim the inheritance without a guardian. She married again and eventually died and is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

It is my assumption that someone saw the name Frances associated with her half-sister and assumed that Frances was a male and proposed that they were husband and wife and entered the record as such, and guessed at the marriage date and birth date.

I am the great grandson of Erastus Rowe Gee, Caroline Gee McGavin's older brother.