We all have a few good secrets as an individual and as a family, some being kept for generations and never being told until the original parties involved are gone. In my family, a secret had been kept until about 2014 when my mom discovered something about my great-great-aunt and uncle.
The year was 1938 in Souderton PA. Miriam Erb (age 17) and her fiancé Martin Nace (age 25) had been planning to elope in Elkton Maryland. They brought along Miriam’s younger sister, Frances Erb (age 13), and Robert Souder (age 20). On the car ride they began talking about Miriam’s marriage and Frances and Robert decided it would be nice to get married as well. “We got to saying how nice it would be if we could get married, too. We were just about to Elkton when we decided to get married.” The young couples arrived and Miriam and Martin got married first, Miriam claiming to be 21 years of age. After they were hitched, Frances and Robert got married, Frances claiming to be 18. They returned home that night as if nothing had happened.
The following day Frances told her mother, Mrs. Ella Erb, that she had been married the previous night. Her mother brushed it off as joking around. Frances went to school but didn’t return that night. It was soon revealed that Mariam and her husband had moved into a converted chicken coop they called their ‘Honeymoon Cottage’. It was then discovered that Frances had indeed been married. The girls’ father, Mr. Raymond Erb, hired a lawyer in an attempt to have their marriage annulled. Their father and the Justice of the Peace found the two young couples celebrating their marriage with soda and cake. Frances told her father that she loved Robert and planned to stick by him and fight against the annulment. She also stated that she still planned on continuing her education even though she had been threatened with expulsion.
Raymond Erb was told by the district attorney, Fredrick B. Smillie, that there was no way the marriage could be dissolved by criminal action and there was nothing that could be done about it. “I don’t condone it. I think this whole thing is outrageous but there are simply no grounds on which we can prosecute,” Smillie said. Francis, in the meantime, began housekeeping at her mother-in-law’s house while Miriam set up house in their converted chicken coop. The news of this scandal appeared in newspapers all over the country, articles being found as far as Texas and Los Angles, California. Canadian newspapers also ran articles in their papers such as The Ottawa Citizen and The Winnipeg Tribune. The young couples were successful in keeping their marriages and would go on to live long, happy lives together. All the while, their incredible story was not told to the rest of the future generations but maintained a secret for years to come.
I hope that this story perhaps encourages you to talk to some of your older relatives or even just explore the area, and the families that live in it, a bit more. Who knows what kind of secrets your family may have?!
Emily O’Rourke is a Junior at Christopher Dock Mennonite Academy.
She enjoys writing, watching Anime and playing tennis.
