Sarah Slater's Second Husband

[SSlater]

I have struggled with how I should write this Comment. It needs to be said - but how?
I am quite pleased with the recent identification of Jacob M. Long as Sarah Slater's husband, however, the use of the information is being used improperly. (It might be illegal.)
Jacob M. Long never, ever, married "Sarah A. Spencer", and to add that name to his Obit, is totally wrong.
A Marriage Certificate showing that combination of names DOES NOT EXIST. A Marriage Certificate is a Legal Document that has many legal ramifications - it establishes "heritage", debt responsibility, etc., and more. No such document exists joining Jacob Long and Sarah Spencer. Jacob Long married Nettie G. Slater. No other combination of names can identify this marriage,
(THESE ARE MY THOUGHTS.) I think that these two had an arrangement between themselves, to keep Sarah out of a trial for participation in the Assassination of Lincoln. - and it worked.
It is very odd that Jacob never showed Sarah's name with his, in any Census, or City Directory. He showed his first wife, he showed all his children, he showed their spouses, and the resulting children. He even showed all his cooks and servants, but not Sarah. That is no coincidence, there was a plan of some sort, that we don't recognize.
The information included in his "Find a Grave" piece also avoided showing her name. (usually the case when there is no wife.), that is, until now., and someone did it wrong. Long never married Spencer.
(When they added Long to Sarah's name, why didn't they add Rowan, too. That would have been correct),
By making these changes, someone is changing history. The original records are shown exactly as they were created by immediate participants, or immediate survivors, because that they intended. I would bet that they knew little, or nothing, about Sarah's clandestine activities. (or excluded them on purpose.) It appears that Sarah and Jacob had an agreement, that they never revealed. Sarah needed a place to hide, and Jacob gave her a new name. Jacob was an Alderman, second in power to only the Mayor. He was a Justice of the Peace, he could "do no Wrong". He made the arrangements, got paid and they went their separate ways.
PS. When Sarah married Spencer, she made no mention of Rowan. She swore that she had been only once, to Long, When she applied for a Marriage License for Spencer. Where does that fit?