Sarah A. "Whatser name"

[SSlater]

The mystery created by Sarah A. Slater in April 1865, hasn't been solved yet. We want to know Who? What? When? Where? Why? of all that occurred. (Do you think we will ever know?
I couldn't get it all done here, but I can address her activities - after the war, between, 1867 and 1900. The rest may come at another time.
Sarah left Canada in the early summer of 1865 - at the request of Brig. Gen. E. G. Lee. and returned to New York. Sarah tells us, in her divorce proceedings, that she met Rowan there and they lived together through the rest of the summer of 1865. Later, in the year Rowan is said to have become promiscuous and Sarah "dumped him". Unfortunately, Rowan wasn't there to defend his good name.
I doubt the veracity of the whole proceedings. My thinking leans toward a "contrived plan", instigated by a Mr. Jacob M. Long - an Alderman, living in New York City. Mr. long was single at the time, but that is a minor but convenient factor in the scheme. Rowan and Sarah had split almost a year earlier, but now Sarah wants a divorce -Why? So she can "marry" Mr. Long - and change her name.
For the past several months, the Federal Government had been issuing "Amnesty Proclamations" periodically. Each issue was a little more lenient than the previous issues. However - there was a clause that appeared in each issue that excluded "those who raided from Canada". That got Sarah's attention. She could not risk ignoring that phrase and be hauled into court and stand a trial for MURDER. There was no Statute of Limitations Clause - for Murder. She worried.
So, Jacob M. Long and "Nellie G. Slater" married. Is that a valid Marriage? "Nellie Slater never existed. The error stems from the carelessness of the Clerk that filled out the License Application - he missed crossing the T's, with a careless high "crossing". It's there on the application - but he missed, and she was no longer "Nettie".
Did they ever cohabitate? My guess is NO, or was Jacob to embarrassed to show is name associated with hers? HE NEVER SHOWED HIS NAME ALONGSIDE HERS. Not in the 1870 or 1880 Federal Census. - not in the New York State Census. His entire family appeared in HIS Obituary - his children, their wives, and that was extensive, - but not Nellie, not Nettie, not Sarah, or any other wife.
The final Amnesty Proclamation was issued at Christmas 1869 and it absolved the remainder of the participants in the Confederate activities.
Another item that we needs our attention. Sarah, or whatever she is called at this point, was not Jacob M. Long's second wife. He had married Catherine Fisher, in Pennsylvania, First, sadly she died. He then married "Anna E". and had more children. She died. He finally married "Nellie".
Sarah did not relax. About 1900 she moved to Canada to live with her sister - Josephine. There was a problem with her husband's name.
He spelled it LOFTON and she spelled it LOFTIN.
Sarah's and her sister's name appears in the City Directory as "Man and Wife".
Sarah appears in the first issue available as Sarah Long but in succeeding issues as Sarah Slater. This remains true until she married her Brother-in-Law. William W. Spencer . He had been married to Laura Louise (Gilbert) Spencer until her death. Another explanation is necessary. Was she in love with him secretly? I'll say no, but she "cared". His Death Certificate shows that he had been under intensive care for the previous 2 years and the need continued. Sarah married him so that they could cohabitate, while she performed her duties as his NURSE. They lived about 2 years together before he died.
In closing, you may be interested to know that Sarah, Josephine and their Mother, are all buried in the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Sarah, of course is "Sarah Spencer", and her birth date on the marker is wrong.
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