Mr. Harry DeReamer's name is on Helen's death certificate as the person who provided the info about her. Does not give his relationship to her, though. Her death certificate says she was born 19 June 1893 (the headstone shows 1894), and gives her date of death as 06 Mar 1923 (buried on 10 Mar).

The certificate says Helen was married, but there is not a slot for the spouse's name (as there is on some years).

I see that as the only way to finding out the answer. :o) Looks like "mother" died the year "husband" was born. Quite the mystery.

Maybe Harry DeReamer was an uncle? Her mother's brother??

This obituary talks about Helen Weist Garrett and a DeReamer.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/wayneindependent/obituary.aspx?n=charles-frederick-garrett&pid=121218552

Since Helen was married to William Garrett, maybe Harry DeReamer was a second husband?

Quote; "I see that as the only way to finding out the answer. :o) Looks like
"mother" died the year "husband" was born. Quite the mystery."

No mystery: The husband, Franklin J. Garrett, is the son of Mother, Helen C. Garrett. She may have died giving birth to Franklin or died some time later in the same year.

They are all DeReamers.

Helen C. DeReamer possibly died while giving birth.

Her son, whom she left, is still living, but his wife, Addie L, is not.

Yes, I'm thinking Harry DeReamer must have been Helen's second husband, and Franklin was her son with him. But then wouldn't her death certificate have given her name as DeReamer?

That was a helpful obituary, Socalgal.

The plot thickens: In the 1930 census, Harry was 30 years old and living with his brother and his brother's wife and children. In 1920 his wife is listed as Elisabeth, 36. Then in 1930 he is married to Frances, 46. Franklin, age 7, is listed as his nephew--not his son.

So maybe Helen's first husband died while she was pregnant with Franklin, and meanwhile Elisabeth DeReamer died too?

I play Scrabble with a woman from the local Historical Society . . . I should see what she knows. :-)

Thanks, everyone!

Addie (born 1925,died 1995) was evidently married to a DeReamer:

ADDIE L DEREAMER was born 04 April 1925, received Social Security number X (indicating Pennsylvania) and, Death Master File says, died 22 September 1995.
For more information, click here (free),
then check Archives
and PeopleSmart

Link to info--scroll down

After reading the obit linked above, I'm confused, too:

Charles Frederick Garret ... born ... 1921 ... son of ... William and Helen Weist Garrett

... surviving ... a brother, Franklin DeReamer

... preceded in death by his brother, William Garrett, Jr, and sisters Edna Bried and Elizabeth Hatler.

So, maybe Helen Weist Garret, who was married to William Garrett, Sr, had William, Charles, Addie, Franklin, Edna and Elizabeth. Some time after Franklin was born she was divorced or widowed, then married Harry DeReamer, who raised the children, and as often happens, they at times used his name? Or at one point changed their names legally to his? That doesn't explain the Lavenduski, but possibly that was Addie's married name?

Thanks, Mama. :-) I didn't learn anything beyond what you posted, but the more I think about it, the more I realize many variations in the story are possible. Perhaps Franklin's biological father didn't die after all, but gave his son away when Helen died. That's just one possibility.

Alisander, maybe there is no one alive to put his death date on the stone. My Mom and I put her grandmother's date of death on her tombstone about 11 years ago. She died in 1929. The craver did an excellent job. He used the same older script and you wouldn't have known it was just done.

I hadn't thought of that, but you're right, of course. I often see gravestones with no death date filled in, even though the deceased would be about 150 years old by this time. :-)

I updated my previous post after reading the obit. I couldn't get it to copy & paste so included the pertinent info--seeing it all together helps my thinking process, however fuzzy it might be. ;)

Thanks for the heads-up, Mama Goose.

Some time after Franklin was born she was divorced or widowed, then married Harry DeReamer, who raised the children, and as often happens, they at times used his name?

But note that she died the same year as Franklin. Also, the headstone says Wife (Addie) Husband (Franklin) and Mother (Helen). This mystery is getting to me!

In my family we have a convoluted story which might be similar--my grandmother had three children, including my father, with her first husband, then with her second husband raised her niece, who had a different last name. It was not a legal adoption, but when my aunt (fostered cousin) attained legal age she changed her last name to my grandparents' name (technically my father's stepfather's last name.) Her birth certificate has her birth family's name, but I'm pretty sure school records, and every document after that, have my grandparents' last name.

Oops, they could have been born before Franklin, or maybe Edna and Elizabeth were Harry's children, and usually in obits, daughters and sisters are listed after the respective males in the family?

I don't know if this helps or hinders, but there was an Addie Lavenduski born in the same town listed in Charles Garrett's obit. She would have been 26 when Addie L. (DeReamer?) was born.

Addie Lavenduski born 1898

Some of the same names as above--Charles Frederick Garrett (DeReamer?)

Nellie Dereamer was born circa 1883, at birth place, Pennsylvania.

Nellie married Fred Dereamer.

They had 3 children: Charlie Dereamer and 2 other children.

Nellie lived in 1910, at address, Pennsylvania.

Link--scroll down to 1910 census entry

I'm not a member of Ancestry.com, but Addie DeReamer's birth records can be found there (according to the website) through this link: Addie DeReamer, born 1925, died 1995

Franklin DeReamer is apparently alive at 92 in Honesdale PA

Taking a break from our mystery, check out the age difference between Burton and his second wife. Poor Ruth didn't live very long.

Ruth's death certificate:

Apparently, Burton was the marrying kind...

And not to leave out Eliza...

Wow, Lindsay! Yes, Burton was busy. LOL

The cause of death isn't all that easy to read. I gather Ruth died during (or after) an appendectomy, and Eliza had toxemia. I think of toxemia in connection with pregnancy and childbirth, often from not enough protein in the diet, but maybe the term is used in other situations. Burton's cerebral thrombosis: a stroke?

Thanks for finding those. Interesting!

I found a Virginia Holbert buried in the same cemetery. I wonder if this was Burton's last wife. If so, she was another much younger one.

Virginia Holbert on FindAGrave

Virginia was born the same year as Ruth. I wonder if he married twin sisters? ;)

Maybe not putting the death year on the stone is peoples' attempt to gain immortality...