Hillmanns 51 1937 Reno

THE HILLMANNS OF BROOKLYN

CHAPTER 52

1937

Reno

Marian turns a different page in the book. In 1937, 27 year- old Marian Hillmann Hearn went to Reno, Nevada to get divorced. Between 1929 and 1939 30,000 people divorced in Reno. It was easier to get divorced in Reno than New York

Marian had to fulfill the 6 week residency requirement to get divorced in Reno. She did it during Summer break from school. She was a teacher. As you will see, she made good use of her six weeks.  

According to Wikipedia, rich people fulfilled their residency requirement at the Riverside Hotel which beckons the question, where did Marian get her wealth? Herman, her father, was Credit Manager at a boiler company according to the 1940 census he earned $5,000+ annually.  Al sold advertising.  Marian was a fifth grade teacher earning $1,000 annually according to the 1940 census.  

Modern picture of the Riverside Hotel. Oral history tells us Marian divorced because Al Hearn moved her into his home, consisting of himself and his sister, and he treated Marian as a sister, not a wife. Historical records show Al Hearn had no sisters, but that doesn't mean he didn't treat Marian as a sister. Perhaps the oral history came down like that game of telephone. His 1942 draft card had him living with his mother, whom he listed as his next of kin.

Warshoe County Courthouse, Reno made a lot of money in 1937 when you couldn't get divorced in most states. 

The Hillmann Hearn divorce is listed on this page. Thank you Ancestry.com.

I don't know the significance of 157 Mill St.

The Laughton's Pool.  I wanna go.

Antique postcard, The Laughton Pool. In 1937 Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared after taking off from New Guinea during Earhart's attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world

Believe it or not, Peace in the Valley was a hit song in 1937.

The Hillmann Hearn divorce was final on September 7, 1937. In June of 1937, before Marian went to Reno, Jean Harlow died. Jean Harlow was about a year and a half younger than Marian. I think her death had to have made an impression. (Truckee is a river.)

Old Saying, "A change in the name and not the letter is a change for the worse and not the better."

Marian loves tennis and swimming.

Hillmanns albums come out on Tuesdays, and we're not nearly done with this divorce because Reno was Marian's home base for lots of little trips, seeing the West. Stay tuned.