When Census Records Drop a Bombshell
The James and Chloe Truax Mystery
I thought I was just doing routine fact-checking on my 3x great-grandfather when I stumbled into what looked like a 19th-century family scandal.
I wanted to move back another generation and confirm what I knew about James Wright Truax and his wife, Chloe Ann Wheeler. I had the basic details, but had no sources; James, born in 1836 in Ogdensburg, New York, died in 1902 in Williston, North Dakota. I thought a quick census search would point me in the right direction. I had no inkling of what I would find.
The Happy Years
My search began with the 1860 census, where I found them in Nininger City, Minnesota, staying at Sally Truax’s boardinghouse. (Sally is a mystery; 6 of the 11 boarders were Truaxes, so it is possible they were family, but she isn’t in my tree yet). James, age 23, was working as a miner. Chloe, age 19, and born in “Upper Canada,” worked as a domestic. Daughters Ida, age 2, and baby Harriet, age 3 months, were both born in Minnesota.1
The 1870 census found them in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. James, now age 32, was working in a hardware store rather than mining. Chloe, listed as 27 (though she’d apparently aged only 8 years in a decade), was “keeping house.” The family had grown; Ida was 11 was attending school; there was 9-year-old Minnie, and 1-year-old Charles F, my 2x great grandfather.2
What happened to Harriet? Were Harriet and Minnie the same child, and one of them got the name wrong? Did Harriet die? I added that to my list of further research.
Also in the home were Charlotte Wheeler, 54, born in New York (likely Chloe’s mother), and Emily Crane, 58, born in Ohio, whose relationship to the family is unclear.
They seemed like a typical growing family until I reached 1880.
The Surprising Discovery
Searching the 1880 census for James W Truax in Minnesota, I found him easily enough in Fergus Falls Township, married and working as a carpenter. But his wife is listed as Rosa B. Truax, and there is a stepson named Archie E Stone.3
My first thought was, Do I have the wrong James Truax? But my search only turned up the one James Truax of the right age and location, so I decided to look for Chloe.
She turned up in Hastings, Minnesota, though the census taker mangled her name as “Chloa.” She was listed as a housekeeper, living with her 3 children; Ida, now 23; Minnie, 16; and “Freddie,” age 12, Charles’ preferred nickname.4
No James.
Just to be clear, in 1870, James and Chloe Truax were living as a family with their 3 children in Sauk Centre. By 1880, he was in Fergus Falls with a new wife and stepson, while she was 100 miles away in Hastings, apparently raising their children on her own.
More Questions Than Answers
Did James abandon his family? Was this an illegal, bigamous marriage? Did they actually divorce, which was still fairly scandalous in 1880?
He was clearly established in a new household, with a new family, in a new part of the state.
Chloe was now alone with her 3 children, working as a housekeeper. What happened to this family?
The Plot Twist
Just when I was ready to condemn James for leaving his family for another woman, I found something that turned that theory on its head.
His obituary.5
Both wives were mentioned. Openly.
Suddenly, the scandal disappeared. This wasn’t a shameful secret or abandonment after all.
It turns out that divorce was legal in Minnesota by 1866, maybe even earlier, so it is possible they divorced.6 After a bit of digging, I was able to find the marriage of James and Rosa in Douglas County, MN, on 8 November 1875 (indexed as Rosia),7 but I have yet to figure out where to find divorce records, if they go back that far.
The obituary was a gold mine of information about James, his 2 wives, and his 8 children; 5 with Chloe and 3 with Rosa. What happened to Chloe’s other 2 children? Yet another question to add to the growing list.
This will all take some confirming, but I learned he enlisted in Company B, Second Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry in 1862. After the war, he went to work for the Great Northern Railroad until 1898, when he was elected County Judge of Williams County, North Dakota. According to the obituary, he was well respected, an active and prominent Mason, and “His funeral was one of the largest ever held in Williston.”
What This Taught Me About Census Research
I learned a few valuable lessons while learning the story of James and Chloe…
First, examine EVERY column in census records, not just the first few, and see what all the little hash marks represent. On Chloe’s 1880 census record, I looked right past the big fat ‘D’ that showed her marital status as divorced! I’d been so focused on the “who,” I overlooked the one detail that would’ve immediately explained the situation.
Second, don’t jump to conclusions. I assumed James abandoned his family, maybe even remarried illegally. Without the context that divorce was legal at that time, and socially acceptable enough that he was elected judge and both of his wives were mentioned in his obituary, I created drama where none existed.
Third, our ancestors were real people with messy lives, and we cannot possibly glean or understand all that was going on from a simple census snapshot. Census records can and do document real-life transitions. The change from a united family in 1870 and separate lives hundreds of miles apart in 1880 captured a pivotal moment in their story.
Now the real work starts…
1860 U. S. census, Nininger City, Dakota County, Minnesota, population schedule, p.56, dwelling 378, family 393, Sally Truax Household; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org) : accessed 14 Aug 2025); citing NARA microfilm publication M653.
1870 U.S. census, Sauk Centre Township, Stearns County, Minnesota, population schedule, p.24, dwelling 206, family 192, James W. Truax household; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 14 Aug 2025); citing NARA microfilm publication M593.
1880 U.S. census, Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, Minnesota, population schedule, sheet B38, dwelling 105, family 114, James W. Truax household; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 14 Aug 2025); citing NARA microfilm publication T9
1880 U.S. census, Hastings, Dakota County, Minnesota, population schedule, enumeration district 196, p. 173B, dwelling 172, family 177, Chloe Truax household; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 1 Sept 2025); citing NARA publication T9.
Williston Graphic (Williston, Williams County, N.D.), 24 April 1902, page 1, obituary of James Wright Truax; digital image, Chronicling America (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ : accessed 1 Sept 2025).
General Statutes of the State of Minnesota (St. Paul: Davidson & Hall, 1872), chapter 62, section 6, "Divorce from bonds of matrimony"; digital image, Minnesota Revisor of Statutes (https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/1866/cite/62/pdf : accessed 1 Sept 2025).
James W. Truax and Rosia B. Stone marriage, 8 November 1875, Douglas County, Minnesota; index entry, Minnesota Official Marriage System, Minnesota Historical Society (https://moms.mn.gov/ : accessed 1 Sept, 2025).