Mrs. Pleasant gave a specific year for her marriage to John J. She also stated they were married at “Gore Catholic Church in Charlestown”. The year and location have been difficult to confirm. Research indicates James W Smith, carpenter of Boston, still had a home at 3 Hancock Avenue, Boston, until 1851. This may have been Mary’s residence alone after his death but the Boston directories often denote when a woman is a “widow”. The Boston City Directory never makes this distinction for 3 Hancock Avenue. Did James W. Smith live until 1851? Is this the same man? All plausible questions, impossible at this point to confirm.
Mary seemingly had ties to Charlestown, West Virginia and Massachusetts.
Searches for Mary and John J’s marriage certificate have spanned 1844-1852 with Town Clerks and the Dioceses of Boston, Washington, DC (which has records for earlier years in Boston including St Mary’s on Endicott St), Richmond, Virginia and Wheeling in West Virginia. Baltimore, and Annapolis Maryland and Rhode Island have been included in queries to Town/County Clerks and Dioceses. No marriage certificate has been uncovered.
Searches have also included Massachusetts towns with Gore Streets, using atlas coverages from the 19th century. Chatham, Waltham, Watertown and Cambridge had roads with the name “Gore” but no corresponding Catholic church was identified.
Intriguingly in 1933, a Friar Felician of Charlestown, WV also sought proof of the marriage writing to the County Clerk for Gore, Virginia (38 miles from Charlestown, WV). The County Clerk responded there was no Catholic Church in Gore nor records of such a marriage in Frederick County.
Thus, inquiries were directed to Winchester, VA. No marriage certificate was located from there as well. Prior to 1852, there were Catholic Churches only in the following Virginia towns- Fairfax, Fredericksburg, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Petersburg, Lynchburg, Staunton, Winchester, and three in Richmond.
Helen Holderidge claimed Mary and John were married aboard Captain Edward W. Gardner’s ship en route to California. The Nantucket Historical Association stated this seemed “unlikely” but noted that even if it did occur, the marriage would’ve been recorded with the State, a requirement in Massachusetts starting in 1841.