Page 5 - Raycliff Mary Harris - A Family Enigma

Raycliff and Jeremiah’s only child, Grover Jeremiah Cronin, was born on June
10, 1888, one year after their marriage. His record of birth was contained in the

Massachusetts Birth Records for the town of Watertown which may indicate
that they lived there for a period of time after the marriage. On that listing was
another puzzle about Raycliff as it listed her place of birth as Woburn, MA, a
town which several of her family members had moved to from Maine. In all my

search of historical records about her, there never seemed consistent informa-
tion about either her age or where she was born. The only consistent fact was
she always listed her mother and father as Aaron Harris and Elizabeth
(Sherwood) Harris.

Births Registered in Watertown showing Grover’s birth and Raycliff’s Place of Birth as Woburn

Jeremiah and Raycliff’s time together was not long as she left the household

when their son Grover was around two years old. Jeremiah and his son Grover
remained in Waltham and moved into the boarding house that the rest of the
family was staying. Jeremiah’s sister Hannah was instrumental in raising Grover.
Raycliff left the area and probably moved to the Melrose area to join the rest of

her family. The actual divorce did not become official until March 20, 1895 but
we know that Raycliff and Jeremiah separated at least three years before that
date. It may have been longer. Raycliff filed for the divorce and listed desertion
by Jeremiah as the reason. Jeremiah did not contest the divorce and the fact that

Raycliff was the one that left her husband and son presented another puzzle. In
my mind I assumed that the age gap between them coupled with the fact that
Jeremiah was working hard to establish his business and move it to Waltham
may have been contributing factors. Raycliff did not see or communicate with

her son Grover for some twenty years from the time she left him.

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