Community Corner
The First Mrs. Moulton, Divorcée
Contrary to what most histories would have you believe, legendary rancher Lewis F. Moulton led a rather complicated personal life.
Mysterious first wives have long been the stuff of novels, plays, and movies, Noel Coward’s comedy Blithe Spirit and Daphne de Maurier’s gothic thriller Rebecca being just two examples.
Both of these works, however, are about deceased first wives. In Blithe Spirit, the agitated ghost of Wife #1 returns to wreak havoc on her husband and his second spouse. In Rebecca, the first Mrs. de Winter has set things up, prior to her death, so that her husband and any subsequent Mrs. de Winter will be more than a little uncomfortable.
But what about the inconvenience of a first spouse who is both alive and well?
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These days that’s not an unusual situation. But it wasn’t so long ago that “unfortunate marriages” and subsequent actions of divorce were something most people tended to sweep under the rug.
WAS SHE AN ADVENTURESS?
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Such seems to be the case with cattle baron and his first marriage to one Emma P. Moore. Despite the fact that Emma and Lewis lived in wedded bliss (or semi-bliss) at his Niguel Ranch for 14 years, the first Mrs. Moulton doesn’t rate a single mention in ’s 1939 A History of El Toro, nor does make note of Emma in any of his books about old El Toro and the Saddleback Valley.
So imagine my surprise, while reading an oral history interview conducted on March 16, 1994 with , second daughter of Lewis and , to come across the following:
“My father was married once before he married my mother, but in those days divorce wasn’t cool, so nothing much was said about my father’s first marriage.”
Wow! I know a challenge when I see one, so once again I consulted Herb Abrams at the Genealogy Collection of the Mission Viejo Library. And once again he did not disappoint. Despite being able to offer Herb only the barest of facts about Lewis Moulton—and absolutely none about the first Mrs. Moulton—he soon was contacting me about some amazing discoveries.
It seems that on March 30, 1885, Lewis Moulton, 31, had married Emma Moore, 28, in Santa Ana, California, Emma’s then-current residence.
But Emma hadn’t always lived in Santa Ana. Although born in Los Angeles in February 1857, the United States Census shows her residing in Santa Barbara County with her husband, a Mr. O. P. Moore, in 1880. The occupation of the Indiana-born Mr. Moore, 31, is listed as that of farmer; 23-year-old Emma’s occupation is stated as that of “housekeeping.”
This brings to mind the classic Zsa Zsa Gabor quote about “I am a marvellous housekeeper; every time I leave a man I keep his house.”
In 1885, however, this probably didn’t hold true for Emma. What we do know is that on March 6, under a section headlined The Courts, the Los Angeles Times notes that on the previous day at the Superior Court of Judge Brunson, regarding the case of “Emma Moore vs. O. P. Moore: Plaintiff, failing to appear, findings were waived and decree of divorce granted.”
Twenty-five days later, Emma and Lewis were joined in matrimony.
The time stretching from 1885 to 1900 were empire-building years for Lewis Moulton. Initially invested in sheep ranching, he eventually switched to cattle and, in partnership with Basque immigrant , the Niguel Ranch grew to more than 21,000 acres.
As is the case with any prominent person, Lewis Moulton was the frequent subject of rumor. But those that made it into print tended to be about his financial enterprises. For example, late in November 1896 the Los Angeles Times breathlessly reported that “Louis Moulton had sold his large ranch, consisting of several thousand acres located near El Toro, this county, to an English syndicate and that the purchasers intend to put up a beet-sugar factory as soon as the work can be accomplished.”
A few days later, however, in the newspaper’s Dec. 1 edition, the following retraction appeared: ”Louis Moulton, owner of the big Moulton ranch, near El Toro, was in Santa Ana Monday, and said he had not sold his ranch to an English syndicate as was reported here several days ago.”
THE PLOT THICKENS
At this point it should be noted the Times never seems to have given Moulton’s first name the proper spelling, nor did the newspaper’s reporters and editors make a practice of calling Niguel Ranch by its proper name. Whether this was done out of oversight, misunderstanding, or with purpose is difficult to say. Another possibility? It may be that Lewis Moulton was busy enough refuting rumors and running his ranch to—in modern vernacular—“sweat the small stuff” and insist that any nomenclature corrections be made.
Whatever the case, in retrospect it is apparent that as the turn-of-the-century drew near, the land tycoon’s personal life was approaching something of a triple whammy. For on July 24, 1899, the Times reported that “the suit in which Louis Moulton of El Toro is suing his wife for divorce was filed in this county late Saturday evening”—to the apparent surprise of Mrs. Moulton.
A few years later, under “Sensational Breach-of-Promise,” that same news source would state that a Mrs. Fannie Mansfield of Los Angeles was in process of suing Orange County’s most eligible bachelor for $150,000, and that she would be citing “about 200 letters written to her by Moulton” during the period of their supposed engagement.
What the monolithic news agency didn’t know, however, was that in the meantime a comely schoolteacher from Washington state, initially on holiday to visit her El Toro shopkeeper father, also had entered the picture.
Her name, of course, was Nellie Gail, and next week El Toro & Before promises to sort as much of this out as possible.