Margaret Elizabeth Drugan ^{3 4 5 6 7 8 9}

   Cause of her death was Complications resulting from amyloidosis.²

  General Notes:

This story was told to me in June of 2001 by Margaret's brother, David Drugan when I visited him in Winona, Minnesota. It was well known that Margaret never learned to drive a car through her entire life but there was one time in the 1930's when she was around 19 years old and all the kids were all just hanging around the front porch on one summer evening. One of Margaret's boyfriends by the name of Bucky Bones came by to show off his car. Somehow Margaret convinced him to let her drive his car for a short test drive around the neighborhood and they both took off saying that they'd be right back. None of her brother or sisters believed that she'd ever be able to drive but a few minutes later they all couldn't believe it when the car came flying down the residential street at a very high rate of speed with Margaret behind the wheel.
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Margaret Drugan grew up in Winona, Minnesota and had a boyfriend with the name of Bucky Bones. Around 1939 she met Franklin Lightfoot. The rumor is that Franklin was still married at the time but Margaret moved to Chicago with him while his divorce became final. Margaret apparently met the first wife and when the divorce became official, the first wife literally danced in the street.

There is no definitive evidence but it is believed that Margaret and Franklin were married in Chicago in late 1939 or early 1940. Around 1958 or 1959, they separated and Margaret moved to Springfield along with Brian. Franklin, Jr. was attending Winona State College in Winona, Minnesota and Lee was in California working with his uncle, Robert Westphal.

At first, Margaret and Brian lived with her sister, Ruth Drugan Gilpin, for several months in a mobile home on their property. When Margaret was financially enough capable, she rented a 3rd floor apartment at 427 West Jefferson Street in Springfield, Illinois owned by "Mr. Rockwell". Margaret worked in the hosiery department of Myers Brothers department store in downtown Springfield.

Around 1960, Margaret had applied for and received a job with the State of Illinois, Department of Unemployment Compensation in Rockford, Illinois. Margaret, Brian and Lee who had returned from California, moved to Rockford with Lee driving a 1957 Plymouth. At first they lived in a second floor "studio" apartment, 105 Forest Avenue, along West State Street near the Martin Oil gas station. By this time, Lee was drafted into the Army. Margaret met William E. Mitchell who also worked at the State Unemployment Office and they married August 13, 1962.

Margaret and Bill met in the Unemployment Compensation office in Rockford where they both worked. Both were very poor and Brian was still living with his mother, Margaret, and attending school in Rockford, They eventually married, probably to pool their resources and save on rent expenses. Their first home was on West State Street in Rockford about the "Honey Boy Pizza Bakery" believed to be about the 1500 block. That entire area was torn down in the 1990s. They later moved farther out on West State Street to about the 2100 block in the second floor of a larger house. Later, Margaret quit her work probably due to the oncoming illness of amyloidosis. Bill was promoted to Deputy Claims Examiner of the Freeport Unemployment office and he commuted the 30 miles every day. They later moved to a second floor apartment at 1331 Evelyn Street just off Auburn Street in Rockford. By that time, Brian was out of school and married a few years later. Bill was given a promotion to the Office Manager of the Quincy Illinois Unemployment Office and they moved there and bought a house.

Margaret was continuing with her illness and eventually diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester as amyloidosis. She took some experimental medicine for a number of years with the side effect that she swelled up and looked all bloated. It also gave her breath an extreme garlic smell. After Margaret died in 1971, Bill continued to work at the Quincy office until his retirement. His eyesight declined over the years and he was nearly blind when he died. He loved to drink beer and watch the Saint Louis Cardinals baseball team.
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  Birth Notes:

Name: Margaret Elizabeth Drugan
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 12 Jun 1916
Birthplace: Winona Co., Minn.
Name Note: second child of mother
Race: White
Father's Name: David G. Drugan
Father's Birthplace: Fr...
Father's Age: 27y
Mother's Name: Lona L. Hanson
Mother's Birthplace: Fr...
Mother's Age: 22y

Citing this Record:
"Minnesota, Births and Christenings, 1840-1980," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FDQT-D96 : accessed 16 Sep 2014), Margaret Elizabeth Drugan, 12 Jun 1916; citing Winona Co., Minn., reference 1900-1920; FHL microfilm 1377832.
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  Death Notes:

Name: Margaret Mitchell
Given Name: Margaret
Surname: Mitchell
Event Type: Death
Event Date: Sep 1975
Event Place: Adams, Illinois
Event Place (Original): Adams, Illinois
Age: 59
Birth Date: 12 Jun 1916

Citing this Record
"United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JYTJ-DJ4 : 4 December 2020), Margaret Mitchell, Sep 1975; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
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  Noted events in her life were:

• Birth Image: 12 Jun 1916, in Winona, MN. ⁴

• She appeared on the 1920 US Census in Winona, MN on 28 Jan 1920. ⁵

1920 US Census
Sheet 4B, District 207, Family 80, Roll 865
Winona, Winona, Minnesota
467 East Fourth Street; house rented
Marguerite Drugan..Daughter..3y 6m..MN

(Living with parents.)

• She appeared on the 1930 US Census in Winona, MN on 14 Apr 1930. ⁶

1930 US Census
Sheet 15A, District 29, Family 355, Roll 1135
Winona, Winona, Minnesota
552 West 4th Street; Rent $25
Margaret Drugan..Daughter..13..MN

(Living with parents.)

• She resided in Winona, MN in 1935.
¹¹

• She appeared on the 1940 US Census in Chicago, IL on 12 Apr 1940. ⁷

1940 US Census
Sheet 9B, District 103-3088, Family 402, Roll 1018
Chicago, Cook, Illinois
941 Agatite Street; Rent $35
Residence in 1935: Winona, Winona County, Minnesota
Margaret Drugan..Head..Single..23..MN..11th grade..Waitress in Restaurant

NOTE - This census record is unique because it shows that Margaret was still single and confirms my suspicions that Margaret and Frank were never officially married other than via common law practices.

The census record shows multiple other married couples living at the same address and Margaret is the only one that is supposedly living alone. I suspect that Frank Lightfoot was also living there. How else could you explain that Margaret gave birth to Frank Jr. five months after this census. In his usual fashion, Frank did not want his name given out especially for any governmental reasons.

Closely examining the employment information on this record, it becomes clear than Margaret earned $585 for 32 weeks of work in 1939 probably at the Hotel Williams in Winona. She probably left Winona to be with Frank in Chicago around September of 1939 which would account for the 32 weeks of work.

The census record then shows that she had been unemployed for 13 weeks which probably means she was looking for work in Chicago from September until November of 1939 when she finally got her waitressing job in Chicago.
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• She resided at 253 Olmstead Street in Feb 1944 in Winona, MN.
²

• She resided in Winona, MN in May 1947.
² We were living here for an unknown period of time when Brian was born. More than likely, Mom was living back with her mother at the time. Frank, Jr. might have been with Dad for a month or two while he was out on the road.

• She resided at 2302 Ocala Avenue in 1958 in Baltimore, MD.
² This was the 3rd apartment that we lived in along the Reisterstown Road area after moving here following the eviction when Frankie stabbed Dad in the arm after his big drunken brawl in the apartment and trailed blood down the hallway and out the front entrance. I'm not sure of the exact address where Mom moved us 3 boys but I know it was only a block or two away as I remember using a toy wagon to move what few possessions we owned down the back alley. There appears to be some redevelopment of the brick apartment buildings along Reisterstown Road where we used to live so it is possible that we moved into one of these buildings located on the next side street, Ocala Avenue.

• Her occupation in 1960-1962 was an Unemployment Compensation Claims Examiner in Rockford, IL. ²

• She resided at 427 West Jefferson Street Oct 1960 to Aug 1961 in Springfield, IL.
² This is where Mom moved with Lee and Brian following her final breakup with Dad after another drunken brawl in the Lincoln Hotel in Chicago where he insisted she come to for another attempt at a reconciliation. He apparently forgot to mention that he had Ann Scharf stashed away in another room in the hotel.

This apartment near downtown Springfield was nothing more than a 3rd floor attic loft with very cheap rent as it was all that Mom could afford on her salary from Myers Brothers Department store in Springfield as a hosiery saleslady. We took many pictures from the small rooftop balcony with the Illinois state capitol buildings in the background. This entire residential neighborhood has since been demolished for redevelopment as state office buildings.

• She resided at 105 Forest Avenue Sep 1961 to May 1962 in Rockford, IL.
² Mom's new job as an Unemployment Insurance Claims Examiner required her to relocate from Springfield to Rockford so Lee assisted in moving us by getting a U-Haul trailer attached to his 1957 Plymouth Fury and drove us to our new location. At this time, Frankie had started school at Winona State College.

This was a 2nd floor studio apartment with only one real bedroom to speak of which is all Mom could afford at the time. The photo shows Mom standing with William Mitchell, a fellow Unemployment Claims Examiner whom she met. They are standing in front of the garage which serviced the 1st floor apartment. Our entrance to the small 2nd floor was the little door to the left of the garage door.

• She resided at 1532 West State Street Jun 1962 to Nov 1963 in Rockford, IL.
² Within one year of moving to Rockford, Mom had enough money to move out of the small studio apartment into a more spacious but still modest apartment. This was another 2nd floor apartment with the only entrance via a wooden stairs on the side of the building (where were the fire codes back then?). It was located over the Honey Boy Pizza Bakery which apparently made the dough for many of the local restaurants but was no longer in operation. Mom had already met William Mitchell who also worked at the Unemployment Compensation office and who was recently divorced. Within a few months they were married in Rockford and continued to live here for at least another year.

The entire block of West State Street has since been torn down for urban redevelopment projects.

• She resided at 2115 West State Street Dec 1963 to May 1964 in Rockford, IL.
² Strangely, we have no photographs that show this house or surroundings. There is some old 8mm film taken from inside the house but no other images exist. Once again, this was a 2nd floor apartment where Mom and Bill lived. Brian lived there part of the time but he also left for about 6 months to go live with his Dad in Detroit. Lee also lived here but he was moving out to California to be with Bob Westphal around this time and for a number of months he also had his own sleeping room elsewhere in Rockford on Benderwirt Avenue. Across the side street, Webster Avenue, was "Red's Gas", an old gas station where both Lee and Brian hung out to do some small work on his car.

For some reason, I seem to recall living even further out on West State Street, perhaps into the 3500 block or more but perhaps I am confusing it with this building at 2115. I have no other pictures to prove another residence on West State Street.

• She resided at 718 North Court Street Jun 1964 to Apr 1966 in Rockford, IL.
² Mom had been laid off from her job with the state as an Unemployment Claims Examiner but William continued to work there and had been promoted to a Deputy Claims Examiner. By this time, Lee was living in California and working with Bob Westphal. Brian was mostly living in his own sleeping room on Benderwirt Avenue, the same one that Lee used to rent.

This was a brand new two story apartment building with about 30 units in which Mom and Bill were hired as "resident managers". The rent was free and all they had to do was simple maintenance such as changing light bulbs in the hallways, vacuuming the hallways, and serving as a collection point for the rent checks from all the other tenants. Of course included with that comes the tasks of dealing with tenants complaining about noise, lost their keys, can't pay the rent, showing vacant apartments, etc. Mom also liked the idea that the owner put in a phone in her name but he paid the bill just so he could officially maintain a phone contact with her as the building manager.

• She resided at 1333 Evelyn Street May 1966 to Oct 1969 in Rockford, IL.
² I'm not sure why Mom and Bill ever left their position as the resident managers of the new apartment on North Court Street. Perhaps they get tired of shoveling snow off the sidewalks and the constant interruptions from the tenants so they moved to their own 2nd floor apartment located on the corner of Evelyn Street and Auburn Street sometime around May 1966. By this time Bill was the Assistant Manager of the Freeport office of unemployment and he was making the 30 mile drive every day. They actually stayed at this place longer than any other place they lived at, a period of about three and one-half years.

They lived on the 2nd floor on the side of the building facing Auburn Street (with all the traffic noise).

• She resided at 521 South 12th Street, Apt #5 Oct 1969 to Aug 1972 in Quincy, IL.
² We have lost all records of what the actual address was but have several photographs of the interior and exterior of the house. This is where Mom and Bill first moved to when they left Rockford and where Bill started his new position as the Assistant Office Manager of the Quincy Unemployment Claims office. They rented a second floor apartment of a large, old house.
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• She resided at 1501 Jackson Street Sep 1972 to Sep 1975 in Quincy, IL.
² With Bill promoted to the position of Office Manager, Mom and Bill purchased this single story older house in September of 1972. It was the very first home that Mom ever owned and for the first time in several decades, she no longer had to walk up a flight of stairs to get into her home. Unfortunately her medical condition worsened and she died 3 years later. Bill continued to work and live in the house for a number of years until he retired. He sold the house and moved into a small apartment where he was looked after by a caring neighbor woman named Edna because Bill's eyesight was becoming extremely poor. Bill died in 1994.

• Death Image: 26 Sep 1975, in Quincy, IL.

• Her obituary was published in the Quincy Herald after 26 Sep 1975 in Quincy, IL.

Mrs. Margaret E. Mitchell, Age 59, 1501 Jackson Street, Quincy, Illinois passed away Friday evening, September 26, 1975, 7:20 PM, Blessing Hospital, Quincy, Illinois where she had been a patient since September 24, 1975.

She was born June 12, 1916, Winona, Minnesota, a daughter of David Drugan and Lena Hanson Drugan. Her marriage on August 13, 1962, Rockford, Illinois to William E. Mitchell, he survives. (Mr. Mitchell manager of Unemployment Compensation Division, Quincy Office at 615 Vermont). Resident of Quincy past 5 years. Previous 11 years a resident of Rockford, Illinois (1333 Evelyn Street). Mrs. Margaret Mitchell was employed as a Claims Examiner for the Division of Unemployment Compensation.

Survivors: Husband, her mother and stepfather, Mr. and Mrs. V. A. Rice, Cochrane, Wisconsin; 3 sons: Franklin L. Lightfoot, Onalaska, Wisconsin; Lee L. Lightfoot, Fremont, California; Brian L. Lightfoot, Rockford, Illinois; and 8 Grandchildren; 3 Sisters, Mrs. William (Bernice) Petrasek, Highlands, New Jersey; Mrs. David (Ruth) Gilpin, Springfield, Illinois; Mrs. Robert (Martha) Westphal, Pleasanton, California; 3 Brothers, David G. Drugan, Winona, Minnesota; John L. Drugan, Warren, Michigan; Col. Wm. P. Drugan, Colorado Springs, Colorado; Nieces and Nephews. Preceded in death by her father.

Funeral services for Mrs. Margaret E. Mitchell will be held Monday afternoon at 1:30 PM in Hansen-Spear. In charge Rev. John Bertman.

(Source: Quincy Herald, Quincy, IL, Sep 1975)
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• Her obituary was published in the Winona Daily News on 28 Sep 1975 in Winona, MN.

Mrs. Margaret E. Mitchell, 59, Quincy, Ill, a former Winona resident, died Friday evening at 7:20 at Blessing Hospital, Quincy.

The former Margaret Drugan, she was born June 12, 1916 in Winona to David and Lena Hanson Drugan and was graduated from Winona Senior High School. She married William Mitchell Aug 13, 1962. At the time of her death she was a claims examiner for the Division of Unemployment Compensation in Quincy. She had lived in Quincy for the past five years and prior to that in Rockford, Ill.

Survivors are: her husband, three sons, Franklin Lightfoot, Onalaska, Wis.; Lee Lightfoot, Fremont, Calif., and Brian Lightfoot, Rockford, Ill.; eight grandchildren; her stepfather and mother, Mr. and Mrs. V. A. Rice, Cochrane, Wis.; three brothers, David G. Drugan, Winona; John Drugan, Warren Mich.; and Col. William P. Drugan, Colorado Springs, CO.; and three sisters, Mrs. William (Bernice) Petrasek, Highlands, NJ; Mrs. David (Ruth) Gilpin, Springfield, Ill.; and Mrs. Robert (Martha) Westphal, Pleasanton, Calif. Her father has died.

Funeral services will be Monday at 1:30 p.m. at Hanson-Spear Funeral Home, Quincy.

Friends may call at the funeral home this evening from 6 to 8 and Monday until time of services.

(Source: Winona Daily News, Winona, MN, 28 Sep 1975)
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• She was buried on 29 Sep 1975 in the Greenmount Cemetery in Quincy, IL.

Find A Grave Memorial #89490059
⁹

Margaret married Franklin Lee Lightfoot Sr., son of Lee Lendon Lightfoot and Mary Elizabeth McLaughlin, on 8 Dec 1941 in Saint Louis, MO.² The marriage ended in divorce in 1962. (Franklin Lee Lightfoot Sr. was born on 9 Sep 1907 in Eau Claire, WI,^{2 12 13 14 15 16} died on 12 Feb 1991 in Roseville, CA ^{14 17 18} and was cremated on 15 Feb 1991 in Roseville, CA ¹⁶.). The cause of his death was Asthmatic Bronchitis.²

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• They resided at 4700 North Racine Avenue in Aug 1940 in Chicago, IL.
² This location is currently called the Darlington Hotel (2009).

• They resided at 1569 North Hoyne Avenue in Dec 1942 in Chicago, IL.
² A photo shows Frankie at approximate age of two in front of the "Howard Furnished Apartments" with the location of "Hoyne Ave" written on the back.

• They resided in Sheldon, IA Apr 1944 to Jul 1944.
² There is a newspaper article published in the Sheldon, Iowa Sun dated April 5, 1944 in which it describes a children's birthday party for a child named Phyllis Edwards. The article includes a photograph of a group of children which includes a young Frank Lightfoot, Jr. We must have already lived there for at least a few weeks prior to this.

• They resided in Fort Dodge, IA in Sep 1944.
² I'm not sure why we lived here or for long but this is where Lee was born.

• They resided in Portland, OR Sep 1948 to Feb 1949.
² This is the only time that we lived in the NW part of the US as most of our other residences were in the mid-west or eastern part. I've yet to learn of any particular reason for moving the family here as there were no relatives in the area. I think Frank Sr may have been in the area during his years in the navy and liked the area so much that we ended up moving there for a few years until he decided we may as well move to where he was stationed with the navy in California.

This house was a large two story house with white painted clap-board siding, typical of that era. We have some photographs showing us playing on a large wooden porch but I am not sure if this would have been our house or perhaps a neighbor. The photos also show a yard with a white painted wood picket fence.

• They resided at 4833 McNab Avenue Mar 1949 to May 1952 in Lakewood, CA.
² This area is now within the city of Lakewood but apparently in 1952 was called Long Beach as evidenced by a letter from the Navy to Margaret Lightfoot giving a summary of Frank Lightfoot's naval record. I think we later moved a mile or so north into the Bellflower Garden Apartments in the city of Bellflower. It was a neighborhood that was predominately two story apartment buildings.

• They resided in Moline, IL Dec 1952 to Jul 1953.
² I have no recollection of what this house looked like but Lee says it was right across the street from the Moline Police Department.

I remember practically nothing about living in Moline and have gotten little additional information from Lee and Frankie. I believe this is where we first got Roxie, the cocker spainiel puppy. Of course, when we left Moline bound for our next destination, Dad stopped somewhere along the highway, opened the car door and got rid of the dog. I wonder how many different dogs we owned as kids growning up? I think Roxie was the last dog we ever had.

• They resided at 1907 Kathleen Street Nov 1953 to Jun 1954 in Tampa, FL.
² The was another rental house that, if I remember correctly, came furnished, something was not all too uncommon back then. And good reason it was furnished: we had little more than several suitcases of clothes to move it. The house was not too far from the Hillsborough River and us three boys found plenty of places for play including some back water area where we would throw a bottle into the water with a string tied to it. Inside the bottle were several pieces of bread and within minutes we would pull the bottle out full of "guppies". There was also some sort of man-hole which we would climb down into and use fish nets to catch tropical fish that were discharged from a nearby aquarium or fish factory. It wasn't too important to us that the vast majority of these tropical fish were diseased and would die within days.

Mom also noted on one of the photographs that apparently we couldn't pay the rent on the house after a few months and had to move into a small apartment, a place of which I have virtually no memory.

• They resided at 2907 Woodrow Street Jul 1954 to Dec 1954 in Tampa, FL.
² I have no information about this place other than Mom described it as a small apartment. It was about 10 blocks away from the previous location on Kathleen Street and across the Hillsborough River.

The Google Streets photo attached shows just single family homes so unless the apartment buildings were torn down, this is the way it probably looked back then.

• They resided at 2737 Saint Paul Street Jan 1955 to Jun 1955 in Baltimore, MD.
² All I can remember about Saint Paul Street is that it was one of the typical row houses in Baltimore with the marble steps out front.

This was a rental apartment that I believe was on the 3rd floor in a somewhat run-down area of Baltimore...working poor would be appropriate. As Mom wrote on one of the photos, "We were really in bad shape at this time!" I can remember horse drawn carts coming up the alley with the Negro driver yelling out "Rags, Rags". This is also the place where thieves came up the wooden back stairs to steal Frankie's Raleigh bicycle that was chained down tight.

• They resided in Grand Isle, VT Jul 1955 to Oct 1956.
² Why we ever moved to this remote location in 1955 is still baffling to this day. There is some suspicion that Frank owed a bunch of money to some people back in Baltimore and that he needed to "get out of town". Whatever the reason, we ending up moving right back to Baltimore about 2 years later.

• They resided at 3020 Reisterstown Road in 1956 in Baltimore, MD.
² This was an older two story house on the corner of Wichita Avenue. There are several photos showing Mom and Brian near the front porch of the house.

We lived in the upstairs apartment on the right side (near the side street). Below us lived some relatives of Curly Stein of the 3 Stooges fame.

• They resided at 3002 Reisterstown Road, Apt A3N Mar 1957 to Oct 1958 in Baltimore, MD.
² This was a large brick, apartment building. We lived in Apartment A3N which meant the "A" wing, 3rd floor. And as I recall, there was no elevator back then.

Following one drunken brawl, we were given a "Notice to Quit" which I remember seeing on our apartment door. It was our eviction notice and the beginning of when our parents began to split up.

• They resided in Davenport, IA in 1959.
² Following the parental split that occured in Baltimore, our parents tried one last time to get together. This time we moved to Davenport, Iowa where Frank's parents still lived. It was the 2nd floor of a large house. I think Mom had no choice but to try and reconcile because she had no assets and no job experience.

I can remember we had a screen room or porch area and had purchased this red hammock which we all found somewhat amusing to try to sleep on.

It was also on this screen room where I remember mixing up a bunch of "Hy-Lite", the battery additive that Dad was selling to make extra money. Hy-Lite was nothing more than epson salt crystals with blue food coloring. We used to go to the grocery store and buy half a dozen packages of food coloring. We'd use the blue and throw out the rest.

I can also remember riding my bicycle out to Grandma and Grandpa's house just to stop by and visit them. I don't remember ever being greeted with warm hugs but it was more like "we're busy, what did you want". I was either too young or too naive at the time to realize that I was getting a cold shoulder.

I still remember Frank coming home frequently dead drunk at which time he would pass out on the red hammock. Mom had very little money and we were all living on a "starvation diet" while Dad drank untold sums away. I had to low-crawl out to where he peeled off his clothes prior to passing out on the red hammock and attempt to retrieve some money from his billfold.

• Franklin Lee Lightfoot Sr. And Margaret Elizabeth Drugan was divorced on 5 Apr 1962 in , Flagler County, FL. ¹⁹ I can remember Mom getting a telegram sent to us in 1962 which stated "Divorce final this date....". Dad had sent it to her while he was staying in Florida, probably Daytona Beach. Throughout the years I thought the Frankie had kept that telegram but in 2007 and 2008, he stated that he does not have it. The actual final decree papers of divorce as filed by Frank stated they were married on December 10, 1940 in Saint Louis, Missouri but Margaret scratched off the date and location on her copy and wrote September 10, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois. The Cook County officials have told me they have no record of the marriage so the exact date and location remains somewhat clouded. (Brian L. Lightfoot)

name: Margaret Lightfoot
event: Divorce
event date: Apr 1962
event place: Flagler, Florida
gender: Female
spouse: Frank Lee Lightfoot
certificate number: 6176
volume: 983

Citing this Record
"Florida, Divorce Index, 1927-2001," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VKCS-C5D : accessed 20 Oct 2012), Frank Lee Lightfoot and Margaret Lightfoot, 1962.
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  Marriage Notes:

Recent records were discovered in 2022 that indicate a marriage between Frank L. Lightfoot and Margaret Drugan on 8 Dec 1941 in Saint Louis, Missouri. This was just over one year after the birth of their first son, Franklin Jr. in Chicago, Illinois. They were first living together in Chicago so it is not known why they traveled to Saint Louis to get married.

Around 1958 or 1959, they separated and Margaret moved to Springfield, Illinois along with her two of her sons, Lee and Brian. Franklin, Jr. was attending Winona State College in Winona, Minnesota.

As a youngster, I can remember Mom mentioning several times that theirs was a "common law" marriage. Whether or not common law marriages were legal at the time is somewhat moot at this point. In nearly all states, common law marriages are no longer valid. After several months of searching for records in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, I am unable to come up with any documents showing that they were ever legally married. I believe that Frank and Margaret starting living together in Chicago while he was still technically married to his previous wife. After a few weeks or months, when this divorce happened, is when we hear about Margaret saying that the previous wife literally danced in the street. I suspect that Frank just put off the concept of getting married again or was too busy doing whatever he was doing, or just didn't want to get tied up in any more official ceremonies. I also think there is a chance that he may have had some police warrants out for him at the time and therefore he wasn't about to apply for any official license where his name could come up on a police blotter.

There still is a chance that they did officially get married but I have not yet asked the appropriate source for that record. The state of Illinois seems to be the worst for tracking marriage records in that there is no central statewide database. The counties in and around Chicago seemed to be able to keep their own records without any statewide notification. So unless I ask each and every county in Illinois, I may never know for sure. To the best of all of the relatives knowledge, they all assume that they were married in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. In typical Cook County tradition, after a payment of fees for obtaining a copy of a marriage record between Drugan and Lightfoot, I was given a response six weeks later that no such record exists and a thank you for the payment of the fees which was non-refundable.

In somewhat of a support of the notion that they were never officially married is the 1940 US Census conducted in April in Cook County which shows Margaret Drugan living in an apartment at 941 Agatite Street. She was 23 years old and working as a waitress. Her marital status was marked as single. She would have been about 4 months pregnant at the time with Franklin Jr.

A copy of the divorce decree between Margaret and Frank was filed by Frank in 1962 in Volusia County, Florida which shows that he provided a marriage date of 10 December 1940 in Saint Louis, Missouri. On the copy provided to Margaret, she scratched off that date and wrote in 10 September 1939 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois but Cook County claims that they have no record of such a marriage.

Brian L. Lightfoot
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Robert Westphal Jr. adds a story that his mom went (from Winona) and lived with Frank and Margaret on Hoyne Avenue in Chicago sometime in late 1942. Mom said they lived in an upstairs apartment (above a billiards hall) and she slept on the Davenport (not to be confused with the city in Iowa), and worked at Montgomery Wards, downtown Chicago, in the accounting office. She said that Frank would disappear for days on end, and Margaret would throw all of his clothes out onto the fire escape (madder than hell!) Shortly thereafter, she got a civil service job (ration board) at the Hercules Powder Works (Ammo Plant) in Baraboo, Wisconsin, met Robert Westphal, Sr., and the rest is history.
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²

Margaret next married William Eugene Mitchell, son of Richard Mitchell and Bessie M. Parker, on 13 Aug 1962 in Rockford, IL.² (William Eugene Mitchell was born on 19 Sep 1915 in Sandusky, IL,²⁰ died on 7 Jul 1994 in Quincy, IL ²⁰ and was buried after 7 Jul 1994 in Greenmount Cemetery, Quincy, IL ².). The cause of his death was Failing eyesight, High Blood Pressure, Heart disease.²

  Marriage Notes:

Following her divorce from Franklin Lightfoot, Margaret and her son, Brian, first lived with her sister, Ruth Drugan Gilpin, for several months in a mobile home on their property in Springfield, Illinois. When Margaret was financially enough capable, she rented a 3rd floor apartment at 427 West Jefferson Street in Springfield owned by "Mr. Rockwell". Margaret worked in the hosiery department of Myers Brothers department store in downtown Springfield.

Around 1960, Margaret had applied for and received a job with the State of Illinois, Department of Unemployment Compensation in Rockford, Illinois. Margaret, Brian and Lee who had returned from working in California, moved to Rockford with Lee driving a 1957 Plymouth and a U-Haul trailer. At first they lived in a second floor "studio" apartment, 105 Forest Avenue, at the corner of West State Street near the Martin Oil gas station. By this time, Lee was drafted into the Army and Margaret eventually met and married William E. Mitchell who also worked at the State Unemployment Office.

Margaret and William met in the Unemployment Compensation office in Rockford where they both worked. Both were very poor and Brian was still living with his mother, Margaret, and attending school in Rockford. They were married at the county court house on August 13, 1962 probably to pool their resources and save on rent expenses. Their wedding announcement was a blank piece of paper upon which Margaret used a typewriter to enter their names and dates on the fold-out note. She saved a copy in an envelope upon which she wrote "Bill and my wedding announcement 1962 (Well, we were poor)."

Their first home was a rented apartment in Rockford above the "Honey Boy Pizza Bakery" at 1532 West State Street. That entire area was torn down in the 1990s for community redevelopment. They later moved farther out to 2115 West State Street in the second floor of a larger house.

After a few more years, they moved into a new two story apartment building at 718 North Court Street in Rockford in which they were the building managers. Margaret had quit her work with the Unemployment Compensation office probably due to the oncoming illness of amyloidosis and her duties at the apartment building were mostly clerical, collection of rent, and assistance in the rental of vacant units. Bill was promoted to Deputy Claims Examiner of the Freeport Unemployment office and he commuted the 30 miles every day. They later moved to a second floor apartment at 1331 Evelyn Street just off Auburn Street in Rockford. By that time, Brian was out of school and was married a few years later leaving just Bill and Margaret by themselves.

Bill was given a promotion to the Office Manager of the Quincy, Illinois Unemployment Office and they moved there and bought a house at 1507 Jackson Street in Quincy. It was the first time in the lives of either one that they owned their house and Margaret was so happy about that as well as the fact that she no longer had to live on the 2nd or 3rd floor. Margaret was continuing with her illness and eventually diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She took some experimental medicine from Mayo's for a number of years with the side effect that she swelled up and looked all bloated. It also gave her breath an extreme garlic smell.

After Margaret died in 1975, Bill continued to work at the Quincy office until his retirement. His eyesight declined over the years and was nearly blind when he died in 1994. His favorite pastime was to drink beer and watch the Saint Louis Cardinals baseball team.

Both are buried next to each other in Greenmont Cemetery in Quincy, Illinois.
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