Finding Your Roots

Emma A. Hoffman of Meriden applied for a divorce, oh! A divorce from William C. Hoffman. They were married in 1881, in 1894, the complainant learned of her husbands infidelity in the paper. (Henry laughs) Infidelity, the co-respondent being Mary Widner, her cousin, some years younger than herself. When she made the discovery, there was a scene and that night, Hoffman and the Widner girl left for parts unknown, for parts unknown and have never been seen or heard of since. Holy smoke! (Henry laughs) Wow, they just put, I mean this is a full tabloid there. (laughs) There was a scene. -

Henry

There was a scene. Left for parts unknown, guys, (Henry laughs) you don't hear that very often. Wow. (Western music) -

Henry

According to this article, William had an affair with his wife's younger cousin and the two ran off together. We scoured the archives to find them, but came up empty. The surname Hoffman is common, making them exceedingly difficult to trace. So we don't know what finally became of William. All we know is that his wife Emma was left to raise their children on her own.