Arline Eleanor Randall was born 26 February 1919 in Palmyra, Maine, to Leo and Louis (Haskell) Randall.
Her younger brother, Vinal Ervin Randall, was born in 1921 and then her parents would divorce the following year in 1922. Louise married Edward Henry Van Buren 22 September 1923 and Leo remarried 19 January 1924 to Phyllis Jane Hamilton. Arline's parents were living together in Palmyra on the 1920 census, but for some reason, Arline was not included in the census. She may have been omitted if the census taker asked a neighbor who didn't know the couple had a baby or maybe she was living with someone else. I could not find her living with any grandparents, aunts or uncles, though. There was another Arline Randall born in 1919 listed on the 1920 census but she was from Aroostook county and definitely not the same person.
In 1930, Arline and Vinal were living with Leo and Phyllis in St. Albans with her young half-siblings, Virginia, Leo M. and Wendell. See lines 26–32 below:
Arline got married at age 17 to Philip Rogerson on 21 November 1936. I can't find much definitive about Philip, but my best guess is that he was born in Canada in 1898, lived in the Bangor area most of his life and died back in Canada in 1973. Arline gave birth to Dale Kenneth Rogerson less than 6 months after the wedding on 8 May 1937. The marriage did not last long and less than a year after Dale was born, Philip was ordered to pay child support:
The 1940 census shows 21 year old Arlene as a live-in maid for Joseph A. Simon of Old Town. Dale was living with Arline, but I can't find Philip on the 1940 census. See lines 17–19:
Arline and Philip's marriage was officially terminated on 19 September 1945. Earlier that year, Philip had been sentenced to 3 months in jail for failure to pay child support. Note that the divorce record below shows a slightly different marriage date than does the Maine Marriage Index.
Arline, now 30, married again on 19 Mar 1949 to John Wilson Hutchins, who was 76 years old. John, Arline and Dale were living in Brooks, Maine at the time of the 1950 census, per lines 28–30 in the image below:
John W. Hutchins passed away 11 June 1951 at age 78.
On 21 Oct 1954, Arline married Ralph David Clewley in Brooks. The wedding was written up in the newspaper:
Reading between the lines, the marriage may have taken a downturn relatively quickly. Ralph started posting the statement "I will pay no bills contracted by anyone other than myself" in the Bangor Daily News three times in January 1956 and then again in April 1958.
Ralph D. Clewley filed for divorce from Arline on the basis of "cruel and abusive treatment" and the divorce was granted on 30 Oct 1958.
Just a few days later, Arline's son, Dale K. Rogerson, married Mary Ellen Wilson on 8 Nov 1958 in Brewer, Maine.
Arline married for the fourth and final time on 27 January 1967 in Imperial, California, to John Herbert Merry Sr.
John passed away 23 July 1993 at 98 years old. Arline died in Bangor on 12 December 2005 at age 86.
Arline was buried in Charleston, Maine in the Charleston Village Cemetery. Her son, Dale, was buried in the next plot in 2009.
