Miriam Orwig Wagenseller was the first wife of George W. Wagenseller, and the mother of his two daughters, Doris and Esther, the latter of whom died young.

Looking at the censuses, in 1910 she and George and the two girls are together. By 1920, he is listed as married but Miriam is not in sight - he's shown raising Doris alone with the help of a housekeeper. Not in the home, she is hard to find, but turns up elsewhere, as can be seen in the census image with this memorial.

In 1920, Miriam's sister Lillie S. Harter contested the handling of Miriam's estate while Miriam was alive because of issues Lillie had with Miriam's appointed guardian and husband's handling of Miriam's affairs. In reading the case, it is acknowledged that Miriam's husband filed for divorce in October 1918, and that even in beginning to proceed to leave her legally, he worked with the guardian in handling some of her affairs. Presumably, Lillie may have seen this as a conflict of interest. Miriam is described within the case as "a weak-minded person now confined in the hospital for the insane at Danville."

Earlier, George had written a detailed genealogy of Miriam's family, and he was an accomplished and intelligent man, so we might surmise he did not see any weak-mindedness in his wife when they married. This suggests some changes may have occurred. Taking a step back, let's look at Miriam's life around the time of their parting. Miriam's mother died in 1911, her daughter in 1914, her father in 1915, and George filed for divorce by 1918. The US was involved in World War I as well. It's not possible to know if a mental status change preceded or was the cause of the divorce action, or conversely, if the divorce caused some sort of breakdown. No matter, this series of events is a lot of hits for any person to take.

George married again in 1924; it's not known when Miriam and he divorced, but as late as the 1940 census she is alive and still a resident at Danville State Hospital, by then listed as "divorced". One wonders how it must have played out privately, but the final word on her below may be telling about her willingness to participate.

Her husband is known as a genealogist and historian, and for his iconic books documenting graves in Snyder County, Pennsylvania. For a long time it seemed ironic that a resting place for his first wife Miriam had not been located. No online genealogy lists a date of death for her either. Thankfully, January of 2012, Miriam showed up in an archived newspaper, the Mifflinburg Telegraph of Thursday, October 4, 1956:

Mrs. Miriam Wagenseller

Mrs. Miriam O. Wagenseller, 81, former Middleburg resident, died on Saturday at 8 a.m. at Danville. She was the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. John W. Orwig and the widow of George W. Wagenseller, former Snyder county newspaper publisher. He was active in Snyder county civic affairs and later entered the real etate business in Pocatello, Idaho. Surviving is a daughter, Mrs. Doris Wagenseller Coons, San Luis Obispo, Calif., and a nephew, Brice Harter, Mifflinburg. A sister, the late Mrs. Lilliam [sic- Lillian is correct] Harter of Mifflinburg, preceded her in death. Services were held on Wednesday with interment in the Middleburg cemetery.

So there we must leave Miriam, listed forever as George's widow... and interestingly, resting in a cemetery known as both Middleburg and Glendale, since George himself rests in Glendale... on the other side of the country.