re:unusual marriage dissolution questions

[mezzogiorno62]

very odd situation in my paternal italian family. i can go back over 10 generations in my maternal french canadian family and and very few abnormalities. very straightforward. my italian lines are complicated from the get go,only going back to my grandparents. my paternal grandfather,antonio ricca,born in luogosano avellino in 1870,married angela lepore in lapio avellino in 1895. they had a son and 3 daughters in lapio. he immigrated to america in 1900,and i assume,intended for angela to join him here,as he was living with angela's brother and his wife here. she never joined him and died in italy in 1949. i believe he returned there once,possibly to try and persuade her to come to america. she never did. in the meantime my paternal grandmother,maria costante,born in barcellona pozzo di gotto messina in 1883,arrived in boston in 1902 with her mother. 2 weeks later the mother died. in 1903 maria married orazio labate in boston. they had a daughter who died as an infant. this marriage dissolved soon after,either through divorce or an anullment,as she remarried in 1905 in boston to giuseppe logrippo,with whom she had 3 sons. giuseppe died in 1909 in cambridge,leaving her a young widow already twice married. within a few years she met my grandfather,supposedly in marital limbo waiting for his wife in italy to join him. they began living common law and my father and his sister were born to them. this continued right up until 1950,when they were finally able to marry due to the recent death of his 1st wife in italy. ny grandfather died in 1953 and my grandmother died in 1961. as i said,very unusual situation. but my curiosity is regarding the reason her 1st marriage ended and why. it wasn't due to death as the 1st husband went on to remarry and lived until 1952. as divorce was unlikely due to religion,could the marriage have been annulled,and if so,why? they were legally married,but for whatever reason,it ended,as she remarried in 2 years later. any insight most appreciated.

[darkerhorse]

To be clear, are you asking about the fate of the marriage between Maria Costante and Orazio Labate?