This one was interesting as is, a quick headshot and headline, but it got more fun the more I looked into it.
Bismark Tribune August 25, 1926
“Don Juan” Magana some papers called him. Getting divorced is one thing, but at 101 years old? I guess when your wife leaves you after the wedding… what could he possibly have done for her to desert him so soon?
At 100 years old, Juan Magana got married. But apparently on the carriage ride home, he started talking about his previous wives. His bride got out before they reached his house and never returned. Whoops.
August 4th, 1926; The Register
He claimed he hadn’t even been kissed by her yet.
The Sixth, Seventh, or Eighth Mrs. Magana
Her name was Matilda Martinez. She was 56. None of the coverage could agree on how many wives Juan had previously, so I actually pulled their original marriage license to check this one. It's sitting in Orange County's records on Ancestry, and it lists this as Juan's sixth marriage.
Dig through the archives yourself at Newspapers.com →
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California Marriage License, Orange County, Aug 30, 1925
But when newspapers reported the following year that Juan wanted a divorce, some called Matilda his seventh wife. Another called her his eighth.
Juan himself, asked through a court interpreter, couldn't quite remember how many marriages there'd actually been, or all the names attached to them. What he did remember clearly: the ride home. "We get marry by the padre," he explained. "But on the way home we talk and I boast maybe too much about other women I used to know. Anyhow, my Mathilda, she get mad. Blooey.”
The Register; November 19th 1926
Evansville Courier and Press, Aug 22, 1926
That didn't mean he was finished. At 101, he said there were still "good fish in the sea." One headline, months later, put it plainly: "Willing to Wed Again."
Maybe he couldn't remember every marriage. But Juan apparently still believed in the next one.
Extra Bits
Both Juan and Matilda signed their marriage license with an X, neither could write. A court interpreter was needed for his divorce filing the following year for the same reason.
The license lists Matilda's own marriage count too, her second, so at least one half of the couple was keeping better track than the other.
One reporter covering the divorce couldn't resist a Shakespeare reference, comparing Juan's situation to "The Taming of the Shrew," though the piece admits he was likely thinking more of "Don Juan" and "the Restless Six."
See you tomorrow. – Chris
Sources
California Marriage License, Orange County, August 30, 1925
The Register, August 4, 1926
Evansville Courier and Press, August 22, 1926
The Register, November 19, 1926