Where next with Errant Grandfather?

[Christine in Herts]

I'm trying to decide what the next step (if any) should be.

Which of these is most likely to yield useful info? And which is actually achievable? - and how?

• In the 1930 US census he claimed to be married to Ruth, with whom he was living in Detroit. That census fell on 1 April 1930, and his birthday was 6 March. As he gave his "current age" and "age at first marriage" as the same value, it would seem that he got married 6-31 March... perhaps. Do I try to find that marriage record? How?
  
• He got married in Sullivan County, Tennessee in Nov 1937 to Edith Louise FEBUARY, age 19, b Dant(e) Virginia (per his naturalization docs). I think it has to be that name, even though I can't find any trace of her before that date; the seductive alternatives were all born in West Virginia - a different state. The Tennessee Marriage License doesn't give much away: just names and ages. In June 1939, when he was naturalized, he was living in Detroit. Edith was a young enough bride to have had children - though is none recorded in the naturlization docs. Do I try to track his possible children 9from 1939 onwards)? (who may or may not exist) and, if so, where and how?
  
• When he died in 1967 in Pinellas, Florida, his death was recorded by May G Bennett. There's a death for a May G BENNETT in 1980 in Pinellas, Florida, with an age which would have made her more of a contemporary of his. Bennett isn't an uncommon name, but she could have been his wife. Do I hunt for a marriage which may not have happened, and, if it did, may not have happened in Florida? And it could have been almost any date between 1939 and 1967. What would that marriage record give me? (looking at how little I got from the Tennessee record) And how on earth would I find it?

My lack of conviction about the existence of these records is because he had such a casual attitude to truth, even to the point of claiming to be 34 when he was 50, that I can't be sure he actually bothered marrying anyone just because he said he had.

Christine

[Christine in Herts]

I suppose I could consider getting My G Bennett's death cert - for a fee (it worked out at about £15 for LKB's, including a spare copy for a much smaller amount than the fee for the 1st copy). That should tell me whether she actually had any connection to LKB.

Do I want to spend that much on such a Maybe???

Christine

[KiteRunner]

The easiest of those certainly looks to be getting May's death certificate, although it is a bit pricey. Not sure how you would do either of the others, to be honest, assuming you've already checked to see if anybody has them in their tree on ancestry etc.

[Christine in Herts]

I keep looking!

Exasperatingly, I see that LKB's naturalization shows on the index in Ancestry now - a week or so after I got the copies having paid a researcher to find the info. Still, it's not the researcher's fault.

I've made a half-hearted attempt to contact some local papers, but not had any replies.

Christine

[Asa]

I think I would have to risk the £15 quid on the death cert for May G Bennett. While Bennett is a fairly common name, the combination with May G is much rarer.