According to what I learned from my grandmother and mother, my great-grandparents, Helen Spiegel and James M Dobbs, Sr. were married in Mexico City around 1900. As it turns out, that is not the truth.

In doing a search of the archives of the "Atlanta Constitution" for any articles regarding James M Dobbs I came across the following on the society page of the 9 September 1901 issue of the newspaper.

This is consistent with the fact that Helen and James were married sometime between 1900 (when Helen appeared in the Dallas Co., Texas census) and 1902 (when her son James M Dobbs, Jr was born). What is puzzling here is the question of how the couple came to meet and what were they doing in New York City.

Do either of them having any prior connections to New York City?

It is known that J. M. Dobbs did pass through New York City on more than one occasion as he returned from his many trips to South America. In the 1880's he appears on two passenger lists as arriving in NYC from Aspinwall, Panama (1886 & 1889). In 1903 he passed through Ellis Island returning from Brazil. Also, it is known that he was stationed in Brazil between 1898 and 1900.

Helen was born in Dallas, Texas in 1871 and does appear in that city in the 1900 census. The only known New York City-connection for Helen is through her mother Sophie. In the two census records where Sophie appears (1870 & 1880), her birthplace is shown as New York.

Another mystery is solved, but, as it seems to always be the case, the solved mystery spawns new mysteries.