Teacher Weds Student

Miss Gertrude Murdoch, 26, principal of the high school at Tappen, N.D., was married to 17-year old Gordon Bell the other day, but young Bell will live with his parents until he has completed his high school course. Mrs. Bell, is from a prominent Valley City, N.D. Family.

The Vidette Messenger (Valparaiso, Indiana) Feb 16, 1929

Teacher Weds Youth; Board Gives Sanction

TAPPEN, N.D., Feb. 7. — (AP) — Miss Gertrude Murdoch, 27, principal of Tappen high school, and Gordon Bell, 17, sophomore in the school, were married recently and the teacher-wife and her young husband are attending their classes after a one-day honeymoon.

The school board has given Mrs. Bell permission to keep her husband in her classes and will retain her as principal.

The husband is continuing to live with his parents while Mrs. Bell lives with the Dr. J.S. Whitson family. The marriage took place at Steele, January 29, it was revealed today.

Young Bell will finish high school and then go to college. Dr. Whitson, friend of the newlyweds, said today.

Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) Feb 7, 1929

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FYI — The marriage did not last. By 1944, she was listed in the voter registration as Mrs. Gertrude M. Kellogg, teacher, in Contra Costa County, California.  Although Gordon Bell’s Social Security number appears to have been issued in California, it seems he later lived in Bismarck, N.D., and was married to someone else.

Tags: 1929, Marriage, North Dakota, Tappen ND, Teacher