Marvin Robinson and Ann Graham’s marriage began in secret in tiny Paris, Idaho, population 541, more than six decades ago.
Their fathers were having a Hatfield-McCoy feud and the teens were forbidden to see each other. So just before Ann turned 18, they decided they were old enough to make their own decisions.
“Our dads had gotten in an argument, so we weren’t supposed to be seeing each other,” recalls Ann, who had known Marvin since she was 14. “So, we fixed that.”
Ann remembers vividly how she rode the bus from Thermopolis to Shoshoni. Marvin, who lived in Riverton, picked her up and away they went to wed in the first town where they found a judge willing to marry them: Paris.
A sheriff was witness to a marriage that today Ann wonders idly is even legal. Idaho state law required married couples to be at least 18. Ann was one day shy of her 18th birthday.
“There was a little problem because it was the day before my birthday, so I didn’t show him any ID,” Ann told Cowboy State Daily. “So maybe we’re not married. I don’t know.”
The connection to Paris never left the Robinsons.
Now, 61 years later, the Casper couple is celebrating their elopement by visiting all 32 spots in the United States with Paris in their names.
Teen Marriage
There was a time when Marvin and Ann wondered if they’d make it to a second Paris, much less all 32.
When a school counselor discovered their secret marriage, Ann had to fess up to her parents who, despite their best attempts, were unable to annul the marriage.
“Dad was in the Legislature at the time,” Ann said, “and I heard him say on the phone to the judge, “Well, I don’t like your laws, and I make the laws in Wyoming!””
After spending her entire school career in Hot Springs County, Ann said she had to switch schools to Riverton because Thermopolis had a rule that married couples could not be in school together.
In 1965, Thermopolis also had a rule that a married person couldn’t participate in extracurricular activities. Marvin needed his band credits to graduate, and he could do that in Riverton.
After they both graduated from Riverton High School, Marvin spent the summer driving an ice truck, He hauled ice around the Bighorn Basin and Fremont County, and would drop off Ann at her parents’ house so she could visit.
“I was not allowed in her parents’ house for about a year,” Marvin said. “I’m lucky to be alive here today.”
“He’s exaggerating but it was true, the first time he was in my parents’ house after we got married was August of ’66,” Ann conceded. “When we spent the night there on the way from Riverton, Marvin slept with his eyes open.”
Ann said it worked out eventually and she now tells people that once they got to know him, her parents liked Marvin more than they liked her.
“The priest told my parents not to let us get married in the Catholic Church because our marriage wasn’t going to last more than three months,” Ann said. “I tell people we just stay married to make a liar out of the priest.”
The marriage lasted much longer than three months — long enough to escape to more than one Paris.
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The third Paris that Marvin and Ann Robinson visited on a goal to visit every Paris in America was in Illinois. Ann said that it was also home of country music star Brett Eldridge and a very wonky Eiffel Tower. (Ann Graham Robinson) -
Paris, Wisconsin, was the first stop on Marvin and Ann Robinson’s bucket list to hit every town in the United States named Paris. 61 years ago this October 8 the couple had eloped to Paris, Idaho as teenage runaways (Ann Graham Robinson) -
In New Paris, Indiana, Marvin and Ann Robinson said the people were friendly when they shared their mission of visiting every Paris town in America. (Ann Graham Robinson) -
The Paris School in Paris, Wisconsin. (Ann Graham Robinson) -
The stylized Eiffel Tower in Paris, Wisconsin, is a monument to local veterans who gave their lives in various wars. (Ann Graham Robinson) -
Paris Crossing, Indiana, was the second Paris that Marvin and Ann Robinson of Casper toured as they begin their bucket list to hit every town in the United States named Paris. (Ann Graham Robinson)
The Bucket List
Ann recently fulfilled a bucket list item with a trip to Ireland and said she needed a new one.
“One of Marvin’s cousins had sent me this little map thing that showed 23 Parises in the United States and it was a 6,200-mile trip,” Ann said. “I thought, ‘We’re not gonna do that because Marvin still working.’”
However, the idea nagged at her and she found herself doing more research on towns named Paris. She discovered there were actually 32.
“I thought, ‘You know what, it’d be fun to go to all of them,’ Ann said. “Just not all in one trip.”
When she qualified for a bowling tournament in Wisconsin, they decided it would be the perfect place to start their Paris tours. They flew into Madison and, before going to the competition, began filling their bucket list.
“The first Paris was in Grant County, Wisconsin,” Ann said. “That was an adventure just trying to find it. They’ve all been kind of an adventure because some of them are just very tiny or almost non-existent.”
The GPS took them to a locked gate and they then ended up in a cornfield after getting directions from a farmer. But they were determined to find their first Paris and finally found a county building with the words “Town of Paris” emblazoned across it.
They then spent two days bowling in Green Bay, where Ann mentioned she and Marvin had eloped to Paris, Idaho, nearly 61 years ago and they were now on a quest to visit all of the Parises in the U.S.
Serendipitously, three people at the tournament were from Paris, Idaho.
“What is the chance of that?” Ann posted on Facebook, “During practice, we met Merlin and Joann Parker and Tawnya Glideright, residents of none other than Paris, Idaho … the scene of the crime!”
After the tournament, Ann and Marvin headed to Paris Crossing, Indiana, and were surprised how tiny it was. Ann said it could not even be considered a town.
Their third Paris, in Illinois, had a population of about 6,000. The town proudly touts itself as the home of country music star Brett Eldredge.
“They have a very wonky Eiffel Tower there that is kind of different,” Ann said. “I probably enjoyed Paris, Illinois, the most because we ran into people on the street and talked to them and went to the T-shirt shop.”
She thought number four, Paris, Michigan, was fun because it has an Eiffel Tower the high school kids made from bed frames.
One Paris After Another
The fifth Paris, Ann said, was confusing.
“Parisville, Michigan, was home of the Paris Town Hall and located in Paris Township,” Ann said. “Since it was all pretty much together, I just counted it as one, but I could count it as three.”
In New Paris, Indiana, No. 6, they were at the post office trying to take selfies when a local came to help. Once she learned of their quest, she directed them to a better sign at the city limits.
It was people like these that made filling the bucket list even more meaningful for Ann and Marvin.
Marvin’s most memorable Paris was the last one because of the people in the biker bar they visited.
Paris in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, had a marble monument that, at least to Ann and Marvin, resembled the Eiffel Tower and was built in honor of the local veterans lost in various wars. However, the people in the town didn’t even know they lived in Paris.
The only business in the tiny hamlet was the Stumble Inn Bar.
“We were hunting for that Paris and we couldn’t find it,” Ann said. “We were talking to the people in the bar about where Paris was and they didn’t know where Paris was but it was supposed to be right where we were.”
Finally a man in the bar told them they were in Paris.
“I guess it kind of got absorbed into another town,” Ann said. “It was just really funny that people didn’t know they were in Paris and they lived there.”
Another woman in the bar told them the school still had the Paris name and there was a Paris Town Hall so Ann and Marvin got their final pictures before heading back home to Casper.
They have 25 Parises yet to find and are already picking out a route based on future bowling tournaments.
“Next year, the Women’s National Bowling tournament is in South Carolina,” Ann said. “So, we’ll go there and we’ll catch all the Parises in that lower area of the East Coast.”
Contact Jackie Dorothy at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
