Category: Montgomery, Lawrence Theodore

U Is for…Unlikely

Posted on by spuddled

Grandpa (Lawrence) Montgomery was a great storyteller. So great that sometimes it’s hard to determine how much of his stories were rooted in fact and how much was fabrication or, perhaps, misremembering. One of Grandpa’s best stories I mentioned here briefly back in 2014, but I thought I’d take a closer look at it and the facts that might lie behind it.

The story has its roots in provable fact. Grandpa did, indeed, lie about his age and join the Army when he was 15, claiming a birth year of 1898 when he was actually born in 1901. His Army discharge papers show the erroneous age as well as confirm his military service. He first enlisted 6 April 1917 at Fort Logan, Colorado. He was honorably discharged at Camp Dodge, Iowa, two years later. The very next day he re-enlisted. His second enlistment lasted a single year, and he was again honorably discharged, this time on 18 April 1920 at Fort McIntosh, Texas. He was listed as entitled to travel pay to Fort Collins, Colorado, where his father still lived.

Grandpa had many stories about those three intervening years. He told of being stationed in Hawaii and of seeing someone walk by carrying a huge bunch of bananas still on the stem. When the banana man asked if Grandpa wanted to buy “a banana,” Grandpa said yes, and then the man handed over the entire stalk and walked away.

He also told of the soldiers burning an effigy of Kaiser Wilhelm (this was during World War I), and Grandpa being made to shimmy up the pole to cut the effigy down.

But I always thought Grandpa’s best story was the one he told of working in the movie theater on base. At that time movies were made of cellulose nitrate film and were extremely flammable, so there were strict rules forbidding smoking in the projection rooms. One one occasion (relayed Grandpa), he was at his projection duties when a couple of men came in, one with a lit cigar in his mouth. Grandpa immediately yelled at the man to put out his cigar, and the men left. Only afterward did one of Grandpa’s fellow soldiers ask him, “You do know that was General Pershing, don’t you?”

I mean, what a great story, right? And probably not one that can ever be proven or disproven. But we can certainly investigate the available facts and learn more about Grandpa’s life in the process. I still remember, years after first hearing the Pershing story, when I actually saw Grandpa’s discharge papers, one fact stood out:

There it is in black and white (or maybe white and gray?), listed under his military experiences: “Knowledge of any vocation: Moving picture Operator.” So there is at least a kernel of truth in that Grandpa would definitely have been in the projection room on base. Whether Pershing was also there at the same time is uncertain; perhaps I need to read a biography of Pershing rather than just perusing his Wikipedia article. Pershing was certainly in Texas while chasing after Pancho Villa, but this would have been before Grandpa’s time there. Maybe the incident happened to one of Grandpa’s predecessors in the projection room and Grandpa commandeered the tale?

Grandpa’s Hawaii tales (well, not specifically the banana thing) also prove to have basis in fact. His first set of discharge papers notes that he served in Company K, 2nd Infantry. The Wikipedia article for the 2nd Infantry Regiment notes that this unit never saw duty during World War I because they were on security duty in Hawaii before returning to the United States and being assigned to the 19th Division at Camp Dodge. The war ended just before those in this regiment could be sent overseas.1

What else, you may ask, did the 2nd Infantry do in Hawaii? On 18 November 1917, they were one of many groups who made up the huge procession that was part of the state funeral of Queen Liliʻuokalani, who had died on 11 November.2 Colonel Bolles, commander of the 2nd Infantry, appeared in one of numerous photographs of the funeral in the 19 November Honolulu Star-Bulletin. I’m still looking closely to see if I can see a 16-year-old Grandpa marching somewhere behind.

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States) ↩︎
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_and_state_funeral_of_Lili%CA%BBuokalani ↩︎

R Is for…Roomer

Posted on by spuddled

One thing I’ve noticed in my genealogical investigations is that there were all sorts of variable household configurations. Whether it was the presence of grown children living at home with their parents before they married, or parents living with their grown (and married) children and their families, the occasional niece or nephew living in a household, possibly helping with farm work or childcare, there were any number of ways in which family life could be arranged.

Another type of living arrangement which I’ve seen in various census and other records is that of the “roomer.” Again, roomers might actually be family members, or they could be individuals living in a boarding house or something similar. I’ve decided to highlight a few of these arrangements uncovered in our family tree; as we shall see, sometimes our relative is the roomer living with others, and in some cases our relative is the one taking in those roomers.

First up is sixth cousin once removed, Paul Frank Bryan. A descendant of our Slatten/Sweeney line, he was born in 1903 in Oklahoma Territory. By 1930 Paul had married Gladys Virginia Bailey, and he and Gladys were living in Chicago. Paul was working as a welder for a bookbinding company, and Gladys as a “sample paster” for (I’m guessing the same) bookbinding company. Also in their household was 17-year-old Gilbert Petty, roomer, who worked as a laborer on car radiators. By 1940 Paul and Gladys had moved to Ligonier, Indiana, where they lived with their two young sons and no random roomer.1

Henry Langworthy Burdick, fifth cousin 4 times removed, was born in Rhode Island in December 1879 and at various times played both roomer and…roomee (?). In the 1900 census, Henry was enumerated with the family of Henry B. and Nancy H. Edwards at 8 Lessee Street in Amherst, Massachusetts. Henry was listed as a student and a “lodger” (close enough). Henry would graduate from Amherst College in 1903.2 In 1910, Henry and his wife Ethel were living with Henry’s parents in Westerly, Rhode Island; Henry was a lawyer.3 In 1920 Henry and Ethel were still living in the same house in Westerly (at 37 Elm Street), though Henry’s parents appear to have passed away in the intervening years. But with the couple were Elizabeth Burdick, 29 and listed as a servant, and a 29-year-old man named Guy with an illegible surname, a house carpenter listed as being a roomer in the household.4

Also born in 1879 was second cousin 4 times removed, Irvin S. Cain. In 1930 he was living in Bloomington, Illinois. In his household with Irvin at 619 W Olive were his wife, Grace; children Dorothy (20), Russell (17), Mary (14), Hazel (12), Darrel (9), John (5); as well as 5 roomers. Irvin was listed as a general laborer doing odd jobs and paying monthly rent of $25; Irvin’s wife, Grace, was explicitly described as the proprietor of a rooming house.5

In 1920 in Rockford, Illinois, fourth cousin 5 times removed, Sarah L. Chaney, was listed as a 70-year-old roomer in the household of Ella E. Wilbur. Ella was a 64-year-old dressmaker living at 402 N Fourth Street.6 In earlier years Sarah, who never married, had worked as a bookkeeper; in 1910 she was living on her own with no occupation but with her “own income.”7

Arthur R. Schlegel, first cousin 3 times removed, was born in Banks, Oregon, in 1877. In 1900, he was a farm laborer in the household of Charles and Mary Taylor, though he was listed as “servant” and not roomer.8 Ten years later he, like Henry Langworthy Burdick, was on the other side of the roomer situation. He was now living in Portland with his wife Henrietta Mae Hunter. Arthur was working as the foreman of a box factory, and in the household with him and Henrietta was a roomer named Austin Durdin, who worked in the box factory as well, as a laborer.9

There are a few even closer relations who played a roomer role. My great-great-grandfather, Anders Roberg, was widowed in 1919. By 1930 he was living in Newman Grove, Nebraska, a roomer in the household of Fred and Letta Brown. Fred was a dry goods merchant.10 Ten years later, still in Newman Grove and now listed as a “lodger,” Anders was living in the household of George and Maude Smith.11 Within our Montgomery branch, great-grandfather Charles William Montgomery was listed as a roomer in Fort Collins, Colorado, in 1920, working as a farm laborer.12 In 1930 Charles was working as a watchman at the G. W. Sugar Company and was a lodger in the household of Charles and Minnie Reingold. Charles Reingold was the proprietor of a junk store, which sounds amazing.13 Charles’s youngest child (and my paternal grandfather), Lawrence Theodore Montgomery, was a widower enumerated in Winner, South Dakota, in 1930. Grandpa was listed as the driver of an oil truck and the solitary inhabitant at a home on Second Street. However, the next household enumerated, on Third Street, consisted of a furniture repairman named Henry Krugman; his wife Bertha, a laundress; their six daughters; and Grandpa’s two daughters, aunts Flo and Irene. Listed as aged 2 4/12 and 4/12 respectively, both motherless girls were listed as roomers of the Krugmans. Grandpa would marry Grandma later that year, and by 1940 he had moved Grandma, Flo, Irene, and 5 more children to Scottsbluff, Nebraska.14 I imagine their household (which would eventually include a total of 12 children) was too crowded to allow for any roomers.

Irene, Lawrence, and Flo Montgomery
  1. 1930 census; www.ancestry.com ↩︎
  2. 1900 census; www.ancestry.com ↩︎
  3. 1910 Census (n.p: 1910, n.d). ↩︎
  4. 1920 census, www.ancestry.com ↩︎
  5. 1930 census, www.ancestry.com ↩︎
  6. 1920 census, www.ancestry.com ↩︎
  7. 1910 Census (n.p: 1910, n.d). ↩︎
  8. 1900 census, www.ancestry.com ↩︎
  9. 1910 Census (n.p: 1910, n.d). ↩︎
  10. 1930 census, www.ancestry.com ↩︎
  11. Ancestry.com, 1940 Census. ↩︎
  12. 1920 census, www.ancestry.com ↩︎
  13. 1930 census. www.ancestry.com ↩︎
  14. 1930 census, www.ancestry.com ↩︎

N Is for…Namesake

Posted on by spuddled

In some countries and time periods, there are specific naming conventions that determine namesakes: the first son named after the paternal grandfather, the second son after the maternal grandfather, the first daughter after the maternal grandmother, the second daughter after the paternal grandmother, etc.1 At other times, the process of selecting namesakes was less structured. Today I’m taking a look at Dad’s family to identify all the namesakes I can find there.

Grandpa Montgomery‘s name itself is something of a mystery, as I’ve covered here before. That’s the confusion over his middle name. It only just occurred to that his first name (Lawrence) may have been a tribute to his mother, Laura. Grandpa had a second cousin named Lawrence Extol Montgomery who was six years his senior, but that seems less likely to be a real namesake situation.

Charles William and Laura Maud (Walker) Montgomery and daughters (and dog)

Grandpa and his first wife, Antonia Marie Jelinek, had two daughters, Flo and Irene. Aunt Flo (Florence Marie), shared her mother’s middle name. I’m not immediately aware of anyone named Florence, Dorothy, or Irene in the family. After Grandpa’s first wife died, he married Grandma (Blanche Agnes Wilson), and they went on to have 10 children together. Grandma’s middle name, Agnes, is an anglicization of the name of her grandmother, Agnette, and in fact, Grandma’s baptismal record lists her as “Agneta Blanche.”2

The eldest child born to Grandma and Grandpa was Myrtle Charlotte. These are both family names (or variations thereof). Grandpa’s eldest sister was named Myrtle Pearl Montgomery, and his father, Charles William Montgomery, was the inspiration for Aunt Myrtle’s middle name. In later years she chose to go by Charlotte instead of Myrtle, and I remember her saying she wished her two names had been reversed.

After Myrtle came the oldest son, Morris Walter. I don’t know of any ancestral Morrises, though “our” Morris had a first cousin, Morris Frenier, who was five years his junior. Walter, though, was the name of Grandpa’s oldest brother, Walter Dewey Montgomery. After Morris came Marvin Lawrence. Similarly to Morris, I’m not aware of any namesake connections for Marvin’s first name, but Lawrence is obviously a callback to Grandpa’s first name. The third son in a row was William Clarence. Uncle Bill, unlike Morris and Marvin, had namesakes for both his names. Grandpa’s father, Charles William, we have of course already mentioned, and he, presumably, was named after his own grandfather, William Montgomery. And Grandma Montgomery had two Clarences in her immediate family: her older brother Anders Clarence died when he was two years old, and then eight years later another son born to the family was named Clarence Salmer.

The next daughter born to the family was Deanna Esther. Though Aunt Deanna had a first cousin once removed named Esther Myrtle Montgomery, I suspect that was just a coincidence, and I’m not aware of any other Esther connections in the family. Family lore (or at least the story Dad heard) was that Deanna was named not after a relative but after singer and actress Deanna Durbin. Deanna Durbin was only seventeen years old in 1939 when our Deanna was born, but her career had begun in a 1936 short with Judy Garland, so the timing is not out of the question.3

After Deanna came two more boys, Alwin Eugene and Theodore Richard. I haven’t been able to find any namesakes in our family tree for Uncle Gene or for Ted’s (aka Dad) middle name, Richard. The “Theodore,” however, shows up a couple of times. First, of course, as Grandpa’s maybe-middle-name, and then with Grandpa’s uncle, Joseph Theodore Montgomery.

Next after Dad came Gloria Blanche, who died at age five. This is another case in which the first name appears to have no precedent, but the middle name has clear family connections, with Gloria being given her middle name in honor of Grandma. After Gloria came Linda Lea; as with Uncle Gene, I’m not aware of any family links to either of Aunt Linda’s names, though when Dad started dating, and then married, Mom, also a Linda, the two Lindas became accidental namesakes, differentiated sometimes in conversation as “Linda Lea” and “Linda Jo.” Last in the family came Aunt Laura, and with her names (Laura Christine) she made up for Aunt Linda’s lack of family names, as she was named after both of her grandmothers, Laura Maud Walker and Sophie Christine Roberg.

Twelve children later, and we’ve reached the end of this look into one collection of family names and namesakes. Of course there are many more namesakes on both sides of the family tree, as well as other reasons for selecting names that don’t have anything to do with family history…at least not until the stories get told or written for posterity.

  1. https://englishancestors.blog/2020/04/01/english-naming-traditions/#:~:text=To%20recap:,after%20father’s%20eldest%20sister%20(patS) ↩︎
  2. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Archives; Elk Grove Village, Illinois; Congregational Records ↩︎
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deanna_Durbin ↩︎

M Is for…Marriage Records

Posted on by spuddled

I’m going to trust the idiom about pictures and thousands of words and focus on the former for this blog post regarding marriage records. Here are the records I have (or of which I have copies) for the first few generations of my direct ancestors.

Generation 1:

26 August 1961
Caldwell, Canyon, Idaho
Theodore Richard Montgomery and Linda Jo Hoffmann
(parents)

Generation 2:

17 September 1930
Winner, Tripp, South Dakota
Lawrence Theodore Montgomery and Blanche Agnes Wilson
(paternal grandparents)
Not a marriage record, exactly, but an article from the Bloomington, Illinois Pantagraph (which makes me wonder…do I actually have the official document somewhere in all my piles?)
12 March 1938
Peoria, Peoria, Illinois
Joseph Benjamin Hoffmann
and Velma Marie Swing
(maternal grandparents)

Generation 3:

The marriage of paternal great-grandparents Charles William Montgomery and Laura Blanche Walker on 22 February 1883 in Richland County, Illinois appears in Ancestry.com’s Illinois, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1800-1940, but this database doesn’t include images, unfortunately. So moving along…

13 March 1907
Boone County, Nebraska
Carl Ozro Wilson and Sophie Christine Roberg
(paternal great-grandparents)
7 December 1902
Fairbury, Livingston, Illinois
Paul Hoffmann and Emma Alice Slagel
(maternal great-grandparents)

Another one that’s missing (why have I not written away for these??):
18 June 1913; Peoria, Peoria, Illinois; Albert Carl Swing and Lena Agnes Hunkler (maternal great-grandparents)

Generation 4:

25 December 1858
Hamilton County, Ohio
John Montgomery and Belinda Simmons
(paternal great-great-grandparents)
15 February 1857
Noble, Richland, Illinois
Marcus Walker and Mary Ann Conklin
(paternal great-great-grandparents)
Another not-quite-document, but an excerpt
31 August 1879
Brush Creek, Fayette, Iowa
Wellington David Wilson and Lucinda Blanche Davis
(paternal great-great-grandparents)
Another one that’s more of an excerpt…
3 December 1878
Rushford, Fillmore, Minnesota
Anders Mathis Roberg and Agnette Evensdatter Lien
(paternal great-great-grandparents)
17 January 1875
Renaucourt, France
Jacob Hoffmann and Christine Schmidt
(maternal great-great-grandparents)
30 November 1875
Fairbury, Livingston, Illinois
Samuel Slagel and Mary Demler
(maternal great-great-grandparents)
17 February 1884
Fairbury, Livingston, Illinois
Albert Carl Swing and Catherine Marie Hoffmann
(maternal great-great-grandparents)
14 December 1886
Peoria, Peoria, Illinois
George John Hunkler and Maria Elizabeth Rusch
(maternal great-great-grandparents)

These are not all the marriage records I have, though they do become more sparse from here on out. I would keep adding more here, but I figure this blog post is already 13,000 words long, so that will do for now.

H Is for…Homestead

Posted on by spuddled

Today we are tracing the westward expansion of one particular branch of our family in search of the elusive “homestead.” Though the Homestead Act was signed in 1862, I don’t know that any of these family members took advantage of that particular legislation but instead were part of a more general migration west…sort of.1

This westward migration is first evidenced in the locations of birth, marriage, and death of my great-great-grandfather, Marcus Walker. He was born in 1831 in Ohio, the son of George and Sarah (Malotte) Walker. I have seen Sarah’s ancestry detailed for many generations back in numerous places online, but I have yet to feel certain enough that it is really “our” Sarah to bite that particular bullet. So we’ll just start with Marcus. He was enumerated in Batavia, Ohio, in 1850 with George and Sarah, and with his siblings Hiram, Ruth, Mary, Ezra, and Ellen.2

It appears that by 15 February 1857 Marcus had started his wandering; on that date he married Mary Ann Conklin in Noble, Illinois.3 Mary herself was also an Ohio native, having been born in Clermont County on 26 March 1835. Her parents were Stephen and Sarah (Mills) Conklin, both of whom had died in 1850, leaving her an orphan at 15.4 Between 1858 and 1877 Mary Ann gave birth to 8 children: Ella C., Eunice, Laura Maud (my great-grandmother), Minnie, Clara, William Henry, Orlando Clifton, and Bertha. Throughout those years the family was enumerated in each census in Denver, Illinois,5 6 7 and it was there that Mary Ann died on 28 April 1887 of “quick consumption” at the age of 52.

This latter fact comes to us not from official records but from letters Mary Ann’s granddaughter, Mary Edna (known as Mamie) wrote to her own daughter in 1958, and these letters provide a more colorful glimpse into the lives of these ancestors. After recounting the story of her grandmother’s death, Mamie went on to explain how her Aunt Clara and Uncles Cliff and Will had moved from Illinois to Nebraska and “taken a homestead near Holdrege.” Her Aunt Ella had also moved to the area and rented a farm. Mamie’s own parents (my great-grandparents Laura Maud (Walker) and Charles William Montgomery) then moved to Nebraska as well, following the earlier Walker migration. Charles Montgomery did not take up farming, though, instead working as a butcher. Charles and Laura had a total of seven children; the first four, daughters, were all born in Illinois; the final three, sons, were all born in Holdrege. The last of these was my grandfather, Lawrence.

Letter from Mary Edna (Montgomery) Kimble to Rozella (Kimble) Zerkle, 1 April 1958

Charles and Laura would continue their own migration farther west, to Colorado, and Grandpa would eventually end up in Idaho (because someone told him and Grandma that “the wind never blew in Idaho”). Of the other Walker kin, eldest daughter Ella and her husband Henry Marker raised four children; all are buried in Nebraska.8 Clara, the fifth child, was one of those who, along with her husband Arthur Simmons, moved to Holdrege, though like Laura and Charles, they did not remain there. In 1907 they moved to Kansas, and Clara died there in 1932.9 Though Mamie described Will (the sixth of Marcus and Mary Ann’s children) as having moved to Holdrege, it’s possible this was during the knowledge gap caused by the destruction by fire of the 1890 census, as by 1897 he was in Illinois when he married Grace Heikens,10 and he was enumerated in Piatt County, Illinois in 1900.11 Ten years later he and Grace were living in Kansas and remained there for the rest of their lives. Youngest Walker son Orlando Clifton “Cliff” married Lillie Maude Genoway in Passport, Illinois, in 1900;12 it appears he, too, had migrated westward and then returned to Illinois. By 1920, though, the family had moved on again, this time to Wisconsin, where the family would remain.13

The remaining three Walker offspring didn’t participate in the family migration wave to Nebraska, but after second child Eunice married Cyrus Pilchard in Richland County, Illinois in 1882, she and her new family did eventually move to Webster City, Iowa.14 Minnie Walker, child #4, married Joshua O. Bateman in Richland County in 1885. The family did move to Piatt County, Illinois, but no further. Joshua died there in 1930, and Minnie nine months later.15 The baby of the Walker family, Bertha L., was born in Richland County in December 1877 and died there in October 1878,16 with no opportunity either to migrate or to decide to remain.

  1. Sharon S. Iamele, Conklin Cousins: the Many Children of Joseph and Mary (Cory) Conkling, 2014 Kindle Version (2014), ; kindle, Purchased through Amazon, Amazon (https://read.amazon.com/?asin=B00IMQ2A7A&ref_=kwl_kr_iv_rec_1 : My Kindle Library 24 September 2024. ↩︎
  2. 1850 Census (n.p: www.ancestry.com, n.d). ↩︎
  3. Various Illinois County collections, “Illinois, County Marriage Records, 1800-1940,” marriage indexes, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 November 2024), Marcus Walker/Mary A. Conklin. ↩︎
  4. Iamele, Conklin Cousins: the Many Children of Joseph and Mary (Cory) Conkling. ↩︎
  5. 1860 Census (n.p: www.ancestry.com, n.d). ↩︎
  6. 1870 Census. ↩︎
  7. FamilyHistory Search and/or www.ancestry.com, 1880 Census, Denver, Richland, Illinois; Page 1, Sup 7, Enum 171. ↩︎
  8. www.findagrave.com, www.findagrave.com. ↩︎
  9. “Clara Walker Simmons Obituary,” obituary, Council Grove Republican, 6 June 1932, obituary; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : online 27 November 2024). ↩︎
  10. Various Illinois County collections, “Illinois, County Marriage Records, 1800-1940,” marriage indexes, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 December 2024), William Henry Walker/Grace Edna Heikens. ↩︎
  11. 1900 Census. ↩︎
  12. Various Illinois County collections, “Illinois, County Marriage Records, 1800-1940,” marriage indexes, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 December 2024), O Clifton Walker/Lillie M Genoway. ↩︎
  13. 1920 Census. ↩︎
  14. Various Illinois County collections, “Illinois, County Marriage Records, 1800-1940,” marriage indexes, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 November 2024), Eunice Walker/Cyrus R. Pilchard. ↩︎
  15. Various Illinois County collections, “Illinois, County Marriage Records, 1800-1940,” marriage indexes, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 November 2024), Minnie Walker/Joshua O. Bateman. ↩︎
  16. Iamele, Conklin Cousins: the Many Children of Joseph and Mary (Cory) Conkling, . ↩︎

Census Sunday – Grandpa in 1920

Posted on by agnette

Just in time for Memorial Day, here is Grandpa Lawrence Montgomery‘s 1920 census record. I still haven’t found him (or his father) in 1910, so this is the first record where he appears. In that year he was stationed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. His age is listed as 21, which is consistent with the (incorrect) birthdate Grandpa gave when enlisting in 1917. Grandpa was really only 18 in January 1920. Nebraska is listed as the birthplace of Grandpa (which is correct), as well as his parents (which is incorrect). His occupation is “soldier.” Grandpa’s military records give a little more information on his military service, though Grandpa also told some (as yet unsubstantiated) colorful stories about his experiences:

  • Being stationed in Hawaii
  • Being sent to climb up a pole to cut down an effigy of Kaiser Wilhelm
  • While operating the base movie projector (which his records confirm he did do), hollering at someone who came in to the projector room to put out their cigar, only to have someone tell him he had just yelled at General Pershing

Whatever Grandpa’s role, I’m grateful for his service.

Amanuensis Monday – May God Bless You

Posted on by agnette

On March 21, 1966 my paternal grandfather, Lawrence Theodore Montgomery, wrote to my dad, then in the Army at Fort Polk, Louisiana and approaching his 24th birthday. Grandpa’s letter cost 8 cents to send air mail to “Pvt. Theodore R. Montgomery, RA 19882937 2nd Train Brig., 2D Battalion Co. B., Fort Polk, Louisiana 71459.” Grandpa mentions Linda Jo (my mother, waiting in Idaho to join Dad once he was out of basic training), as well as four of his twelve children: Laura, the youngest; Linda Lea, then sixteen; Gene, about 18 months older than Dad; and Flo, Grandpa’s eldest, 38 years old and with seven children of her own.

Caldwell, Idaho
March 21, 1966

Dear Ted:

We ran into trouble trying to transfer the Studebaker to Gene. We must have a sales tax exemption signed and notarized by you or pay the sales tax on it for the full book price. Request that you get this form signed and your commanding officer can notarize it for you. Gene is planning on going to work right away and will need the car. He may go to work in Nampa.

Linda Jo said she missed your phone call yesterday. Gene said you were probably still in the field.

Gene, Laura, Mom and I went out to Flo’s yesterday all afternoon and evening. Linda Lea stayed home to study.

Spring is showing up here now the mountains are pretty white with snow but it is 45° here in the Valley. We are going to plan garden this week, if the moon is right.

Everyone is O.K. here now. Laura is home with a sore throat but not serious. Bob Baird left for San Diego yesterday morning. We plan on a birthday dinner for you and Laura at McGarvins about the 3rd of April or when it is most convenient for you.

Must close and get this off to you as soon as you get this back to us we can get a license on the car.

May God Bless You
Dad, Mom, Gene & Gals

Also included in the envelope is a letter from Aunt Laura, Dad’s handicapped youngest sister, then five days shy of her fifteenth birthday:

Dear Ted

I Miss you very much. Be glad when you come home. Maybe we can have a Birthday Party to-gether after you get home. Love Laura

Interestingly, the envelope also contains a self-addressed stamped envelope as well as the Idaho Sales Tax Vehicle Certificate Dad was supposed to have notarized and return. I know Uncle Gene ended up with the Studebaker somehow; Dad may have to explain that one.

Census Sunday – Finding Grandpa and Grandma

Posted on by agnette

When the 1940 census was made available to the public last year, naturally I began scouring its records to find relatives and bridge the gap since 1930’s enumerations. My parents are too young to appear in this census, so my first line of attack was looking for both sets of grandparents.

Finding my paternal grandparents’ record was fairly straightforward because I already knew where they were.  They were enumerated in Scottsbluff, Nebraska on April 18, living at 1710 Avenue F. They were paying $8 a month in rent, and the household consisted of Lawrence C., age 38, a common laborer doing farm work and earning $650 the previous year for 45 weeks’ work. The census taker indicated he had attended school until the 10th grade. “Blanch A.,” age 31, had gone through the 8th grade. Both had been born in Nebraska.  The following children were also enumerated: Florence M., age 12; Irene D., age 10; Myrtle C., age 7; Morris W., age 6; Marvin L., age 4; William C., age 2; and “DeAnna E.,” age 10 months. Deanna was listed as born in Nebraska; the other children’s birthplace was listed as South Dakota. Real estate records indicate the house at 1710 Avenue F is 868 square feet in size, has two bedrooms, and was built in 1915. On our cross-country trek last summer, Mom and I visited Scottsbluff and looked up the little house.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

My maternal grandparents provided a bit more of a mystery. Married in 1938, they had not yet had my mom, their eldest child. I knew Grandma had worked for the Rock Island Arsenal from May 1938-September 1940 and had assumed she and Grandpa were actually living in Rock Island, Illinois. In the early days after the census release before the records were fully indexed, I scoured the Rock Island records to no avail. I even searched records for Boise, Idaho, since I knew Grandpa and Grandma moved there in 1940. Luckily it didn’t take long for indexing to be complete and for me to be able to search for Grandpa and Grandma by name – and there they were, not in Rock Island itself, but in Moline, about four miles east along the Mississippi River.

Apparently one of four couples living in an apartment complex at 1212 7th Avenue, they were paying $30 a month in rent. Joseph Hoffmann, age 32, having completed the 8th grade, is listed as an electric welder at a sheet metal factory. He had earned $820 the previous year but had only worked 24 weeks. Grandma, on the other hand, had worked 52 weeks and earned $1287 as a clerk/typist at the Rock Island Arsenal. She was 23 years old and had completed four years of high school. Grandpa was listed as born in Illinois, Grandma in Indiana.

You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been to Moline…yet.

Grandpa’s Military Record

Posted on by agnette

In 1919, Grandpa Montgomery enlisted in the Army, claiming to have been born August 26, 1898.  In reality, he was born August 26, 1901 and was only fifteen at the time.

Instrument No. 407443 Honorable Discharge from The United States Army
TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

This is to Certify that Lawrence T. Montgomery, #342080. Corporal, Company “K”. second Infantry. THE UNITED STATES ARMY, as a Testimonial of Honest and Faithful Service, is hereby Honorably Discharged from the military service of the United States by reason of Expiration of service per prov. Circ. Co [?] 1, WD 1919 Said Lawrence T. Montgomery was born in Holdrege, in the State of Nebraska. When enlisted he was eighteen years of age and by occupation a Farmer. He had L. Blue eyes, D. Brown hair, Ruddy complexion, and was five feet eleven inches in height. Given under my hand at Camp Dodge Iowa. this 18 day of April, one thousand nine hundred and nineteen. W C Bennett Colonel Second Infantry

(on the reverse)

ENLISTMENT RECORD

Name: Lawrence T. Montgomery Grade: Corporal
Enlisted, or April 6, 1917, at Fort Logan Colorado. Serving in first enlistment period at date of discharge. Prior service: none Noncommissioned officer: Corporal Marksmanship, gunner qualification or rating: M.M. Aug. 4, 1917 [illegible line]

Battles, engagements, skirmishes, expeditions: none
Knowledge of any vocation: farmer
Wounds received in service: none
Physical condition when discharged: Good
Typhoid prophylaxis completed: April 30, 1917
Paratyphoid prophylaxis completed: Dec. 8, 1917
Married or single: Single
Character: Excellent
Remarks: Served in Co. K 2nd inf. from April 6, 1917 to April 18, 1919

Signature of soldier: Lawrence T. Montgomery
Camp Dodge, Iowa Apr. 19, 1919 Paid in Full Including Bonus, $188.01
H T Jensen Capt. Second Infantry Commanding Co. “K”

Instrument No. 407444 Honorable Discharge from The United States Army

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

This is to Certify that Lawrence T. Montgomery, A.S.N.R.-342080. Corporal Co. B. 37th Infantry THE UNITED STATES ARMY, as a Testimonial of Honest and Faithful Service, is hereby Honorably Discharged from the military service of the United States by reason of Expiration of term of ServiceSaid Lawrence T. Montgomery was born in Holdrege, in the State of Nebraska. When enlisted he was 20 8/12 years of age and by occupation a Farmer. He had Blue eyes, D. Brown hair, Ruddy complexion, and was five feet eleven inches in height. Given under my hand at Fort McIntosh Texas this 18 day of April, one thousand nine hundred and twenty. Frank L. Winn Colonel 37th Infantry

(on the reverse)

ENLISTMENT RECORD

Name: Lawrence T. Montgomery Grade: Corporal
Enlisted April 19, 1919, at Camp Dodge Iowa. Serving in Second enlistment period at date of discharge. Prior service: Co. K. 2nd Infantry from April 6-1917 to April 18-1919. Noncommissioned officer: Warrant for Corporal continued in force upon [?] (Re-enlistment) Marksmanship, gunner qualification or rating: Unqualified

Horsemanship: Not Mounted

Battles, engagements, skirmishes, expeditions: none
Knowledge of any vocation: Moving picture Operator
Wounds received in service: none
Physical condition when discharged: Good
Typhoid prophylaxis completed:
Paratyphoid prophylaxis completed: Dec. 8, 1917
Married or single: Single
Character: I certify the soldier’s character [illegible]
Remarks: No. A.W.O. [?] G.O. 45. W.D. 1914. Service Honest and Faithful. Entitled to travel pay to Fort Collins, Colo.

Signature of soldier: Lawrence T. Montgomery

Lowell M. Riley Captain 37th Infantry Commanding Hdq. Co.

At First Sight

Posted on by agnette

Every once in a while I find myself playing the genealogical “What If?” game.  What precise combination of events had to take place throughout the years to allow me to be me?  Perhaps this sense of narrowly-avoided oblivion makes those stories of ancestors’ first meetings so intriguing.

Grandma Montgomery (Blanche Wilson Montgomery) told me the first time she ever met Grandpa (L. T. Montgomery), he was part of a threshing crew working her family’s fields.  She was thirteen, and so shy she hid behind the door when she first saw him.  Eight years passed, during which Grandpa married, had two daughters, and was widowed.  Then in 1930, Grandma’s mother ran into Grandpa again in town.  She remembered him from the threshing crew years earlier and, thinking he would make a good husband for her oldest daughter, invited him out to the farm.  Shortly after this second meeting, Grandma and Grandpa married.

My maternal grandparents’ story began at a family get-together.  Grandma (Velma Swing Hoffmann) was in her teens and was surprised to see a young man at the family gathering whom she’d never seen before.  Struck by his good looks, she asked her mother who he was, only to find out he was a cousin!  She knew most of the Hoffmann cousins, of course–their father, Paul Hoffmann, had been a half-brother to her grandmother, Catherine Hoffmann Swing.  But Joe had been away in Chicago, and Grandma hadn’t realized there was a Hoffmann son older than Lee, born in 1912 (Grandpa was born in 1907, ten years before Grandma).  Grandma and Grandpa Hoffmann’s courtship was longer than Grandma and Grandpa Montgomery’s–they would not marry until 1938, some 5 years or so after that first meeting.

These stories (and all the other “first meetings” of ancestors) lead to inevitable questions.  Who would I be if Sophie Wilson hadn’t chosen that day to go into town?  Or what if Grandpa Hoffmann had stayed in Chicago rather than returning to Fairbury and attending that family get-together?  Or what if Grandma Montgomery had hidden behind that door again in 1930?