Tag: Census

Sympathy Saturday – Manhattan (the Kansas One)

Posted on by agnette

 

My mom and I attended the National Genealogical Society‘s annual conference last week.  I’d never been before – what a great experience! I’m now determined to bring some semblance of organization to not only my genealogy files and records, but also to my genealogical searches. So now my genealogy tasks are threefold:

  1. Continue the never-ending census project (tracing all families in the “easy” censuses, from 1850-1940)
  2. Share my various findings through this blog
  3. Select one mystery or problem, and focus on trying to solve that in a structured and organized way

First mystery? Trying to trace the elusive Montgomery family’s origins in this country (or at least back another generation from William Montgomery, my 3G-grandfather, born 1802).

With this aim in mind I’ve been focusing more on those Montgomery connections, so Joseph (William’s son and my 3G-uncle) seems a logical topic for today’s post. Joseph S. Montgomery was born in August 1847 in Ohio, son of William and Mary Ann (Extell) Montgomery. He was the eighth of thirteen children and on New Year’s Eve in 1874, he married Sarah Ann Achor.  Joseph, Sarah, and their first child, Viola, then five years old, appear in the 1880 census, enumerated in Clarke, Clinton County, Ohio.

By 1900 the family had moved to Liberty Township, Geary County, Kansas.  Viola is no longer in the household, but two new children are listed – J.W., a son born in February 1882 in Ohio; and Vellah, a daughter born in August 1886 in Kansas.  In 1910 and 1920, J.W. is not with the family, but Joseph, Sarah, and Vellah continue to live in the same household. Sarah died in 1923; by 1940 Vellah, unmarried, is listed as head of the household in Lawrence, with Joseph enumerated as her 92-year-old father.  He would live six more years, dying in 1946 at nearly 99 years of age.  Vellah lived to be 87, dying in April 1974.  Joseph, Sarah, and Vellah are all buried together in Sunset Cemetery in Manhattan, Kansas.

Census Sunday – 1900: Where Was I?

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Carl Ozro with Siblings

Genealogy puts one in direct connection with times and places long gone. It can be interesting to look back and imagine oneself in a generation other than the current one.  Where would I have been in, say, 1900?

None of my grandparents were alive yet in 1900; Grandpa Montgomery would be born the following year. His parents, Charles William and Laura Maud (Walker) Montgomery, were living in Holdrege, Nebraska (Grandpa’s birthplace) that year, with their other six children: Myrtle, Mamie, Bessie, Alta, Walter, and John (Ward). Charles was working as a butcher and was 39 years old; Laura, 37.  The children were 16, 13, 11, 10, 2, and 7 months old. Charles and Laura had been married for 17 years.

Carl Wilson, father of Grandma Montgomery, turned 15 in 1900. In that year’s census he appears in Lincoln, Nebraska, a boarder and farm laborer in the home of Jonas and Maggie Misler (maybe…the handwriting is difficult to decipher).

It would be seven years before Carl would marry Sophie Roberg. Three years his senior, Sophie was also “working out” in 1900. She can be found in Shell Creek, Nebraska, a housekeeper in the household of Mons Knudson, a 43-year-old widower with six children between the ages of fourteen and two. His mother, 76 years old, lived in the household as well.

Paul Hoffmann, Grandpa Hoffmann’s father, was 22 years old in 1900, the eldest child still living at home on the farm in Fountain Creek, Illinois; he would marry two years later. Paul and his parents, Jacob (age 63) and Christine (age 50), are listed as having emigrated to America in 1883. Christine had given birth to 7 children, of whom 6 were still living. In addition to Paul, those still at home were Andrew, 16; Maggie, 11; Sammie, 8; and Louisa, 6. Paul and Andrew have “farm laborer” listed as their occupation; the other children were attending school.

Paul’s future wife, Emma Slagel, was 20 years old and living at home with her parents in Indian Grove Township, Livingston County, Illinois. Samuel Slagel, then 50, and Mary, 45, had been married for 24 years. Mary had given birth to 4 children, three still living (and all at home): Emma, along with brothers Daniel (22) and Joseph (18). Also living with them was Mary’s niece, Lena Demler, twelve years old.

In 1900, Grandma Hoffmann’s father was still using the old German spelling of his name. He appears as “Albert C Schwing,” in Ash Grove, Iroquois County, Illinois. Another farming family, his parents were Albert, Sr., age 40, and “Kathrine,” age 38. They had been married for 16 years, and Catherine had given birth to 10 children, all still living, and all still at home: Martha, 15; Charles, 14; Lena, 12; Albert C., 11; Soloma, 9; Joseph, 7; Katey, 6; Anna, 3; Harry, 2; and Paul, 3 months. A further three children would eventually be born to the family.

The final and youngest of these ancestors, Lena Hunkler, was seven years old and living in Washington, Illinois. Her parents, George J. (age 37) and Mary (age 40), had been married for 13 years, and George is listed as a farmer. All five children are at home: Bertha is 13 and listed as Berty (?). Matilda is 11; John G. is 8; “Lenie,” 7; and Hulda, 4. All but Hulda had attended school in the previous year.

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Wedding Wednesday – Samuel and Lena Nussbaum

Posted on by agnette

Today’s post comes courtesy of Cousin Millie, who sent me this photo. I can’t be sure this is a wedding photo, but I am grateful not only for the picture itself but also for the inscription written on the back: Samuel and Lena Nussbaum. If not for that, this photo might have ended up in “Friday’s Faces from the Past” instead.

Lena (or Magdalene) Swing was born July 26, 1887 in Fairbury, Illinois. Her younger brother was my great-grandfather, Albert Carl Swing. They were two of 13 children born to Albert Carl and Catherine Marie (Hoffmann) Swing.  The family appears in the 1900 census in Ash Grove, Illinois, then in 1910 in Pulaski County, Indiana. On May 2, 1911, Lena married Samuel Nussbaum in Winamac, Indiana. Samuel had been born, also in Fairbury, Illinois, on October 22, 1882. Samuel and Lena were the parents of five children, all born in Fairbury: Morris, born June 28, 1913; Richard S., born August 23, 1916; Wilma, born May 24, 1919; Marjorie, born April 20, 1923; and Nelson, born May 20, 1924. My mom reminds me that I once met Marjorie when we, along with my Grandma (Marjorie’s first cousin), visited Illinois in 1984. Samuel and Lena’s family was enumerated in Forrest, Illinois in the 1930 census. Samuel died thirty years later, on August 15, 1961, but Lena lived until August 1983 when she died at age 96.

Census Sunday – Jacob Hoffmann in Illinois

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Jacob Hoffmann, 1900 Census
Jacob Hoffmann, 1910 Census

Our Hoffmann emigrant ancestor, Jacob, appears in only two U.S. census records, having come to this country in 1883 and died in 1914. In 1900 Jacob appears in Fountain Creek Township, Iroquois County, Illinois. He had lived in this location for nine years, having purchased 160 acres 1/4 mile east and 1/4 mile north of Fountain Creek proper. This original farmhouse still stands; Jacob’s two youngest children, Samuel J. (born September 9, 1891) and Lucy (born July 1893) were born here.

June 2, 1900 Fountain Creek Twp., Livingston, Illinois 
23 23 Hoffman Jacob Head W M Sept 1836 63 M 25 France France France 1883 17 Farmer
—Christine Wife W F Mar 1850 50 M 25 7 6 France France France 1883 17
—Paul Son W M May 1878 22 S France France France 1883 17 No Farm Laborer 
—Andrew son W M May 1884 16 S Illinois France France Farm Laborer
—Maggie Daughter W F Sept 1888 11 S Illinois France France at School
—Sammie Son W M Sept 1891 6 S Illinois France France at School
—Louisa Daughter W F July 1893 6 S Illinois France France at School

This census lists Lucy as “Louisa,” though Louise was in fact an older daughter who died in 1884. Louise accounts for the fact that Jacob’s wife Christine is listed as having given birth to seven children, six of whom are still living. His first wife, Annette, had given birth to a further ten.

On September 16, 1908, Christine Schmidt Hoffmann herself died:

Mrs. Jacob Huffman of near East Lynn, died Wednesday night after a lingering illness of several months.  She will be buried this afternoon at the Amish cemetery. 

Jacob then rented the Fountain Creek farm to his son Andy. Two years later, the 1910 census finds the widowed Jacob living with Lucy on 4th Street in Fairbury, Illinois:

April 21 1910 Fairbury City, Indian Grove Twp., Livingston, Illinois
4th St
18 18 Hoffman Jacob Head M W 74 Wd Ger German Ger German Ger German 1880 na English own income
—Lucy Daughter F W 16 S Illinois Ger German Ger German English none

Some four years later, on January 20, 1914, Jacob died and was buried in Graceland Cemetery in Fairbury. It would be interesting to know how many of Fairbury’s current residents can claim a connection with Jacob.

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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.

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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.

Census Sunday – Mansfield, Piatt, Illinois

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It’s always interesting to follow one family (or all one’s related families) through each census in which they appear (I’m continuing that never-ending project on a nightly basis). It can also be interesting to look at all individuals who appear in census records in a particular location; this provides color to the history of these family members and how they may have interacted with one another.

Mansfield, Illinois, is one of those locations with many family connections.  For years I labored under the delusion that it was in southern Illinois, closer to Olney. This delusion was based on the fact that my great-great-grandparents, John and Belinda (Simmons) Montgomery both died in Olney, and a number of their children were born there, then later died in Mansfield. It pays to look at a map – Mansfield is about 125 miles north. Coincidentally Mansfield is much closer to Fairbury, Illinois, home of a huge portion of my maternal relatives, and the location of an annual summer pilgrimage.

The earliest Mansfield census record I have found thus far is that of Thomas Milton Montgomery, my great-grand-uncle, in 1910:

Village of Mansfield, Blue Ridge Twp., Piatt, Illinois May 3, 1910
Galesville Road
Montgomery, Tom M. Head M W 45 M1 Illinois New Jersey Ohio yes Farmer Gen’l
” Frances Wife F W 38 M1 21 6 6 Illinois Indiana Ohio
” Fred M. Son M W 19 S Illinois Illinois Illinois
” Joshua O. Son M W 17 S Illinois Illinois Illinois
” Bertha L. Daughter F W 15 S Illinois Illinois Illinois
” Hattie M. Daughter F W 13 S Illinois Illinois Illinois
” Stella B. Daughter F W 15 S Illinois Illinois Illinois
” Tom M. Son M W 3 S Illinois Illinois Illinois

No others are enumerated in Mansfield itself in 1910; in 1920, only Fred Milton Montgomery, Thomas’s son, is enumerated there (Thomas himself is enumerated in Blue Ridge Township but not within Mansfield’s boundaries):

January [?] 7, 1920 Mansfield Village, Blue Ridge Twp., Piatt, Illinois
Olive Street
121 121 Montgomery, Fred head R M W 28 M yes yes Illinois Illinois Illinois Delivery [?] engineer grain elevator
—Hannah Wife F W 26 M yes yes Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky
—Raymond son M W 5 S Illinois Illinois Kentucky
—Mabel P. daughter F W 4 S Illinois Illinois Kentucky

In 1930, a large number of families appear in Mansfield. Of these, two family groups are not in the direct Montgomery line but the Walker line (my great-grandfather Charles William Montgomery married Laura Maud Walker): Joshua O. Bateman and Minnie Walker with their daughter Tessie; and their married daughter Lora, her husband John M. Davis and their family.

The remaining families were scattered in various locations around town; Thomas Milton again:

April 3, 1930 Mansfield Village, Blue Ridge Twp., Piatt, Illinois
Short St.
65 65 Montgomery, Thomas M. Head O 1500 no M W 66 M 25 no yes Illinois Ohio Ohio 61 yes clerk Hardware Store
—Frances M. Wife-H V F W 59 M 18 no yes Illinois Indiana Ohio 61
—Onsley J. Son V M W 37 D [I think] 30 [crossed out] no yes Illinois Illinois Illinois 61 yes Electrician Ill. Power & Light Co. W.W.
—Thomas M. Son V M W 22 S no yes Illinois Illinois Illinois 61 yes Electrician Illinois Light and Power Co.
—Raymond L. Gr. son V M W 15 S yes yes Illinois Illinois Kentucky

Thomas Milton’s married daughter Hattie and family:

April 3 1930 Mansfield Village Piatt Illinois
62 62 Hannah John Head O 600 No M W 31 M 20 no yes Illinois Illinois Illinois 61 yes Drayman General Handling
—Hattie M Wife-H v F W 31 M 20 no yes Illinois Illinois Illinois
—Mildred P Daughter F W 10 S yes yes Illinois Illinois Illinois
—Arthur C Son M W 8 S yes Illinois Illinois Illinois
—Frances R Daughter F W 6 S yes Illinois Illinois Illinois
—Richard L Son M W 1 4/12 S no Illinois Illinois Illinois

Finally, Thomas Milton’s married daughter Bertha Lucinda, her husband Wren Cole Thomas, and their children:

April 4 1930 Mansfield Blue Ridge Piatt Illinois
Oliver Street
135 135 Thomas Wren C Head O 1500 R No M W 34 M 23 No Yes Indiana Indiana Indiana 60 yes Proprietor Hardware Store WW
—Bertha L Wife-H v F W 34 M 23 no yes Illinois Illinois Illinois
—Willis H Son v M W 9 S yes Illinois Indiana Illinois
—Lyle M Son v M W 7 S yes Illinois Indiana Illinois
—Helen P Son v M W 3 9/12 S no Illinois Indiana Illinois

I’ve only found two families enumerated in Mansfield in 1940 thus far: Hattie (Montgomery) Hannah’s married daughter Mildred Pearl and her husband Joseph Edward Alvis; and, again, Wren Cole and Bertha (Montgomery) Thomas:

April 9 1940 Mansfield Piatt Illinois
W Oliver
78 R 10 no Alvis Joe Head M W 22 M No H2 Illinois Same Place Piatt Illinois Laborer Farm 52 360
—Mildred wife F W 20 M no H4 Illinois Same house Piatt Illinois
—JoAnn Daughter F W 1/12 S no Illinois Same house
Hannah Arthur brother-in-law M W 18 S no 8 Illinois Same house Piatt Illinois CCC Camp GW 28 250
—Frances sister-in-law F W 16 S no H1 Illinois Same house

April 15 1940 Blue Ridge Twp Mansfield Piatt Illinois
160 O 2000 No Thomas W C Head M W 45 M no 8 Indiana Same Place 48 Plumber own business 52
—Bertha Wife F W 45 M no 8 Illinois Same Place
—Willis Son M W 19 S no H4 Illinois Same Place 48 Assistant Plumber Father’s business 52
—Lyle Son M W 17 S yes H1 Illinois Same Place
—Helen Daughter F W 13 S yes 7 Illinois Same Place
—W. C. Jr. Son M W 8 S yes 4 Illinois Same Place

Surname Saturday – the Simmons Brick Wall

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Names are interesting. When I first started doing genealogy, I found it intriguing to realize how many surnames you “own” in your family tree. Sometimes the surnames become more and more familiar over time as more relatives are uncovered and researched.  Other times the connection to a surname is more tenuous – a link of one maternal ancestor, and then the proverbial brick wall.

My great-great-grandmother Belinda Simmons is one of these tenuous links.  Born May 14, 1838 in Cincinnati, she married John Montgomery on Christmas Day 1858 in Ohio. John and Belinda appear in the 1860 (Clark, Ohio) and 1870-1880 (Denver Township, Illinois) censuses with their growing family. Belinda died on Valentine’s Day 1908 and is buried in Pleasant View Cemetery in Olney, Illinois (in a grave my family and I failed to find on a field trip to Olney).

Belinda’s parentage, however, remains a mystery, as does her name itself.  Sources list her name variously as Malinda, Mary Ann, Mary Ann Belinda, Mary B., and Belinda. After much searching I did finally locate Belinda in the 1850 census, aged 12. The discovery, however, only provided half the story: apparently sometime before 1850 Belinda’s father had died, and her mother (Rachel – the half of the story the census revealed) had remarried a Charles Clark. Also in the household is Belinda’s younger brother Charles H. Simmons, aged 10. If Belinda had been born a little later, it might be easy enough to find a Rachel Simmons and her young children in an earlier census – but since census records prior to 1850 don’t list each individual in the household by name, it is trickier to confirm the identities of family members – especially when the head of household’s name remains unknown.

So…the search back in time continues…

John and Mary Montgomery Tombstone from Find-a-Grave

Census Sunday – Life and Times of Lucinda Blanche Davis

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Eldest 5 children of Wellington and Lucinda Wilson

On this Mother’s Day it seemed fitting to take a look at the life of Lucinda Blanche Davis, my great-great-grandmother.  A mother of six, she died at age 35 when her youngest child was ten months old. Lucinda was born March 16, 1859 in Allenville, Missouri, the oldest child of John H. and Celia (Murphy) Davis.  She appears in the 1860 census in West Union, Iowa:

June 25, 1860 West Union Twp., Fayette, Iowa
John Davis 19 M Farmer 50 Do [born in Ohio]
Celia Davis 19 F Missouri
Lucinda Davis 1 F Do [born in Missouri]

I haven’t located John and Celia’s family in the 1870 census; on August 31, 1879, Lucinda married Wellington David Wilson in Brush Creek, Iowa.  Lucinda was twenty years old, and Wellington just shy of that.  In 1880 the new family was enumerated in Eden Township, Iowa:

5th June 1880 Eden Twp., Fayette, Iowa 
Wilson Wm D.W M 21 x [married] Mail Carrier N. York N. York N. York
—Blanche L. W F 21 Wife x [married] Illinois Ohio Ill

Wellington and Lucinda’s first child, Maud Ethel, was born May 31, 1881; five more children followed over the next twelve years: Jerry Erving, Carl Ozro (my great-grandfather), Caroline Blanch, Pearl Ethel, and William David. Sometime between the births of Maud and Jerry the family moved to Nebraska; in the 1885 Nebraska status census, the family is enumerated in Niobrara, living next door to Wellington’s father Charles:

June 1 1885 Niobrara Precinct Knox Nebraska Page 2 Enum 467
13 13 Wilson Chas. W M 52 x [married] Farmer New York NY NY
—Lucy B W M 48 wife x Keeps house New York NY NY
—Eddie W M 19 Son x [single] Iowa NY NY
—Samuel W M 12 Son x x [school] Iowa NY NY
Barbara Anderson W F 20 x servant 3 Canada Can Can
14 14 Wilson David W M 26 x [married] servant New York NY NY
—Lucinda W F 26 wife x keeps house x [can’t read] Missouri O O
—Maud W F 5 Daughter x [single] x [school] Iowa NY Mis. [looks almost like Wis.]
—Jerry W M 1 Daughter [sic] x x x [can’t read/write] Nebraska NY O [?]
Davis Lizzie W F 19 x servant 6 Iowa NY NY

Nine years later, on September 29, 1894, Lucinda died in Bloomfield, Nebraska. Shortly thereafter Baby William David was adopted by Lucinda’s sister Anna and her husband Irwin Hubbard. Around 1895 Wellington David was remarried, to Betsey Olsen; at about this same time he moved from Nebraska to Sisseton, South Dakota.  He and Betsey had three children of their own: Beulah, Warner, and Gladys. Wellington died in Sisseton June 17, 1923.

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Wednesday’s Child – Montgomery Babies

Posted on by agnette

 

For children who were born and died within the ten-year gap between censuses, a headstone may be one of the only clues to their existence. Thanks to resources like the Find-a-Grave website, it’s possible to find a record of these headstones from many miles away.

A case in point is the double headstone of Anne B. Montgomery and an unnamed infant sibling, children of Samuel and Susanna H. Ruse Montgomery.  Samuel was my great-great-grand uncle. Born in 1832 in New Jersey, he married Susanna before 1870, when they were enumerated in Clark, Ohio.  Samuel is listed as age 39, Susanna age 25.  William, age 1, is in the household as well. Without the headstone in Lynchburg, Ohio’s, Masonic Cemetery, however, it wouldn’t be apparent that Samuel and Susanna had already lost one unnamed child, who was born and died December 22, 1867.

Samuel and Susanna had another child, Anne B., born March 16, 1871. As noted on Anne’s headstone, she died at the age of six months and 16 days.  A little over a year later Susanna herself died as well. Samuel then married Hattie A. Paige (born between 1844-1845), and they had two sons, Edgar and Stanley, both of whom lived to adulthood and had children themselves.

Sunday’s Obituary – Samuel Frank Montgomery

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Samuel Frank Montgomery was my great-grand-uncle.  His older brother, Charles William Montgomery, was my great-grandfather and has been mentioned here a number of times.  Samuel appears as “Franklin,” age 7, in the 1870 census in Denver Township, Illinois, with parents John and Belinda, and siblings Hattie, Charles, Thomas, Harry, and Edward.  In 1880, Samuel F., age 18, is listed with “works on farm” as his occupation.

By 1900 Samuel is married to Ida Goodell and appears in Blue Ridge Township, Piatt County, Illinois, as “Frank,” with a birthdate of September 1863.  Other members of the household are:  wife Ida M., born December 1869; daughter Florence, born August 1889; daughter Ruth, born August 1891; daughter Nellie, born April 1895; and daughter “Dortha,” born July 1898. Ida’s census record indicates she had given birth to a total of 5 children, of whom 4 were still living by 1900.

This photo shows Samuel, Ida, and one of their children:

Still in Blue Ridge by 1910, Samuel F. is listed as age 48 and a rural mail carrier.  Ida M., age 40; Nellie B., age 17; “Dorotha” L., age 11; and John S. complete the family. By 1920 in Blue Ridge Township, Nellie has left home, leaving a household of four. Samuel is now listed as working at a livery. Ida passed away in 1929, and I have yet to locate Samuel in the 1930 or 1940 censuses.  He did not die himself until 1959, age 96.  Samuel and Ida are buried in the Blue Ridge Township Mansfield Cemetery in Mansfield, Illinois.