Adele Gertrude Carson, 1931

This lovely young lady with the gorgeous curls (a la Shirley Temple) is Adele Gertrude Carson. She was born on Independence Day in 1911. She’s probably almost 20 in this photo, although looks younger to me. Adele was the youngest daughter to Charles R. Carson and Mary E. J. Sunderland. The family lived most of their lives in Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan; which is where Adele was attending High School at this time.

Her family was easy to find and there’s abundant information out there. It’s rare that with so much information I find NO family tree with these people. It appears that most of the Carson children, including Adele, did not marry or have children. Older sister Marion V. Carson (1899-1963) never married, older brother Victor H. Carson (1909-1911) died a baby, older brother Joseph A. (1904-1977) did marry an Ardiss Arnold in 1925 and had one son, Charles Robert Carson (1927) – apparently named after his grandfather.

What’s interesting me about the family was that mom worked frequently. When Charles and Mary married (in Ohio) she was a teacher. In 1930 she worked as an auto assembly worker and in 1940 she was listed as a branch worker in the motor car company. Also, I absolutely LOVE the amount of information that Lucas County, OH put on their marriage records. Check out how much awesome data is on 1/2 a sheet of paper. It’s truly amazing – I wish all my ancestors had marriage records like this.

1898 Marriage record from Lucas County, Ohio

Yet still, no one is looking for these people. Little Charles Robert Carson where are you? Did you marry and have a family??

The whole family – or most of it anyway – is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Plymouth, Michigan. Photos are on Find A Grave.

Good luck Carson’s!