The photos available on Hazel’s Find A Grave memorial page are far more glamorous than her 8 year old picture. But it’s par for the course for our 2nd grade class of Gonzales Grammar School. Hazel died relatively young according … Continue reading
Little 8 year old Sam Yop Jr. almost didn’t know his father. Sam is pictured here with a wonderful group of ragamuffin kids living in Gonzales, Monterey county, California in the year 1923. Sam’s father (Sam Yop Sr.) worked on … Continue reading
Evelyn Klumpp, 1910 Chicago (age 16)
Evelyn Klumpp doesn’t look too happy in this 1910 Manierre school picture from 1910 Chicago. That’s right, we’re back to Ward 22 if you’ve followed any of the other Manierre school posts. But Evelyn wasn’t so easy to find. One, although Klumpp seems like a very unique name, the number of misspellings have made her harder to track down (Klemp, Klump, etc.). Two, her parents may have just divorced or her mother died before this photo – hard to know so her world was a bit topsy-turvey.
Here’s what I know: The year this photo was taken, 1910, Evelyn lived with her uncles (her father’s brothers) Albert, Edward, and Gustav Klumpp (spelled Klemp) in Ward 22 of Chicago. They are her uncles despite the fact that she’s listed as a sister rather than a niece on the census. According to her birth record, she was born to William and Mamie Klumpp on January 15, 1894 in Cook County, Illinois. You’ll find William with his brothers, sisters and parents in 1870 and 1880 in Cook county with all the same names and near same birth years listed as the 1910 census. A marriage record has William Klumpp marring Mary O’Brien in 1886.
BUT, we never see Evelyn in a census record with her parents – they seem utterly lost in 1900. The rest of her family (at least on her father’s side) is in – you guessed it – Ward 22 of Chicago. Grandpa Christopher, now a widow lives with son Edward. Christopher would die 2 years later. Uncle Albert and Gustav live together as well. Gustav would die in an Insane Hopstial in 1945, Albert died in 1932. All, including some sisters, are buried in Rose Hill cemetery in Cook co.
Now, based on father William’s parents (Christopher and Caroline Klumpp) we know that William died in Seneca, Ohio of all places in 1923 – he is listed as divorced on the death record. He is also in Seneca in 1920, and thank goodness he was living with daughter Evelyn. She and husband Milo Long married in 1912 (Klumpp/O’Brien are parents) in Indiana. That was just 2 years after this photo, Evelyn would have been 18. At some point, they moved to Ohio and cared for her father before his death. When and where mom went/died is unknown.
Evelyn and Milo with one son William continued to live in Seneca, Ohio at least through 1940. But at some point moved to California. Evelyn Long died on March 27, 1972 in Los Angeles. I’d love to solve the mystery of the location of the family in 1900!
Wanda Johnson in 1908, age 17
Wanda Johnson is identified by #3 on the Seneca High School photo from Seneca, Kansas. (Whole photo originally posted here.) Her bow is magnificent isn’t it? Wanda was from a larger family, and one I wish I had the time to delve into more. She was born about 1890/91 in Kansas to Irvin Johnson (1856, CA) and Ellen Burger (1854, Canada). Her parents married in Ontario but the children were born in Kansas. Irvin was a farmer naturally. Wanda was the 6th of 7 children as well as I can tell.
In 1908, when this photo was taken, Wanda was 17 or 18. In 1910 she lived in Seneca with her parents. Her older sister Effie and husband and small child lived in a nearby town, Richmond, with older brother Claude. Claude was a widower at 26 with a baby (Claude Jr.). See what I mean? So much more I’d love to research. But back to Wanda.
She married Elmer Britt sometime before 1915 when the couple appeared in the 1915 KS census. In 1920 they lived in Seneca, Kansas and Elmer was a barber. But, by 1930 they had made a move to Los Angeles, California. Older sister Effie (now Stevens) and family were also living in CA, near Los Angeles. I’m not sure who followed whom. Elmer was working as a salesman for building materials. The couple had no children and that may have been the reason that by 1940 they were divorced.
Wanda was a single border in LA working in a clerical position for the board of education – at age 49 it may have been her first job. And unfortunately her sister, Effie, would die in LA a few years later in 1944. I hope Wanda wasn’t as lonely as she appeared on paper (or even in this photo). While I’m not totally sure this is her, a Wanda Britt born 10/29/1890 died in Arizona in April of 1978.
Margery VanAmburg, 1931, Plymouth High School
Such a sweet photo of 18 year old Margery VanAmberg. This was her senior year high school photo at Plymouth High in Plymouth, Wayne county, Michigan. During the 1930 census, the year before this photo, Margery lived in Plymouth with her family: Arthur Garfield VanAmberg (dad), Nellie Friend (mom), Marian (sister, age 12) and Keith (brother, age 10). Her father was a carpenter building houses, as his father had been before him.
The family had moved to Plymouth from Bay county, Michigan where they had lived in 1920, next door to Nellie’s parents (Margery’s maternal grandparents). There, Arthur had been a farmer. Margery’s paternal grandfather (Fred VanAmberg) lived with them.
After high school, Margery did what many women of the depression/pre-war era did. She went to work. According to the 1940 census, she was a bench worker at an auto plant. Her siblings (all of them still living at home) also worked. Marion was a stenographer and Keith a machinist in the auto industry.
Eventually Margery would marry Charles Morrison and at some point move to California. It appeared to be a family move. Mother, Nellie died in California in 1983, just 3 years shy of her 100th birthday! Margery had been preceded in death by her husband, and died in California in 2005. I’m confident there will be some descendants to give this photo a good home.
Clinton V. Postiff, Plymouth High School, 1931
I do love Clinton V. Postiff’s hair! This is a photo of 18 year old Clinton – born in Michigan in 1913 to a college educated farmer, Walter James Postiff and his wife Mabel Shayman. Walter and Mabel lived in Michigan all of their married lives and had 5 children in all; Clinton was the second oldest and second son. In 1940, the entire family still lived at home with the exception of Clinton. He had married Dorothy and was farming on his own. Dorothy had a 2 year old son, listed as Clinton’s step-son in the census. Zary Owens.
Farming, or something, took the Postiff’s to California. Clinton died in Los Angeles in 1971 at only 58 years of age. His wife would outlive him by more than 30 years, passing away in 2005. Several sibling died out there too, so the move must have been a family affaire. Both brother Allen and sister Mildred died there; Allen in 1935 and Mildred in 2002. I don’t know where they are buried, but Dorothy’s obituary indicates that she and Clinton had at least 4 children – some of whom are hopefully into genealogy research and will enjoy the photo.
Good luck Clinton!
Wm. Litchfield, Stockton, CA
I admit, I’m a little stumped by Mr. Litchfield. While only his last name appears (several times) on the front of the picture, on the back “Wm. Litchfield” is scribbled. The photographer was in Stockton, CA. With a quick search there are two possible people this could be. 1) William Litchfield born 1881 in Canada, lived most of his life (1922-1940 at least) in Pasadena, CA. Mother was Jean M. Litchfield from Canada, father (unknown) was from England. 2) William Litchfield born 1874 in Minnesota. Son of C. L. Litchfield and Jennie Hanson. Resided in Oakland, CA during the 19-teens and into the 1920 census. However, he isn’t in California very long: 1880 in MN with family, 1900 in Alaska with brother Arnold, 1910 in Seattle, 1920 in Oakland, 1930 in Seattle, 1940 in Washington state.
I’m leaning toward the latter Mr. Litchfield as the one in the picture. Why? Because while he didn’t live in CA very long, when he did he lived much closer to Stanton where the photo was taken. Pasadena is 5 + hours away (even longer back then). That’s literally all I have to go on without more in depth research. I will contact family members of both Mr. Litchfield’s, maybe they know more. William Litchfield is for sale on eBay here.
These casual pictures can be a lot of fun. And the personal note on the back is full of great information. This is a picture of Bessie Ethel Uridge holding “fruits of the soil” on the ranch in 1939, Sanger, … Continue reading
Unclaimed Ancestors 