This 1923 high school class photo is one of my favorites! The full photo can be seen in this post from 2013. Today’s star is Mildred Hufford. My search for Mildred started as it usually does with a class photo. … Continue reading
Meet Norbert Hahn. Eighteen in this photo, he was the son of Elmer and Ruth Hahn, living in Hartland, Huron country, Ohio – a short distance from Wakeman. Norbert was the first child born to his parents on September 25, … Continue reading
Floyd Blum, 1923 Liberty Union High School in Ohio
Meet Floyd, as promised, the husband of Dorothy Cowan from the previous post. They were in the same class at Liberty Union High School in Baltimore, Fairfield county, Ohio. Whether or not they were high school sweethearts is unknown. Dorothy, we know, had 3 years of college before she married.
Like Dorothy, Floyd was born in Ohio. According to Find A Grave his birthday was April 14, 1906 and he lived until September of 1981. Unlike Dorothy, not all that time was spent in Ohio. The son of Charles Blum(e) and Nellie Strayer, both of Ohio, Floyd moved with his family to Michigan sometime before 1915. We know this because Floyd and his younger sister Relva (who is daughter is named after apparently) were both born in Ohio, but younger brother Paul was born in Michigan in 1915. Charles was working as a motor builder in Detroit during the 1920 census. Before that, in 1910, he had been an oil well drilling supervisor in Lancaster, OH. Clearly the family was back in Ohio by 1923 for this photo.
We know a bit about Floyd and Dorothy in 1930, they were married with one child, Relva. The directory of Newark, Ohio listed Floyd and Dorothy in 1927, 1929, 1931, and 1934. I believe it was 1935 when Dorothy was once again living with her family and the couple had divorced.
I was unable to find Floyd in the 1940 census, but we do know that in 1943 he joined the WWII effort from Philadelphia, PA. And, according to the SSDI, Floyd died in Parksburg, Chester county, PA. Whether he ever remarried is unknown. But he hadn’t by 1943 as he’s listed as “divorced with dependents” on the WWII draft registration card. Floyd is buried in Grandview Cemetery in Fairfield, the same cemetery where his mother is buried.
Dorothy Cowan, 1923 Liberty Union High School
This is an absolutely wonderful class photo from 1923 – the seniors of Liberty Union High School in Baltimore, Ohio (near Lancaster in Fairfield county.) I’ve started with the lovely Dorothy Cowan. I don’t think the written name next to her photo is her signature though, as all the names are written in the same script.
1923 class of Liberty Union High School in Ohio
Dorothy, I presumed, was born about 1905 given she would have been 18 in 1923. I found a Dorothy Cowan living in Liberty, Fairfield county, OH in 1910, 1920, 1935, and 1940. She was the only surviving child of Charles G. Cowan and Emma Olive Sager born on May 7, 1905 in Ohio. It appears that Emma had several children die, but at what age is unknown. She was 34 when Dorothy was born. On the 1910 census the number of children born is difficult to read, it could be 3 or 5. Dorothy is the only one who made it to adulthood. That must have been tough on everyone.
In 1910, four year old Dorothy lived with her parents and maternal grandmother (Rebecka Fultz Sager.) By 1920, the three lived on their own; Mr. Cowan was a farmer. But Dorothy’s paternal grandparents, Amos and Lucinda Cowan, lived only a few houses (or farms) away. Three years after this lovely high school photo was taken, Dorothy married Floyd R. Blum* at the age of 21, and after 3 years of college. And in 1930 they had an almost 2 year old daughter Relva J. Blum and were living in Lancaster.
However, something goes amiss. By 1935 Dorothy had moved back in with her parents, little Relva with her. Â In 1940 she was an elementary school teacher still living in Liberty with mom and dad. Dorothy listed her self as a widow. But Floyd wasn’t dead. As a matter of fact he became a WWII vet and lived until 1981.
Her Ohio death certificate indicates that Dorothy Mae Cowan Blum died on July 5, 1994 in Richland and that she was divorced. It seems silly to indicate a marital status of divorced when she was married for less than 10 years of her whole life! Dorothy is buried at Union Evangelical Cemetery in Baltimore, OH.
It would be easy to characterize her life as sad. But the truth is that these bare facts tell us very little about how Dorothy weathered what may have been rocky times. She very well could have been the happiest woman on earth. And I hope she was!
*A follow-up post will cover Floyd. He’s also in the 1923 class photo with Dorothy!
*rald Rogers, Wakeman HS 1932
Another partial name from the 1932 class of Wakeman High School near Lorain, Ohio. On the back of the photo, all we have of the name is *RALD ROGERS. Initially I thought the D was an O. But I could find absolutely no one with the name *RALO ROGERS. Then it dawned on me that it was indeed a D!
So Gerald Rogers came to life (again). There is one definitely Gerald Rogers that is bound to be our man. In the 1930 Wakeman, Huron County, Ohio census, Gerald is a 16 year old born in Ohio to parents also from Ohio. However, he’s living as a lodger (not working) with Gage and Gertrude Garner. Because he’s not living with his parents or anyone identified as family it makes comparing our Gerald with other Gerald’s harder.
In 1940, there is another Gerald Rogers still in Huron County. He’s 26 now, a farm hand on the Sweeting farm, married to Eleanor Rogers (21). Hard to know if it’s the same George but there is more than a little likelihood that it is.
Another Gerald Rogers in Ohio that comes up is Gerald Ernest Rogers, lets call him GED. GED was born 11/18/1913 in Lima, Ohio. His parents were Robert Rogers and Edith Ryerson. GED died in California on 2/27/1989. In 1920 in Kenmore, Summit Co., Ohio GED lived with his dad, step-mom, 4 siblings and grandparents (John & Ida Rogers) on his grandfather’s farm.
In my opinion, GED is our Gerald Rogers. By 1925, GED’s dad has married for the 3rd time. In 1930 older brother Howard is a lodger elsewhere, grandparents John & Ida are living with a sister of GED’s, dad Robert (now a widower again – this guy was trouble!) and another sibling Hazel are living in Cincinnati. In other words, the family is spread out all over the place. It would not be surprising that Gerald was living as a lodger. What would be surprising is if the Garner’s (with whom he was living) were not somehow related or at least close friends of the family. Maybe actual family can fill us in!
I’m sure hoping we can find your descendants Gerald!
Yes, Another chopped off name from Wakeman High School in Huron County, Ohio. This one seemed straight forward, ____herine Salzman. What else besides “Catherine” or “Katherine” could that really be? So I was shocked when it didn’t turn up much. (Although I shouldn’t be shocked by any research hiccup at this point!)
But I think I’ve found the identity of this lovely lady. Kathryn Salzman was born in 1916 in Ohio to Walter Salzman and Edna Johnson. She was the second oldest of 6 siblings, including Louise, Stella, Grace, Robert, and Charlotte. Lovely classic names! In 1930, 2 years before this photo the family lived in Lorain, Ohio – not far from Wakeman. Walter was a dairy farmer. In 1920 Ohio census the last name appeared as “Saltzman.”
Something happened by 1940. Brother Robert lived with an uncle in Pittsfield, OH. John Glynn (but mom’s maiden name was Johnson?) and a John Salzman as well listed as “Helper”. Robert is listed as “nephew.” Sister charlotte lived with her grandparents, Conrad and Ida Salzman in Camden, Lorain, OH. Where is Kathryn?
Walter apparently lived until 1968 in Lorain, OH. Edna died young in 1933, which explains why the children may have been split up to live with relatives. According to Edna’s death certificate her death was related to third degree burns. Robert was not far behind his mother and died in 1943.Â
As for Kathryn, I’m not sure what became of her. Hopefully a searching family member will!
Wakeman High School class of 1932
“…rie Pettiford” turned out to be Marie Pettiford. The class photo you see on the left has most of the first name of each person cut off. I wasn’t sure how easy they would be to find. But the last person on the list was also the only black person in the class. So when I looked for a female, unmarried Pettiford born around 1914 who lived in Huron County, Ohio one person came up. And luckily her first name ended in “rie”!
Marie E. Pettiford was born on Valentine’s day 1914 to Herman E. Pettiford and Myrtle Stafford. Her father was a barber. She had one brother, Robert who was about 3 years older than Marie. Her family lived in Wakeman all her life. They are in the 1910, 1920, and 1930 census. However by 1930 her father was a widow. Myrtle died in 1921 at age 28. The death certificate states the cause of death was exophthalmic goiter. Huh? I had never of heard of this. One website defines it as “hyperthyroidism with protrusion of the eyeballs.” I’ll let you google the images.
Marie Pettiford, age 18. One year before her death.
Her daughter was even younger when she died. The lovely Marie Pettiford died at age 19, one year after this photo was taken. On March 22, 1933, according to the death certificate, Marie died of a heart attack due to “surgical shock” during a laparotomy. A laparotomy was basically abdominal surgery. Why she was having surgery is unknown, maybe some form of hyperthyroidism like her mother. Whatever the reason, her body couldn’t take it.
By 1940 her father and brother are living together and working as barber’s in Mr. Pettiford’s barber shop; feeling quite lucky to be alive I imagine.
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!
Laura Mason Culp of Ohio
This is a wonderful picture of Laura Mason Culp, wife of William H. Culp and mother to 6 children that I could identify. I found this for sale at ebay (link to sale here). With so many children, I was surprised to find that no online trees had Laura represented in them. But I know this, one day a great-great grandchild of Laura’s will get the genealogy bug and they will be glad to have this photo!
The photograph, as you can see, was taken in West Jefferson, Ohio. Her name in full is written on the back. Laura was born in Ohio in 1854. I have not discovered who her parents were yet. She married William H. Culp on December 15, 1873 – there is a beautiful marriage license online. Over the next decade + she had at least 6 children from what I can tell: Elverson, Mason, Mary, Willard, Dittwell Earl, Sarah – not necessarily in that order. Laura died relatively young in 1892 and is buried in Silent Home Cemetery in Franklin County, Ohio. Her gravestone is online at FindAGrave.com.
Now to find those hidden genealogy buffs in the Culp family! Good luck Laura.
Elizabeth Washburn of Marion, Ohio
Another beautiful cabinet card from Photomuseum on eBay. The name on the bottom is Elizabeth Washburn and the photo was taken in Marion, Ohio. There’s only one Elizabeth Washburn that I could find in Marion, Ohio. This is likely, Elizabeth Morrall Washburn. She was the daughter of Samuel and Margaret Morall, born in 1845 in Ohio and lived in Marion County all her life. Census records from 1850-1880 place her there. She married Elias Washburn in 1851 in Marion. It’s possible her husband died before 1870, as she lived alone with their children starting in that census.
A great portrait. I hope she finds a family home.
Unclaimed Ancestors 