Sunday, April 08, 2007

Ancestors in the 1930 U.S. Federal Census - Part 2

April 1st was Census Day for the 1930 U.S. Federal Census. In honor of that census day, throughout the month of April I am posting lists of my known direct ancestors and where they were residing during that census. I'll also list who's missing; for us family historians, missing individuals on census records can be the most frustrating and intriguing challenges of genealogy!

(The census image has been removed)

My then-five-and-a-half-year-old paternal grandmother, Jane Marie YORK/Jeanne Marie HOLST, is enumerated with her adoptive parents, Alfred Henry HOLST and Nellie May CONCIDINE, on Randall Street in Coopersville, Ottawa Co., Michigan, along with older adoptive sister, Lucille. Both girls' names have been mis-spelled. Note also that Jeanne is listed as an "Adopted Daughter," even though she wasn't legally adopted by the Holsts until right around her sixteenth birthday. Legally, she was only their foster child. Jeanne's then-foster parents must have known something about her biological parents, because both her parents are listed as being born in Michigan; while Lucille (their biological daughter) is listed with her parents' birthplaces being Germany and Michigan, matching Alfred and Nellie's places of birth.

(The census image has been removed)

Jeanne's biological brother, Harry Orlando YORK/James "Jim" Howard ERWIN, was enumerated just 17 homes earlier, also on Randall Street, with his adoptive parents, Howard W. ERWIN and Effie M. GAUNT. Notice that there is no "adopted son" notation for Jim. Again, his adoptive parents must have known something about his biological parents, because both his parents' birthplaces are listed as "Michigan," while his adoptive parents had been born in Illinois and Michigan. I don't know how old Uncle Jim was when he was legally adopted, but I think he must have been directly adopted from Blodgett Children's Home (in Grand Rapids, Kent Co., Michigan) instead of being fostered out for many years, like my grandmother was. While researching the adoptive families of my grandmother and her brother, I discovered that the Holsts and the Erwins were shirt-tail relations...in other words, they were related to the same people without being related to each other. I am only supposing here, as no one is alive who could tell me, that Uncle Jim was fostered out/adopted first, and then the Holsts, who had lost infant twins a few years previously and could not have more children, became interested in fostering a child of their own. They probably heard about my grandmother from the Erwin family.

These children's biological parents were Howard Merkel YORK and Mary Jane BARBER. I was going to add their census information to this post, but it's getting a bit long. I'll save Howard and Mary Jane for next time.

(Jane Marie YORK/Jeanne Marie HOLST grew up to marry my paternal grandfather, Robert Lewis ROBBINS. See his 1930 U.S. Federal Census enumeration here.)

(Part 1, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12)

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