Ancestors in the 1930 U.S. Federal Census - Part 6

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!

My posts about my grandparents enumerated in the 1930 U.S. Federal Census would not be complete without mentioning the DeVries family. My mother was raised by her step-father, Adrian "Ed" DeVRIES, son of George Edward Benjamin DeVRIES and Josephine BUSH (also known by their original Dutch names, Jarig Egbert Binnes DeVRIES and Johanna BOS). Although Grandpa DeVRIES may have been a step-ancestor, he was always my grandpa, and nothing less!

(The census image has been removed)

Here you can see that 13-year-old Ed was enumerated with his parents, brothers, and sister at their home at 1024 Caulfield Avenue, Grand Rapids, Kent Co., Michigan. His name is mis-spelled "Adrain," and his sister's is missing the final "-e." This home was a little house in the back of the property, often rented out for extra income; but in this case the family was living there, and the larger house (number 1022) was being rented out for $20 a month to widow Paula STEENSMA and her six children.

(The census image has been removed)

My uncle has been researching the history of these houses, and so far has discovered that George's step-father, John Hoogstra, purchased a home on that property (originally numbered 502 Caulfield Avenue) with another gentleman and may have later bought out his partner's interest in the home. He has been searching city directories to find out exactly which address George and Josephine were living at when Ed was born. It is known that brother Ben and his wife Ruth lived in the little house for a while as newlyweds in 1946. It's been a lot of fun to discover the details, and it's quite possible that my uncle may have been bitten by the genealogy bug (at least a little bit!).

As well as doing hands-on research in the Grand Rapids City Library for city directories and the Kent County courthouse for deeds and other land records, we have used the following helpful websites: Steve Morse's Obtaining Street Name Changes in One Step and Barbara Vander Mark's Genealogy, Geography and History of My City, Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan, an absolutely invaluable resource.

In covering my grandparents' generation, I've touched on many of my great-grandparents and even one great-great-grandparent (in the first part of this series)! Now I will continue with my great-great-grandparents, and even a 3rd-great-grandparent!

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12)