The Wilsons at Fourth Street School, Hudson, New York

Fourth Street School, Hudson, NY
Postcard published by J. Ruben, Photographer, Newburgh, NY
[used card postmarked Aug 17, 1924; in possession of author]

I think my favorite part of the newly available 1940 U.S. Census is the question "Highest grade of school completed." This is a piece of information not seen on previous census records. Enumerators were instructed to enter the last completed full grade of school or college. If the subject's schooling had been in an ungraded school or in a foreign country, the enumerator was to determine the equivalent grade in our school system or the number of years of schooling completed.[1]

I'd never asked my grandfather, Joe Wilson, how many years of school he'd completed. I'd not really thought about it until a few months ago when I found three Hudson (New York) Evening Register newspaper articles from 30 June 1898, 2 July 1900 and 1 July 1901 with his name as well as the names of his younger brother, Ben, and older sister, Nina, on the Old Fulton New York Historic Newspapers website.[2] All of them were reported as having made sufficient progress to be promoted to the next grade.

All three children were in the same grade and, in fact, in the same class. This despite the fact that Nina was probably born 15 January 1887, Joe 11 October 1889 and Ben 5 March 1891. They had arrived as the Wilensky family at Ellis Island from the village they called Kazan (today Kozyany) in the Russian Empire (now in Belarus) on 1 June of 1897.[3] I do not know whether they'd attended school in their shtetl (village), but in the United States there certainly would have been a language barrier, at least initially.

So, I was not surprised that in June 1898, just one year after arrival, when Nina would have been 10, Joe 8 and Ben 7, they had all completed the same grade: first, at the Fourth Street School under the tutelage of Miss Rosella Brown.

The newspaper from 2 July 1900 reported that they all had been promoted to fourth grade after having completed their third grade class. And the following year on 1 July 1901, they had satisfactorily completed Miss Daley's fourth grade and were promoted to fifth. By that time, Nina would have been 13, Joe 11, and Ben 10.

The Wilsons, show up in Hudson city directories through 1904.[4] Currently, the Fulton website does not carry Hudson, NY newspapers for 1902 - 1905 (the last years the Wilson family would have still been resident in Hudson), so I do not know how many more of these newspapers will report Nina, Joe and Ben's continued academic success. I am planning, however, a first ever trip to Hudson this fall and will try to locate newspaper editions from the end of the school year to see if I can track them further. I'll try to locate academic records, as well.

The Fourth Street School was located at the intersection of Fourth and State Streets in Hudson. From the post card, shown above, it looks to have been an impressive structure. At some point it became a high school. It stood until 1994. It had been deteriorating under private ownership and the City of Hudson, in a fit of urban renewal, allowed it to be torn down for a parking lot.[5]

The 1905 New York State Census finds the Wilson family in Albany where Nina, 17, worked as a saleslady. All of her siblings were still in school: Joe 15, Ben 14, and Esther 6. [6]

1905 New York State Census, 196 S. Pearl Street, Albany

The 1940 Census reports that Joe completed the eighth grade [7] and that Ben completed the first year of high school.[8] Nina, unfortunately, died in New York City in the midst of the influenza epidemic in January of 1919.[9]

If Joe and Ben continued their progress in school they would have each been about 15 when they left school: Joe 15 in eighth grade and Ben 15 in ninth (the first year of high school). So, this record in Albany may have reflected Joe's last year in school.

A 1905 Albany City Directory confirms the family's presence in Albany in 1905.[10] And, a 1906 Albany Directory [11] notes that they'd moved to New York City (I love directories!).

1906 Albany City Directory (FHL Microfilm 1,759,485)

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find the Wilsons in NYC in 1906. Joe Wilson, however, seems to have gone his separate way back to Hudson. The 1906 Hudson City Directory [12] reports that Joe is living at 508 State Street as a boarder. Unfortunately, no occupation is listed. Further searching in the directory indicates that he was residing with the Emma Wise family at that address. This family was shown living next door to the Wilsons in Hudson in the 1900 US Census and Andrew Wise, Emma's son, was close in age to Joe.[13]

In this family there is almost immediate change in educational aspiration with birth in the United States. Esther, the youngest child in the family and the only one born in the United States (Hudson in 1898[14]), eventually graduated from Hunter College and became a high school teacher. Both of Joe's children (my mother Norma, and my uncle Ira) attended New York University. And my uncle went on to graduate from NYU law school. 

It's amazing what can happen given opportunity!

Notes:
1. Bureau of Census, U.S. Department of Commerce. "Abridged Instructions to Enumerators, Population, Form P-103, Washington: 19 January 1940.
2. Hudson Evening Register (Hudson, New York). Old Fulton New York Post Cards.com. Digital images. http://www.fultonhistory.com/fulton.html : accessed 31 December 2011.  Articles from: 30 June 1898, 2 July 1900, and 1 July 1901.
3. "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 7 September 2009), manifest, Pisa, Hamburg to New York, arriving 1 June 1897, list 7, Hode, Nachame, Josef and Benjamin Wilensky, citing National Archives Microfilm Serial M237.
4. Hudson City, Claverack and Stottville Directory for 1904 (Hudson, NY: JH Lant
Co., Inc., 1904), 150, entry for "Wilson, Saul," FHL Film 1,759,798.
5. Osterink, Carole. "Almost Two Decades Later." The Gossips of Rivertown, 17 March 2010 (http://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2010/03/almost-two-decades-later.html : accessed 8 September 2012).
6.  1905 New York States Census, Albany County, New York, enumeration of inhabitants, Ward 4, Enumeration District 1, sheet 20, Saul, Hoda, Nina, Joseph, Benjamin and Ester Wilson; digital image, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 November 2010), New York State Archives: Albany, New York.
7. 1940 U.S. Census, Kings County, New York, population schedule, Brooklyn, Enumeration District 24-1839, sheet 3A, household 40, Joseph Wilson; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 April 2012).
8. 1940 U.S. Census, New York County, New York, population schedule, Manhattan, Enumeration District 31-1894, sheet 6B, household 166, Benjamin Wilson; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 August 2012).
9. New York City Department of Health, death certificate 1585 (11 January 1919), Nina Herman; New York City Municipal Archives, New York.
10. Directory for the Year 1905 of the Cities of Albany and Renssalaer (Albany, NY: Sampson & Murdock Co., 1905), 636, entry for "Wilson, Saul," FHL Film 1,759,484.
11. Directory for the Year 1906 of the Cities of Albany and Renssalaer (Albany, NY: Sampson & Murdock Co., 1906), 640, entry for "Wilson, Saul," FHL Film 1,759,485.
12. Hudson City, Claverack and Stottville Directory for 1906 (Hudson, NY: JH LantCo., Inc., 1904), 138, entry for "Wilson, Joseph," FHL Film 1,759,798.
13. 1900 U.S. Census, Columbia County, New York, population schedule, Hudson, Enumeration District 19, sheet 8A, dwelling 126, Family 172, Cyrus Wilson; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 August 2008).
14. "Information from the City of Hudson of Births," extracted record for Esther Wilson, born 10 September 1898, Hudson, New York; City Clerk, Hudson, New York, extract by Clerk, City of Hudson and received (and in possession of author) 18 July 2008.

1940 U.S. Census: Finding celebrities who are less than a wink in their father's eye

There are just some names that are so unusual that one cannot forget them. When I lived in Albuquerque I was a big fan of the Dukes, the top farm team of baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. They had awesome pitching. Along with Fernando Valenzuela, they also has Orel L. Hershiser. What a name!

And what a name to find whilst indexing the Erie County, New York 1940 U.S. Census pages!  E.D. 15-153, sheet 4B, family 129, lines 60-64. My first thought was "Hershiser, Orel L.?" What!?!

Screen shot (27 May 2012): 1940 U.S. Census, New York, Erie County, ED 15-153, sheet 4B, (FamilySearch.org)

Orel L. Herschiser was 35 in April 1940, was married to Marjorie (27) and lived with his children: Orel L, Jr. (age 7), Marjorie Ann (6) and John W. (7 months old). They lived at 289 Nassau Avenue, Kenmore, New York. Just a little north of Buffalo. They owned their home which they reported as worth $9,000.

289 Nassau Ave, Kenmore, NY (from Google Maps)

Turns out that this Orel was the grandfather of the famous LA Dodgers pitcher. His 7 year old son, Orel, Jr (actually Orel, III) later married Mildred and had Orel Hershiser IV in 1958 Buffalo.

I'd been thinking that it would be cool while indexing to locate a celebrity living in NY in 1940. Little did I know I'd find the family of a celebrity more than 18 years before his was born!

1940 U.S. Census: What's that about probability?

I've indexed 137 pages of 1940 U.S. Census records from New York State and now the unthinkable has happened: I found a relative while indexing.

Last evening I electronically requested a batch to index. I selected New York State and waited a few seconds until the page popped up on my screen: Bronx ED 3-956, page 8B.  As sometimes happens, the first record only indicated a first name with neither surname nor household number: Sandra. As I have so many times since early April when I first started indexing, I looked at the prior census page to see the information from Sandra's family so I could enter her information correctly. Household 136.  Max, Fanny, and Anita Buchman. [gulp!] My great aunt and uncle and their daughters (my first cousins once removed).

Fanny Garber Buchman was my grandfather's youngest sister.  We knew her as Aunt Feigah.

The Buchman family lived at 1262 Boynton Avenue, Bronx, New York. The rented their apartment for $37 per month. The circle with the X next to her name indicates that Fannie was the informant for the Census enumerator.

Max and Fannie (she spelled her name as "Fannie" on most documents in my possession) were 38 and 36 years old, respectively. Max is recorded as having studied 7 years in school and Fannie, I think, 1.

They both emigrated from the Russian Empire and Max had become a citizen. He, in fact, was naturalized on 6 June 1927.[1]  Fanny didn't naturalize until 1952 when she still lived at this address.[2]

Columns 26-32 indicate that Max worked 44 hours during the week of March 24-30, 1940 as a salesman in the retail dress business. For this he earned $2080 per year. Fannie worked at home.

1262 Boynton Ave, Bronx, NY in 2012 (from Google Maps)

Anita was 11 and Sandra 4 on April 1, 1940.  Anita had completed sixth grade and Sandra had yet to attend school.

I had actually already located the Buchman family record several weeks ago in 1940 U.S. Census independent of this surprise. I'd determined their likely address, their possible EDs and then browsed the appropriate ED pages and located the Buchmans on these pages. But, it's still pretty amazing that they popped up when least expected as I was indexing.

When batches load for indexing, the program sometimes indicates that the page one is receiving may have been partially indexed. When this occurs, it is my understanding that someone may have not completed their indexing of the page within the allotted time and the program, therefore, turned the batch over to someone else.  This was one of those cases. Makes me feel like this one was seeking me out.

Considering that there were 132 million people in the United States in 1940 and in New York, the most populous state, there were 13.5 million, this is pretty amazing.

Notes
1. "Petition for Naturalization from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1897-1944," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 May 2012), Petition for Naturalization No. 98373, Max Buchman, 6 June 1927; citing National Archives and records Administration microfilm publication M1972.
2. "Index to Petitions for Naturalization filed in New York City, 1792-1989," U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, database on-line, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 123 May 2012), Card No. 6997117, Petition No. 608951, Fannie Buchman, 16 June 1952; citing National Archives and Records Administration, Northeast Region.

1940 U.S. Census: Mind Games

So, I've been indexing in the Bronx for well more than a month now and I'm starting to notice and imagine patterns that would be a ever so much better.  I'm heavy into Italian, Jewish and Irish families and it's astounding how many multi-generational and collateral families are recorded in the 1940 Bronx EDs.

Perhaps this is a function of the immigrant status of so many of these people: helping family members economically until they, too, can stand on their own. There are the usual widowed parents living with their children's family. It seems like more parents living with daughters than sons, but I really haven't been counting. There are the few divorced or widowed children coming back to live with mom and dad (or mama and papa). But there are also siblings' families living together (or on the same street).

It's frustrating seeing so many single, divorced or widowed adults living next door to each other.  Concetta, meet Morris. Louis, meet Philomena. Can't we all just get together here!

Many times, I've seen families consisting of parents, their children, one or more of the parents' parents, and the parents' siblings all in one home. It must have made for a vibrant household and I can't help thinking about the family Woody Allen presented in Radio Days: lots of noise, yelling, angst, humor and love. I haven't figured out if any of these families live under (or on) a roller coaster.

Of course, this is the Bronx, not Woody's 1940's Rockaway. But, if I were enumerating, I'd record it as "Same Place."

1940 U.S. Census: the Morris Perrineville farm

I have been pretty successful in my family history work locating relations in the 1940 U.S. Census by determining their likely address in 1940, determining the 1940 U.S. Census Enumeration District (ED)and sorting through 20-40 pages of images per ED. My best prize thus far? The Morris farm.

For most of Isadore and Sarah Myers Morris' children and grandchildren their retirement from their Manhattan glass business to farming in rural Perrineville, New Jersey must have been a bit of cultural shock. Some of their children and most of their grandchildren had grown up in New York City and milking a cow and raising chickens probably did not come second nature. My father, the Brooklyn boy, talked with bemusement and some satisfaction about milking his grandparents' one cow at their Perrineville, New Jersey farm. 

For Isadore and Sarah their move to a rural setting must have been like going home to the old country - but much much better. They'd grown up in a rural shtetl: Lubin in Volhynia Gubernia, Russian Empire.  They'd left in in the early part of the century never to return.  In New Jersey there were no pogroms and they could actually own a home and land. 

The 1930 U.S. Census shows Isadore and Sarah on 234 East 105th Street, NY, NY [1]. I knew that they'd moved to rural New Jersey sometime after the Census was taken in April 1930 and moved back to NYC (627 Manida, Bronx, NY) sometime before Isadore's death on 22 December 1947 [2].

The 1940 U.S. Census finds Sarah Myers and Isidore Morris at number 6 and 7 on sheet 11A of Enumeration District 13-120, Millstone Township, Monmouth County.[2]

They lived in a rural area along what was identified as Perrineville Hightstown Road. Column 17 indicates that they'd lived in the same house five years earlier (on April 1, 1935). This gives me a better idea of when they might have moved to New Jersey from NYC.



They owned the home (column 4) and valued it at $5,000 (col. 5) for the census taker.  

Column 11 indicates that both Isadore and Sarah were 64 years old. This information comports with prior information I have for them.  

They were foreign born in "Russia" (col.15). Their Russian Empire village is within the boundaries of today's Ukraine. Column 16 indicates that they had both applied for citizenship.  The "PA" indicates that they had filed their first papers (aka the Declaration of Intention). However, I have yet to find any indication that they ever finished the naturalization process.  I will have to do some additional checking in New Jersey (mostly I've checked in New York records).



Column 26 indicates that Isadore usually worked 49 hours each week as a farm laborer (column 28) at his own home (column 29). Column 32 indicates that he earned no wages at this work. Of course this does not mean that the farm was not somewhat self-supporting, just that Isadore did not take wages.

Go to this link to see photographs of the farm in the 1930s and early 1940s. 

The photograph below shows a shot taken today from Google Maps of 842 Perrineville Road, Millstone Township, New Jersey: my great grandparents home as it looks in 2012.

Notes

1.  1930 U.S. Census, New York County, New York, population schedule, Manhattan, Enumeration District 31-816, sheet 4B, house 234, family 92, Isadore Morris; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 May 2012).
2. Bronx County, New York, Certificate of Death no. 12512 (22 December 1947), Isadore Morris, New York City Municipal Archives, New York.
3. 1940 U.S. Census, Monmouth County, New Jersey, population schedule, Millstone Township, Enumeration District (ED) 13-120, sheet 11-A, family 243, Isadore Morris; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 May 2012).