Help Break a Record!

logo created by Valerie Craft

Tomorrow, July 2 (or later today, depending on your time zone), FamilySearch Indexing is hoping to break a record with 5 million names or records indexed or arbitrated, in any of their projects. The current record is 4.9 million names, set on April 30, so I think this is possible. Given that the two states I most need from the 1940 US Census (Texas and Illinois) are still not completely indexed and searchable, I've decided to participate in this project.  You can too!

This 24-hour project actually starts at starts at 00:00 Coordinated Universal Time/Greenwich Mean Time (UTC/GMT) on July 2, so that means 7 PM here in Texas (Central Daylight Time) today, July 1..  That would be 5 PM for my friends and readers in Pacific Daylight Time, and 8 PM for those of you in Eastern Daylight Time.  Check the Facebook page for your local start time and more information about the project.

I'm going to try downloading 10 batches (the maximum) and working on them throughout the day today (when I need a break from housework), and then submit them sometime later this evening, since I won't be able to work on this project much tomorrow. 

If you haven't already, you can sign up here to be an indexer with FamilySearch.  You can also get the latest news and tips on indexing by following the FamilySearch Indexing topics on the FamilySearch blog.

Edited to add, 3 July 2012:   We did it!  We DOUBLED the goal!  Over 10 million records indexed or arbitrated in a 24 hour period yesterday, by over 46,000 people around the world.

I did ten 1940 US Census batches from Illinois, and have since worked on another five batches from Texas.  The indexing of Texas is now up to 64% complete, and Illinois is at 52%, according to today's map.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

Those Places Thursday: Indexing Illinois, Louisiana, and Texas

Since the 1940 US Census was released back on April 2, I've been trying to do a little indexing each week with FamilySearch.org.  So far I've indexed 40 batches, between 1500 and 1600 names.  I've concentrated on the three states pictured above, because that's where most of the folks I'm looking for in 1940 will be located.  Louisiana was finished pretty quickly and is now searchable on the site.  Illinois is 33% done and Texas just moved from 40 to 41% done, changing color on the map.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: Patricia Pape Hunter and Gordon Merritt Parks, 1947

This is my dad's first cousin, Patricia "Pat" Pape Hunter (1923-1967), daughter of his aunt Rhea Maria Pape (1892-1977), and her husband, Gordon Merritt Parks (1916-2004).  This photograph was among the many shared with me by my second cousin Bill, grandson of Rhea's (and my grandfather Paul Pape's) sister, Martha Pape Bleidt (1890-1981).

According to Bill's notes, this photo was taken by his aunt, Mary Jane Bleidt Herring (1925-1965), on a visit she made to Des Moines, Iowa, to visit her cousin Pat and aunt Rhea in July 1947.  The oldest sibling of Rhea, Martha, and Paul, Clara Pape (1889-1975), had moved to Des Moines from Sioux City, Iowa, by 1938, working first as a secretary to the State Auditor and later (1940-1944) as a statistician in his office.  Here's Clara on the 1940 Census:

 (above is the left half of the page, below is the right half, showing her occupation - Clara is on line 31)

 In the 1946 Des Moines city directory, Pat is shown living with Clara at 1002 Des Moines, and the following year, her mother Rhea is living with her at that address.  Not sure where Clara is, nor where Rhea is in the 1949 directory, when Pat is at this address alone (but we know directories aren't always right).

Pat worked as a technician and office secretary for Central Broadcasting company, parent of radio station WHO. Gordon Merritt Parks worked there too.  I suspect that is how they met.

I'll write more about Gordon and Pat in future posts.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

To Arbitrate or Not? Watch a Webinar, Then Decide!

Though I've only completed 20+ 1940 U.S. Census indexing batches, I've completed over 100 batches and indexed nearly 3000 names overall in all the indexing projects I've worked on, with a 98% in arbitration results.  What does this mean?  It means I received an invitation from FamilySearch.org to become an arbitrator!  They have a backlog of over three MILLION images that need arbitration, and it's only gonna get worse with all the wonderful interest in indexing the 1940 Census.

view of an arbitration screen

Every image on the 1940 U.S, Census is indexed by two volunteers.  An arbitrator compares the two indexes and makes decisions where they differ.  It's the last step before the index becomes available to everyone to use.

I want to learn more about arbitration before I decide whether or not to do this.  Fortunately, there are a number of resources available to learn more about both arbitration and indexing.  I love webinars, and there are two coming up next week, provided by the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project (and this is also where you go to sign up to be an indexer):


Arbitration—How to Arbitrate the 1940 Census

• Tuesday, May 1 at 6 p.m. MDT (that will be 7 p.m. Central Daylight Time, for me)
• For participants new to arbitration or interested in arbitrating and wanting to see what it involves.

Tips and Trick for Indexing the 1940 Census

• Wednesday, May 2 at 6 p.m. MDT (also at 7 p.m. Central Daylight Time, for me)
• Participants will learn the unique features and codes on the 1940 U.S. Census and what to do to avoid some common problems.

To access both webinars, visit the1940census.com/training-webinars/ for instructions and links.  Recordings of the webinars will be available later.  You can also view training videos at https://the1940census.com/video-training and find other resources at https://the1940census.com/resources.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

[Disclosure:  As part of the1940census.com Ambassador Program, this post enters me into a drawing for a $100 Amazon gift card.]

Indexing Insights - Helping to Make the 1940 US Census Searchable by Name

So far I've indexed 16 batches of 1940 Census pages. Not much, I know, but I was out of town all of last week at a conference (more on that in later posts), and I work full time 30 miles from my home.  I am still looking for my husband's father (in Corpus Christi, Texas), a paternal great-grandfather (in Cook County, Illinois), and a maternal great-grandmother (somewhere in Louisiana), so those are the states I've been working on.

Last night I was excited to find Illinois indexing still in Cook County, but specifically in Evanston (where I was born and where much of my family is from)!  This is where my dad says that great-grandfather was living in 1940.  It was fun to come across two streets I was familiar with: 

One is Sherman Avenue (above).  This is from the 1700 block, near the intersection with Clark.  My great-grandfather, John Pape, lived at 1043 Sherman, near the intersection with Greenleaf, from at least 1882 through at least 1920.  His brother Anton Pape (and later Anton's widow Kate) lived a block north at 1131 Sherman, near the intersection with Crain, from at least 1889 through at least 1920.

The other was Central Street (below).  My grandparents, Paul and Elizabeth Massmann Pape, lived on Hastings at Central in the 1960s.  This is a few blocks away, near the intersection with Hurd:

It was interesting to me how both of these areas had immigrants from everywhere - Belgium, Russia, England and Sweden are visible in the page snippets shown here.  Sherman Avenue, in particular, still held many working class immigrants' homes in 1940, just as it did in the 1880s when my great-grandfather came here from Germany.

Another indexing insight:  how difficult transcription can be!  The two samples above are pretty readable, but the arbitrator did not always agree with my interpretations of the handwriting.  Even printing, which I prefer (both to read and to write myself), was open to misinterpretations (is that Nethercot or Wethercot?):

What I really love about indexing is the freedom to choose the state or states you want to work in.  It's fun to run across places you are already familiar with (if only from your research)!

You can see a little bit of what indexing looks like from the first two images in this post.  It's really very easy!  To make the 1940 Census searchable by name, the 1940 Census Community Project  needs all the volunteer indexers it can get.  Click the link to find out how you can help.  There are even contests you can enter at the project's blog.

Don't let indexing scare you!  Every page of the census is transcribed by two volunteers, and reviewed by yet another, called an arbitrator. You can review a page after it's arbitrated and learn from your mistakes.  Sometimes it's not a mistake, just a difference in interpretation of the handwriting, and arbitrators are often more experienced in reading this than less-experienced indexers like me.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

[Disclosure:  As part of the1940census.com Ambassador Program, this post enters me into a drawing for an Amazon Kindle Fire.]

Sentimental Sunday: Stories from the 1940s

Back row:  John Pape, Lee Pape, Charles Bleidt
Front row: Gretchen Reis Pape, Mary Jane Bleidt, Jack Bleidt
Jack's First Communion, May 17, 1936

Martha Pape Bleidt, March 1944

About two years ago, my then-81-year-old dad wrote down some memories about his first cousin Jack Bleidt for Jack's son, Bill (Jack died at age 44, when Bill was only 6).  There are some great stories there from the 1940s, which also just happen to tie into my 1940 Census hunts:

"Somewhere around 4th or 5th grade [this would be just before 1940], Jack and family [parents Charles and Martha Pape Bleidt and sister Mary Jane] moved south [from 2084 West Lunt Avenue, across the street from Dad's family] to [2043] Waveland Avenue [in Chicago]..."

This was in Illinois enumeration district (ED) 103-2860 (thanks to Steve Morse's Unified 1940 Census ED Finder; click on the images to make them larger):

"...Uncle Walt lived just a half block down from Jack's building. He lived in a large apartment with Uncle Dick (Richard Pape) and Grandpa Pape, your great grandfather John Pape. Uncle Walt had a coupe with a 'rumble' seat (an open seat in the rear, behind the roofed seat, which could be folded shut when not in use. It opened at the top and folded back. It was a real treat when he would let Jack and me ride back there.It was fun to feel the wind in my face and wave to people. Of course he allowed no standing up on penalty of no more rides...."

Here are John, Walter, and Richard Pape, around the corner from the Bleidts at 3618 N. Hoyne Avenue, Chicago, in the same enumeration district:

"...Jack and I decided one day to ride our bikes out to Wilmette to visit Uncle Lee and Aunt Gret (Gretchen nee Reis) Pape. I don't remember if we had our parents' permission. We had plain old 2 wheel single gear bikes. The trip was probably 8 to 10 miles, maybe more. It took us all morning and we were tired when we got there. Uncle Lee was working somewhere (he was a first class carpenter). Aunt Gret was home and she fixed us a great lunch complete with lemonade and homemade cookies. Uncle Lee came home early and we got to ride in his pickup truck. It was the first time Jack or I had ridden in a truck which was a lot of fun. They owned two adjoining lots with the house and garage on one lot. Aunt Gret had a huge well-cultivated garden which occupied most of the other lot. They grew lots of greens like lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, etc., and cooking vegetables like potatoes, carrots, green beans, cauliflower, etc. We had fun picking some of the ripe vegetables with her. I really liked the radishes. She also gave us some to take home. Around 5 o'clock we were going to go home on the bikes, but Aunt Gret had Uncle Lee put our bikes in the back of his truck and he drove us home. We were happy not only to ride home in the truck but, being tired, we appreciated not having to pedal those bikes all the way back to my house."

Lee and Gretchen Reis Pape were still at 210 17th Street in Wilmette, where they’d been in 1930 (they were also here in 1942, as this was the address on Lee’s WWII draft registration card), in ED 16-302:

Thanks to my dad's great memory, I had, if not the addresses, at least the streets or enough information to find these relatives on the 1940 US Census, even without a name index.  Once the 1940 US Census is indexed by name, it will be MUCH easier for everyone to find their relatives.  Indexing is easy and it's FUN!  Go to the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project site and find out how you can sign up to be an indexer, if you haven't already!

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

[Disclosure:  As part of the1940census.com Ambassador Program, this post enters me into a drawing for a Visa gift card.]

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday: 1940 US Census Community Project blog

Check out this cool infographic about the 1940 Census! It came out a week ago, on April 4, two days after that census was released to the public:

Where did I find this? On the 1940 US Census Community Project blog, at https://the1940census.com/blog/!  It's full of interesting information about that census, such as famous people found in it, life in the 1940s, and infographics like this one!

Readers - you - are encouraged to comment on the posts, and to enter the indexing contests.  Links are available at the top of the blog's home page to subscribe to its RSS feed, or follow on Twitter or Facebook.  Use the blog to keep up with the latest information on this so-important volunteer census indexing project!

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

[Disclosure:  As part of the1940census.com Ambassador Program, this post enters me into a drawing for an iPad.]

Those Places Thursday: 1940 US Census Update

I thought it was time for a little update on where I am on finding my folks in the 1940 U.S. Census.  I did a lot of preparation, and in some cases, it's paid off.  In other cases, there have been some surprises.

As mentioned before, I found my parents and grandparents on the first day the 1940 US Census was released, April 2.  They were at the addresses my parents had told me they'd be at, and I'd researched the enumeration districts (EDs) in advance.

Here's the status of some of Mom's other Guokas kin (state and ED#):

• TX-258-98 - found 2018 Crockett, but Anton Guokas isn't there.  I have not yet checked the address of his estranged wife Marie, in another ED.
• TX-258-104:  Found Roy Lee Guokas, his wife "Maxine," Eva Guokas Scott, and her son Otis Scott Jr., all at 1717 Shearn.  No Otis Scott Sr. though, and Maxine's sister Shirley Cook is living with them.  Wonder where he is?  Maybe off at a CCC or WPA camp?
• TX-258-106:  Found widow Pauline Guokas, her sons Adam and Frank, and daughter Marie at 1414 Bingham.  Did not find Adam's second wife Frances there - guess they were divorced by then (the 1942 City Directory shows a third wife, Janie B.)  However, Pauline's other daughter, the widowed Verna Tubb, is there, along with her three daughters, and there are two lodgers at this address.

I didn't have much luck with other folks in Dad's family (in IL-103-3212) I think because I wasn't sure of their addresses.  I also had no luck with my husband's parents - found the addresses I thought they were at (and my husband's Aunt Ivis) in Corpus Christi (TX-178-14 and TX-178-15 respectively), but they weren't there, and my father-in-law was not with my husband's Gresham grandparents in Krum (but I found those grandparents, in TX-61-22).

I found my maternal great-grandfather, Levi Marion Shelton, in the Verda community in Grant Parish, Louisiana (LA-22-11), and some other Shelton kin, but not his daughter, my great-grandmother, Addilee Shelton Wolfe Odom Harris.  I feel pretty confident she's somewhere in Louisiana, though.

So what does this mean?

This means I need to START INDEXING!  And so do you!  The 1940 U.S. Census Community Project  needs volunteers to help create a name index for all these wonderful images!

And guess what - when you complete your first 1940 US Census batch (by Sunday, April 8, 2012, 11:59 p.m. MST) in the FamilySearch indexing site, you will be entered to win an  Amazon Kindle Fire!

Here's what you need to do:

First, go to the 1940 Census Games and Prizes page to register for the contest.  If you have already done this for a previous contest, you don't need to do it again.

Next, download the FamilySearch indexing software, if you haven't already.

Then, complete at least one 1940 U.S. Census batch by Sunday, April 8, 11:59 p.m. MST.

Finally, submit your batch and your name is automatically entered into the drawing.  That's it!

You'll find that indexing a census is really quite easy!  There are lots of instructions and field helps available on the site to help you - be sure to read them!

The 1940 US Census Community Project site has more information about the contest.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

[Disclosure:  As part of the1940census.com Ambassador Program, this post enters me into a drawing for a Yeti Microphone or an Amazon gift card.]

Tombstone Tuesday: Levi Marion Shelton on the 1940 Census

photo courtesy Bob Taylor via FindAGrave.com

My maternal great-great-grandfather, Levi Marion Shelton (1863-1941), who is buried in the Brown Cemetery (aka Brown-Swindle Cemetery) in Sardis, Winn Parish, Louisiana, was the next person I found in the 1940 US Census, today.

In 1940, he was living on Verda Road in the Verda community in Grant Parish, Louisiana, with his youngest son, (James) Rufus Shelton (1899-1968), along with Rufus' wife Mary Ann (Davis, age 37), and their children George (age 18), Lorene (16), Dorothy (10), James Rufus (J.R.) Jr. (8), Gerald (6), Richard (3), and Gordon (2).  Click on the image below to enlarge it - Levi is near the top, on line 44:

 You'll note that Levi was asked the supplementary questions.  It indicates that his father (Jacob Shelton, 1822-ABT 1874) was born in Alabama, which corresponds with other sources.  However, it says his mother (Elizabeth A. Bridges, 1823-1865) was born in Mississippi, while the 1850 and 1860 censuses indicate she was born in Tennessee.  However, she and Jacob were married in Mississippi, in 1845.  It's possible that his daughter-in-law Mary Ann Davis Shelton provided this information (she is marked as the one who answered the enumerator's questions) and did not know for sure.

Levi was not a veteran, did not have a Social Security number, and was unable to work (probably because he was age 77).  The regular questions indicated that he lived in the same place (Verda community, Grant Parish, Louisiana) in 1935, but not the same house - likely because in 1935, his wife Sarah Ann Shelton Spikes was still alive (she died that year) - he is listed as a widower in 1940.

What I thought was most interesting was that Levi was only able to attend school through the third grade.  Again, if Mary Ann was answering and did not consult Levi, this information may not be accurate either.

I had hoped to find my maternal great-grandmother, Addilee Tennessee Shelton Wolfe Harris (1890-1977), in this enumeration district, but had no luck.  I looked for her at her previous location in Pasadena, Texas, but as I expected, she was not there.  I'm pretty sure she was in Louisiana in 1940, and will probably check surrounding EDs in Grant Parish and possibly in her home town in Winn Parish when I have more time.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

Success! Finding My Parents and Grandparents in the 1940 U.S. Census!

A quickie post here - I have actually had some success this morning finding my parents and grandparents in the 1940 Census, which just became available at 8 AM Central this morning!  I was looking in Texas and Illinois, so I had to use the National Archives website, but I was still fortunate.

The site is getting slammed, and it's best NOT to wait for the image to load on the website, but instead to download it.  Also, it often works better to download image-by-image (page-by-page), rather than try to download the whole enumeration district at once.

Luckily, Mom's family was within the first six pages of her Houston enumeration district (click on the image to enlarge it - the Guokas family starts on line 46):


In Dad's case, I was able to download the entire enumeration district in Chicago. That was fortunate, as his family was missed on the enumerator's first visit, and was on page 61B (click on the image to enlarge it - the Pape family starts on line 64):

Dad also fell on a line that got asked the supplemental questions (look down at the bottom of the form above).  However, being only 11 years old at the time, the questions weren't really relevant to him!

More later!  I'm SO excited!

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: Where Were August S. and Emma Pape Childs in 1940?

August Solomon Childs holding daughter Mary Jane, about 1920

Still looking for the elusive Emma Genevieve Pape Childs (born May 1884, I think) and her equally enigmatic husband, August Solomon Childs (born April 29, 1882).

The only things I know for certain about Emma date from her marriage to August in 1911, through the births of their seven children, up to the 1930 census.  I'm not sure of the month or year of her birth (or even who her mother is), nor of her date of death.  Other relatives say she died in 1937 in Wisconsin, but I have found no proof of that.

I've got August pretty well tracked from his birth in Ohio, the 1900-1930 censuses, his World War I and World War II draft registrations, various church records, and the birth records of his children.  However, I don't have a date of death.

I DO know, however, that he was alive in 1942, and living in the house next door to where he lived in 1930.  Therefore, Stephen P. Morse's 1930/1940 ED Converter utility should make it easy to determine his ED (enumeration district) for 1940.

In 1930, 503 and 507 Oakdale in Glencoe, Illinois, was in ED 16-2207.  Using the converter, it's either 16-310 or 16-311 in 1940.  However, mapping these addresses and checking the ED descriptions at via Morse's Unified 1940 Census ED Finder, I'm going to look for August Solomon Childs (and hopefully wife Emma) at 503 or 507 Oakdale in Glencoe in ED 16-311 - that part of Glencoe Village bounded by South Avenue on the north, Lake Michigan on the east, the village limits to the east and south, and Vernon Avenue to the west.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

1940 US Census: Are You Doing All You Can?

Those Places Thursday:  North Chicago or Evanston, Illinois -
"Neighborhood War Meeting, August 9, 1942"

Are you doing all you can to prepare for the 1940 US Census?

In a little more than 11 days, the 1940 US Census will be released!  

The 1940 census project  needs volunteers to help create a name index for these images, and you can practice now, with simulation census pages at the FamilySearch indexing site.  What's more, the practice will enter you in a drawing for a $100 Visa gift card or one of two $50 Visa gift cards.

Here's what you need to do:

First, go to the 1940 Census Games and Prizes page to register for the contest. If you have already worked on one of the simulation batches in the last 60 days, this is all you need to do - you'll be entered in the contest.

Next, download the FamilySearch indexing software, if you haven't already.

Then, complete just one (or both) of the 1940 US Census simulation indexing batches before 11:59 PM Mountain Time on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Finally, submit your batch and your name is automatically entered into the drawing.  That's it!

You'll find that indexing a census is really quite easy!  There are lots of instructions and field helps available on the site to help you - be sure to read them!

The 1940 Census Project site has more information about the contest.

And, for your own research, read Thomas MacEntee's article at Archives.com, "How to Prepare for the 1940 U.S. Census."

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

[Disclosure:  As part of the1940census.com Ambassador Program, this post enters me into a drawing for an Amazon Kindle Fire.]

Matrilineal Monday: Where Was Incarnate Word Convent in 1940?

Another place I'll be looking for in the 1940 US Census is the Crawford Street convent of the Congregation of the Incarnate Word & Blessed Sacrament in Houston, Texas.  My aunt has been a member of this order for over 60 years, although the motherhouse is now in a different location.

The sisters established themselves in Houston in 1874.  I've been able to find them on the 1880, 1910, 1920, and 1930 US censuses (but not, for some reason, 1900 - I think they were skipped). I have provided printouts of the relevant census pages to the convent's archives.  I'd like to do the same for 1940.

Stephen P. Morse's 1930/1940 ED Converter utility should make this easy.  The ED (enumeration district) for the Convent of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament at 609 Crawford Street in Houston in the 1930 US Census was 101-65.  That converts to 258-148 for the 1940 US Census.  However, the official description for this ED is "JUSTICE PRECINCT 1, HOUSTON CITY (TRACT 25 - PART), OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP CONVENT AND ACADEMY."  The name of the school and convent is wrong, but the block in question, #65, bounded by Texas, Jackson, Capitol, and Crawford, is correct, so I'm going to put this one down as a governmental screw-up.

My aunt, Jo Ann (Sister Jean Marie) Guokas, attended Incarnate Word Academy in Houston (along with my mother).  She entered the convent at the end of her 10th grade year in 1945, when she was only 15 ("this doesn't happen any more," she says).  The picture at left is of her during her second summer as a candidate, and the other two pictures may have been from the same time (although they were printed in June, 1947).  The photo above right has my grandfather, her father, Charles Guokas Jr. (1903-1967) to the left, and her brother, my uncle, Charles Guokas III (1926-1999) on her right.  The photo below right shows Jo Ann with her sister, my mother, Geraldine Guokas Pape, seated at the left.

Sister Jean Marie graduated from Incarnate Word Academy along with the rest of her class in May, 1948. She took her final vows as a nun in 1949.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

Matrilineal Monday: Where Was Addilee Tennessee Shelton Wolfe Harris in 1940?

These photos are of my maternal great-grandmother, Addilee Tennessee Shelton Wolfe Harris (1890-1977). The first photo is probably from the early 1900s, the second one is after 1922. I think she's wearing the same hat in both photographs.

In 1930, Addilee and her second husband, Charles Burroughs Harris (1887-1959), were living in Pasadena, Texas.  However, they both died in Louisiana, and are both buried in the town where Addilee was born, Sardis in Winn Parish, Louisiana, so I wasn't sure where they would be in 1940.

I asked my mother.  She said that after her grandfather, Addilee's first husband, Louis Henry Wolfe, died in an automobile accident in 1929, her aunt Marie Wolfe, then 17, went to live with Addilee and Charles in Pasadena, Texas.  However, when Marie married in 1933, she was living with her older sister Sara (my grandmother), Sara's husband and father-in-law, Charles Guokas Jr. and Sr., and my mother and her two siblings at 1717 Shearn in Houston.  This was because Addilee and Charles had moved to Louisiana.

Mom also remembers going to Louisiana for the wedding of Jessie or Jessica* in the late 1930s, and recalls that her grandmother was living there.  (*This may be Jessie Mae Shelton, Addilee's niece and the daughter of her brother John Sidney Shelton, as she was born around 1916-1918.)  This wedding stands out in her memory because it was Mom's first experience with outdoor plumbing (an outhouse).

But where in Louisiana was she?  Checking the 1930 US Census, her parents, Levi Marion Shelton (1863-1941) and Sarah Ann Spikes Shelton (1871-1935), and all but one of her seven surviving siblings were living in Grant Parish, Louisiana.  Sarah Ann died in this parish in 1935.  Most of them (including her parents) were living in enumeration district (ED) 22-14 in 1930.

Therefore, in preparation for the upcoming release of the 1940 US Census, I decided to use Stephen P. Morse's 1930/1940 ED Converter utility.  That results in ED 22-11 for the 1940 US Census, so that is where I will start to look for my great-grandmother, Addilee Tennessee Shelton Wolfe Harris, and my great-great-grandfather, her father, Levi Marion Shelton (who died in 1941).

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

Surname Saturday: MOORE - Stephens County, Oklahoma

Tandy Clayton Moore and his grandson, Mark Gresham, late 1940s.  Probably taken in Corpus Christi, Texas, as Mark says "there are no trout like that in Oklahoma."  Someone is standing behind Mark - it is probably his sister Ann.

Nancy Flora Jones Moore with grandsons Tom and Wes Moore, late 1930s, Oklahoma

My husband's maternal grandparents, Tandy Clayton (often known as Clayton or T. C.) Moore (1878-1964) and Nancy/Nannie Flora Jones Moore (1882-1969), were likely living in the same place in 1940 as they were in 1930 - a rural area near Marlow in Stephens County, Oklahoma.

The Moore family moved around quite a bit from the time of  the marriage of  T.C. and Nancy in 1901, through the births of their seven children from 1902 through 1914.  However, youngest daughter Jewel (my mother-in-law) graduated from Marlow High School in 1932, and another daughter, Beulah Mabel Moore (1910-1932), was buried in the Marlow Cemetery that year even though she died in Corpus Christi, Texas.  I feel pretty confident that Clayton and Nannie were in the same place in 1940 as they were in 1930.

Therefore, in preparation for the upcoming release of the 1940 US Census, I decided to use Stephen P. Morse's 1930/1940 ED Converter utility. The enumeration district (ED) for T. C. and Nancy  Moore in 1930 was 69-26.  Plugging this into the converter, it tells me the 1940 US Census ED for Tandy Clayton and Nancy Flora Jones Moore in Stephens County, Oklahoma in 1940 is 69-30.  The description of this ED is "Wall Township - that part in Township 2 North, Range 7, outside Marlow city."

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

Surname Saturday: GRESHAM - Denton County, Texas, 1940

Betty Dickson Gresham with grandson Mark Edward Gresham, circa 1943

My husband's paternal grandparents, Marvin/Mark Ellis (often known as Ellis or M.E.) Gresham (1886-1941) and Betty Dickson Gresham (1888-1976), were likely living in the same place in 1940 as they were in 1930 - a rural area near Krum in Denton County, Texas.   I know this primarily because of an article about Ellis' death in the Denton Record-Chronicle of February 8, 1941 (below).  It states that Ellis Gresham "had lived in...Denton County 13 years.  He was engaged in farming."  While the couple may not have been on Stony Road outside of Krum, as they were in 1930, it's highly likely they were still somewhere in the same area in 1940.


Therefore, in preparation for the upcoming release of the 1940 US Census, I decided to use Stephen P. Morse's 1930/1940 ED Converter utility. The enumeration district (ED) for Ellis and Betty Gresham in 1930 was 61-20.  Plugging this into the converter, it tells me the 1940 US Census ED for Marvin/Mark Ellis and Betty Dickson Gresham is 61-22.

Sadly, my husband never knew his paternal grandfather, as he had passed away about six months before my husband was born.  We don't have any photographs of him.  While he had two brothers who lived in the area, no records indicate the name of their father (my husband's great-grandfather), who died before the 1900 US Census. My husband's great-grandmother Lula does appear on the 1900 US Census in Texas, but at this point she had remarried.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

Those Places Thursday: 2093 West Lunt Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, 1940s

Last week I wrote more about the house my dad, Frederick Henry Pape, grew up in at 2093 West Lunt Avenue in the Rogers Park area of Chicago, Illinois.  I scanned a number of Dad's photos that were taken outside of that house, and here are a few of them, from the 1940s:

Fred & Bob, August 1943

Bob, Fred, and Lucky the dog, Fall 1944

In the photos above, my Uncle Bob Pape is in the Navy during World War II.  By the time the war ended (photo below left), my dad is taller than Uncle Bob.

Fred, Bob, & Lucky, Fall 1946

I think the photos from last week (1938) and this week, as well as my grandfather Paul Robert Pape's (1896-1970) World War II U.S. draft registration card from 1942, prove that his family (wife Elizabeth Florence Massmann Pape, 1902-2000, and children Paul Robert "Bob" Pape Jr., (1926-2008), Elizabeth Mary "Betty" Pape (later Streff), Frederick Henry Pape, Rose Mary Pape (later Dietz, 1931-2007), and Marilyn Electa Pape (later Hedger) were all living at 2093 West Lunt Avenue in Chicago for the 1940 US Census.

To find their enumeration districts (EDs) for the 1940 US Census, I used one of Stephen P. Morse's search engines, Obtaining EDs for the 1900 to 1940 Census in One Step (Large Cities), as Chicago is one of the cities available with this utility.  West Lunt Avenue is common to 18 EDs!  Once again, I needed cross streets.  So in this case, I used the Google Maps link first to see what these are (easy because the house is still standing). As the house is on the corner of Hamilton, I entered that, and the resulting ED was 103-3212.

In my first post about this house, I mentioned some of my Dad's other relatives who were living in the area.  Dad's grandfather John Pape (1851-1945) lived at 1949 Lunt in 1930; while his other grandparents, Frederick Henry (1875-1948) and Elizabeth Camilla Dienes (1876-1946) Massmann, lived at 7000 Ridge Boulevard (at the intersection with Lunt) for at least 1927 through the mid-1930s. Dad's cousin John Charles "Jack" Bleidt (1929-1973) and his parents, Charles J. (1870-1959) and Martha Pape Bleidt (1890-1981), and sister Mary Jane Bleidt (later Herring, 1925-1965) lived across the street at 2084 Lunt in at least 1936.  However, so far I haven't been able to find any indication that all of these were still living at these addresses for the 1940 US Census.

However, I will use these addresses for starting points in my searches in the 1940 US Census.  Being across the street at 2084 Lunt, Charles J. and Martha Pape Bleidt and their children Charles John "Jack" Bleidt and Mary Jane Bleidt (and possibly Charles' daughter from a previous marriage, Margaret Helen "Peggy" Bleidt,, later Faut, 1912-1990) would also be in ED 103-3212. 

If Frederick Henry Massmann and Elizabeth Camilla Dienes Massmann were still at 7000 N Ridge Road for the 1940 US Census, with cross streets of W. Lunt and W. Greenleaf and N. Seeley as the back street, they would also be in ED 103-3212.

John Pape, at 1949 Lunt, is between the cross streets of N Damen Avenue North and N Wolcott Avenue, with Morse Avenue West as the back street.  That would put him in ED 103-3214.   

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

Matrilineal Monday: Where Was the Charles Guokas Jr. Family in 1940?

Geraldine Guokas Pape, Charles Guokas Jr., Jo Ann Guokas, Sara Wolfe Guokas Archibald, Charles Guokas III - 1949

I found a listing for my maternal grandfather, Charles Peter Guokas Jr., (1903-1967) on page 430 of the 1940 Morrison and Fourmy's Greater Houston (Texas) City Directory.  His spouse is listed as Melzina (the middle name of my grandmother, Sara Wolfe Guokas Archibald, 1907-1997), and they have three children.  Those would be my uncle, Charles Guokas III (1927-1999), my mother, Geraldine Margaret Guokas Pape, and my aunt, Jo Ann (Sister Jean Marie) Guokas.  They are living at 2215 Shearn, and my grandfather is working as a warehouseman for Sou Warehouse Corporation.

To find their enumeration districts (EDs) for the 1940 US Census, I used one of Stephen P. Morse's search engines, Obtaining EDs for the 1900 to 1940 Census in One Step (Large Cities), as Houston is one of the cities available with this utility.  Shearn is common to four EDs.  I needed cross streets.  So in this case, I used the Google Maps link first to see what those probably were.  According to street view, there's no longer a house at 2215 Shearn (ironically, it appears to be a warehouse), but the nearest cross street was Hemphill, so I entered that.  This told me the ED is 258-98 for 2215 Shearn, the residence of Charles Jr., Sara Melzina (nee Wolfe), Charles III, Geraldine, and Jo Ann Guokas in 1940.

Not surprisingly, there are a bunch of other Guokases on page 430 of this directory.  My great-grandparents had both passed away by 1940.  My grandfather's younger brother, Roy Lee Guokas (1917-1959), was living at 1717 Shearn with his wife "Maxine" (probably Fay Lois Florence, as daughter Gloria was born in August 1941).  For this address, I had to enter both cross streets (Sabine and Colorado), as well as a back street (the fourth street that defines the rectangular city block on which your address is located).  I thought that was Crockett, but when I entered that street, it asked for another back street, so I entered Spring (one block north of and parallel to Shearn), and it gave me ED 258-105.  However, if I enter Summer (two blocks south of and parallel to Shearn, south of Crockett), I get ED 258-104.

Luckily, Morse's website also provides a link where "Clicking on an ED will show microfilm roll number and bring up a display of all streets in that ED."  I did this and confirmed that one of the blocks in ED 258-104 was that boarded by Shearn, Sabine, Crockett, and Colorado, which contains 1717 Shearn, the home of Roy Lee and Maxine LaVerne Hooks Guokas in 1940.  Mom says her aunt Eva Guokas Scott, Roy's sister, was also living at this address, with her husband Otis Scott Sr. and son Otis Scott Jr.

My grandfather's aunt, Pauline Cuniowskuna Guokas (1878-1953), widow of Joseph Guokas; her son, Adam Lawrence Guokas (1901-1966) and his second wife Frances Bryson Guokas (born about 1908); Pauline's daughter Marie Guokas (later Niscavits, 1905-1983) and son Frank Guokas (1909-1977); were all living at 1414 Bingham in 1940.  A Dora M. Guokas, an office assistant, also lived there, but I don't know who this is!  It could be Dorothy Marie McVey or Dorothy Mildred Allbritton, both first cousins to my mother, as they were both born in 1921 and thus would have been 19 and possibly working as an office assistant in 1940.  It will be interesting to find out.  At any rate, 1414 Bingham is in ED 258-106.

My grandfather's other uncle, Anton Guokas (1875-1947), is listed as Antonio Goukas (note the different spelling) in this 1940 directory on page 410.  He lives at 2018 Crockett.  I needed to enter one cross street (Henderson), and Steve Morse's utility gave me ED 258-98.  This is the same ED as my mother and grandparents. 
 

Anton's estranged wife, Marie Theresa Kovar Guokas (1889-1973) , their daughter Alfrieda Guokas (later Smith, born 1916), and their son John Edwin Guokas (1919-1997), all live on the "ss [south side of] Bauman rd 1 e E Montgomery Rd." according to the 1940 City Directory.  I tried using the same utility as I did for the others, but this did not work, because Bauman was not a listed street.  That's because it was outside the Houston city limits in 1940.

I found Marie Kovar Guokas in the 1942 Houston, Texas, City Directory, on page 421, under last name "Goukas."  It said her address was 8300 Bauman.  Pulling that up on Google Maps, I could see that it was just south of the intersection of Berry Road.  Marie, Anton, and family lived on Berry Road in the 1930 US Census.  As it was a rural area then (Anton was listed as a farmer), I suspect that Marie stayed on at the family home with the children after separating from Anton, and it was later given the address 8300 Bauman Road.

On the 1930 US Census, this location was in ED 101-148.  On the 1940 US Census, 101 still designates Harris County, but the City of Houston has its own prefix, 258.  To determine the 1940 ED for the Bauman/Berry Road location, I used Steve Morse's Unified 1940 Census ED Finder.   There's a place to enter the 1930 ED, and then it gives you one or more EDs for 1940.  I then clicked on a radio button to select the 1940 ED Description (rather than the 1940 Census pages, which are not yet available).  Then, when you click on each of the possible EDs for 1940, you can read the description of its boundaries.  I believe 101-7 is the correct ED for the Bauman Road home of Marie Kovar Guokas, Alfrieda Guokas (later Smith), and John Edwin Guokas.

Finally, there's one more mystery Guokas in the 1940 City Directory.  A Mrs. Frances Guokas, with one child, is listed at 415 Fairview Avenue, Apartment 25.  I'm not sure who this is!  It might be Adam's first wife, Ruth R. Thompson Guokas, with whom he had a son, Books L. Guokas (born in 1926).  Another one I need to check!  This apartment building, new in 1940, is still standing at the corner of Fairview and Whitney, and its 1940 US Census ED is 258-181.


© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: Where Were Jewel Moore and Francis Gresham in 1940?

Mark's parents, Jewel Moore (1914-1994) and Francis Edward Gresham (1911-1990), were married on October 26, 1940, in Corpus Christi, Texas. I found Francis on page 212 of the 1940 Corpus Christi City Directory. He's listed as living at 623 Blucher and working as a lithographer at Beacon Printing Company.  No spouse is listed.

Before their marriage, Jewel was living with her older sister, Ivis Moore Mew (1905-2004).  Jewel is on page 357 of the 1940 Corpus Christi City Directory, living at 408 Sam Rankin and working as a stenographer for Nueces Hardware Company, Chaparral at Lawrence.  Ivis' husband, Benjamin George Mew (1879–1949), with "Iva" as his wife, is listed on page 346 of the 1940 Corpus Christi City Directory as living at 408 Sam Rankin.

To find their enumeration districts (EDs) for the 1940 US Census, I used one of Stephen P. Morse's search engines, Obtaining EDs for the 1900 to 1940 Census in One Step (Large Cities), as Corpus Christi was one of the cities available with this utility.  It quickly told me that the ED for Francis Edward Gresham at 623 Blucher was 178-14.  I was even able to see what this address looks like today with a link to enter the address to view it in street view on a Google Map (it's now a high-rise building).

Finding the ED for Jewel Moore with Benjamin George and Ivis Moore Mew at 408 Sam Rankin was a little more complicated.  Sam Rankin is common to five EDs.  I needed cross streets.  So in this case, I used the Google Maps link first to see what those probably were.  This home appears to be gone as well in street view, but the address appears to be between Comanche and Lipan, so I entered those cross streets.  This told me the ED was 178-15.

Francis' sister Ophelia Mae Gresham (1914-2005) is also listed in the 1940 Corpus Christi City Directory, at 432 Palmero, working as a teacher at Wynn-Seale Junior High.  Her ED is 178-32B.  However, she may have been married to Shelton Verdo Lee (1912-1944) before the 1940 US Census enumeration.  The couple is listed in the 1941 Corpus Christi City Directory as living at 1400 4th, Apt. 3, which MAY have been 1400 Santa Fe in 1940, and is also in ED 178-32A.

There are a number of other Greshams in the 1940 Corpus Christi City Directory who may or may not be related. Thomas E. and Frances J. Gresham lived at 924 Lexington, along with a W. E. Gresham and a Lula P. Gresham (the latter being a department head at Montgomery Ward).  That address is in ED 178-6.  I'll have to see if the 1940 US Census gives any clues as to whether or not they are kin.

There are a bunch of Wolfe kin (my maternal grandmother's maiden name) who should also be easy to find in the 1940 US Census due to listings in the 1940 Corpus Christi City Directory, but that will need to wait for a separate post.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

I'm a 1940 US Census Blog Ambassador!

I'm honored to have been approved to be a 1940 US Census Blog Ambassador!

The 1940 US Census will be released to the public, at 8 AM Central time on Monday, April 2.  The National Archives recently announced the website that will host the 1940 census: http://1940census.archives.gov.  You probably want to bookmark that now so you can find it on April 2.

When the census is posted, anyone can access it free of charge, but it will just be images - it won't be indexed right away.  So what can you do to prepare for the 1940 US Census?

1.  Sign up NOW to be a 1940 US Census indexer and you will help create an index for all researchers to use.  In the meantime, you can get some practice by indexing other records through FamilySearch Indexing.

I have been a FamilySearch indexer for a few months now.  It involves downloading some software to your computer, then downloading batches, indexing them, and uploading them back to the FamilySearch indexing website.  It's been rewarding to see records I've indexed actually appear later on the FamilySearch site.  If you follow the detailed instructions with each batch, you will be successful and will help others access all sorts of records - lately I've been working with Texas birth records from the early 1900s.

2.  Initially, the 1940 Census WILL be indexed down to the Enumeration District (ED) level.  So, if you know the 1940 ED for an ancestor or relative, it will shorten your search considerably.  There are a number of tools available to help you figure out the ED (it's NOT the same as the 1930 ED).  The National Archives has a web page with links to various other sites and utilities for determining 1940 EDs.  I'll demonstrate some of these in future blog posts.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.