52 Ancestors – In the Census

1900 Population Schedule for Manhattan, NY

When beginning genealogy research, we are told to start with ourselves. And then the next step is to go to the census—a most important tool. By following the census back every ten years, we learn different things about our ancestors. The census wasn’t taken with genealogy research in mind. It was taken for congressional representation. Over time added to that was information the government wanted to know about its citizens, i.e. where our ancestors lived, how their families grew, if they rented or owned their dwelling, if they had a radio, their month and date of birth, whether they were naturalized or not, when they entered the country, and on and on. All good information for genealogists.

There are other less known census that I admit I have not taken advantage of—Agriculture, Defective, Dependent, Delinquent classes, Mortality Schedules, Veterans Schedules, Social Statistics Schedules to name a few.

We are also instructed to put on our creativity hat when searching the census. Census takers were human. They did the best they could in their best handwriting, which often left a lot to be desired. When coming upon a name that was foreign to them, and if the person being asked couldn’t spell it for them, they wrote down what they heard. Remember that the person providing the information might be a neighbor or a child who didn’t know information about the family.

And that brings me to my census dilemma. My maiden name was Nunn. When the census taker in 1900 Manhattan asked for the last name – they heard “none.” “Well, you gotta have a name.”

For years I could not find the Joseph Nunn family in the 1900 census. Not until I learned the name of one of their neighbors. In checking that name, I finally found my family. When the census taker gave up getting a last name, he must have asked for the husband’s name. (Joseph was deceased at this point). The informant said, “Joseph.” So the Nunn family in the 1900 NYC census is listed in a scribbled over so it can barely be read is – Joseph Catherine. (Last name is indexed as Joseph). Listed below was my grandfather and his siblings. Yes!!

I ran into the same problem in the 1940 census when my grandfather’s sibling, Joseph Nunn was listed with the last name of “Joseph.” So he is listed as Joseph Joseph. Not much progress, right? But a reminder to think outside the box when doing census research.

Of census and pizza

I had trouble finding Joseph Nunn on the 1940 federal census. I had his World War II Old Man’s Draft Card from 1942, which stated he lived at 606 Fifth Street, Lower East Side of Manhattan.  Since his discharge from St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill on 25 August 1910, Joseph worked on farms in both New York and New Jersey.  I checked the census for both states, using the advanced search technique on HeritageQuest for different spellings of his name, searching by age, etc.  Nothing came up. 

Today I went to SteveMorse.org to search the ED for the address he gave in 1942, thinking he might be there in 1940, or at least the name he put down as the person who would always know where he was, Mr. Spitzle, at 614 E. Fifth Street.  Steve Morse has a great ED finder. You put in the street address of the city of which you are searching, a cross street if you know it, and he then gives you the Enumeration Districts for that area. Since I knew the address, I could put in the cross street of Avenue B.  That gave me only five or six EDs to search.  In ED 31-503, I found my Joseph.  He was living at 610 Fifth Street in 1940. He seemed to have a reduced rent and that could be because he was a “Helper” to the superintendent.  Joseph lived in this same place in 1935, he was 46 and single.

Why couldn’t I find him?  If I had remembered my lesson from the 1900 census, I would not have first looked for the name Nunn.  If I had remembered my father’s experience in Ithaca New York during the 1960s, when he tried to order pizza from the Italian Carry-out, when asked the name, and it was given, Nunn, the response was, “I gotta hava name!” 

After repeating the question several times, I am sure Joseph finally answered, “Joseph.”  His name appears on the 1940 census as “Joseph Joseph.”  Just as the 1900 census listed Catherine Nunn and her eight children as “Joseph, Catherine,” Because when she answered the question correctly, I am sure the census taker said, “I gotta hava name!”

Happy New Year

Now that I have posted my modest genealogy goals for 2014, in the light of a new year I face the harsh reality of those mysteries and stubborn brick walls that continue to haunt me.  At the top of the list is the Nunn family.

Of German descent Joseph and Catherina Kurz Nunn had ten children. With the parents both gone by June 1900, all but one of the children were placed in St. Joseph’s Home, Peekskill, NY.  It remains a mystery as to the adult lives of my grandfather’s siblings, Emma Nunn Dorn, Emilie, Joseph, Katie and George, and last but not least the eldest child, Elizabeth Nunn Siebert and descendents of her oldest child, Regina Siebert Eberhard. Followers may remember (or maybe not) that three years ago a comment was made on my blog from Martha Eberhard, wife of Gerard, one of Regina’s sons. I was thrilled. I immediately responded, but never heard another word and had no other way to contact her.  From an emotional high, as time passed with no word, I was devastated.  I don’t know what happened, though I suspect some family crisis intervened, or the family does not want to be found. If I could have 30 minutes with one person from history, it would be with Elizabeth Nunn Seibert. She holds the key to what happened to this family. Her story is amazing.

Of Irish descent are the Conlons and Doyles.  They, too, are a difficult bunch, living in a small Manhattan apartment with any number of “cousins” moving in and out.  Patrick and Maggie Conlon Doyle had six children, only two that lived.  My grandmother was one, but what happened to her sister Winnie? I never heard her mention a sister.

I have ignored my Wortman family line over the past several years.  It is time to focus on that line again.

So, my modest to-do list for 2014 isn’t so very modest at all. I have a lot of work to do. I had better get at it.  

Genealogy Goals for 2012

Since we will be in transition for the first three months this year, I am keeping my genealogy goals list short and hopefully attainable.

Journaling – I’m glad I kept a journal last year; consequently I will continue this habit of documentation.

Tompkins County Rootsweb – I will continue to provide the Tompkins County, New York genealogy website with old photos and typed obits for their scrapbook section.

Hardenbrook Monograph – Yes, darn it, I am going to finish the monograph on the Hardenbrook family of Upstate New York this year.

Nunn Monograph – I began my genealogy journey with the Joseph Nunn family of Germany and New York City. This family has been my nemesis from the start.  Maybe if I concentrate my efforts, I will have some luck knocking down the brick walls.  It was last year at this time I was contacted through my blog by a member of this family – related to the key person, my grandfather’s sister, Elizabeth Nunn Siebert Piepenburg. I was so excited.  I responded to the comment, but never heard from this woman again. What a heartbreak!  

Fredericksburg Genealogy – I will get involved with a local genealogy group here in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

St. Joseph's Home, Peekskill, NY

In the 1905 NY Census viewed at the Westchester, NY Archives, I found five of my grandfather’s (Harry Nunn) siblings at St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill, NY – Emma Nunn, Emilie Nunn, Joseph Nunn, Katie Nunn and George Nunn. There, also, I found a 1946 doctoral dissertation by Sister M. Jane Thomas Gorman, FMSC on St. Joseph’s Home.  I learned from that dissertation that this home began in 1879 when the New York Department of Public Welfare requested the Franciscan Missionary Sisters accept orphans at their property in Peekskill, NY. During the mid-1800s many children lacked family support.  By 1899 St. Joseph’s was similar to a small city housing 1,100 residents. The nuns at St. Joseph’s offered traditional education, becoming one of the first institutions to be placed under the New York State Regents, as well as technical training, carpentry, sewing, shoemaking, etc. According to the “Notice of Discharge, Transfer, Home, or Death,” document, Harry had been placed on a farm in Middletown, N.J. on May 12, 1904.

In 1979 an arson fire destroyed the buildings, and the school was taken down in 1980. However, the Franciscan Missionary Sisters continue to have a small office in Peekskill, and therein are where the records of the Department of Public Charities Out-Door Poor children are kept. I am forever thankful that the Sisters keep these archives safe and shared the documents with me. 

 Harry Nunn - 1950s