Mom

Some time ago, I posted a transcription of a journal that my great aunt wrote a few years before she died. After reading it, I learned things about my great aunt that I never expected. Today, I came across a newspaper article from 1941 that mentioned several of my relatives, including my mother and my great aunt.

Probably like most of us, it was hard to think of my parents as once having been children, let alone young adults. This newspaper article, like Aunt Eleanor's journal, revealed a glimpse of her and my mother when they both were young. My mom was only 18 and Aunt Eleanor was 36.

On July 17 and 18 in 1941 in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, my mother played the role of a riverboat sweetheart in a musical called "A Hillbilly Wedding." It's hard to think of your mother as a sweetheart, let alone a riverboat sweetheart. The names of some of the other characters were quite amusing as well as revealing that a sense of humor has been with us for a long, long, long ... time.

I was actually glad that my mother didn't perform the roles of Pucklewortz, Judge Itchiebritches, Ura Pumpkinhead, Ima Goosepimple, Lizzie Zilch, or Misery. Ima Goosepimple hit a bit too close to home.

When my husband and I were trying to agree on a boy's name and a girl's name after I learned that I was pregnant with out first child. We were so far apart in agreeing on the name for our daughter should we have one. I got crazy and suggested that we name our daughter, Ida, Inn, Dee or Rea. Since my married name is Kline, we both laughed and finally were able to agree on a more suitable name for our daughter.

The article would seem to imply that the musical was brief as there were "specialty acts" that followed. One such act was the Peterson quartet. My mother had cousins named Peterson, but in Minnesota, Peterson was like Smith.

Another act was square dancers. One of the couples was Clarence Peterson and Eleanor Stoutenburg. My great aunt had been a widow a bit over a year when this article was printed. Aunt Eleanor never remarried after her husband's death. Her journal gave no indication that she was a square dancer, so it was a pleasant surprise to see that she was still enjoying life.

The Elusive Larry Stoutenburgh

Larry wasn't a name the I had seen in documents that I viewed over the years of researching my family history. I was surprised since most people who are called Larry have a formal name of Lawrence or Laurence.

I did, however, find the name Larry in the various US Censuses but it wasn't until 1870 that total number of Larry's enumerated in the census was in excess of one thousand. The number was over 4,000 in 1900 and in 1910. By 1930, the number of Larrys in the census was a little over 11,000. But it wasn't until 1940 that almost 70,000 Larrys were enumerated in that census.

So the next step was to look for Lawrence Stoutenburgh. I already had in my tree a Lawrence N. Stoutenburg and his son, Lawrence N. Stoutenburg, Jr. There were some trees that I saw that linked a Lawrence Napoleon Stoutenburg to Edward H. Stoutenburg and his wife, Margaret Montfore.  But nothing seemed to match.

After looking at newspaper articles, census images and city directories, I was able to figure out who Larry Stoutenburgh, the billiard player was. Larry is the son of Lawrence Michael Stoutenburgh and Winifred Hennigan. Larry was Lawrence Michael Stoutenburgh, Jr. His father, Lawrence Michael Stoutenburgh, was the son of Edward H. Stoutenburgh and Margaret Montfore.

On January 25, 1912, Larry married Jennie M. Brown in Hudson Falls, NY. The affidavit recorded with the license to marry, names his father, mother and the place in which he was born. I found the World War I draft registration card for Lawrence Micheal (sic) Stoutenburgh. He was married and living in Erie County, New York.

The marriage apparently did not endure as he was married Mae Alameda George by 1940 when they were enumerated in Manhattan. Jennie Brown still called herself Jennie Stoutenburgh in the 1920 census while he claims to be single when he is enumerated in White Plains, New York in 1920.

At this time, I have not found a 1930 Census record of Larry, Mae Alameda George, or Jennie Brown.

Larry Stoutenburgh the Pocket Billiard Pro

When I was surfing the Internet for Stoutenburg ancestors, I periodically came across newspaper articles about Larry Stoutenburgh, a billiard professional. Many of the articles were about his attempt to become the billiards champion and would refer to him as Larry Stoutenburgh of Buffalo, New York.

In 1917, there was a match between Larry, the challenger, and Frank Taberski of Schenectady, defending champion. Taberski was able to defend his title in this match, but only by a narrow margin.

I found a World War II old man's registration on April 27, 1942 of Larry M. Stoutenburgh living in Manhattan, proprietor of a billiard parlor on 225 West 57th Street. He was born December 11, 1888 in New York State. The registration card named the person who would always know is address as Mrs. Mae Stoutenburgh.

She died at her home in Manhattan in 1947 at the age of 54 years. Her obituary in The New-York Times identified her as Mrs. Mae Alameda George Stoutenburgh, a former soprano with the Strauss Opera Company. It also indicated that she and Larry performed together in vaudeville; she as a singer and he as a trick shot billiard performer.

I was able to learn that Mae Alameda George was her stage name. She was born Mary Almeda George in Stouffville near Toronto, Ontario on June 4, 1887. Her family lived in the Toronto area until about 1906 when they were living in Winnipeg, Canada. By 1911, the family had settled in Vancouver where her parents remained.

Larry Stoutenburgh and his wife, Georgie, were living in Manhattan in 1940. According the the census, they were living at the same address on April 1, 1935. Georgie was born in English Canada and was 45 years old, implying that she was born about 1895. That makes her around 8 years younger than the date recorded in a York County birth register.

I found Mae George in the 1920 US Census single and living in Manhattan. She was 26 years old, 7 years younger than her actual age. I also found a 30-year-old Laurence Stoutenburgh who was single, a proprietor of a billiards parlor living in White Plains, New York. So it would seem that they did not marry until after January, 1920. The earliest newspaper article in which I found mention of the two of them performing together was in a Bridgeport, Connecticut newspaper of 1924.

In the January 23, 1919 issue of the Trenton Evening News is an article that states Larry Stoutenburgh had been living in Trenton, New Jersey for the past six months. In 1917 when he was attempting to become the billiards champion he was said to be of Buffalo. I found him in the Buffalo city directories of 1916 and 1917 as proprietor of a billiards room.

The earliest record I found of Larry Stoutenburgh was in an Orleans, New York newspaper of 1915. He was in the town to play in a billiards match. The paper did not mention where he was from.

It would seem that Larry M. Stoutenburgh moved around quite a bit between 1915 and 1920. He settled at Manhattan after the 1926 city directory was printed and before the 1931 residential directory was printed. I have not found a record of his death. He was living in Manhattan in 1948 but was not listed in the 1959 telephone directory. 

The next step is to figure out who Larry Stoutenburgh's parents are. In the mean time, I came across a video of Larry performing. It was filmed about 1924 and is subtitled. The video can be viewed here. {As of March 11, 2015 when I tested the link, the video was removed. I hope that someone besides myself was able to see it before it disappeared.}

A Detour on the Quest to find Larry Stoutenburgh

Over the last few years, I have come across newspaper articles about Larry Stoutenburgh, a trick billiard exhibitionist. I was never able to figure out how he was connected to the Pieter Stoutenburg descendants.

As the LDS Church and Ancestry.com keep adding images of records for online access, I periodically go back to see if there is anything new that would help me make a connection. It's taken some time, but I am happy to say that I have finally figured out how Larry is connected to Pieter Stoutenburg.

However, in the process, I came across one of those things not intended to be funny but is. I was looking at the 1908 City Directory for Newburgh, New York on which Stoutenburghs were listed. I saw this entry:

Stoddard, Rev Peter P, pastor Moulton Memorial Baptist Church, h 25 Lutheran.

I checked with Google maps and found that there is a home at 25 Lutheran Street in Greenburgh, NY. The Moulton Memorial Baptist Church also still exists. The church doesn't have a website but is on Facebook.

Although I suspect that the minister is not living on Lutheran Street at this date, I couldn't tell where the parsonage was.

Who Is Marvin?

In my last post, I mentioned that my father's friend Marvin Stromgren had come to live with us for a short time. Until most recently, I had no idea if Marvin was related to my father or just a friend. I went on an exploratory expedition on Ancestry.com to see if I could figure out how Marvin and Dad knew each other.

Oh did that journey illicit memories of the things that my dad had told me of his past! I did a search on Ancestry for Marvin Stromgren born about the same time as my father in Minnesota. There was a hit in the Minnesota Birth Index. Marvin Berg Stromgren and Kathleen Margaret Barthel came up as the parents of 3 children.

That aha moment hit. These were Marvin and Kathy. I don't actually remember much about Marvin and Kathy except that they were friends of my parents.

When I saw the date of birth of the youngest of the 3 children, I was confused. Their youngest child was born in 1951 before Marvin lived with us. However, their next child was born in 1955. The 4-year gap fit with Marvin having been in the military. It was during the Korean Conflict that ended in July 1953, about the time that Marvin lived with us.

The next aha moment I had was remembering that Marvin and Kathy were one of the families who had a basement house. I now wonder if Marvin stayed at our house while his basement was being built and that Kathy and her child lived with her family at that same time.

Marvin left behind at our house that wool blanket. That became my blanket and I called it my tickle blanket because it made my nose itch. It was very prickly. Thankfully, the tickle blanket was left behind when we moved to California.

So how are Marvin and my father connected?

I learned from the Minnesota Historical Society birth index that Marvin was born in Isanti County in 1925. That was a bummer because my dad was born three years earlier in Hennepin County. From the 1930 US Census images, I found Marvin in Grow Township living with his widowed mother, Olive and his siblings, two of which were born before 1920. The second household enumerated after Olive's was my dad's Aunt Ellen's family but my dad and his family were living in Aitkin County, Minnesota in 1930.

Olive died in 1979. I don't recall if I ever met her but I do remember hearing her name. Since Marvin's father died when he was very young, I don't believe that I knew his father's name. Checking the 1920 Census, I found that Olive, her husband Abel G. and their two children were living in Isanti, Minnesota on Broadway Street. He ran a general store. The Minnesota State Gazetteer of 1922 lists Abel Stromgren and Fred L. Russell proprietors of a general store, Stromgren & Russell, Isanti.

On September 12, 1918, Abel Gustaf Stromgren registered for the World War I draft. He was a merchant whose residence was in Constance (Grow Township), Minnesota. Abel named his wife, Olive Mary, as his nearest relative. So some time after September 12, 1918 but before January 6, 1920, the family moved from Constance to Isanti.

The family resided in Isanti about 8 years or so. Their youngest child was born in Isanti August 22, 1926. However, by April 2, 1930, Olive was back in Grow Township. According to the census, she was the postmistress. From a ledger of post office appointments in Anoka County, I learned that Abel was appointed postmaster in Constance on January 8, 1927. He died on November 24th of that same year. She then became the acting postmistress.

I found her in Grow Township in the 1940 Census. Olive was the postmistress. The household enumerated before hers was that of Ruth and Mathilda Book. Ruth would become my grandmother's sister-in-law. The appointment ledger noted her several appointments as postmistress of the Constance post office. The final entry was of the closure of the post office effective February 28, 1955, mail to Anoka.

Now I know how Marvin and my dad knew each other. It was because of the post office.

I don't know exactly when my dad's parents moved from McGregor, Minnesota to Constance but they were living in the same house on April 1, 1935 (1940 Census). I remember railroad tracks that were near the house where my grandmother was raised. My father told me that his grandfather had convinced the US post office to have a mail stop at his farm.

Prior to this, mail was sent to the post office in Anoka. As a member of the community had the need to make the trip to Anoka then he/she would check for mail at the post office. The mail train would pass by my great grandfather's farm. Dad told me that the train didn't stop but it did pick up and drop off mail as it passed.

In 1935, my father was 13, old enough to put the bag with the outgoing mail on the pick up hook and retrieve the bag left by the mail train from the drop off hook. My father graduated from Anoka High School in 1940. Between 1935 and 1940 my dad handled the mail bags at his uncle's farm. With Marvin's mother as the postmistress and my dad helping with the mail bag, Dad and Marvin would have known each other.

My Childhood House - Fond Memories

In my last post, I mentioned that my grandfather came from California to help my father finish the second floor of our house. They had put up the drywall to form the walls of the bedroom and a closet before my grandfather had to leave. Shortly afterwards, Marvin Stromgren came to live with us for a while.

I thought that he may have been a relative or a friend of my father's. He moved into the unfinished room upstairs for a while. It didn't seem like he was there for a very long time. Marvin had recently been discharged from the Army or Marine Corps as he had a uniform and a wool dark green blanket when he came. I think that he was in the service during the Korean Conflict.

As I was composing this post, I actually didn't know how Marvin and my dad knew each other. I did a little snooping on Ancestry.com. From the bits and pieces of information that I found, it looks like Marvin was a friend and not a relative. That's another story.

After Marvin's stay ended and before Dad had a chance to work on finishing the second floor, my brothers engaged in a game of dodge ball upstairs. That game ended with a large hole near the floor in the drywall on one side of the room. I remember that we tried to tell our dad that a huge mouse was in the attic and made the hole.

My brother and I were consigned to the unfinished bedroom after Marvin left. We apparently were not very good at getting to bed and staying there. My dad was a very astute person and decided to turn the story into one that worked for him. He said that a huge mouse may have made the hole in the wall, but it was the bear who lived in the attic that was now the problem. He told us that the bear would come out when one of us got out of bed before morning.

My dad sometimes miscalculated things. I started to wet the bed because I was too afraid to get out of bed at night because of that bear in the attic. Since bears are afraid of light according to my dad, he installed a low wattage light (today called a night light) so I could feel free to get up to go to the bathroom. My dad had an explanation why the bear wouldn't come out when I went to the bathroom vs. when I was being a problem child. Dad tried!

That house had gable in front with an air vent. Even before my dad put up the drywall there was a trap door to access the gable. As kids we would pull down the trap door and get into the gable. The small vent would allow us to see the outside of our front yard. My brothers and I would pretend that we were in a rocket ship and that we were looking down at earth.

Minnesota summers are hot and humid. After my father finished off half of the basement into a rec-room, I found myself spending most summers in the basement reading when I wasn't in some lake. The basement was the only cool place in the house.

After the rec-room was finished, we started to have Christmas Eve dinner at our house. By that time my mother's sister and her family moved from New York to Minnesota and my mother's brother and his family moved from Chicago to Minnesota. So now Christmas Eve was at our house in our basement. At that point, the Christmas Tree was put in the basement. Up to that time, our tree was set up in the living room.

The last time that I remember the tree in the living room was the year that my parents got us cardboard bricks and enclosed the entire doorway to the living room with these bricks. Mom and Dad apparently spent much of the night of Christmas Eve assembling the cardboard bricks and setting them into the door way in hopes that we would take enough time to get through the barricade to allow them some sleep. The lesson I took away from this memory...Don't under estimate your kids.

Thinking about our house also reminds me of our neighbor, Rosie Bryant. She had the most beautiful flower garden in her backyard. My dad had planted a vegetable garden in our yard, but I was entranced by Rosie's flowers. My dad let me have a small plot, about 2 by 3 feet in our small backyard. Rosie helped plant my garden each year and my tiny garden was always beautiful.

That little house has so many fond memories for me. It was hard to leave it.

The Basement House

The reporting of the terrible tornado that devastated a community near Oklahoma City, Oklahoma brought to mind root cellars. If you watched the Wizard of Oz movie with Judy Garland, her aunt and uncle took shelter in the root cellar as a tornado was approaching. I remember visiting relatives who lived on farms having root cellars.

The root cellar was under the house and access was from outside. They were not very deep, but deep enough to store vegetables. Most had a dirt floor. In the days of root cellars, they served an additional function, that of a storm cellar.

My parents bought a house in the city. Like all the houses on my street, we had a basement. I am not sure, but I think that city houses had basements to accommodate the furnace that was used to heat the house. Our house had a huge gas furnace but the older houses must have had coal burning furnaces because a couple of the old houses in my neighborhood had coal chutes from a small window at ground level into the basement below. I can't recall visiting a house in Minneapolis that didn't have a full basement.

Not all of my friends and relatives had lived in an above ground house. Some lived for a short time in a basement house. Instead of buying an existing house, the family purchased the land and built their own house. The first step was making the basement and foundation for the eventual house.

It usually took a few years to complete the entire house. Once the basement was complete, some families moved into the basement. When the main floor was finished, the family moved up to the main floor.

The basement house had a distinct appearance. It was a small structure on with a door. I remember these so distinctly that I was certain there would be a photograph on the Internet. I was surprised to find almost none. It seems now a basement house has a new meaning.

This was the only image that I could find of the entrance of a basement house like those of my childhood.