My dad Robert - 18 April 1940

As I mentioned before, last Monday (2 April 2012) the 1940 US Federal Census was released. As the different (lack of a better word) organizations began to make the scans available, my sister and I were trying to find our dad. We knew he lived in Huntington Park, California with the family of a friend, and the friend I was sure he lived with, I couldn't find anywhere in the on-line genealogy world. The last known address we had for my dad prior to Lola being "sent away" was the 1930 US Census and we knew that wasn't going to be a good resource.

My dad was born in Mason City, IA on 11 October 1917. Sometime in 1927, when he was 9 or 10, my grandparents and dad moved to California after a trip here to visit Lola's brother Bill Meents. In January of 1930, Lola had some sort of "incident" and was hospitalized for a few weeks for depression. She was released.  On 2 April 1930, the family was on the US Census in Huntington Park. My dad was 12 years old.  By January of 1936, my grandmother was committed. My grandfather and my dad were not in her life at this point. My dad would have been about 18 years of age.

So as we were trying to figure out how to find my dad on the 1940 Census (and knowing our only means of finding him was by an address) I remembered that I have a copy of the marriage certificate of my dad and his first wife, Fern. They married 17 August 1940. I pulled that out of my files and wrote the address he had listed on the certificate down. I then tried to determine where the heck that enumeration district was. My sister was already getting the hang of figuring the districts out so I gave her the address and the mission to find dad was hers.  Within about 10 minutes she found him! He was living at the same address that was listed on his marriage certificate and it was in fact the home of his friend's family that I could never seem to find on line anywhere - The McGowans. He was listed as a 22 year old lodger at their home on 18 April 1940, and was actually living there on 1 April 1935. My dad is at the bottom of below image.

National Archives

That bit of info was interesting as I am still not certain when my grandfather, Red, split, so I now know it was sometime before 1 April 1935. Once I can find Red on the 1940, maybe that will help a little bit. I know in January of 1936, Red was living in South Gate, California. Oh heck, maybe knowing his whereabouts in 1935 won't help piece things together. Or at least, not just yet.

Happy Spring!

Wasn't it just Christmas? Again I ask where does the time go? I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, be it Easter or Passover. I grew up celebrating Easter holiday with the Easter egg hunt, Easter basket, Easter dress (not really bonnets though), Easter candy. Early on, we got chocolate eggs and after much whining, the parents changed it to chocolate bunnies. We didn't go to church for Easter unless my aunts took us (my sister and I that is). Sometimes my mom would go, but never my dad.

Me, Easter 1962. Huntington Park, CA

Maybe I should be celebrating both Easter and Passover. Upon recently obtaining my grandmother, Lola's medical records, I learned that she said she was Jewish on her mother's side (her mother being my "famous" and rather unconventional great grandmother Effie Furst Beck Cloos Roby). I really don't know the story behind that and have not yet been able to determine whether or not the Becks were Jewish. From anything I can find, they appeared to have held weddings and funerals at Christian type churches.

My grandmother though, would participate in Jewish activities while she was in the system, and is buried in a beautifully maintained Jewish cemetery. In fact, the employees at that cemetery are beyond amazing. When I first got Lola's death certificate and my sister called the cemetery listed on it, the woman my sister spoke with took down some information and said she'd go out and find the plot and email a picture. Within an hour, she did just that! I really look forward to learning more about this.

My Great Aunt Bessie - 3 May 1940

With the exciting release yesterday of the 1940 census, I, like so many others out there, have been researching the census at any opportunity. The two sites I keep going to, Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org, haven't yet uploaded the one state I'm most interested in - Illinois.  However, the National Archives has all States uploaded on their site, so, this evening I decided to head over there and see if I could find my grandmother, Lola's, sister Bessie. I really had no idea where she might have been, but I did know where she was in 1930, so, that's where I started, and sadly, that's where I found her ten years later.

Let me recap here.  As I began to research my dad's family, and his mother in particular, I found her parents and siblings. Bessie was her older sister by one year and three months, born 1 July 1893 (7 months after my great grandparents, George Cloos and Effie Beck married). George and Effie had five children and sometime before 1910, their marriage broke up and Effie and her children ended up living with other families as hired help, domestics or servants by the 1910 Census. I still cannot find George in 1910. In 1910, Bessie lived with a family called Colter, in Decatur, IL, as a boarder. The only other thing I could recently find on her, was a 1911 Decatur Directory which had her listed as Bessie Cloos.

By 1920 and the census, she was married to a man named Benjamin H. Trump and living in Greenville, Bond County, IL. She was about 27 (yet the census lists her as 25) and did not work out of the home. Ben was older than by a few years and worked as a blacksmith (self employed) and owned the home they lived in. When or how they met, I do not know. When or where they married, I do not know. I know that in June of 1917 they were married as I have Ben's WWI draft registration that lists a wife.

But then there's the 1930 census and Bessie Trump is listed as a "patient" at the Alton State Hospital in Wood Bridge, Madison County, Illinois! You can only imagine my shock to learn that, knowing that my grandmother was also in a State Hospital. Bessie was listed as a white female, married and 35 years of age. This census was taken on 1 Apr 1930.

Armed with her last known address, I went to the National Archives site this evening and entered the enumeration number from 1930 and got the enumeration number for 1940 and then the pages and began checking. I really had no idea where she was by then, but decided to check there as it was her last known address for me.  Unlike Camarillo State Hospital, where Lola was, the pages for Alton State Hospital had the "inmates" listed alphabetically. I began browsing through the pages until I got to the "Ts". I then scrolled down, and sadly, there she was, ten years later, still in Alton State Hospital. This census was taken on 3 May 1940. It listed Bessie as 45, white, female, born in Illinois, married (and then it looks to be crossed out with a question mark) and it does state that on 1 Apr 1935 she was at the "same house".

My heart sank and I felt such sadness. What happened to her? Why did she and my grandmother end up in these facilities while their brothers lived outside and normal lives? How could this be? I know they all had the same hard upbringing, and I know my grandmother's was compounded by the loss of a child and then moving to a new state.

I am of the opinion that Bessie did not have children as I've yet to find any proof of that, therefore, I believe my sisters and I are her next of kin. I am now seriously going to research how to get a hold of her medical records. I have attempted to reach out to living relatives on her husband's side of the family, and either, no one knows of her or has ever gotten back to my sister or I. I have her obituary that does not list her blood family at all and she died 6 Feb 1976 in a convalescent hospital in Peoria, IL. I imagine she died alone. Makes me so sad.

For the record, I tried to print and scan the 1940 census page with Bessie, but kept encountering problems. It just would not print even though I downloaded the free software that is suppose to make sharing this stuff "easy".

Again, I can't say enough how lucky we are to live in the time we do, as I really think there was a time when you could be "thrown" away because you were alone and unemployed and maybe suffered from depression. Why that side of my family didn't "stick" together, I may never know. I am pretty sure they knew where each other was, but that clearly didn't change what was their reality.

Now begins the serious research on how to obtain Bessie records as I (and my sisters) are clearly her next of kin and this is our bloodline.  Surely, more to come here.

My Grandmother, Lola - 9 April 1940

Today, April 2, 2012, the 1940 US Federal Census was released at 12:01 AM by the National Archives. These scans were released to a few different organizations including FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com. Ancestry.com has been uploading pages by state and today they began to upload California (along with Pennsylvania, Maine, New York, Guam, American Samoa, Delaware, District of Columbia, Indiana, Nevada, Panama Canal Zone, Rhode Island, Virgin Islands and Virginia. FamilySearch.org has uploaded Kansas, Oregon, Colorado, Virginia and Delaware.

Mind you, none of these pages have yet been indexed by name, so in order to search for your relatives, you must have an idea of where they might have lived and then determine the enumeration number for that area. There are maps available at the various sites, including the National Archives, but I haven't been able to really figure the numbers out.

This evening I checked at Ancestry for the progress of California and found Ventura County was up. I checked it and found that the city of Camarillo was available and there were only five links. The last of the links was the one I needed. It included the now closed Camarillo State Hospital (or as it was called in 1940, Camarillo State Mental Hospital). I knew from the hospital records I was able to obtain, that Lola was at Camarillo in 1940. When I opened that file, it was huge - 93 pages! This meant 93 pages to search without the luxury of names being indexed (which makes the search SO easy). My sister and I got on it and began to look through the pages, looking for Lola. Now, we knew that she was in the system as Marie and not Lola, so that was the name we were looking for. My sister was checking ahead of the pages I was checking and finally she said, "here she is". I asked what page she told me page 63 and line 34 (please see last line below).



National Archives

 The 1940 Census has some great questions, including address in 1935, yet, apparently all these great questions weren't all that important of anyone that was in a State Hospital in 1940. Basically, the only information that was apparently EVER going to be important to any family members in the future was Name, Age, Sex, Race, Marital Status and Place of Birth. I find that rather disturbing.

There was a time in my search for Lola that I really thought my only means of finding her was either going to be through the assistance of a medium like James Van Praagh or the 1940 Census. If I hadn't found her, I sadly realized today that I still wouldn't have a clue about her from this census. I hope that isn't going to be the case with her sister, Bessie! Time will tell though.

Wordless Wednesday - Lola's Grave

This is where my grandmother, Lola L. Cloos Robinson, is buried. She is in an unmarked grave and died and is buried as Marie Robinson. We still do not know "why" Marie, but we do know that her records did know she was Lola.

She is buried in the empty area left of the walkway. My sister and I have talked about getting her a grave marker. She's buried at Eternal Home Cemetery in Colma, CA.

The Mystery Women in Old Family Photos

I was thinking about this picture that I got from my cousin. I don't think anything was written on the back of it or I think my cousin would have mentioned that. I know that the little boy that looks a lot like Little Lord Fauntleroy, is my dad. The tall, skinny guy next to him with all the hair, is my grandfather, Red. What I wonder is if the woman next to Red might just be my grandmother, Lola. I believe the other woman (second on the left) is either my grandfather's sister, Lillie Mae or his sister, Edna. Not sure who the guys are. I look forward to finding that out.

1940 US Census

I'm so excited! In 11 days, the 1940 US Census will be released and available for viewing! I am so looking forward to learning more about my family tree. There are so many people that I cannot find or could not find even in 1930 and I hope that 1940 will shed some light.

Having found Lola, my grandmother, I know now where she was in 1940. She will even most likely show up on the census as Marie. I wonder where her sister, Bessie was in 1940. In 1930, Bessie was a patient at the Alton State Hospital in Alton, IL. Was Bessie still there in 1940? And where was Bessie's husband Ben? I still cannot find any death record for him, and there is no way he is still living.

My grandmother also had many cousins that I have hit brick walls with. These are the young female cousins that most likely married and died with different last names than, say, Beck. If I can find them in 1940, maybe I can find children that might still be living and might have information and pictures!

My grandmother had an aunt, Lena Cloos that died as Magdalene Josephine Moyer in 1951. Lena married a man named Alfred Martin in Grundy, IL in 1893 and they had two daughters. Alfred died in 1935. I cannot find Lena in 1930, but did find that Lena died at the same state hospital as Lola. I'm still trying to find living descendants of Lena, but that has not proven to be so easy.

I wonder where my grandfather Earl (Red) was in 1940. I'm not sure if he was still in the Los Angeles area then or if he was in Northern California. I believe he was in Northern California as a the widow of my dad's good friend told me that when my dad married his first wife Fern in August of 1940, they went to the World's Fair in San Francisco and stayed with Red.

I also wonder who my dad was living with. I believe the census was taken in April of 1940, so he and Fern will not be listed in the same household. I can't wait for the release and already imagine hours of obsessive searching on that day! Why the heck is it being released on a Monday of all days? They really should release it on a Saturday.

My Frustration with The HIPAA Law

How can I equally respect and hate the HIPAA law? Right now, I hate it more than respect it, but I do appreciate the law in the big picture. I can tell you that I had to jump through hoops to get my own grandmother's records (as limited as they were) and now I've been trying to get insight on her paternal aunt who also died in the same facility that my grandmother died in. Considering that the law deals with privacy and insurance, I'm thinking that the people I'm interested in, didn't have insurance during the time they were "incarcerated".

I just want to know what happened and how she ended up there, but I am not "eligible" to receive that information as I'm not considered the closest living relative. I've attempted to reach out via other sources to a great granddaughter of my grandmother's aunt, but haven't had any luck there. Possibly, the "descendant" isn't really into the gen research and doesn't know or care, but that doesn't mean others feel the same way. Therefore, how do we handle this?

So, if you're not not a direct descendant, how do you obtain this information if the direct descendants don't really give a damn? The laws really do screw things up. I'm talking about a woman that died in the early 1950s and not someone that recently died. But, it is someone from my bloodline and I want to know that history. Why is that so difficult? This is bugging the hell out of me.

Hello 2012, PS I Love You, and 52 Things

I start every new year feeling so optimistic and hopeful. I set goals and achieve some and some that are more realistic than others! I have this goal to win a lottery. Well, maybe that isn't so realistic, but it sure would be nice. It sure would help replace the income I've lost in 2011, especially now that I've taken on being a caregiver for my mom. Well, as long as my mind is functioning, I shall continue to dream of the day I win BIG! I did have a goal to travel to Illinois in 2011, but things came up and that trip didn't happen. I actually had that trip planned in 2010, but didn't make it then either.

However, this is a new year and I have added the trip to my newly declared "52 Things"! This time, there is no pressure. If it doesn't happen due to upcoming circumstances, I will not kick myself or feel disappointed. I turn 52 this year and have started a list of 52 things I want to do that I've never done, and taking a trip to IL is one of them. I want to meet family in person and gather data and pictures and stories! I want to go to the courthouses and check the records of my "famous" great grandmother, the notorious Effie Beck Cloos Roby! She had quite the past. I want to find out how my grandparents Red and Lola met and when they married. I would LOVE to find pictures of Lola, as well as her sister Bessie and their father George Cloos, their mother Effie and so many others.

This past Friday, December 30, 2011, we went to Palm Springs (PS) for our annual Christmas visit, dinner and gift exchange with good friends that are really family. Earlier this year, my dear friends purchased a new home on a golf course and we got to see the new pad. It was fabulous and so was the day and the visit. We drove around the country club and chatted, played dice, exchanged gifts and had good food and laughs.

I made vegan lasagna and vegan German Chocolate Cake! It was so good and rather decadent! So that is now something I've checked off the "52 Things" list. For the cake, I used this wonderful recipe and the frosting was from Fatfreevegan! Man, it was so good, and I say that as someone who long ago, lost interest in cakes.

While we were in Palm Springs, I realized yet again, how much I love it there and have added a home in PS to my list of things to accomplish this year! I LOVE Palm Springs. The vibe and the architecture speaks to me. I also love the lack of LA rat race that seems to surround the environment. As a kid, my family spent the week between Christmas and New Year in Palm Springs, so I have very happy memories of it (and some very goofy old pictures that I'll not share now). I am not one to like the heat but I can learn to deal with three months of "pain" in order to be in a place that calls my name. As always, the weather was fabulous at this time of year and the sky so beautiful. Once the sun went down, it got cold out.

My mom enjoys watching Dr. Oz and while we were in PS, we turned that on for her. That episode featured chef Rocco DiSpirito's Mushroom Lasagna and I thought it looked good, so yesterday, January 1, I added that to my list of 52 Things and made a killer vegan version of it! Two things now checked off my list! I hadn't ever made a "white" mushroom lasagna and decided to try it. It was fabulous. The picky eaters in my house really loved it. They thought the sauce seemed to be very  "Alfredo" like. For the ricotta, I used the vegan tofu ricotta from the Skinny Bitch cookbook which I've used for my "red" lasagna. Instead of mozzarella, I used Daiya Mozzarella and two 13.5 cans of mushrooms. I drained the mushrooms and added three teaspoons of corn starch to the liquid and whisked it together and added the mushrooms and liquid to the "ricotta". I then sprayed a 13" Pyrex and layered the no bake lasagna noodles, the "ricotta and mushroom" mixture, the Daiya and sliced black olives, covered with foil, and baked for about an hour, covered, at 350F. It tasted even better tonight!

My friends have adorable little furry children - a dog named Cody and a kitten named Chance. Their friend stopped by with his cute little puppy Raven and those little furry kids were running through the house, playing and chasing and rough housing and just entertaining my mom! They even ran across her lap a few times and she thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It was a wonderful day.

Yesterday was New Years Day, but it didn't really seem like it because it was Sunday. I always associate New Years Day with the Rose Parade, but this weird old agreement, if you will, between the parade and the churches in the city, declared the parades would not happen if New Years Day fell on Sunday as that would keep the folks out of church. OK, the times have changed but not that strange agreement. So the parade happened today on January 2.

So, here's to a fab new year! Last year was tough, but I am looking forward to the new year. I plan to make it count and accomplish things this year so that I don't just feel like a cog in a machine going through some kind of corporate motions. Yeah, I say that every year, so, here's to this year being different. For you, I hope you have great success and prosperity and ask that you might even give my vegan recipes a try and let me know how it came out. I also hope you might participate in the "however many years" challenge and keep us posted here.  You never know how your "thing" might inspire someone else!

Here's to a happy, healthy, safe, successful and prosperous 2012 and I look forward to hearing about all the successes and to sharing my own.,

Goodbye 2011

Another year has come and gone. In fact, 2011 flew by! As I reflected back on the year, I noticed something that I am terribly guilty of - lack of follow through. I started several paintings and tutorials that I never completed. I still have those incomplete paintings hanging around and the tutorial pictures on my camera. I even had a tutorial in my head that never came to life, so that can come to life at a later time.

2011 was a challenging year. My mom fell and broke her pelvis in March after many trips to the ER earlier in the year because of high blood pressure. Once her pelvis healed, she moved in. That has been an adjustment for all of us. The cats do love having her around because she eats turkey and they love that gamy smell. They also love sitting on her lap and sleeping curled up at her feet. They don't like the fact though that she does rat them out when they misbehave!

My mom does have "chores" here that she likes doing - she folds the laundry and loads and empties the dishwasher. The evening I got busted emptying the dishwasher brought her great disappointment. I no longer empty it unless she is asleep! And only if it really needs to be emptied due to mass quantities of dirty dishes that I don't want to hand wash or have hanging out on the kitchen counter all night.

The Thursday before my mom moved in (she moved in on a Saturday) I was frantically cleaning and trying to organize things and while putting laundry away and not watching where I was going, I ran into the cat scratching post, tripped and landed, face down on my dresser! Lord have mercy. I felt the blood running down my face and ran to the bathroom. I could see my face already beginning to swell. I had two black eyes and looked like the beast from Beauty and the Beast, as the bridge of my nose rapidly expanded. Luckily, it was not broken, just fractured. My nose is still a bit sensitive I should add. I wonder how long this really will take to completely heal.

In 2011, my work hours were cut. I actually was cool with the part time hours as I have "full-time" work at home playing (or at least attempting) caregiver. I really believe the cut work hours helps with the care giving and my boss is truly amazing and understanding! I'm very lucky. Now to better organize my time so that I can make fabulous and functional screenprinted shirts and linens that will supplement my lost income. Hell, I've got the artwork ready so what is stopping me?

Major car catastrophes also happened in 2011! I locked my keys in the car one Sunday and frantically tried to get them through the small window opening and failed miserably, getting a nasty bruise on my forearm. You can find that story here.

My battery died at the post office in a 10 minute zone on a Saturday. I had taken my mom to her hair appointment and then ran to the post office to mail an Etsy order I had! Package sign, sealed and mailed and the car wouldn't start! Ugh. I needed to pick my mom up and then we were going to our friends' house for a fun Tupperware party. I called AAA and they sent a tow truck driver that had batteries with him and he replaced mine on the spot! 

Driving home on the freeway from a doctor's appointment my mom had one morning and I suddenly heard something weird and loud. It was my front tire. Blow out on the freeway! Traffic was light so it was a breeze getting to the shoulder. Calling AAA and getting a tow truck there was a bit longer! But, ultimately, I ended up needing three new tires.

I was invited to join four Etsy teams this year and that has been a blast. I have been most active (until recently) with the Etsian Artists Working Together (EAWT) team. I really love that group (although I have been bitchy on occasion with some of the members that tend to be non-responsive). I might just be bitchy in general, who knows! I love the community feel of the teams and, especially, the EAWT as they are truly connected to one another! They were my first Etsy team, for the most part super supportive and I am so happy to be amongst them! However, if I don't get  back in the groove, they might banish me!

2011 was the year I found my grandmother Lola! That was huge. After two years of research and pretty much dedicating this blog to my search for her and what I've learned about the "unknown" family, I found her. I also was also able to get the medical records that still exist on her. She was originally admitted to a state hospital in 1930 briefly for depression. Six years later, she was committed for the remaining 24 years of her life. She died exactly eight days before I was born and the doctor that wrote the justification for her commitment, was the same doctor that delivered me 24 years later!

The search was challenging because she was in the system, died, and was buried under a different name - Marie. That is still a mystery and something I am continuing to look into. Finding Lola was a huge goal, yet there are still so many unanswered questions. I kind of thought that once I found her, I'd know all the answers and could neatly wrap up the story and be ready to go on the Oprah show. But, alas, I'm not yet there.

Good thing it is a new year and now I can have new goals for 2012.

A New Year and 52 Things

My sister was telling me about a friend of hers that did this very cool thing when she turned 50. My sister said she plans to do this in the new year, and I thought it was so cool, I'd do it myself.

With the new year upon us, take your age in the new year and then create a list of that many things you've never done that you can do in the new year. So, for myself, I will be turning (gasp!) 52 in the new year, so I will create a list of 52 things I haven't done and do them. I shall then check them off the list as I go.

What is cool about this is that there is no pressure. I really believe the pressure to accomplish goals or resolutions can lead to failure so I like the rule that there is no pressure. You can even change your "things" as go along. The ultimate goal is to complete however many things (based on your upcoming age) in the new year. Your "things" don't have to be monumental either, but rather things you can really do. For instance, cook quinoa or go to a cemetery and photograph headstones that someone requested on findagrave.com. You may even want to volunteer at a shelter one weekend, or start a journal. The possibilities are endless and open to change, just as long as you can do things you want to do that you haven't done yet! A kick back bucket list, I guess. I hope you'll give it a try!

I shall create a spreadsheet of things I shall do this year that I've never done and as I complete them, I will check them off. But even better (I know!), I will blog about them! These little gems will be tagged here as "52 Things" and the post titles will also contain "52 Things" so that you won't miss a single exciting moment!

I really hope others will join in and share their "however many things" with me. I really believe we can all inspire each other! Having said that, I'm getting an early start with some of my 52 things for the upcoming year.

1 - I will make a vegan German Chocolate Cake. As a kid, that was my absolute favorite cake in the world. It has been too long since I've had it, so, I'll come up with a recipe that meets my vegan diet.

2 - Request a coroner's report (my grandmother's). I learned that these are public record.

3 - Offer international shipping at my Etsy shop.

4 - Transcribe 1940 Census Records (I've never transcribed any census records and have already signed up as a volunteer)!

5 - Compile my mom's recipes into a cookbook (I have all those recipes of hers in my possession) and offer the vegan options. She really was a great cook, but now, it isn't something she does.

So, here's my start, and, maybe number five is a bit huge, but, I'll give it a shot. Remember, no pressure. That just really makes it more appealing IMO.

I hope others will join in and share their own accomplishments and goals here or share their links! I think my item 5 is huge and will take several months to complete, but I have others so far that will be easier. I look forward to seeing where this goes in the upcoming year. I also look forward to seeing what others do as I might find someone else's "thing" something I want to try.

Here's to 2012 and a prosperous, successful, healthy, safe and happy New Year! Do things! Make things happen and contribute something good to others while doing something good for yourself!

Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Cool Yule and a safe, healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!

I had a very nice Christmas, prepared a huge dinner, and actually got everything I asked for. My sister and I got my mom a foot bath and she was very excited about that. We also got her two sweaters, a Sobakawa Cloud pillow (I got one, too, and it is very comfy), and a massage gift certificate.

Now I am so tired I can barely type this. I'll write more tomorrow (I can't believe I've been away for a few weeks). Where did this year go? That old saying is true - the older we get the faster it goes. The year flew by and I have to say it was a huge year of genealogy discoveries for me (I found my grandmother Lola), as well as being personally challenging.

Last Sunday, my BFF got my sister and I tickets for Christmas to see one of all of our favorites, Brian Setzer Orchestra (BSO)! We have gone to see his Holiday Extravaganza many times over the years and he NEVER disappoints! If you ever get the chance to go, I highly recommend it.

Until tomorrow, I leave you with one of my fav holiday songs and the best cover of it, by BSO. The only time I saw him perform this live was the year the US bombed Baghdad and he dedicated it to a buddy of his who was there. It was very moving and brought tears to my eyes as well as many around me in that theatre. Until tomorrow...

Rainy Days and Mondays, and a Song of the Week

It is a rainy day and it is a Monday. Rainy days don't so much get me down, but Mondays tend to. And the rain today brought some cold weather with it, along with some cold winds, but luckily nothing like the winds we experienced last week that did much damage in certain areas.

Since it was so cold and rainy and Monday, I thought it was a good day for some warm comfort food. I made a really good batch of Lentil Barley Soup and some cornbread muffins. It did hit the spot! Unlike the recipe in this link, I did add two bay leaves and some torn Kale and it was fabulous!

I posted yesterday about Lena Cloos and her death certificate and indicated that I'd be calling the facility in Costa Mesa to talk to the woman that handles the patient records.  I did call her today and, as I suspected, my relationship may not be considered next of kin. But, I do have a homework assignment - I need to use my "detective" skills and find out if Lena has any living "next of kin" such as grandchildren or great grandchildren. Lena did have two daughters that are now both deceased, and from what I can tell, one of her daughters had a son. He is also deceased, but it appears that his wife and three daughters are still living. Now I must figure out who they are and how to contact them.

I also mentioned in yesterday's post that I had made a bunch of bottle cap magnets. The resin is drying now and they look so cool! Not all are totally dried yet, but I just couldn't help taking a pictures to share. Yeah, the little things. I'm so happy with them, yet the pictures I took tonight aren't that great. Actually they're pretty bad and I can't seem to fix them in PhotoShop. I'll have to wait until I can get pictures during daylight to share.

In keeping with the post title, it is a rainy day and a Monday, so I thought it was appropriate to share a Song of the Week. The weather may not be beautiful, but the song is and so is the voice of Karen Carpenter. She was such a talent and her life ended so tragically. Two weeks ago, a very nice man I worked with passed away suddenly from a heart attack. When I was telling my mom about his passing and how very nice he was, she said that it always seems that the nice ones leave us early and the bad ones seem to stay around. Maybe the nice ones are just lucky enough to leave while they are at the top of their game so that they can be remembered that way. Or some may not have gone while on top of their game, but we still remember them for the things they contributed. My song of the week, obviously, is Rainy Days and Mondays by The Carpenters. Enjoy.

Lena Cloos, Part 2

Oh, man. I got Lena's death certificate this past Thursday, and have been taking it in since. Lena Cloos, aka Magdalene Moyer died in DeWitt State Hospital on 5 Nov 1951 in Auburn, CA (Placer County)! I really couldn't believe it, yet prior to getting her death certificate and knowing where she died, I did wonder. I wondered if Lena and Lola being in the same county and possibly city, were aware of this and knew of each other's whereabouts. I wondered if they were in contact with each other. I also wondered if Lena was for some reason at DeWitt, as their both dying in Placer County did strike a chord with me.

So, Lena was at the same state hospital that my grandmother, Lola was and they were there at the same time. I did review the medical records I have for Lola and there was no mention of an aunt anywhere in the files. That doesn't mean a mention wasn't there, but from what I understand, these records get purged over the years and therefore, what I have, has no mention.

Lena was a "resident" at DeWitt (according to her death certificate) for 3 years, 10 months and 19 days prior to her death. Based on that I figure she was admitted around 1947 or 1948 and the physician that signed off on the d/c indicated he had been treating her from 17 Dec 1947 until 6 Nov 1951 (her date of death). Interestingly enough, Lola was transferred from Camarillo State Hospital to DeWitt on 17 Dec 1947.

I wonder if Lena may have been at Camarillo prior to landing at DeWitt. Lena's usual residence was listed as Los Angeles. Or maybe she just somehow landed in Northern California at DeWitt in 1947. Sadly, my hope of an informant that may have been a relative  was shattered. Her informant was the DeWitt State Hospital Clinical Records. They did have good information, so either she provided it upon admission or someone close to her did.

I called the facility that holds DeWitt's records Friday and the person I needed to speak with was off. The records are held in Costa Mesa, CA because DeWitt is closed. It closed in the early 70s. I will have to call again tomorrow to see what my chances are of requesting and obtaining Lena's records. I imagine I may not the closest living relative, yet, I might just be the closest interested relative. I know Lena had children (they are now deceased) and I'll have to research their children.

I really find it rather sad that a few women on my dad's side of the family did die in State Hospitals. My mom always felt that my grandmother was in because of menopause. That is very possible as she did have her ovaries removed at 22 or 23 years of age, which could have started her change early and at a time when the only way "they" knew how to deal with the emotional aspects of that, was to declare them mentally unstable and lock them up. My grandmother did suffer from depression in 1930 (which was documented in her medical records). I can't help but wonder just how many women that were depressed or going through the "dreaded" change, landed in mental hospitals. Locked up and maybe given weird shock treatment and then released. Maybe after that, they were different and then put away forever. Who knows.

The scary thing is that it really wasn't that long ago. The other disturbing thing is that due to the diagnosis of the time, probably many women lost support of their families. How very sad. Mental illness was such a stigma back in the 30s through the 60s (and maybe even through the 90s). And to think that mood swings, depression, or the change of life could have been considered mental illness! Could it be considered that now?

On the art side of life, I have made a bunch of bottle cap magnets and more line art from my prints for screenprinting! I won't share pictures yet as the resin hasn't fully dried on the caps and the screens haven't yet been printed. I also FINALLY got my cut today! It has been so long and my hair was getting really ratty looking. The guy cut it a bit shorter than I wanted, but it will grow and he did a pretty good job. Curly hair isn't something that all stylists are gifted at. I know that from experience!

Lena Cloos

Lena Cloos was a name I came across a few times over the past few years while doing research and looking for my grandmother Lola. I saw a few Decatur newspaper blurbs about a "Miss Lena Cloose" and always thought she might somehow be connected to my family. It wasn't until I saw a blurb in one of those old papers about Lena and Emma Sowers visiting someone, that I knew there was a connection. Emma Sowers was the daughter of my great grandfather (Lola's father) George Cloos' sister Catherine Cloos Sowers Mauzy. Plus, Lola's middle name was Lena.

Until just recently, Catherine aka Kate, was the only sister I knew George had. There were several newspaper articles mentioning their visits, and Kate Mauzy was listed as George's nearest relative on his WWI draft registration.

Towards the end of October, I reached out on the Rootsweb message board for Decatur, IL, requesting an obituary look up for George. Someone came through almost immediately (the gen acts of kindness is truly beyond words!) and sent a transcription of the 1947 obituary. It confirmed my thoughts that Lena Cloos was connected.  Lena Morgan of California was listed as a surviving sister of George. The obit also listed a surviving sister from California named Louise Allen. I had not yet discovered a Louise, so this was another great find! It also gave me proof that George's mother, Elisabeth Groshauser had remarried a man named William Henninger (or Henninges - I've seen both spellings) and had more children (George's surviving half brothers Rolf or Ralph, and Roy). I did find Emma Sowers listed in the 1900 census as a granddaughter to William Henninger prior to getting the obituary.

As soon as I got the obit, I found a death record for Louise, the woman I didn't even know about. I found her on the California Death Index (CADI) on Rootsweb. It was easy to find her as she died as Louise Allen. I used her name, father's name Cloos, and birthplace "other" (I figured she too was born in Germany) in my search criteria and she popped up right away. Louise died in 1955 in San Diego, California. Her death index record even had her mother's maiden name of Groshauser. I also found Ralph's Illinois death record on Ancestry and it listed his mother's maiden as Groshauser, as does George's death certificate.

Lena Cloos or Lena Morgan, on the other hand, eluded me. I couldn't find much on her. I did find on the Illinois Regional Archives Database (IRAD) that Lena Cloose married Alfred Martin in 1893. OK, so maybe Alfred Martin and Lena Cloos divorced before 1947 and she remarried someone named Morgan. Actually, Alfred Martin died in 1935 from what I can tell. I cannot yet find Lena in 1930, but she did have two daughters with Alfred, Doris and Alfreda. And there the trail went cold, until last evening.

I was thinking about Lena and that in 1947 she was living in California so I was pretty sure she died in California as she would have been in her early 70s at the time of George's death and I just didn't imagine her moving around from state to state at that age for some reason. Previously, I had tried searching the CADI for Lena Cloos, Lena Morgan and Lena Martin but found nothing. So I decided to search only on birthplace "other" and father's name "Cloos". There were several hits and among them, Louise, but no Lena. As I looked at Louise's record it came to me to remove "Cloos" as father and put "Groshauser" as mother and leave birthplace as other (no first or last name) and I got a hit! Not sure why I didn't think of that before as that is how I found Lola after all!!!

Lena died in Auburn, California (Placer County) 6 November 1951 as Magdalene Josephine Moyer. There it was - mother's maiden name Groshauser and father's name "Closs"! As with the census records I found for Lena Martin, Magdalene Moyer was born in 1873. What was so surprising to me was that Lola died in 1960 in Auburn, California! I immediately ordered Lena's death certificate. I wonder if they were in contact with each other. Lola was in the state hospital at that time in Auburn. I can't wait to find out where Lena was and who her informant was. I realize she died many years ago, but hopefully her informant will be someone that will be "searchable". I keep hanging on to the thought that someone will be alive with pictures, stories and information to share.

I also found that someone added a memorial to her on Findagrave.com. How cool that strangers do that!

I can't wait now to get the death certificate and wish I could somehow convince all State and County offices that maintain vital records to get automated. I can't understand why in this day and age, one must still print out paper applications and send checks and wait weeks for informational copies of vital records. Of course, we can use a third party online service that these offices contract with, but the fees are astronomical.

My "Famous" Great Grandmother, Effie Furst Beck Cloos Roby

This evening I was talking to my mom while watching Katie Couric's interview with Regis Philbin on the eve of his retirement. My mom used to watch his network show and we used to see one of his early shows from Los Angeles back in the 70s. His co-host then was Sara Purcell.

I was washing dinner dishes and my mom came into the kitchen and tried to see the show on my small kitchen TV. That wasn't easy for her as she has macular degeneration. Suddenly she couldn't remember his last name and I tried giving her clues, but rather than getting it, she started laughing so hard she had to pee. Afterward, I think the interest in remembering Regis' name was gone and the discussion turned to Dr. Oz's show and ended with my reading an article I had found a while back but never saved. I recently went back to Newspaperarchive.com and found the article. My mom had a good laugh, although she did comment that at the time people did what they could to make money (and I have to agree with that).

I have referred to my great grandmother, Effie (Lola's mother), as "famous" before and I'm doing it again. I have found more articles on her than anyone else in my tree pretty much (you can search Effie here for all the posts). Effie had a hard life, there is no doubt about that. She gave birth to a daughter at 17 years old and the "Lothario" abandoned her. She then married and had five more children that I'm aware of, and her marriage broke up. She and her children ended up separated, living wherever they could get shelter and work.

Her eldest son died at 16 while working as a laborer on a farm for his board. Her youngest son ended up in a different state at 8 years old being adopted by the family he was with, and her two daughters ended up in State Mental Hospitals. She did remarry a man named Ellsworth Elmer Roby at least by 1920 (the year her divorce from George Cloos was granted) and was married to Ellsworth at the time of her death.

I so desire to take a trip to Decatur, IL to really scour through the historical society documents and those at the library. I also want to check court and police records in hopes of pictures. Considering Effie was known to the police, surely pictures of her exist. And surely pictures exist elsewhere, as she was a person that did exist. I firmly believe someone has pictures of her but may not know who she is.

The following article was published in the Decatur Evening Herald on Friday, October 7, 1927, page 10. I know it isn't easy to read and I'm not going to transcribe the entire article, but basically Effie was arrested for running a bootlegging establishment (or speak-easy) and charged with illegal traffic in liquor. According to the police, Effie had a gallon of "mule" at the time of the raids and arrests. Effie did manage to "furnish" the bond money on the same day of the raid to appear on charges and I assume walked because, as usual, money talks!

Effie really does intrigue me. At a time when she should have been content with being a "proper" young woman and "proper" older woman, she was anything but that! I want to know more about her. As I've said before, I believe her story alone, would make a great book!

Sunday's Obituary - Robert Clay Beck

Robert Clay Beck was the brother of my "famous" great grandmother, Effie, and the uncle of my grandmother, Lola. He was born in Prairie Home, Shelby County, Illinois on 21 Aug 1869 and was the second son, and third born child of my great great grandparents Wells Marcus Beck and Emma Mayben.

My research indicates that Robert married Cora Patton on 9 May 1892 in Shelby County, IL and that they had three children, Alverna Beck Taylor (1892-1971), Alma Lucille Beck McConnell (1897 - 1975) and Wells Marcus Beck (1899 - 1961).

Robert's wife Cora died in 1901, and he married her sister, Lulu Patton on 26 Feb 1903.  They had a daughter Dorothy Beck in 1907.

By 1910 they were living in Rio Grande, Colorado (where his sister Zadie Beck Loser was living) and that is where he died on 22 May 1925 at the age of 55.

Transcription of obituary

Robert C. Beck

Robert C. Beck, aged fifty-five years, and husband of Mrs. Lulu Beck, died suddenly in his home in Monte Vista, Colo, Friday afternoon, May 22, at 1 o'clock. Mr. Beck was born in Shelby county Aug 21, 1869. He is the son of W. M. Beck Sr. of Decatur.

Mr. Beck is survived by his wife, Mrs. Lulu of Colorado; four children - Mrs. O. C. Taylor of  Decatur, Mrs. Ray McConnell of Moweaqua, Mark Beck of Decatur and Dorothy Beck of Monte Vista; also five sisters and one brother - Mrs. Oliver Loser of Monte Vista, Mrs. W. W. Coffman of Laramie, Wyo; Mrs. William Wempen of Santa Ana, Cal; Mrs. E. F. Roby, Mrs. Wade Thompson and E. B. Beck, all of Decatur.

The funeral arrangements have not been completed  as yet, but will be held at the Prairie Home church, east of Moweaqua.

The Decatur Daily Review, 23 May 1925, page 10

Sympathy Saturday - George Cloos

Earlier this week I posted about the genealogy community and how helpful they are. To briefly recap, my sister posted a message to the rootsweb.com/ancestry.com message boards for Macon County, Illinois, a request for an obituary look-up and a kind researcher offered to go find my great grandfather's obit! This request was to be filled in a few weeks as the researcher had surgery recently and wasn't yet released to roam!

Well, yesterday afternoon, this awesome stranger went to the Decatur Public Library and found George Cloos' 1947 obituary and sent the transcription of it! We were so happy to get it and it not only answered some mysteries, but also added a few more possibly. My great grandfather wasn't apparently as mysterious as we believed and that might very well be that my dad didn't really know much about him. I do know from my grandmother's medical records, that the State Mental System did know of him and how to contact him, therefore, George knew that Lola was in the system.

I knew from my research that George had a sister Kate and that she had several children, including a daughter, Emma Sowers. A few weeks ago, I began to search for Emma as I hadn't found her in 1900, and I found what I thought was her living with a family named Hennings (or Henninager or Henninges - all spellings I have encounter).  Emma was a young girl about 13 years old listed on the 1900 census as the granddaughter of the head of household - Wm. G. Henninager. William's wife was Elizabeth and one of their children was a son named Rolf.  Yes, they were German. I printed that out and wrote notes on it and filed it away. I came across it early yesterday when I was trying to organize stuff.

I also had seen the name "Lena Cloos" pop up in a few newspaper articles on Newspaperarchive.com and in a few, both Lena and Emma were mentioned in the same articles. I felt Lena was connected somehow, but just couldn't pinpoint it, that is, until receiving a transcription of George's obituary! Here's the transcription.

George Cloos, Former Foundry Worker Dies


George Cloos, 2312 East Main Street, a resident of Decatur since 1882, died at his home at 10:55 a. m. today after a long illness.

Mr. Cloos was born in Germany Dec. 23, 1872, and came to the United States and Decatur 10 years later. He was an employee of the Union Iron Works for 27 years, retiring in 1941 because of ill health.

He was a member of the Knights of Pythias and the International Association of Machinists, and the German Lutheran church.

Mr. Cloos was married twice, the second time in August, 1925 to Miss Grace M. Abel of Decatur.

He leaves his wife; four children by his first marriage, Mrs. Bessie Trump of Alton, Mrs. Lola Robinson and Wells Cloos of Huntington Park, Calif., and George Cloos of Libertyville.

He also leaves two stepdaughters, Mrs. Mary Beckham of Boody and Mrs. Catherine Kessler of Decatur; two half-brothers, Roy and Ralph Hennings of Bloomington; and two sisters, Mrs. Louise Allen and Mrs. Lena Morgan of California.

The body was taken to the Monson funeral home where services will be held at 3 p. m. Monday. Burial will be in Mt. Gilead cemetery. Friends may call at Monson’s after 3 p. m. tomorrow.

Decatur Daily Herald
June 28, 1947 – Page 8

The obituary answered a few questions I had, and has now given me a few new avenues to research. I knew that my great great grandmother was Elisabeth and Elizabeth Henninager was the grandmother of Emma Sowers in 1900. I knew the mysterious Lena Cloos must somehow be connected and there she was in George's obit as his sister! The obit also mentions another sister I had never heard of or prior to this, Louise. I did find a death record in the California Death Index for Louise Allen. Her father's name was Cloos and she died in San Diego (either the city or the county - I'm not sure yet) in 1955. I shall order Louise's death certificate tomorrow and I hope that it will list a child as the informant! I haven't yet found Lena Cloos Morgan but shall continue to search for her.

The other strong clue I got was the surviving half brother Ralph Hennings. I did find a death record of him. He died four months after George in Illinois and his mother's maiden name was Groshauser. That was also Louise's mother's maiden name. On George's death certificate, it lists his mother as Elisabeth Graushausen. I also found a Roy Hennings on findagrave.com. He died in 1956 and is buried in Bloomington, IL. Like a good mystery novel, the plot just thickens when you're researching your family history not really knowing much to begin with! Certainly there will be much more to come on the Cloos family.

Wordless Wednesday and the Genealogy Community

I can't say enough good things about the genealogy community! Strangers are so willing to offer help, and I've found I've become that way when I go searching for documents locally. Before I go, I look on message boards in my area to see what requests are out there so that I may be able to help someone in a different state find information they are longing for.

On that thought, my sister posted a request to the Rootsweb/Ancestry message boards requesting an obituary look up for our great grandfather, George Cloos. I have a subscription to NewspaperArchive.com, but George died in 1947 and NewspaperArchive doesn't have Decatur papers that "recent". Someone has already volunteered to go to the Decatur Public Library and find it on microfilm!! A total stranger. That is just so cool! He also offered to get George's widow, Grace's obituary as well!

So, while I wait to see grandpa George's obituary, I'll share a picture of his grave marker that can be found on findagrave.com. I made a photo request and a wonderful lady was kind enough to get it.

Photo by Carol Perry

Sunday's Obituary - Effie Furst Beck Cloos Roby

My paternal great grandmother, Effie Furst Beck Cloos Roby, is rather famous on this blog. She was the daughter of Wells Marcus Beck and Emma Mayben. She was born in Prairie Home, Shelby County, Illinois on 9 Aug 1871 and died in Decatur, Macon County, Illinois on 13 Apr 1931.

Effie was the mother of six children, Zetta Fern Beck Younger (1889-1969) , Bessie G. Cloos Trump (1893-1976), Lola L. Cloos Robinson (1894-1960), Monroe B. Cloos (1895-1912), George W. Cloos (1899-1968) and William Marcus Meents born Wells Cloos (1901-1977). She married my great grandfather, George Cloos in December of 1892.

Effie had a rather hard life and much more research is required to truly pull her story together. Currently, there are so many gaps and missing pieces. I am convinced that Effie's story would make a great book.  Sometime before 1910, she and George split. By the 1920 census she was remarried to Ellsworth Elmer Roby of Decatur. Effie died in their home.  I recently learned that Effie has no grave marker.

I am fascinated by the fact that her son Monroe who preceded her death, was not listed as a child. I am also fascinated by the fact that her son George was not mentioned as a survivor, nor was Bill (rather his wife was listed as a surviving child). The other child not mentioned as a survivor or even a child was her daughter Zetta. The mysterious child to me is Miss Georgia Roby of Chicago. I still need to look into that. I suspect she may have been Ellsworth's daughter. I'm also intrigued by the mention of her sister, Zadie. The obit claims Zadie was from Los Angeles, but I cannot find that to be true. Zadie and her family lived in Colorado for many years and I don't believe she ever lived in Los Angeles.  Zadie's daughter, Mabel Loser Smith did live in Southgate (a suburb of Los Angeles at the time and died there in 1936).

Transcription of Obituary:

Mrs. Effie Roby

Mrs. Effie Furst Roby, wife of Ellsworth E. Roby, died at 7:35 o'clock Monday morning at the family residence, 522 North Witt street. She would have been sixty years old in August. She had been in failing health for the last two years, but her condition did not become critical until five days ago, when pneumonia developed.

Mrs. Roby was born near Prairie Home, in Shelby county, Aug. 9, 1871, and was a daughter of Wells M. and Emma Beck. She is survived by her husband and the following children--Mrs. Ben Trump of Greenville, Mrs. Earl Robinson and Mrs. Wells Cloose of Los Angeles, Cal. and Mrs. Georgia Roby of Chicago. She also leaves a brother, Edgar Beck, Decatur, and the following sisters--Mrs. Zadie Loser, Los Angeles, Cal., Mrs. Hattie Wempen, Ontario, Cal., Mrs Edna Coffman, Laramie, Wyo. and Mrs. Grace Thompson, Decatur. The body was taken to the Moran & Sons funeral home where friends may call.

The funeral will be held at 3:30 o'clock Wednesday afternoon at the Moran & Sons chapel. The burial will be in Fairlawn Cemetery.

Decatur Daily Review, The (Decatur, IL) 13 Apr 1931