What Became of Aunt Agnes?I

What Became of Aunt Agnes?

A Genealogical Mystery Solved by Genealogist Frederick Walton

Do YOU know where Aunt Agnes is?

3 April, 1940, White Plains- According to Federal authorities, who gathered the official United States Federal Census on this date, my grandparents, Frederick and Gertrude Walton, resided at 27 Harding Avenue, White Plains, New York with their three children.¹

Using the address my dad provided made it fairly easy to locate the specific census page from over 3.9 million census images made available on April 2, 2012. The 1940 census sheet for ED 60-353, page 4, line number 45-49 clearly lists the Walton family. The oldest child is my father, Frederick L. Walton. (actually Frederick Stanley Walton). He is nine years old.  His brother Edgar, age 7, is listed next, followed by a daughter named Agnes, age three. The only problem is…my grandparents only had two children. Fred and Ed.

During my youth, I was well acquainted with the fellow listed on line 47, my father, Fred Walton, who I saw nearly every day. As a young child I could hardly wait until he got home, sometimes bearing treats for us in his overcoat pockets. As I entered my troublesome teen years, my mother would sometimes foretell my father’s return with the prophetic words. “Wait until your father comes home!” usually resulting in another sort of well deserved and memorable “treat”! Now, as an adult, any time I can spend with my dad is an eagerly anticipated and well enjoyed treat.   

My grandparents, Fred and Trudy, (line 45 and 46) lived next door when I was an adolescent, giving me a lot of firsthand knowledge of them. If I wasn’t at their house two or three times a day, my name is not “Dennis the Menace.” 

My Uncle Ed (Edgar, line 48) was another story.  He was the father of the three smiling children in the picture that graced Nanny’s living room.  She claimed they were her other grandchildren, which I found absurd since she was MY grandmother, but she did occasionally disappear for several weeks and return home with stories about my cousins in Idaho.  The whole thing was too much for my seven year old head to grasp!  When I was about 12 or 14, Uncle Ed, Aunt Virginia and my cousins came East to visit, which finally validated this myth. 

Agnes is listed as the Daughter of Frederick and Gertrude in the 1940 Census

 But, who was “Aunt Agnes”.  Her name never came up in family stories, which I could never get enough of.  I loved to hear the tales of my father’s youth in exotic sounding places like White Plains, Ardsly, Elmsford and Tarrytown.  I vividly recall his adventures in the school band, as a boy scout, a sea scout, playing sand lot ball with his “gang”.  In my youthful mind I imagined the colorful adventures of  his friends and as a real life version of a cross between “Our Gang” and “the Bowery Boys”.  But, he never mentioned any Agnes and neither did my grandparents.  Had I stumbled on some sinister family secret?

If he wanted me to know about Agnes, I’m sure he would have told me, so I was a little nervous having to ask him.  In the end, I figured the direct approach was best, like ripping off a band aid quickly. I gave dad a phone call.

“Hi Dad, I found the 1940 census for your family at the address you gave me … so…, who is Agnes?”

Silence...

“Huh?!?" replied Dad "What do you mean? Agnes who?”

“Your sister, Agnes?  It says here you a three year old sister named Agnes.”

“What!  I never had a sister.”

“Are you sure?”

I was both relieved and suspicious.  My father would never lie to me, so there must be some mistake!  But wait…this is the official 1940 U. S. Census we’re talking about.  There is the name"Agnes" in official U. S. Government black and white.  Plus, it’s on the internet AND it’s on Ancestry.com.  They couldn’t all be wrong... could they? 

Oh no!, perhaps this was some family tragedy that my father was sworn to never reveal to preserve the family honor. Maybe he was brainwashed! Maybe he never knew the REAL truth. Maybe I’ve been watching too many 1940’s late night movies!

Pondering my next move, the popular phrase WWJD popped into my head…what would Joe Friday do?  "Just the facts, Ma’am, just the facts."  If Agnes was three in 1940, she was born in 1937, so maybe I could find her birth record or some other record of her, even though I knew she didn’t really exist. Birth records are challenging because they are not usually on-line. Also the problem with researching women is there are not too many records available before they get married and change their name. This was going to be a tough investigation, so I rolled up my sleeves and did what any competent genealogist would do….I Googled her name… just in case!

After searching around the internet, I didn’t find any Agnes Walton, but that really didn’t prove anything.  I decided to verify all the neighbors in the apartment building at 27 Harding Avenue. I made a list of all five families. One by one, I substituted each neighbors name and searched for any records I might find.  Suddenly, a 1930 census popped up for neighbor Raymond F. Baker and his wife Agnes Baker.²  Since "Aunt Agnes" wasn’t born until 1937, this seemed an unlikely match, but I had already found other mistakes.  For example, my father’s middle initial is S (for Stanley, his maternal (Bell) grandfather), not L as recorded in the 1940 census, so this looked like a promising lead. 

Checking the 1930 census, I found a Raymond F. Baker, age 29 employed as a railroad telegraph operator.  He had a wife named Agnes, age 28 and a daughter named Jacqeuline (sic), age 9 months.

1930 Census for Baker Family

1940 Census for Bakers and Waltons

Jumping back to the 1940 census³, I found the family listed directly above the Waltons to be: Raymond F. Baker, age 40 employed in the electrical department for the Railroad.  He had a wife named Jacqueline, age 38 and a daughter named Barbara Ann age 9.

Hmmm…..Did I find Aunt Agnes after all? Until the Baker clan hires me to do a more exhaustive genealogical study, I have to conclude the following:

1. The Raymond F. Baker family listed in the 1940 Census for ED 60-353, page 4, line 42-44 is a match for the Raymond F. Baker family I found in the 1930 Census.
2. Jacqueline Baker, age 38, listed on line 43 should actually be Agnes Baker, (incorrectly listed as Agnes Walton on line 40.)
3. Daughter, Barbara Ann, on line 44 should have been daughter Jacqueline, age 10, confirmed by the 1930 census and my father’s recollection of his schoolmate.
4. Agnes “Walton” on line 49, the bottom entry for the Walton Family should actually be the bottom entry for the family above, the Baker Family.
5. Barbara Ann should slide down as this final name and be listed as the 3 year old daughter of Raymond and Agnes Baker

I guess Mr. Edwared E. Brerlton, the enumerator, spilled his morning coffee over his notes when he was filling out his final paperwork and got a few names in the wrong place.

I know it’s hard to believe, but… the census, the internet and Ancestry.com were WRONG.  So today’s lesson is to verify your genealogical “facts” from as many sources as you can.

In the end…Dad was right.  Good ‘ol Dad – if you can’t trust him, who can you trust!  I called Dad and told him the good news.

“Hi Dad, I found Agnes”

Silence

“Huh?  Agnes who?”

“Your sister Agnes”

“I didn’t have a sister”

“I know, I know….she was actually your neighbor.”

“I don’t remember a neighbor named Agnes.”

“Well Agnes was actually the mother of a little girl who was your neighbor…named Jacqueline.”

“Oh yeah, I remember Jackie.  We were in the same class.”

“So Dad, you never had a sister named Agnes.”

“I know….that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”

Just the facts, I smiled, just the genealogical facts. I think I solved this mystery, at least to my satisfaction. I’m just glad I’m not the Baker family historian searching the 1940 census for Aunt Agnes!

Citation:

11)      1940 U.S. census, Westchester, New York, population schedule, White Plains,  enumeration district (ED) 60-353, sheet 2B, dwelling 41, Line number 45-49, Walton  household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : accessed 04  Apr 2012); citing Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls.

22)      1930 U.S. census, Westchester, New York, population schedule, White Plains,  enumeration district (ED) 60-354, sheet 7B, family 161, Line number 71-73, Baker  household; index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X4GJ-GKD : accessed 6 April 2012)

33)      1940 U.S. census, Westchester, New York, population schedule, White Plains,  enumeration district (ED) 60-353, sheet 2B, dwelling 40, Line number 42-44, Baker  household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : accessed 06  Apr 2012); citing Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls.

The other side of the street

 The 1940 Census has been available for a couple of  weeks now and even in that short time there have been many changes and improvements. I happened to be in Washington, DC on April 2, 2012 and when I drove past the National Archives there was a huge line of people wrapped around the building waiting to get in, I presume to take part in the scheduled festivities. I didn’t find out first hand because, after seeing the line, I couldn’t talk my wife into stopping.  We were sightseeing with my in-laws, who were celebrating their 60^th anniversary. That evening after supper, I got on my net book and try to get into the archives newly available 1940 census site, but got messages that due to overwhelming volumes it was unavailable.  So I failed to find my grandparents on day one as I planned.

Line to get into the National Archives on April 2, 2012

The next morning we were off to do some more sightseeing and it wasn’t until late that evening that I got back on the computer. I got right in and found the map for White Plains, I located the approximate street address and its associated Enumeration district (ED). This was way too easy!

The site asks for state, county, city and then only shows you valid ED’s, in my case 60-351 or 352, which really makes it simple. I picked the first ED and found myself looking at a page from the 1940 census, actually a photo of the page. Remember it is not searchable yet. I proceeded to scroll down the page. I looked for Harding street  in the first column and quickly skipped through the pages that listed other streets. I started looking at the Harding street addresses to zero in on address number 27, but they seemed to jump around a little, reflecting the enumerator’s trip up one side of the street and down another. Before I knew it, I was on the last page and disappointed that I couldn’t find the record I was looking for. Assuming I missed something, I slowed down and re-searched, more carefully, through every page, but was again disappointed. I noticed that this particular enumerator was a SLOB. He had poor handwriting, many names were scratched out and rewritten and there were even ink blotches obscuring information.  I began to think that with my luck he skipped the whole apartment building. I went back even s-l-o-w-e-r this time  and started to map out the streets on a scratch pad to compare them to the map and make sure I was in the right place.

I realized the enumerator hadn’t skipped the apartment building, but he either skipped the whole block, which was unlikely, or I had the wrong ED. I opened the only other  ED listed. AHA! I found the missing block. Newly confident, with my skillful powers of deduction, I skipped past the pages until I found Harding avenue and then went though all the names. No WALTON and NO 27 Harding, although this enumerator was much neater. The clock was ticking toward midnight and after a busy day of sightseeing, I was too tired for this nonsense. Just GIVE ME THE record so I can get to bed! Stupid computer!

I decided to go back to the beginning and once again, using a cross street  I found on Google Maps, (a good tool even though I later found out the street I used had changed.) I double checked the map location and the two ED’s. They seemed correct, yet I couldn’t find my record. It didn't make sense. I was LOST in 1940's White Plains! Determined to find SOMETHING, I decided to try a different search. I went back to the main screen and pulled up New York, Orange County, Middletown…My Mother’s home town.

Middletown was much smaller , having only one map compared to the 8 maps covering White Plains. OK, this should be a cinch! I opened the map and groaned. It was so faded you could hardly read the street names. Having spent half my youth in Middletown, I figured I knew the streets pretty well, but I might as well have been looking at a map of  the London underground. Nothing was where it should be and to make matters worse I could not locate “North Street”, one of the main avenues and the place my grandparents lived in 1940. Of course at this time of night, everything was getting blurry! After much searching, I finally realized that North Street was hidden under a bold black boundry line. Once I had my reference point, everything started making sense. I quickly zeroed in on my grandparents neighborhood and the matching ED. I searched through the records and…what the heck! The Packhisers were not listed either! Ruthann was sleeping peacefully ten feet away and I was ready to throw the computer out the window.

I double checked my information and rechecked the map, when I realized that North Street was a boundry. I had just picked the wrong side of the street. I opened the neighboring ED and BINGO, there they were! Wow My 7 year old mother, Her parents Erwin and Lydia Packhiser (my Grandparents) and a surprise….My Great-Grandmother..listed as the head of household!  I won’t bore you with all the other neat trivia listed in this record, but if you are descended from the Packhisers of Middletown, NY you will want to go there and look for yourself. (Look in ED 36-34, neighborhood 49, 251 North Street, Middletown, NY. ,page 20, line 62-65. http://interactive.ancestry.com/2442/m-t0627-02709-00032/?backurl=&ssrc=#imageId=M-T0627-02709-00051 )

I went to bed, tired, but somewhat satisfied. I wasn’t until the next day, when I was telling my family about my discovery at the B&B's breakfast table that I realized where to find my father…on the OTHER side of Harding street. After breakfast, I fired up the net book and found him quickly. He was right in plain site in ED 60-353 on Page 4, lines 45-49. (If you want to see them click this link. http://interactive.ancestry.com/2442/m-t0627-02709-00032/?backurl=&ssrc=#imageId=M-T0627-02814-00099)

There’s my, my grandfather,  Frederick; my Grandmother, Gertrude; my  10 year old dad, Frederick L. (L!?? It should be S., since his middle name is Stanley, after his maternal grandfather) and my uncle, Edgar. But wait, they also have a 3 year old daughter listed, named Agnes? I have NO idea who this is and when I queried dad, it was a mystery to him too! But at least I had the record and only 3 days after the records were made public.

So In summary, when you look up your ancestors in the 1940 census, make sure you’re on the right side of the street. And if they have a daughter named Agnes missing, I think I found her, she was visiting my grandparents!

Where are the "Westchester Waltons" in the 1940 U. S. Federal Census?

The "Westchester Waltons"...sounds rather ritzy, doesn't it? But, that is, after all, who we are descended from. This title is technically incorrect because many of George and Constance Walton’s children where either not born in Westchester or didn’t continue to reside there as adults. This is simply an easy way to distinguish the generation of Waltons we’re focused on for this article  from the “Packington Waltons”, the “Appleby Waltons “ or the “Cheddleton Waltons”. After all, the majority of George's family were clustered around Westchester in the first half of the twentieth century, although we're scattered to the winds today!

The 1940 census population schedules will be available for research on April 2, 2012, at 9:00 AM EST.

I spent time over the last couple of weeks searching for clues about the “Westchester Waltons” in the 1930s to better prepare us in finding them when they release the 1940 Census documents on April 2, 2012.

Where is Frank?

Do you know where your direct linear Walton ancestors where in 1930? If you don't, in most cases I can probably help you start locating them.

To start my own search, I located the 1930 census for the youngest child, Fred, my grandfather. I actually already had these in my records. My father, Fred, was born in 1930 but not in time to be counted on the census. They lived near Tarrytown, which seems to be the nucleus of the Walton family residences. I talked to my Dad and by 1940, his family was living in White Plains. 

The next record I looked for in my archives was my great-grandparents. I knew that George had died in 1910 (and now permanently resides in North Tarrytown, or Sleepy Hollow, as it is known today). His wife, Constance Wilhelmina, was living in nearby White Plains with their daughter Lillian. Both Lillian's daughter, Connie, and her mother,Wilhelmina are listed in her household. Bachelor brother John lived here too.

What about the rest of the brother and sisters? I decided to start at the top and work my way through the remaining children. I had previously stumbled across the census records for a few of them. The rest I had to look up on Ancestry.com or Fold3.Com. 

I was able to find almost all the records. Some were easy, a few were a little challenging, but one has me totally stumped. Sorry cousins...I can not find Frank Walton and his family. I tried all sorts of  combinations of their names, the names of each family member, even their dog and came up blank. OK I made up the part about the dog, but if I had it, I'd try using it! There is probably a simple explanation for not finding them, but right now I don't seem to have one. It's like he was out of town during the census. I am pretty sure he lived in Tarrytown...or maybe Irvington? Direct descendants, I'm gonna need help on this one.

The rest of the family has been entered into a table on a separate page which can be accessed here: http://staffordshirewaltons.blogspot.com/p/waltons-of-westchester-1940-census.html

I hope you will find this information useful. Please let me know if you find any errors or have additional information to add. Also if you know of any other cousins, please let me know, especially cousins for the lines we don't have names for yet.

And remember, next time you're at a fancy cocktail party, if it comes up, stand up proudly, look down your nose and in a bored and condescending voice say, "me?, why we're the "Westchester Waltons", of course!"

 

The Walton Family in the 1940 U. S. Federal Census

The Walton Family in the 1940 U. S. Federal Census

Last night I attended a meeting at our local genealogical society to learn more about the 1940 Federal Census that will be made available on April 2, 2012. I hadn't given this census much thought previously, but this will be the first time that I will get to see my Mother and Father in a census. It's so easy to search for family names in earlier censuses on tools like Ancestry.com that I assumed that finding our ancestors in the 1940 would be similarly easy. WRONG!

The 1940 census population schedules will be available for research on April 2, 2012, at 9:00 AM EST.

Fred Walton with sons Fred & Edgar
around the time of the 1940 Census

On day one, the 1940 census is going to be a collection of 3.9 million images that have been digitized from the original microfilm. So if it's "digitized" why can't we search it by name? Because digitized simply means that the microfilm has been converted to high resolution digital photographic images, but they have not been converted to text. So the challenge is to find the image containing your ancestor's information from the other 3.9 million images. Eventually there will be a name index to make this easier. Both Ancestry.com and FamilySearch have announced plans to index the census after it opens, but if you can't wait...the only option is to find the enumeration district (ED) that your ancestor lived in.

Every city, town, village or rural area was divided into a series of enumeration districts. This is the area an enumerator (i.e. the census taker) can collect information in, in the allotted time. It may be a couple of city blocks or it may be a whole rural county. The challenge is finding the address for your ancestor and then using that to identify the ED. The National Archives has placed copies of the enumeration district maps and descriptions in NARA's Online Public Access catalog (OPA- http://www.archives.gov/research/search/). The National Archives website (http://www.archives.gov/research/census/1940/) has lots of helpful information and tutorials to help you get prepared for searching the 1940 Census.

Who are you looking for in 1940?

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Start by making a list of the Ancestors you want to find. For example, I want to find my grandfather, Fred Walton. My father, Fred, should be listed as a member of his household. It would be great if each cousin would locate their Walton grandfather or grandmother and we can share that information on this blog to document all of George and Wilhelmina Constance Walton's children. You will probably want to add your other grandparents and your spouses grandparents to your list.

Where did they live in 1940?

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The next step is to locate their address in 1940. If it's possible, ask someone who lived there. I started by asking my father if he remembered his 1940 address. If there is no one to ask or they aren't sure, there are numerous other places to find this information. The first place to look is the 1930 census and hope they haven't moved. I may have copies of the 1930's censuses for George Walton's children. If you need a copy, just ask. If I don't have it, then we'll find it together and put it here so the other cousins can share the details.

The 1930 census for Fred Walton shows his address as Benedict Ave, Glennville, Greensburg Township, Westchester county, New York.



The enumeration district, in the upper right hand corner of the form, is 60-154 where 60 is the code for Westchester Country and 154 is the area for a specific enumerator to gather data. In this case the enumerator was Emma L. Brown.




How to identify the 1940 ED

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The next step is to convert the 1930  ED to the 1940 equivalent. There is a online conversion tool at: http://stevemorse.org/census/. Entering the 1930 ED 60-154 converts to a 1940 ED of 60-78.

Next we go to the NARA's Online Public Access catalog (OPA- http://www.archives.gov/research/search/), so we can look this up on a map and verify the address. Enter 1940 Census maps + the county + the state: in my case I entered "1940 Census maps Westchester Greenburgh New York" resulting in the map:

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - New York - Westchester County - Greenburgh - ED 60-43 - ED 60-84

This actually opens to 6 maps. With a little searching I was able to find Benedict Ave., but I really need a cross street to zero in on the house location. Even if I did find it, it wouldn't have helped me anyway! When I asked my father, he told me they lived at Longview Avenue in White Plains in 1940. He also remembered his uncle Charles Walton and cousins Molly, Charlie, Gene and Richard lived on East Post road in White Plains.

I used Google maps to find Longview Avenue to get an idea of what part of White plains this was in. It is a LOOOOONG avenue. I had to go back to Dad to get an intersection to help me narrow down my search. Once I had an intersection I was able to use the tool at http://stevemorse.org/census to answer a few questions (State, City, Street, Cross Street) and narrowed down the enumeration district to 60-365-367 or 383 or 386. When the Census is available, on April 2nd, this will be my starting place, but you still have to go through the records name by name. I wonder if he had any famous or interesting neighbors?

Another place to look for addresses is city directories. If you still live in the same area as your grandparents did you may find copies in your local library. The New York State Library in Albany also has a large collection of city directories (http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/genealogy/citydir.htm).You can try searching online, although I have spent time searching for Westchester and Tarrytown and have come up empty handed. If you find a good online source, please let me know and we can document it here.

Still another place to search are World War II Draft Records (contact the National Archives' Regional Location for the state in which your ancestor lived or check Ancestry.com or Fold3.com)

Next Steps

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I have a few more names to look up on my mothers side as well as my wife, Ruthann's family.  I hope you will look up your Walton Ancestors too! In the coming weeks I will place a table here with each of George's children's names, their 1930 address & ED  if known, their 1940 address and ED if known and who will be conducting the search. Please let me know if you will be researching your line or would like to take one of the family lines that we haven't identified any cousins yet. This exercise may help us identify them.

If you have any questions after visiting the NARA site, please feel free to contact me and I will do my best to answer them.

If all this seems like a lot of work...it is! but won't it be fun to see those records "hot off the press". In the meantime, take a look at a 1940 census taker in action .

Good Luck Family Historians!