Uncle George Levitt in U.S. Census Records

Rose (Levitt) Goldstein's oldest brother George had been living in Philadelphia for more than two decades by the time of the 1940 U.S. Federal Census. I shared his 1918 WWI Draft Registration Card last week. See his 1920 U.S. Census record here.

In 1930, George Levitt owned his home at 2136 South Melvin Street in Philadelphia.

1930 U.S. Federal Census, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
Roll: 2119; E.D.: 428; Page: 17A. Record for George Levitt.

The value of his home was $6,950, which was the value of each of the other row houses in this city neighborhood. The "R" in the next column indicates that there was a radio in the home.

The census reports that George was 30 years old and his wife, Elizabeth G. was 29 years old and they were married at the ages of 23 and 22, (about 1923). Also in this household is Sarah Brodsky, age 47, who is George's mother-in-law, and confirms Elizabeth's maiden name.

I don't show here, but New Jersey is noted as George's birth place, and Russia is the birth place for Elizabeth and Sarah, who immigrated in 1903. They are listed as naturalized citizens.

In 1930, George's occupation is Salesman for Automotive Supplies.

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In 1940, George and Elizabeth were living at 2136 Melvin Street, which I am assuming is the same house as above. The home is now worth $4,500, as are the other homes along this street.

1940 U.S. Federal Census, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
Roll: T627_2324; E.D. 51-1152; Page: 19B. Line 43. Record for George Levitt.

The circled X by George's name means he was the one who answered the census taker's questions. He reported that he was 40 years old and his wife 38. He completed three years of high school, and his wife completed 8th grade. He was born in New Jersey and his wife in Russia. They now have two children, Ruth, age 8 and Mathew, age 4, both born in Pennsylvania. His widowed mother-in-law, Sarah Brodsky, age 55, is living with them. She is also noted as having eight years of schooling.

He is now a merchant for electric appliances. This and similar occupations tended to run in this family. See Uncle Morton in Woodbine in 1940 and see Uncle Eddie in Springfield in 1940.

Uncle Morton Levitt in 1940

My husband's grandmother, Rose, was one of four children of Max Levitt (about 1858 - 1935) and Golda Segal (about 1869 - 1952). I wrote about this family early on in my blog at Mystery Monday - Levitts in Woodbine, where I reviewed the family in the U.S. Federal Censuses from 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930.

I just realized that I had not found all of Rose's brothers in the 1940 Census, so I decided to see where they were.

In 1940, I found Morton Levitt in Woodbine at 603 Adams Avenue. His was the 129th household enumerated in this district.

1940 U.S. Federal Census, Woodbine, Cape May County, New Jersey;
Roll: T627_2324; E.D.: 5-48; Page: 8A; Line 5: Record for Morton Levitt

Morton, age 35, owned his home, which was worth about $2,500. The family lived in the "Same House" five years earlier, in 1935. His wife, Marian, is a year younger and was born in Pennsylvania. She had three years of high school education and Morton only had one year of high school education.

Gussie Levitt in Springfield, Massachusetts

One of my husband's great uncles (Uncle Eddie Levitt, b. 1908) moved from Woodbine, New Jersey, to Springfield, Massachusetts, around 1934. I recently realized that I didn't have birth dates for his children, and I hadn't yet found his family in the 1940 US Census, so I thought I'd take a look for them in Springfield in 1940.

Detail from 1940 U.S. Census, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, Roll T627_1709,
E. D. 22-100, Page 5B, Line 69, household of Edward Levitt

31-year-old, New Jersey born, Edward Levitt rents his apartment at 83 Walnut Street for $37 per month. His wife, Adele, is 26 and was born in New York. (She also happens to be the daughter of his older half-sister, Rebecca.) They both have four years of high school education. Their children are Sandra (age 6, born in New Jersey) and Marvin (age 5, born in Massachusetts). This is in error; actually it was just before his 3rd birthday. Also the last column shown here notes that they lived in the "same place" five years earlier (but not the same house).

Also noted in the 1940 census, but not shown in this image, is Edward's occupation, which was Proprietor of Radio Repair. In fact, there is still a Levitt's Television Center in Springfield, which evolved from Levitt's Radio Repair. My mother-in-law remembers that her uncle Eddie was very successful in Radio and Television repair.

Look who else is listed with this family: Gussie Levitt, grandmother, age 69 (born about 1871) and a widow. Although it states she was born in Massachusetts, she was born in Russia, and was a naturalized citizen. Funny thing is, she lived in Woodbine, New Jersey, and was enumerated there in the 1940 US Census as Goldie Levitt (with an incorrect age of 62).

So sometime in early April 1940, Gussie Levitt likely travelled up to Massachusetts to visit her youngest son and her grandchildren and got enumerated both in Woodbine, New Jersey and in Springfield, Massachusetts in the 1940 US Census.

Bubbie's Bubbie was enumerated twice in 1940!

Bubbie's Bubbie in the 1940 US Census

My mother-in-law's family was in Woodbine, Cape May County, New Jersey, for decades. I already wrote about finding her and her family in the 1940 Census here. Across the street (Jackson Avenue) was my mother-in-law's grandmother, Goldie Levitt.

Detail from 1940 U.S. Census, Woodbine, Cape May, New Jersey, Roll T627_2324, E. D. 5-48,
page 1B, line 74, household of Goldie Levitt

The 1940 U.S. Census tells me the following about "Bubbie's Bubbie": Goldie owned her home, and it was valued at $2,000. She is the only one listed in her household. The next columns indicate that she is female, white, 62 years old, and widowed. (Her husband died in 1935.) Actually, I believe she was at least 70 or 71 years old based on other records.

"No" in the next column indicates that she did not attend school during the previous year and the following column reports that the highest grade of school completed was 0 (zero). I have noted before that this "highest grade of school completed" for immigrants is quite low and I wonder if it was hard to determine an equivalent of their schooling in the U.S. education system, or perhaps some immigrants truly had very little in the way of formal schooling.

1940 Census ~ Uncle Art is in New Jersey

My father-in-law's oldest brother, Arthur, was not living with the rest of the Handler family in Akron, Ohio in the 1940 US Census. In looking for Uncle Art in the 1940 US Census, I found the use of city directories invaluable, as there are no name indexes for the 1940 US Census yet. I used Ancestry.com's U.S. City Directories 1821-1989 (Beta) and Summit County, Ohio Online Historical Directories. If you don't find your city in ancestry.com or you don't have an ancestry.com subscription, use your favorite search engine to see if a city directory for a certain year has been digitized. You never know what might be available online.

Summit County, Ohio Online Historical Directories
1937 Akron City Directory, p. 778

The 1937 Akron city directory is the last year that I find oldest brother, Arthur A. living at Rhodes Avenue. (He married Josephine in 1934.) They are in apt. 4 and the rest of the family is in apt. 1.

1940 Census ~ Goldstein Family in Woodbine

With the 1940 US Census having been released last week without a name index, one family I was able to find relatively quickly was my mother-in-law with her older brother and parents in the Borough of Woodbine, New Jersey, as Woodbine was a relatively small community; the entire community is in one Enumeration District (E.D. 5-48).

1940 U.S. Census, Woodbine, Cape May, New Jersey, Roll T627_2324, E.D. 5-48,
page 3A, lines 8-12, household of Morris Goldstein

The Goldstein family lived on Jackson Avenue, and the houses were not numbered.

1940 Census ~ Handler Family in Akron, Ohio

On Monday, April 2, 2012, the 1940 US Census was released with all images made public at the National Archives 1940 Census site. However, there were millions of genealogists trying to access the site and very few were able to retrieve any census images that morning. (NARA reported 22.5 million "hits" in the first three hours!) The folks working on the NARA website worked through the day and night to bring on more computer servers in order to handle the demand. Even though on Tuesday, the site had even more "hits," it was ready and I was able to access images for Akron, Summit County, Ohio. I had to know the E.D. (enumeration district) of 89-70 in order to find Rhodes Avenue where I knew the Handler family lived. 23 images in, I found them!

1940 U.S. Census, Akron, Summit, Ohio, Roll T627_3175, E.D. 89-70,
page 12A, lines 5-11, household of Joe Handler

Members of the Handler family lived at 553 and/or 557 Rhodes Avenue in Akron, Ohio, for decades. Now, the 1930 US Census for the Handler Family indicates that Joe Handler owned his home at 553 Rhodes Avenue, but this census record indicates that he rented, and paid $22 monthly in rent. (Not sure of the accuracy here, though it's believed that he had always owned his house.)

What was YOUR family like in 1940?

Following is a cool infographic from Archives.com. This is the company that won the contract to build and maintain the servers that will house the 1940 US Census images for NARA.



Additional help to find your ancestor's enumeration district can be found by using Steve Morse's One-Step Website. I will be spending time next week at NARA's 1940 Census website looking for some of my husband's family, including his mother's family in Woodbine, New Jersey, and his father's family in Akron, Ohio.