Stories From the Census ~ One Goldstein Family in 1950

My husband's mother and grandparents were relatively easy to find in the recently-released 1950 U.S. census because I knew exactly where they lived: Woodbine, Cape May County, New Jersey.

They had been living there since just before 1930 and I have previously shared this family's 1930 and 1940 census records.

The Goldstein family lived at 517 Jackson Avenue in Woodbine. Morris was 53 years old, born in Romania and was a naturalized citizen. His occupation was "Examining Coats" at a Mens Garment Factory.  He spent 40 hours working during the prior week.

Rose, age 48 and born in New Jersey, reported that in the last week, most of her work was "H" indicating housekeeping. The following columns tell us that she didn't work outside the home in the prior week, but she was looking for work and her usual occupation was "Trims hats" in a Hat Factory.

23-year-old Anita, born in New York, had worked 40 hours the previous week as a Bookkeeper in a Hat Factory, which is a story she has shared with the family.

1950 U.S. census, Cape May County, New Jersey, Woodbine, ED 5-49, sheet 25, lines 11-13, household 223 (Morris Goldstein family); U.S. National Archives, 1950 Census (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/).

You might notice numerical codes written in on the right-hand-columns. These were added later. The Steve Morse website has a page, Deciphering Occupation Codes, which can help you determine what these numbers mean. (If the occupation or industry is illegible, this tactic might help you identify what your relative did for work!) 

For both Rose and Morris:

Occupation Code of 690 represented "Operatives and kindred workers (n.e.c.)" [not elsewhere classified]

Industry Code of 448 represented "Apparel and accessories"

Class Code of 1 represented "Working for private employer (P)"

For Anita, who worked as a Bookkeeper in a Hat Factory, her Occupation Code of 310 represented "Bookkeepers".

Rose was asked additional sample questions. As the third respondent on this page to be asked the supplemental questions, hers are the third response below. She reported that both her parents were born in Russia and that she completed 8th grade.

Rose worked 15 weeks during 1949 and made $500. In response to "how much money did he receive from interest, dividends, veteran's allowances, pensions, rents or other income," it looks like she reported something, then reported "None." However, I believe that Rose owned additional property in Woodbine and collected rents. Perhaps she didn't want to share that information with the census taker.

In 1949, the relatives in this household earned $2,500 working for wages or salary. I'm sure it helped that Anita was working full-time.

Genealogy Blog as ... Bait

We genealogy bloggers often talk about blogs being cousin bait, meaning that relatives (known and unknown) search their ancestors' names on the Internet and our blog posts appear in the search results. They connect with the blogger and family history information is excitedly shared.

Well, blogs can be "bait" for those who may not be relatives but may have something of interest to share with us.

Years ago, I blogged about my husband's great-uncle Sam Handler, who ran several businesses in Cleveland, Ohio, over the years. At Workday Wednesday ~ Sam Handler, I shared what I had found in census records and city directories: he had run two different beverage companies during his many years in Cleveland.

At A Second Cousin Contacted Me, I shared my excitement about having a second cousin of my husband find my blog post about his grandfather, Sam Handler.

Sam died in California after moving there with his daughter and son-in-law.

This week, I received a package (actually mailed to the business address of the local historical society where I volunteer) with a bottle in it.

The following photographs are courtesy of my husband (and his light box):

Moved to a New Email Platform

I changed my email distribution method in May (before my Blogiversary post) because Feedburner (previously included with Blogger) is no longer emailing blog posts starting this month.

I moved my email list from Feedburner to Follow.it. Please be sure to confirm that you wish to continue receiving emails even though I haven't been blogging much. (Apologies for the duplicate message to those of you who confirmed your subscription after my Blogiversary post.)

One of these days when something new is discovered (or rediscovered), I may get inspired to share my success here and you won't want to miss it!

Follow.it should also be sending my posts to those who follow me via RSS so that shouldn't change (I hope, and that is one thing I'm checking).

Thanks for reading!

Ten Years Blogging!

 

I guess I have run out of steam on my blogging. You can read about my educational experiences during this past year at my other blog, From Maine to Kentucky, which I started several weeks before this blog in 2011.

During the past year, I have not been actively researching my husband's family, except to do some "reverse genealogy" to identify descendants of his great-grandparents and (some) second great grandparents. 

These now-identified second and third cousins help me to know how some of his closer DNA matches are related to him. Because this research involves living people, I won't share that research publicly.

As I come across interesting records or stories in my husband's genealogy, I will share them here.

Thank you for continuing to follow my blog.

Wedding Wednesday ~ Morris Goldstein and Rose Levitt in 1922

I requested some vital records from the New Jersey Archives earlier this year for some of my ancestors and decided that I should request my husband's maternal grandparents' marriage license. It did take over two months, but that was fine with me.

New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics, Marriage Certificate no. 786 (26 August 1922) for Morris Goldstein and Rose Levitt; New Jersey Archives, Trenton, NJ.

Morris Goldstein and Rose Levitt married on 26 August 1922, in Woodbine, Cape May County, New Jersey... at 10 P.M. (A perpetual calendar tells me that August 26 that year was a Saturday, Shabbat, so they had to wait until after sundown to marry. However, Wolfram Alpha tells me that sunset was at 7:40 P.M. that day, so it's interesting that they married so late in the evening.)

The Groom's information was entered where the Bride's information was supposed to be entered and vice-versa, so I'm not transcribing this exactly as written:

The bride lived in Woodbine, New Jersey and was born there 21 years before. Her father was Max (Levitt) and her mother was named as Gertrude Segal. (I have found record for her under the names Golda, Goldie, Golde, and Gussie, but never Gertrude; my mother-in-law had never heard that name for her grandmother before.)

The groom lived in New York City (I think that says #9 2nd Ave). He was born 24 years before, in Yosse (Iași), Romania. His parents were Isaac Goldstein and Shary (?) Moskowitz. (Two other records I have give her name as Scheiba and Sarah; my mother-in-law remembers her name as Sheva.)

D. Sussman was Don Sussman, the Rabbi at the synagogue (1920 U.S. census for Woodbine) who officiated at the ceremony.

I think there are two witnesses: H. Jaffe was Harris Joffe in the 1920 U.S. census and I can't read the other name - let me know if you can!

Morris's parents never came to America; can you imagine having to send a letter home to Romania letting your family know about your marriage? So different from today.