Sweethearts in the 1940 Census

My Mom and Her First Boyfriend – the Boy Next Door!

These pictures were taken on July, 1938 so they are earlier than the census but they are just SO cute! The little boy - Wayne Gustin - almost looks like my Mom's twin in the bottom picture.  I've had these pictures for quite some time and heard about Wayne.  So it was fun when the 1940 census came out to see them there in black and white living next door to each other. As you can see my Mom is 5 while her beau is only 4 - she was the older woman!

Interestingly, in answer to the question about where the person lived in 1935, this shows that everyone listed was living at this “same house” which is SO not true. In 1940 my Grandfather is now married to his second wife, Ollie Belle Duncan, formerly Braddock, who most definitely was not his wife in 1935, the year my mother was born. 

According to this Denver city directory, in 1935 it would have been my grandfather and his FIRST wife living in this house. 

According to a later city directory, “Mrs. Olive Belle Braddock” was living at quite a different address than this - although apart from her first husband.  I guess they didn’t want to go into the sordid details with the census taker!

Family Events ~ October 29 - November 4

October 29th ~ This day is marked by the death in Oyne, Aberdeenshire, Scotland in 1929 of Helen BENZIE my 2x great-grandaunt.

October 30th ~ On this day in 1860 my great-great grandparents, John Ulrick SAURER and Caroline FLORY are married in Apple Creek, Ohio. Caroline was only 16 (some 21 years younger than her husband.) I have no identified picture of John, but do have one of Caroline. She always looked sad to me.


October 31 ~ This is a busy day in family history! 

First, on this day in 1802 in Oyne, Aberdeenshire, Scotland my 2x great-granduncle, Alexander BENZIE is born.

This day is also marked by the death in 1892 of the 5x great-grandfather of my nieces and nephew, John MOUSER. There is a wonderful memorial for him on Find-A-Grave with a picture of his gravestone and some great additional information regarding his will and the names of all his children.


Also on this day in 1896, my great-granduncle, Raymond Rudolph GRABER is born in East Union Twp, Wayne County, Ohio.

And last, but certainly not least - on this day, an unspecified number of years ago, my brother-in-law, Christian Mathis MOUSER was born. Happy Birthday Chris!


November 1st ~ On this day in 1805 in Ceres, Fife, Scotland is born Euphemia GOURLAY, my 3x great-grandaunt.

November 2nd ~ On this day in 1886, John MOUSER (mentioned above) married Frances S NATIONS, his first wife Anna's sister - Anna having died in July of that year.

November 3rd ~ On this day in 1818 in Alabama, Anna NATIONS, first wife of John MOUSER is born.

November 4th ~ On this day in Los Angeles, California Katherine Elizabeth KEEFER, paternal grandmother of my nieces and nephew, is born.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ and a Lesson in Why I Should Write

I’m not even sure why we stopped at the cemetery that day. After all, I’d been there twice before – once when my Dad and I made the thrilling (for me anyway!) discovery of my 3x great-grandparents Anna & Jacob Zaugg’s gravestone and once, much later, when I happened to be in the area and wanted to re-take the picture with my digital camera.

This time we had been out doing non-genealogy things…shopping in quilt stores and browsing through places like The Ashery. We happened to be driving through Mt. Eaton (Ohio) and started talking about the time we found the “old” cemetery. On the spur of the moment I said, “Let’s stop.”

Since I didn’t have a specific agenda, this time I looked around more – noticing names and taking some random pictures of stones that caught my eye. I happened to notice a small stone in the same row as Anna & Jacob’s and as I looked more closely I was amazed to read, “Elmer Graber, son of R & E Graber died May 7, 1890 Aged 6 m 14 d”  I can't believe that I never saw that before!  

Before we came on this trip I had been thinking quite a bit about Elmer and Clara Graber - the two children of Emma [Zaugg] Graber's that did not live to adulthood.  I had even wondered if possibly these children were buried on the family farm somewhere, although I didn't even  know (and still don't) if the Grabers were living on the farm during those times.

The reason I had been thinking so much about Emma and her children was that I had been trying to write about her. Based on a talk I heard Lisa Alzo give at FGS 2011 called Write Your Family History Step by Step I was writing about Emma 15 minutes a day.

It was interesting because Emma was someone I really thought I knew. There was no mystery or brick wall there. I knew who her parents, grandparents, husband and children were. But I found out that it wasn’t the same thing as knowing her. When I started to put together a few paragraphs each day, it just made me look at things differently.

I truly believe that I found this stone because I'd been writing about Emma and had these children on my mind. So thank-you Lisa for that!! And now that one of my biggest excuses is no longer there, I really need to start again with my 15 minutes a day...

Family Events ~ October 15 - 21

Belle Quick, 1940

October 15th ~ On this day in 1910 my grandmother, Olive Isabelle DUNCAN is born in Louisville, Colorado.  Actually she is my step-grandmother, but she's the grandmother on my mother's side that I grew up knowing .

October 16th ~ On this day in 1810 my 3x great-grandmother, Agnes GOURLAY is born in Ceres, Fife, Scotland. She will be christened 3 days later on October 19th.

October 17th ~ On this day in 1901 my great-grandparents, Thomas Leopold RITCHIE and Mary BENZIE are married in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  For many years I erroneously recorded their marriage date as 17-Oct-1900 based on this marriage booklet that had been handed down to me.  A few years ago when I actually ordered a copy of their marriage registration I found that it had actually been 1901!  I wrote a post about that a few years ago. 

William Benzie

October 18th ~ On this day in 1843 my 2xgreat-grandfather, William BENZIE (father of Mary) is born in Oyne, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. 

October 20th ~ On this day in 1874, my great-grandaunt, Jeannie Alice RITCHIE is born in St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland.

October 21st ~ On this day in 1781 my 3x great-grandfather, Jacob SAURER is born in canton Berne, Switzerland.