Relatively Speaking Blog

When I first started exploring my paternal family history, my Aunt Silveretta told me what she knew about her aunts and uncles. Silveretta knew that her father’s parents, John and Margaret, had children from previous marriages, but she was uncertain who the parents were for each of her father’s siblings. She mentioned several names, such as Jane, Claire, George, Francis, Dell, but knew few details about these paternal aunts and uncles. Silveretta had met most of them only once or twice when she was young and had no memories of them.

Silveretta’s lack of knowledge about her paternal elders is in part because her parents, Charles and Lucy, had moved from their birthplace of Lycoming to Indiana County PA around 1918. This distance led to few visits between her father and his siblings and it created an absence of familiarity and a reduced connection between Charles’ siblings and his descendants.

Aided by the details Silveretta provided, I located some basic information about these paternal uncles and aunts. Much of what I learned about them, like my grand aunt Claire, was gleaned from census records, as well as a few mentions in other documents. Claire was born Mary Clara Allen July 1868 most likely in Lycoming County. She married William Walter about 1884 and they had ten children. They lived the first part of their lives in Lycoming County and then moved to the Union Springs NY area where Clara spent the remainder of her life. Delving a little deeper into the census provided a few other aspects about her life.

Clara was first enumerated in the 1870 census with her parents who resided in Columbia County just east of Lycoming. She was an infant and the youngest child of the four children listed. Neither of her parents could read, which would have limited their opportunities. Her father had no real or personal estate value and as a farm laborer he probably farmed for other people.

1870 census Greenwood Township, Columbia County PA
Name	Age	Occupation	Place of Birth
Valentine Allen	35	farm laborer	PA
Margaret Allen	28		PA
Wm H. Allen	9		PA
Martha Allen	6		PA
Susanna Allen	3		PA
Mary Allen	1		PA

Over the course of the next decade Clara experienced misfortune. Her father died in the fall of 1872 when she was just 4 years old; this left her mother Margaret with seven children to raise. For a young widow like Margaret with little education and unable to read, supporting her children was certainly a hardship. Margaret eventually remarried in 1876 and only her youngest child lived with her in 1880; Margaret and her other children, including Clara, were living with different families.

Clara can be found with Clinton Swank and his family in Franklin Township, Lycoming County in the 1880 census. Clara was a servant, perhaps helping to take care of the Swanks’ infant daughter. Clara attended school, but she was listed as not being able to read nor write. Her father’s death likely impacted her opportunity to attend school and as a later census reveals, she stopped her education at the sixth grade.

1880 census  Franklin Township, Lycoming County, PA
Name	Relationship to head of household	Age	Marital Status	Occupation
Clinton Swank	Head	26	M	farmer
Annie C. Swank	wife	25	M	kept house
Bessie M. Swank	daughter	7/12	S
Clara Allen	servant	12	S	servant for private family
Jonas Swank	brother	19	S	worked on farm

In the next census in 1900 Clara continued to reside in Franklin Township, Lycoming County and she was now married to William Walter with five children in their household. Clara and William were married 16 years, placing their marriage around 1884 when she was about 16 years old. William supported his family working as a day laborer and the oldest child, Charles, was a farm laborer. The family rented a house. William and Clara had four sons and one daughter in their household; however, the census notes that Clara had two additional children who died before the 1900 census. A search in Franklin Township cemetery books did not list any infant Walter children and it is possible they were buried without a marker.

1900 census  Franklin Township, Lycoming County, PA
Name	Relationship to head of household	Age	Marital Status	Occupation
William Walter	Head	47 (Oct 1852)	M	Day Laborer
Mary C. Walter	wife	31 (Jul 1868)	M
Charles W. Walter	son	14 (Apr 1886)	S	Farm Laborer
Lula M. Walter	Daughter	12 (Sep 1887)	S	at school
Franklin P. Walter	Son	10 (Sep 1889)	S	at school
Philip O. Walter	Son	5 (Mar 1895)	S
Dewey H. Walter	Son	1 (Nov 1898)	S

Ten years later William and Clara were still in Franklin Township, although they had moved to the town of Lairdsville. By 1910 two more children were born, one son and one daughter. Their oldest son and daughter had ventured out on their own. William was a laborer at odd jobs and the family rented a house. This census recorded they were married 26 years; it was the first marriage for both. William was about 16 years Clara’s senior, and with such an age difference, it seems likely he would have been previously married. In 1880 living in the same township as Clara was a William Walter, his wife Mary and two daughters. This could be the same William, but some additional research needs to be conducted to confirm this speculation.

1910 census  Lairdsville, Lycoming County, PA
Name	Relationship to head of household	Age	Marital Status	Occupation	Birth Place
William Walters	Head	58	M1	Laborer odd jobs	PA
Mary C. Walters	wife	42	M1		PA
Frank P. Walters	son	20	S	working out	PA
Philip O. Walters	son	14	S		PA
Dewey H. Walters	son	12	S		PA
David Walters	son	8	S		PA
Ruth A. Walters	daughter	3	S		PA

By 1915, the Walter family had made its way to the Finger Lakes region of the state, likely in search for work, as other relatives had made the same trek around the same time. New York, one of several states to conduct its own census between the federal decennial censuses, recorded William and Clara in Springport Township, Cayuga County during the 1915 NY state census. Their family had grown with an additional son but two more of the older sons, Frank and Owen, were living elsewhere. William was a carpenter while the two remaining older sons were farm laborers.

For the next federal census in 1920, Clara and William were again enumerated in Springport Township. William, who was now 65, had no occupation listed and there was no indication of whether he had retired or was incapable of working at that time. Owen was back living with his parents, and he and younger brother David were both farm laborers working out on other people’s farms. They remained renters, living at Cross Roads Road.

1920 census  Springport, Cayuga County, NY
Name	Relationship to head of household	Age	Marital Status	Occupation	Birth Place	Father’s Birth Place	Mother’s Birth Place
William Walter	Head	65	M		PA	PA	PA
Mary Walter	wife	52	M		PA	PA	PA
Owen Walter	son	22	S	laborer working out	PA	PA	PA
David Walter	son	17	S	laborer working out	PA	PA	PA
Ruth Walter	daughter	13	S		PA	PA	PA
Lester Walter	son	8	S		PA	PA	PA

Sometime after the 1920 census, Clara and William returned to Lycoming County. Paperwork pertaining to the death of Clara’s mother Margaret in 1923, indicated that Clara lived in Montoursville and took care of her mother. In 1925 a Pennsylvania death certificate for William recorded his place of death—and maybe his residence—as Montoursville. Two of her children remained in Cayuga County NY and were listed in the NY 1925 State Census.

Sometime after Clara was widowed, she returned to the Cayuga County area probably to be near her children. In 1930 Clara lived in Union Springs renting a house at 12 Evergreen Street; she had a boarder, possibly to help make ends meet. Clara’s two youngest children, Ruth and Lester, resided with her and they worked at a rope factory, perhaps the Columbian Rope Company in Auburn NY about 10 miles away. Ruth was listed as married, but in fact was separated from her husband, John Glidewell, as they divorced a few weeks after the census was taken. Ruth’s two daughters lived in the household as well.

1930 census  Springport, Cayuga County, NY
Name	Relationship to head of household	Age	Marital Status	Age first married	Occupation	Birth Place
Mary Walter	wife	64	W			PA
Ruth Glidewell	daughter	23	M	20	inspector in rope factory	PA
Claude Meaker	roomer	19	S		laborer in rope factory	PA
Lester Walter	son	19	S		spinner in rope factory	PA
Mary L. Glidwell	granddaughter	6	S			PA
Doris H. Glidewell	granddaughter	2	S			NY

1940 was the last enumeration for Clara. Now 72 years old, she lived with her son Dewey, in the same house where she lived in 1930. Dewey, divorced, was listed as the head of the household and he owned the home they lived in, apparently purchasing it during the preceding decade. Dewey worked as a laborer for a company making bakelite. Clara had received money that was not from wages, although it is unclear of the source. Two of Clara’s grandchildren, daughters to Ruth, resided with them. Clara died in August of 1945 in Union Springs NY at the age of 77 years old and was buried with her husband William in her native Lycoming County PA.

1940 census  Union Springs, Cayuga County, NY
Name	Relationship to head of household	Age	Marital Status	Occupation	Birth Place	Place lived in 1935
Dewey Walter	Head	42	Divorced	laborer Bakelite	PA	same house
Mary Walter	mother	72	widowed		PA	same house
Mary Mchaffay	niece	16	single		PA	same house
Geraldine Wertman	niece	9	widowed		NY	same house

Although I currently do not have a connection with any descendants of my grandfather’s siblings, with the census I have a rough outline of my grand aunt Clara’s life. Whenever I find additional documents that add some small insight into her life, it is rewarding. But the most significant find I hope to make, will be to someday establish a connection with some of her many descendants and hear stories about the lives of the Allen family that cannot be found in a paper trail.