Relatively Speaking Blog

My aunts referred to her as Aunt Della; she was an older half-sister of my grandfather, Charles Brown. As I searched census records and a few other documents to sort out details about her life, I found her birthday listed as March 17. Coincidentally, this was the same day listed on most of my grandfather Charles’ documents, which means the two likely shared a birthday. I say likely, as there were a few times one or the other’s birth month was listed on a document as April.

Aunt Della, born Minnie Idella Allen, was the sixth child of Valentine Allen and Margaret McGarvey. She usually went by Dell or Della, and her name has also been found to have been spelled Adelia. She was likely born in Greenwood Township, Columbia County and spent at least her infant years there. As to her year of birth, several documents list 1870, however, the 1870 census, conducted in July, does not list Dell as a child in her parent’s household. Other census enumerations vary her age by a few years, and I speculate that she was probably born a year later in 1871.

Her father Valentine died in the fall of 1872, so Aunt Dell never knew her father. Her mother Margaret, a young widow with six children to support and no income, had little she could do to keep her family together. After Valentine’s death, Margaret had to send her children to live with other families, as evidenced by the 1880 census.

Near the end of her first decade, Della, one of the younger Allen children, lived in Moreland Township, Lycoming County, PA with her maternal uncle, John McGarvey. She was recorded in the 1880 census as Minnie and her age was 10 years old. Dell could not read nor write, but she did attend school within the census year. She likely grew up in this area, although we do not know how long she remained with her uncle or if she lived with another family until she became of age.

As a researcher, the 1880 enumeration for Dell has been valuable. This was the first census that documented the relationship of the head of household to those residing in it. Having Minnie named as a niece verifies John was one of her mother’s siblings and that the McGarveys still resided in Moreland Township area. Since John’s mother Rebecca was included in the household, it corroborates her name, approximate age and confirms that she died sometime after the 1880 census.

Since the 1890 census was destroyed, one can only speculate where she might have lived. It is unclear if she attended school as the 1950 census indicates she never finished a grade. Sometimes a census had that she could read and write, but another census listed she couldn’t.

In December of 1893 she and Jacob Phillips applied for a marriage license, which was returned on January 19, 1894. Jacob was a farmer, but Dell had no occupation. Both resided in North Mountain, where Dell’s mother lived with her second husband John Brown. Before Dell married, she might have lived with her mother, or at least nearby.

The 1900 census has two separate enumerations for Dell, a week apart and in different counties. The first 1900 census lists Dell as living in Jordan Township, Lycoming County, PA, in the household of Jonathan Knittle. Although she is listed as married, Jacob was not enumerated in the household, only her two youngest children. Perhaps the Phillips family did reside with Jonathan but had moved before the census enumerator came requesting information for those residing in the household.

The other enumeration for the 1900 census listed Jacob, Dell and their three children, Stanton, Sherman and Sarah, in Davidson Township, Sullivan County, PA, next to Jacob’s parents. From the enumeration, it appeared that Jacob rented a house that was on his parent’s property. Jacob was a day laborer and was out of work for 2 months out of the year.

It is interesting to note the difference between these two enumerations. It demonstrates how information on the census cannot be taken as fact. Whether it is due to the enumerator, a person in the household or a neighbor, details can get mixed up about those in the household, so census information should be used merely as a guide. Some of the discrepancies between the two 1900 censuses are: Stanton was listed as a daughter, instead of a son. The birth month and year vary for all three: Della’s birth year had a 5-year difference, Sarah’s birth month changed from January to February, while Sherman’s, also listed as Brady S., had the greatest variance from Nov. 1895 to May 1897, which is accurate. The number of children Dell had also changed from 5 to 4. Searching cemetery records or birth and death registrations for Sullivan County provided no results for possible names or dates of these unknown children.

By the 1910 census, Della’s family lived with Jacob’s widowed father Clark, who was retired. Jacob was a farm laborer and likely worked his father’s land in Davidson Township. Over this decade Jacob and Dell had four more children: Ocie, Emery, Harold, and Leattia; daughter Sarah Jane had died in 1902. Ocie and her older brothers attended school in the year.

1910 census  Davidson Township, Sullivan County, PA
Name	Relationship to head of household	Age	Marital Status	Occupation
Clark Phillips	Head	68	Wd	Retired own farm
Jacob Phillips	Son	39	M1	Farm laborer
Idella Phillips	daughter-in-law	37	M1
Stanton Phillips	son	14	S
Ocie Phillips	daughter	13	S
Emery Phillips	son	10	S
Harold Phillips	grandson	7	S
Leattia Phillps	granddaughter	1 2/12	S

Ten years later, Dell was again in Davidson Township with her family. The 1920 census erroneously lists Jacob as Clark, which was his father’s name. Beside them is Jacob Phillips with wife Elizabeth. This is Jacob’s father Clark with his second wife; for some reason, the enumerator—or perhaps a neighbor providing information—switched the names. By the 1920 census, three more children were born to Dell and Jacob: Viola, Earnest, and Raymond. Jacob still rented and worked on a farm, likely his father’s; the two oldest sons worked in a sawmill. Harold, Letha and Viola attended school.

In 1928 Jacob’s father died and Jacob probably inherited his father’s farm, as the Phillips family was surrounded by several of the same families who were nearby from 1920 to 1940. Although the 1930 census listed Jacob as owning a house not on a farm, the 1940 census has him as an owner of a farm. Land records can help clarify whether this was another error in the census or if they indeed lived in different places for those two censuses. In 1930, their son Sherman, who was married with a young daughter, lived beside Jacob and Della; perhaps he rented from his parents, in the same way Jacob rented from his father.

In the 1930 census Della and her parents were listed as born in the U.S. Perhaps one of the younger children or a neighbor supplied the information, as it seems odd that Della’s birthplace would not be known. In 1930, Jacob and his older sons were listed only as laborers with no detail, perhaps due to the informant. In 1940 Jacob was a farmer and two of his sons, Harold and Raymond, helped with the farm; the other two sons, Stanton—a veteran of WWI—and Ernest labored in other businesses, construction and a hotel, respectively.

In the 1950 census, Della was listed as married; however, she actually was widowed as Jacob had passed away July 12, 1948, in Muncy Valley where he lived his entire life. Dell remained on the family farm with several of her children. Harold, like his father, was a farmer. Raymond, who was married with a son of his own, and Stanton also resided with Della. Della lived another year and a half, passing away November 17, 1951. She was buried with Jacob in Stoneheap Cemetery.

With no stories about Della from relatives, I have spent my time looking for documents to gain some insight into her life. From those I have found, I have constructed a rough framework of her life, but it is lacking. The main resource has been the census, which gives minimal information. However, Della’s first enumeration in 1880 with her uncle has been one of the most exciting finds. Perhaps someday I will connect with one of Della’s descendants and learn more about her life, and possibly some stories she had about her mother and grandparents.