Still Looking for my Dad, Buddy Harms, as a Child

I decided to see if I could find a City Directory for Leo Ervin Harms...my dad's dad.  So I went back to ancestry.com and searched.  I hit pay dirt!  I found a 1939 City Directory which lists Leo and Fern Harms.  It give their address:  3321 Holmes, Kansas City, Mo.  And it says that Leo was a Barber....which I knew.  Let's see if that info will help me find this family on the census!

I went to Ancestry.com and they had a place where you could try to find the right Enumeration District by putting in the cross streets.  I had the street name:  Holmes - - but I didn't know the cross street.  So I googled mapped the address 3321 Holmes in Kansas City, MO and it brought up a google earth map with all the streets labeled.  I found Holmes Road and Holmes Street.  I didn't know which it was, so I started with Holmes Road and put in the cross streets near it.  I didn't find Leo's family on any of them.  So I went back and  googled it as Holmes Street and it took me to a different part.  I did the same thing, put in the different cross streets I found on the map and hoped they would be the same as they were 72 years ago!

Success!!  On the second ED schedule that I looked through - 116-112 - I found Leo Harms with wife, Fern and son Buddy L. living on Holmes Street!  Finally!!  I'll go over the censuses next time and put down all the information they contain.  Right now I have tired eyes from looking at all that small print!  I am a very happy lady right now!

Looking for my Dad on the 1940 Census

Now that I found my mother in Gallatin, Clay County, Missouri on the 1940 Census....I decided to look for my father.  They were born the same year, so he would also be about 5-6 years old and living with his father, Leo Ervin Harms and his mother Fern and his brother Richard (Dick).  I know that Leo and Fern were married twice, divorced twice...but I don't know exactly when.  So it might be very interesting to see if they were living together at this time.

My father was Buddy Lee Harms and he was born on 27 Mar 1934 in Braymer, Caldwell County, Missouri.  I did a little research online about Braymer:

http://www.caldwellcountymissouri.com/history_braymer.htm

BRAYMER began it's existence in 1887 as a result of the construction of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad through southern Caldwell County. As America was growing with the railroads, Daniel Braymer and others realized what a great convenience it would be for the railroad to come through this area, giving a direct connection with the larger western cities and with the Hannibal, St. Joseph and Wabash Railroad at Chillicothe and Breckenridge, Missouri. Daniel Braymer had large holdings of land that were donated for the right-of-way for the railroads. He also worked very hard to get them here so the town was named after him.

The first passenger train went through Braymer on December 19, 1887, amid great rejoicing. It was an event of such significance that there was a typical "Braymer Crowd" present and there were speeches and the firing of anvils. The first railroad depot burned during a 4th of July celebration in the park we now know as Tait park. A replacement was built, but it also burned in 1934 in the middle of the great Depression. A third depot was constructed in 1935 and was later torn down in 1980 after the Milwaukee Road went bankrupt.



The business section of town ran east of Second and Main, but fire destroyed most of those wooden buildings and changed Main Street to run North & South. Braymer became known as the "Biggest Little Town in Missouri". Today, Braymer is still served by the Soo Railroad line, and they have worked to restore the roadbed to first class condition. Trains continue to pass through daily.

So....the replacement railroad depot burned down the year my father was born in Braymer.  I don't know what my grandfather, Leo (Buddy's dad) did for work in this town.  I'll have to try to find out!

I found a map of Braymer online:







The USGenWeb Archives Digital Map Library
Caldwell County and Town Maps 
Bullocks Geographical PLAT Maps of CALDWELL County Missouri 
as found in the Atlas of Caldwell County 1897 St. Joseph Missouri, press of Lon Hardman

To find my father on the 1940 Census I need to figure out where to search.  I went to Caldwell County, Missouri and found ED 13-3 - Davis Township, Braymer City and ED 13-4 - Davis Township outside Braymer City.  I'll start there.   Ok....they weren't in these two census schedules.  Now where do I look?

I was trying to figure out where to look next when I remembered that my dad had a brother two years younger than him...Richard Leo Harms (Uncle Dick to me).  So I went back to my ancestry.com account and looked up the birth year and place for dad's brother.  Uncle Dick was born in 1936, two years after my dad, in Fairport, DeKalb, MO.  So I went to the census schedules for DeKalb County and looked at every one of them....17 or 18 of them, I think.  Their family was not still living in Fairport or anywhere else in DeKalb County in 1940.

While I was doing this, I remembered that when I finally found my mom on the Clay County census, I just stopped right where I found her.  So, I went back to see if perhaps my dad's family had moved near my mom sooner than I thought.  They hadn't.  I didn't find them on that census either.

Now where to look?  Leo's dad, Henry August Harms, was still alive in 1940 according to the information that I have in ancestry.com.  According to the 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses, he lived in Jefferson, Daviess County, Missouri.  Maybe he still lived there in 1940, and maybe Leo moved closer to his aging dad.  I think I'll look in Jefferson, Daviess County next!

I just found Leo's sister, Velma (Harms) McFee with her husband, Robert, and her oldest son, Wayne.  So I might be on the right track here!  I hope to find Leo's family and Henry August Harms nearby.

I just found Henry A. Harms and his wife Allie.  Yeah!!  They were living near Velma....their only daughter.  I'll give all the info from the census in just a minute.  First I want to see if I can find Leo and my dad.

Well...my dad's family wasn't in Jefferson, Daviess County, MO (ED 31-13).  But I found Leo's sister, Velma's family and Leo's dad, Henry and his wife Allie.  So I'm really, really glad I looked in that census!

What the 1940 Census tells me about Homer and Family

1940 Federal Census - Missouri

I found Homer and family on the 1940 Census after much searching.  They are living in Gallatin, Clay County, Missouri....so my hunch that they wouldn't be too far away from Elisha and Zona was right.  They lived in the same county.  I found them in ED 24-17A on Sheet number 12B, Winnwood Lake, Gallatin Township, Clay County, Missouri.  Homer is going by his middle name at this time and is listed as Ross H. Robertson on line 61.  That's how his name was listed on his wedding certificate also.  Eleanor is listed as his wife and Kay E. is listed as their daughter, age 5.  Homer is 37 here and eleanor is 35.  They both got married later in life.  This census gives how many years of schooling they completed and I love that!  Homer completed H-2, which I'm assuming means 2 years of high school....so he went through 10th grade.  Eleanor completed C-3, which I think must mean 3 years of College.  That agrees with what my mother told me about her mom, Eleanor.  She told me years and years ago the Grandma Eleanor was a teacher. However, she wasn't working at that time, except in home housework.   Kay didn't attend any school...she was just 5 at this time.  Homer (Ross H.) was born in Missouri as was Kay, but Eleanor was born in Nebraska.  In fact, that's where they got married.  I wonder how they met since Homer seemed to live most of his life in Missouri?  I wish my mom were still here so I could ask her.  And what college did Eleanor go to??  I'll have to try to find out.  They lived in a Rural area of Clay County, Mo in 1935...but it wasn't a farm. This means they didn't live in the same house as they were living in at the time of the Census.  Homer was at work during the last week of March 1940 and he worked 40 hours that week.  So he had full-time work.  He worked at this time as a carpenter, private work as a building constructor.  He worked 32 weeks in 1939 and made $650.00 that year.  He did own his home and it was valued at $200.00 at that time.  

Right next door to Homer's family was his sister, Faye's family.  Faye married Herbert A. Painter, who, at this time was 37 years old.  Faye was 30 and they had two children:  Herbert R. a son, and Caroline Sue a daughter.  I think they only had the two children...but I'll have to check my memory.  Faye was 30 at this time, and Herbert was 11...Caroline was 3.  Herbert and Faye rented their home for $13...a month, I'm assuming.  It looks like Herbert had 3 years of high school (H-3) and Faye had 2 years of high school (H-2), just like her brother, Homer.  All of Faye's family were born in Missouri.  They lived in a Rural area of  Clay County, Mo in 1935, but it wasn't a farm.  Herbert worked the last week of March that year - - 44 hours.  He was a truck driver and did general hauling as a private worker (PW).  He worked 51 weeks in 1939 and made $1125.00 that year.  Faye didn't work outside the home.  She was listed as doing 'home house work'. 

It was very interesting to find that Homer and Faye lived next door to each other.  That tells me they had a good relationship and that my mom, Kay, lived near and played with her cousins Herbert and Caroline.  It feels like a happy memory.  

Trying to find My Mom on the 1940 Census

My mother, Kay Elizabeth Robertson, was the only child of Homer Ross Robertson and Eleanor Myrtle Pierce.  She was born in 1934...right during the Great Depression!  She was born on August 22, 1934 in Canton, Lewis, MO.  63 years later, my son, Matthew Carl Budge, was born on Grandma Kay's birthday.

I really want to find my mother on the 1940 Census.  The next Census...1950....won't be released for another 10 years, so this is probably the only one I'm going to see her on until I'm nearly ancient!

I checked for Homer's family on the same Census as Elisha, but he wasn't there.  I checked the other North Kansas City, Clay County, MO census...but Homer wasn't there either.  So now the challenge is to figure out where they were living so I can find them on the census.  I know that they were living in Canton, Lewis County in 1934 when my mother was born.  So let's search there and see if they were still there 6 years later.

I looked through all 3 Canton, Lewis County, MO Census records....and Homer and his family are not there.  So...where to look next??   Elisha and Zona were living in North Kansas City, Clay County at the time.  I didn't find Homer's family on those 2 censuses....but maybe they were still in Clay County.  So, I'm going to see what Censuses we have for Clay County.  It looks like there are 8:  Excelsior Springs, Fishing River, Gallatin, Kearney, Liberty, North Kansas City, Platte, Washington.  Of those, Fishing River, Gallatin, Kearney and Liberty sound familiar.  I already searched North Kansas City...so I'll start searching in the others.

Here's what I searched and what I found:

Washington County:  there was only one census for this county, so I searched it first.  18 Sheets....they were not there.

Next I began to search for them in Gallatin.  I searched ED 24-10, 24-11, 24-12, 24-15, 24-16A, 24-16B, 24-16C.....no luck!  I had 2 more to search in Gallatin, and I had some hope for this one because it mentioned in the boundaries....Winnwood.  I remembered (a little too late) that my mother and father were married in Winnwood Methodist Church.  So I began to search 24-17A....and I FOUND THEM!  Ross H. Robertson and Eleanor his wife and Kay E. Robertson, their daughter and my mom.  And...living right next door to my mom's family was Homer's sister, Faye!  She married Herbert A. Painter, and their family was living next door to Homer's family.  Herbert, Faye, their son Herbert R. and their daughter Caroline Sue.  So I hit gold twice!  It's been a good morning - - Easter morning!

1940 Census....It's Finally Here!

After 72 years, the 1940 Census has finally been released!  I've been having fun looking through the images...but I also realized how much harder it is to search a census when it hasn't been indexed.  I can't just type a name into a search box and have the name come up to the right census page.  I need to know where to look and do it the older fashioned way....one page at a time.  That is kind of fun.  Almost like a quest!  But it also takes a lot of time.  I decided to help with the indexing, so I signed up as an indexer with Family Search and I just completed my first batch from the Illinois 1940 Census.  It feels good to give back a little bit!

Finding Elisha

The first family I tried to find on the 1940 Census was Elisha Milford Robertson and his wife Zona.  Find A Grave had Elisha's burial in East Slope Memorial Gardens in Riverside, MO and his death date as 1946 in North Kansas City, Clay, MO.  He died 6 years after the 1940 Census, so this is the last Census he will be on.  I decided to start looking for him in North Kansas City, Clay, MO...hoping he still lived where he later died.  There were only 2 choices for that area to search, and I found him pretty easily!  He and Zona were in ED (Enumeration District) 24-14 on sheet 12A.  It was just the two of them living together.  It looks like they were renting a home and the amount of rent stated was '8'.  Does that mean $8.00 a month?  It looks like they were living on East 16th or 18th Avenue in Gallatin Township, North Kansas City, Clay County, Missouri.  Elisha's name was listed as E.M. Robertson and his wife...Zona.  They got the Robertson spelling right this time!  Elisha's age was given as 60 and Zona's age was given as 45.  This Census gives us the highest grade they completed in school! Elisha completed 8th grade and Zona completed 7th grade.  They were both born in Missouri.  The 1940 Census asks them to name the place they lived on April 1, 1935...5 years before the census (and right during the Great Depression).  Elisha stated they lived in a Rural area of Clay County, Missouri - - but it was not a farm.  I say Elisha said that, because on this census - as opposed to other census' - the enumerator marked an x with a circle around it by the name of the person who gave the information.  That person was Elisha.  They asked if the person worked the last week of March 1940, and Elisha said Yes...he worked 10 hours that week.  Zona didn't work outside the home.  It states the she did Home Housework (H).  Elisha gives his occupation as 'Pick up jobs' for the 'Public'.  He worked 35 weeks in 1939 and made $175 for the whole year.  That doesn't seem like a lot of money even for then.

1940 Federal Census - Missouri

This Census did something unusual.  Supplementary questions were asked of every 14th and 29th person on the sheet....only those two names.  I was excited to see that Zona was on line 14!  So I went to the bottom of the sheet where they recorded the supplementary questions and answers....and there she was!  Her name was listed by the number 14...but there was no name listed by number 29, although there was a woman listed on line 29 above.  Maybe she wasn't at home at the time.

Here is the supplementary information for Zona:

Name: Zona Robertson.  

Place of Birth of Father and Mother:  father - North Carolina    mother - Missouri

Mother Tongue spoken in the home: English

They asked if she was a US military Veteran or the wife, widow or child of a Veteran:  NO

Did she have a Social Security Number:  No

Were deductions for Social Security taken out of her wage in 1939?   NO

Usual Occupation:  None

Has this woman been married more than once?   NO  (No previous marriages, then)

Number of children ever born:  2 (do not include stillbirths)  So Zona only had the two children.

That's all the supplementary questions they asked.  I did find out that Zona had only been married to Elisha and she had only given birth to the two children, Homer and Faye.  

I'm glad I found my first 1940 Census family so easily!  Now I need to find Homer Robertson, my grandfather, and Eleanor, his wife and MY MOM!  This is the first census that will have my mother, Kay Elizabeth Robertson, on it!