June 21, 2009 - Great-Grandmother Marie Antoinette (née July) Abraham - Part 6

Morning.

Happy Father's Day and the honeymooners are home, and the canine motel has been reduced by eight legs. Already the quiet seems weird, as all canine residents are asleep at chosen points in the house.

And great-grandmother has a sister, great-grandaunt Celestine (née July) St. Philippe and a niece, Muriel, my 1st Cousin twice removed. So what next?

Two avenues of search:

1. Find copies of the 1930 Census for San Diego; and
2. Search for possible death records.

Family lore had it that great-grandmother Marie Antoinette had passed away in California. And for that matter I should check and look for the same for great-grandaunt Celestine.

Eureka!

1930 US Census found.

Line 25 ABRAHAM, MARY A.; age - 68; birthplace - France. The house address 1421 B Street, San Diego Township, San Diego, California. Ten years later, referencing the 1920 Census great-grandmother Marie is still living at B Street. The house numbers are different, 1421 versus 925, but that doesn't appear to be a big deal. And her name is now Anglicized... It's now written as Mary instead of the French Marie. But it's her!

And I can confirm the family tale that two of her grandsons; Fred A. and Harold S. Brebner are living with her on the date of the Census reporting, April 4, 1930. The boys are 18 and 16 years old, respectively. It appears that great-grandmother Marie got part of her April 26, 1920 wish to come true; the wish she had written "I want my twoo boys and my little Cécile to keep me company during the day." Reported on the 1930 Census, the boys immigrated to the United States in 1920. Isn't the adage something to the effect of "one shouldn't wish for something too hard, for it may come true"? And yes, I know I'm taking a bit of literary license, but quoting a phrase from a 1923 letter from great-grandmother Marie to grandmother Jeanne, "I have alot of work to do wash and iron the cloths, cook, and do the house work for I have two bad boys who dont help me and there is no servants to do it for me", it certainly seems that the two grandsons may have been a handful. And of course they would be! Can you image a 62-year old grandmother handling two youngsters; Fred an 11-year old and Harold a 9-year old?

There are a few other letters from "Aunt Catoche" to my grandmother Jeanne. We can speculate that this may have been great-grandaunt Célestine. Catoche is not grandaunt Cécile, as she, grandaunt Cécile is referred to by "Aunt Catoche" in a couple of the letters. Also, the constructions of the letters can be considered "Franglish-type" as at times the grammar and spelling of words are a combination of English and French. To date I have not found any other family member or relative that may fit the bill that Catoche was not great-grandaunt Célestine (née July) St. Philippe. And I'll keep looking.

But on to reconstruct the live of great-grandmother Marie Antoinette (née July) Abraham. As the 1940 US Census has not been released, my next task is to locate any other reference specific to her. A death record?

To be continued...

Enjoy,

Jim