Exploring the 1940 Census

On Monday, April 2, 2012, the National Archives released the 1940 US Federal Population Census after a 72 year embargo. I have spent the last month pouring through the many pages looking for familiar names. How lucky am I that both Mom and Dad lived in small rural areas that year making it easy to find them!

Mom was really easy since I knew the ED for Linn Township in 1930 and could use the Stephen Morse One-Step Website to identify the ED for Linn Township in 1940. A couple of clicks (6 actually) and there they were, the entire Van Dyke family complete with middle names of all the kids. And extra special, Mom was one of the 5% who had extra questions asked. Did I learn anything I didn't know before looking at this census, no..., but it was still exciting to see the family living in the house I remember so well. That one page of the 1940 census was a windfall of family content as I found Uncle Frank and family, including Pat & Pearl with Irene; then there was Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Van Dyke, with Aunt Clara living next door with Ellis Mott.

Dad was a little tricky to find since the family had moved from Peoria to Washington sometime during the 1930s but Washington turned out to only have 1 ED and was quickly located within a few clicks of a mouse. Again, nothing new was learned that wasn't already known.

I have found a number of other relatives but still have a way to go. I have found the Henry Ringels in Peoria, Peter Schlentz in Cicero, the Lazzaronis in Kenosha, and am still looking for the rest of the Schlentz families, the Larisons, the Trinkos, and the Hutchersons.

Eastland Disaster

Many people have heard about the Titanic but not many have heard of the Eastland. However, if you live in Chicago or Cicero, you certainly have heard of the Eastland. The Eastland was a ship built to sail the Great Lakes. In July 1915, it was hired to transport employees of the Western Electric Company to Michigan City, IN for the annual employee picnic.

On the morning of July 24, 1915, as the Eastland was loading passengers, it began listing, first to one side and then the other, until it finally tipped over into the Chicago River. Over 840 people were killed in this disaster including Ella Schlentz, daughter of Peter and Gabriele (Meyer) Schlentz.

My grandmother Eva Ann was a young girl of 8 when her oldest sister was killed in this disaster that affected almost every family living in Cicero. What was the significance of this disaster, other than the loss of a family member to the Schlentz family? Peter became convinced that if his daughter Ella knew how to swim, she might have survived and he decided that the rest of his children would learn to swim. The family began to take vacations to various lakes so that the family could learn to swim and finally, after a number of trips to Cedar Lake, IN, Peter learned of a place in Lake Geneva, WI where he could rent tents for his family to camp on property owned by a family with access to the lake. The Schlentz's began to camp at the Campgrounds of the Van Dyke's on the south shore of Geneva Lake. Over the next few years, the oldest Van Dyke child fell in love with the youngest Schlentz child.

Schlentz Family

Not sure what the date is on this photo of the Schlentz family bu it is definitely after 1915. That is Gabriele (Meyer) and Peter in the front surrounded by their surviving children: Hattie, Wally, Agnes, Harry, and Eva.

Can anyone figure out who is who?

Welcome to my Blog

I have developed this blog as a means for sharing information about my family with other members of this extended family. My goal is to try and fill in the gaps within the family and try and collect stories that have passed through time to various members of the family. Please jump in and add any stories or memories you have of any of our relatives as they will provide the substance and humanity to a family history of names and dates.