Monday, August 24, 2015

Just where was Elizabeth Haitz, the file clerk, before her marriage?

When I found the marriage record for Albert Steele and Elizabeth Haitz, I was immediately intrigued by the fact that this is the first of my grandfather's sisters that had a job outside of the home.  At the time of her marriage in 1933, Elizabeth was a file clerk, although where she worked was not included on the record.  

The Union Township, Brown County, Ohio 1930 census showed that Elizabeth was not living in her parents' house.  When I found the census record I thought that she must have been married and was living elsewhere before that census was taken.  However, along with the discovery of the marriage record with the date of her marriage and her employment came the question of just where was Elizabeth in 1930?

My first thought was to look in the same census, but broaden the search to all of Brown County; not just Ripley and Union Township just in case she was living with another family.  No one by the name of Elizabeth Haitz or any variation of Elizabeth could I find so I broadened the search even more to the whole state of Ohio.  I only did that because I felt the name Haitz was uncommon enough that I wouldn't end up with a huge number of names.  Had the last name been a fairly common one, I would have started with a more narrow search, perhaps just a county. Though as luck would have it, lo and behold, I found an Elizabeth Haitz in Cincinnati!

1930 United States Federal Census, Hamilton County, Ohio, population schedule, Ward 12, Block 12, Cincinnati, ED 31-126, sheet 26B, 31-126, Haitz Robert J.  


Haitz and Bauman, 1930, Cincinnati, Ohio
Transcription of the 1930 United States Federal Census
Cincinnati, Ohio
Robert J, and Elizabeth Haitz
Arthur and Hattie Bauman


This census entry showed an Elizabeth Haitz living at 3234 Bishop Avenue along with a brother, Robert J Haitz, and an Arthur Bauman and his wife, Hattie living at the same address.  I was fairly certain this was my Elizabeth since she did have a brother named Robert J and her oldest sister did marry an Arthur Bauman.  Also, this Elizabeth was a clerk in a dry goods store which could have been a file clerk.  She and her parents had been born in Ohio which also matched what I was looking for.  The entry, though, did have problems.  The ages for Elizabeth and Robert were no where near the ages that my Elizabeth and Robert would have been in 1930.  Robert should have been 25 and Elizabeth 23, yet these two were 40 and 36, respectively.  The other problem was that I had never heard Elizabeth's sister, Margaret Haitz Bauman, being called Hattie.  I needed more evidence so I went to Ancestry.com's database of City Directories which includes directories of Cincinnati.

While I couldn't locate Robert J Haitz in the Cincinnati City Directories until 1940, I did find some evidence of Elizabeth, Margaret, and Arthur Bauman working and living in Cincinnati during the early 1930's.  Clicking on the directory pages will enlarge them so they can be read.

Elizabeth and Marget Haitz, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1929-30
Elizabeth, a stenographer, and Margaret, a seamstress, Haitz living at 2479 Paris
1929-1930 Cincinnati City Directory
Ancestry.com


Elizabeth Haitz
Betty H Haitz, clerk, working at 1934 Dana Avenue and living at 3234 Bishop
1930-31 Cincinnati City Directory
Ancestry.com


Elizabeth Haitz
Betty Haitz, bookkeeper, home was 2921 Glendora Avenue
1931-32 Cincinnati City Directory
Ancestry.com

Arthur Bauman, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1931-32
Arthur Bauman, insurance agent, home was 2921 Glendora Avenue
1931-32 Cincinnati City Directory
Ancestry.com


I cannot say with 100% accuracy that Betty is my Elizabeth, but I am pretty sure she is.  I wish I could have found Robert in the 1930-31 directory living on Bishop Avenue, but I didn't.  I couldn't find Arthur or Margaret living on Bishop either.  However, Arthur and, I assume, Margaret were living at the same address as Betty in the 1931-32 directory.  Margaret is probably no longer working as a seamstress since she is married and therefore would not be listed in the directory.  As for the wrong ages in the census, those could be explained by the fact that the enumerator had visited the house once already before he made this entry.  That is why there is a notation in the margin to see sheet 24A Line 30 which is where the rest of Bishop Avenue is enumerated and the "2nd" written next to Elizabeth's name indicates that it was a second visit.  It is possible that when he tried the second time to get the information, no one was home once again and so a neighbor gave the information.  It is clear that I will need to try and find more evidence of Elizabeth in Cincinnati.  I think my next stop will be to locate a marriage announcement for her and Albert Steele in the Ripley Bee, if there is one.  It just might have something about her employment and place of residence before her marriage.  






Thursday, August 20, 2015

The Marriage Record for Elizabeth Haitz and Albert Steele

Albert Steele and Elizabeth Haitz

This is the Brown County, Ohio marriage record for Elizabeth H Haitz and Albert F Steele.  Their marriage took place on April 15, 1933.  It was four years into the Great Depression, but each of them were employed.  Albert as a shoe worker and Elizabeth was a file clerk.  

Elizabeth was the fourth child of Joseph Haitz and Henrietta Koewler.  Frank Steele and Anna Flaugher were the parents of Albert.  He was their oldest child.

The marriage most likely took place at St. Michael Catholic Church in Ripley since Father P Ambrose Reger was the person who performed the ceremony.  However, since the exact place is not indicated on this document, I am forced to only acknowledge the location as Brown County.  I wish record keepers of the day had named, at least, the town that the marriages took place! 

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Mary Louise Haitz's Birth Record


It's rather difficult to locate the birth records online for the children of Joe and Henrietta Haitz.  In fact, the birth record for my grandfather, George Henry, can't even be found in Georgetown, Ohio at the court house.  When I found a record for Mary Louise's birth on Family Search, I counted myself very lucky!

Mary Louise was the third born for Joe and Henrietta and her birth date was 29 August 1906.  Like her siblings, she was born at home in Ripley, Ohio.

Mary Louise Haitz, birth record
Ohio. County Births, 1841 - 2003. Online digital images. Family Search. https://www.familysearch.org : 2015.
Click on the photograph to enlarge it.
 
If you look carefully, you can see another entry for a Haitz baby on the second line.  This Albert L Haitz was the son of Joseph's brother, George, and his wife, Josephine.


Monday, August 10, 2015

A Headstone for Frank A Haitz

Honorably discharged veterans of the United States military are entitled to a government gravestone marker with no charge to the family.  An application must be completed and approved for each veteran and the family must pay the cost to have it placed if burial is in a private cemetery.  

Frank A Haitz
Frank Haitz






Frank A Haitz served in the United States Navy during World War II.  Upon his death in 1962, his sister, Elizabeth Haitz Steele, requested a headstone for Frank's final resting place in Maplewood Cemetery, Ripley, Ohio.  

I do not have a personal photograph of Frank's headstone, however, there is a picture of it on his Find A Grave memorial page.  Click here to visit his memorial.  

I bet you can guess what is going to be added to my To-Do list for our next visit to Ripley!





"U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963." Database. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2015.  

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Virginia Ann Haitz and Harry F Skaggs

This is an abstracted certificate of marriage for my great-aunt Virginia Ann Haitz and Harry F Skaggs.  

Haitz Skaggs
Ohio. County Marriages, 1789 - 2013. Digital images. Family Search. Ohio, County Marriages, 1789 - 2013. https://www.familysearch.org : 2015.  


Ann was the fifteenth child of Joseph and Henrietta (Koehler) Haitz.  

Fred had an older sister and brother and two younger sisters.  His father, William, was also a shoe repairman.