54 Marshall Street
54 Marshall Street : A Room With a View?
Since then, I've found more information about the Dixon family during that time period. They moved quite often. This post is, primarily, a look at the residents of one block of Marshall Street in 1910.
But first, a word about the census...
The block that my great-grandparents lived on in 1910 was visited twice by the Enumerator. The visits were a week apart. (1) I was surprised to see that he missed so many families on his first pass down the block. Equally surprising is the fact that he missed the Dixon household twice! This brings their residence in 1910 into some question, but the City Directory for both 1909 and 1911 list William A. Dixon at that address. In any case, here's a little glimpse into what I believe was their neighborhood in 1910.
These are the people in your neighborhood
The neighborhood that William A. and Mary E. (Klein) Dixon lived in around 1910 was full of immigrants, with a minority population of adults who's American roots went back farther than one generation. Most of the children in the neighborhood had been born in New Jersey or New York. Nationalities represented were: Italian, German, Irish, Austrian Jews, English, Scottish, and Swedish.None of the adult women worked outside the home. Two were partners in running a boarding house within their residence. One of the young women on the block worked as a milliner in a department store, one worked in a shirt factory. There was a daughter who worked as a laundress in another household, and one young woman who was a live-in cook with a family on the block.
Most of the men worked in local industry. We find laborers, toolmakers, and machinists. Several of the men work at the Singer Sewing Machine Factory. We find a fireman at a steelworks and a fireman with the fire department. One, I suspect, was responsible for keeping the fires going, and the other for putting the fires out. A few career standouts were the undertaker's coachman, the trolley car conductor, the chemist, and a liquor salesman. A few of the men were self employed or owned their own businesses. In this category, we find an oyster dealer, the owner of a drygoods store, and a man who runs an express company.
Door to door
This next bit is kind of long, so I won't be offended if you decide not to read it. I wanted to really dig in and study the neighbors, so I'm including a brief sketch of the families on the block.There is a nice surprise down the page a bit. Scroll down and you'll find it.
In the 1903 Sanborn Map, the building on the corner, 50 Marshall Street, is designated as a saloon. In 1918 it is classified as a store. In the 1910 US Census, it appears that there are a number of single men living there as boarders. One of the men is a William Dixon! He is an oysterman, aged 46 and a widow. He was born in New Jersey, his father from Ireland and his mother from England. He is also nominally listed as the head of the household/boarder. I haven't yet looked for a connection with my Dixons.
Also living at number 50 are: James Kent, hotel janitor; John Kent, roofer; Terence Walsh, longshoreman; John T. Boyle, house painter.
Number 52 was a dwelling in 1903, and a store in 1918. No residents are listed on the population schedule at that address in 1910, so perhaps it had been converted to a store by then.
We've seen that the Dixon and the Marchesi families lived at number 54. Mr. Marchesi and his two oldest sons worked at the Singer Sewing Machine factory. Mr. Marchesi is listed as a laborer. Harry, age 17, was a tool maker. Albert, 15, worked as an office boy. [Sheet 11B to the Phillips family]
56 Marshall is not on the census page. Neither Sanborn map shows a dwelling at that address although there are structures on the lot.
Charles Mayer, his wife, Cecilia, and their son, Charles lived at number 58. The Mayers owned their home. Charles and Cecilia had both been born in Germany. Charles had immigrated in 1854. Cecilia had come over to America in 1872. Charles was an "Expressman" and was self-employed. Their 29 year old, American-born, son worked as a driver for an express company, possibly his father's.
Number 66 held two flats, both with young families. Thomas Curley, 30, and his wife, Mary, 26, had both been born in Ireland. They had immigrated to America in 1904 and 1903, respectively. Mr. Curley worked as a fireman at the steelworks. Their son, John, had been born in New Jersey and was just one year old at the time of the census.
The second flat was occupied by the Middlestead family. Frank Middlestead was 33 years old, had been born in Germany, and immigrated in 1885. His wife, Minnie, was a New Jersey native, daughter of parents who were also born in New Jersey. Minnie was 23. The couple had a two year old son, Milford. The newest addition to the family was Edger, who was just six months old.
Further down the street at Number 68 we find two Yiddish families with roots in Austria. Mr. Beck worked as a presser in a tailor's shop, while Mr. Borkan was a retail merchant who owned a dry goods store. Both families had children who were born in New York.
Number 74 was owned by Maria Anderson, age 51. She lists herself as single. Her cousin, Annie Grant, and her mother, Cheria Keith, also lived there. Maria ran a boarding house in her home, and Annie was her partner. Six men lived there ranging in age from 24 to 39 years old. Five were single. All but one had been born in Ireland, as had Maria and her family members. The fifth man had been born in New York. Four of the men were machinists, one was a moulder at Singers, and one was a coachman for an undertaker.
Charles Linn owned the two-flat building at 72 Marshall. He and his wife, both in their 60's occupied one flat with three of their adult children, Mary, William, and Clarence. Mr. and Mrs. Lynn were New Jersey natives, though their parents had been born in Germany. Mr. Linn was a driller at Singer. His daughter, Marie, was an operator in a shirt factory, William was a trolley car conductor, and Clarence was a "filler" at an oil company.
The second flat was occupied by the Linn's son, Charles J. and his family. The five children ranged in age from five to fourteen years old. All were born in New Jersey. Charles's wife, Margaret was also born in New Jersey, but her father came from Pennsylvania and her mother was from Virginia. Charles J. was a fireman with the fire department.
Moving on down the block we come to number 80. It was a two story dwelling that housed two families. The first was the family of Dayton and Ida Van Pelt. Dayton and his family were from New York, while Ida and her family were from New Jersey. Dayton was an oyster dealer, and had his own business. The couple had four children between the ages of nine and eighteen.
And...Cousins!
I had a big surprise when I was looking at the second family that lived at number 80. David Lissenden, a carpenter at the ship yard, lived there with his wife, Gertrude, and their children. The Lissenden name seemed familiar so I checked a family group sheet given to me by a relative. Sure enough Gertrude Kelin, my great-grandmother's sister, had married David Lissenden. The name was unusual enough that I was pretty sure this was "my" great-grand-aunt Gertrude, but the census record confirmed it. Gertrude, 29 years old, was born in New Jersey. Her father was born in Germany and her mother was born in Ohio. This aligns with the information I have about Gertrude, although some of it still needs to be verified.
Mary Elizabeth (Klein) Dixon was living just down the block from her younger sister!
David and Gertrude had five children living with them: David (13), Ethel (10), George (8), Kenneth (3), and Gertrude (11 months). The census records that Gertrude had given birth to nine children, with seven surviving. The couple had been married for 14 years, and the oldest child living with them was thirteen, so something doesn't add up. Still, that's a mystery for another time.
It looks like the Dixon children had cousins to play with just a few doors away!
Next we find the family of Augustus and Mary Van Hart at number 82. Augustus worked as a "filter" at the tar company, which sounds like a wretched job. The three oldest sons, Chester, Roy, and Charles worked as splitters at the leather company. Mary and her eldest son had been born in Kentucky. Her parents were from England and Maryland. Augustus was born in New Jersey, as were the rest of the children. His parents were from Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The Van Hart's are unique because they have a servant living with them. The only one found on this block. Emma Heyer is a nineteen year old girl from New Jersey, although her father was born in Germany. She works for the Van Harts as a cook. [Sheet 11B]
Cornelius and Matilda Phillips lived at number 84 with their eight children, ranging in age from two to twenty-one years. The oldest daughter, Sophia, was a milliner at a department store. Her younger brother, Hartford, was a "machine hand" in a machine shop. Mr. Phillips was a machinist, perhaps in the same machine shop as his son. [Sheet 11A through 86 Marshall]
Finally, we come to the three flat building at number 86 Marshall Street. It houses four families. The building is owned by Benjamin Pinner, a 58 year old immigrant from England. His wife, Agnes, also 58, is from Scotland. Mr. Pinner is a blacksmith, and owns his own shop. Their eighteen year old son, Ruben, lives with them, and works as a machinist.
Benjamin Pinner, the younger, also lives at this address with his wife and children. This Benjamin is thirty-three years old and appears to have been born in England. His wife, Bertha, is a Jersey girl, though her mother comes from Germany. The couple has three daughters, Bertha (8), Adele (3), and Hazel (1). All the girls were born in New Jersey.
These Pinners are also housing four boarders, single men between the ages of thirty and fourty-five. They are a mixture of English, Irish, and Scottish. Three of the four are immigrants, one was born in New York. They all work in industrial settings. Charles Crane is a chemist at a chemical company. William Hart is a machinist at Singer. Hector McIntyre is a tool maker in a machine shop. Thomas Boland is a wire worker at a wire company.
In the same building we find Rose Kenah from Ireland. Rose is widow. Living with her is her son, Joseph, 28, who is a moulder in a foundry. Also in this household is Rose's thirty-six year old daughter, Nellie Brennan and Nellie's daughter, Annie, age fifteen. Nellie works as a laundress for a family.
Last, but not least, we find a Swedish couple, Otto and Ellen Sandburg, and their four daughters. The three oldest were born in New York, while the youngest, who is a year and a half old, was born in New Jersey. Mr. Sandburg is an engineer at an oil company.
Sources
(1) Elizabeth Directory 1909, Volume III. Newark, New Jersey: Price and Lee Company, p. 193. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line: accessed 14 May 2016]. Image 101 of 417. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Entry for William A. Dixon.
(2) Elizabeth Directory 1911, Volume IV. Newark, New Jersey: Price and Lee Company, p. 201. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line: accessed 14 May 2016]. Image 102 of 418. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Entry for William A. Dixon.
(3) 1910 US Census.
House Numbers 86, 84 [Sheet 11 A] and 82, 80, 76, 74, 68, 66, 58, 54 [Sheet 12 A] were all surveyed on 21 April 1910. The data for numbers 70, 72, 88, 90 [all on Sheet 20 B], 87, 85, 79, 64, 50, and 74 [all on Sheet 21 A] were taken on 28 April 1910.
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