Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Blanche Shriner's Sunday School Teacher


The letter written to Blanche was from her Sunday School teacher, Emma G. Garner. So after I found Blanche on Ancestry.com, I looked up Emma. I found her right away. She was 59 in the 1920 census, so in 1924, that made her 63. She lived with her brother and his wife in the house he owned on Linwood. He worked as a cashier in a bank and neither his wife nor Emma worked. I wonder if it was tough living with your sister-in-law. I hope it was wonderful and not difficult for Emma. Remember to click on the image above to make it bigger in order to read the information.

Now for the map of Emma's house in 1924:


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Two roads were listed on the 1920 census record - Linwood and McKinstry Roads. I couldn't find Linwood at first, so I tried McKinstry. That worked. Then I saw Linwood, which is no longer the name of a road, but a village perhaps. On this map above, I requested directions from Linwood to Jasontown Road, the intersection which Blanche Shriner lived 2 doors down from.

Emma's letter mentions that it has been a year since Blanche's father, Milton, has died, so he must have died in 1923. I looked for the Shriner family in 1910 and found out that Milton was really James M. Shriner, and that Edith was a younger sister (3 years younger than Blanche) who must have married and had a baby by 1924. Also, the younger brother listed as an invalid in 1920 is called Paul S. Shriner (S. must be for Shreeve) and he is 8 years old in 1910. Here is the 1920 census record:

This sleuthing sure is fun!! I wonder what churches were in the Village of Uniontown, MD in 1924.

Finally, I found Blanche in 1930. She is now living with her mother, who is 60 and works as a practical nurse, while Blanche is a housekeeper for a "private family." It appears that even though Blanche was 20 in 1920 and 30 in 1920, she is now 37 in 1930.....but if you look, you'll see the age written over, so it's hard to read. It should be 40. Caroline is now definitively listed as "granddaughter" - of whom? There were two unmarried sisters - Blanche and Bertha. It appears Bertha has moved on - perhaps married, or moved. Shreeve is not living with them - perhaps he has passed away, or gotten better and lives elsewhere. Caroline was listed in 1920 was a 28 month old daughter, but then that was crossed out and "grand daughter" was written. Edith is married and has a baby, but that would be listed under her husband's name on the census. It sounds a bit as if Blanche had somewhat of a hard life. She never married, she missed her father and she had to go to work when she got older. Here is the 1930 census record:


It would appear that Blanche died in April 1972. Her death certificate has her birthday as 8/31/1889. Her Social Security number was 218-01-9946, issued in Maryland before 1951. Her last residence was
17331 Hanover, York, Pennsylvania.


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