Sunday, November 28, 2021

Children of Amarylis Crane and Edward J. M. Poth

Amarylis Crane (1877-1952) daughter of William Henry Crane and Nellie Rose Hogan

and Edward John Michael Poth (1874 - 1956), son of Adam Poth and Anna Maria Clemens/ Clements,

were married in Chicago on June 28, 1905. These are Stephen D. Poth's paternal grandparents.

They had three children:

1. Amarylis E. Poth (Aug 1, 1906 in Illinois - 1953) - Des Moines, Colorado

m. John Herman Nunes

2. Edward Marshall Poth (Oct 30, 1910, Chicago - March 15, 1981, Maricopa Arizona)

m. Mildred Alice Noll

3. Charles Douglas Poth (July 19, 1917, Des Moines - Nov 17, 1983, Denver)

m. Frances Hope Hoart

Amarylis Poth with her little brother Douglas:

The Poth family camping:

See:

Amaryl Crane

Edward J. M. Poth

Sources:

Cynthia Poth Nanto tree on Ancestry dot com

Photos from Frances Hoart Poth family albums

Amarylis Ann Crane (1877-1952), English teacher, "reader", mother, Stephen Poth's paternal grandmother

Amarylis Ann Crane (October 24, 1877, Illinois - August 1, 1952, Denver)

from Chicago, Des Moines, Denver

English teacher, reader in theatrical and musical programs, mother of three

This is Stephen D. Poth's paternal grandmother.

Amarylis Ann Crane, Doug Poth's mother, was born in Iroquois County, Illinois, the second child of William Henry Crane and Nellie Rose Hogan. She lived a couple of years in her early childhood in Kansas where her father was a farmer for a short time, but from the age of four, grew up in Chicago.

The1900 Census shows Amaryl's family in Chicago, ward 15, on Nebraska Avenue. She is 22 years old. (Not pictured is the line for occupation - I can't decipher her occupation, unfortunately):

Marriage and family:

On June 28, 1905, Amaryl marries Edward J. M. Poth in Chicago. Edward is an engraver, living with his sister and her husband in another part of Chicago. I wonder how Amaryl and Edward met?

In 1906, they are living in Chicago and have one daughter, Amaryllis E., who was born just a few months after Amaryl's father died. In 1910, their son Edward Marshall Poth was born.

Sometime before 1913, the family moved to Des Moines, Iowa. They lived at 3411 Crocker Street in Des Moines, in a house built in 1912. (this image from 2021):

Busy public life in Des Moines:

We are fortunate to have many brief clippings from the Des Moines Tribune starting in 1913 when Amaryl was 35 years old, that give us a glimpse into her busy and creative life in Des Moines:

On Labor Day weekend in 1913, she was involved in a musical at her (country club??) as the "reader" - a role she would play at other times and venues, with the Elmwood Trio.

In 1914, she was a "lady player" in a golf tournament, "consolation solace" round.

Amaryl was an active member of a discussion group called "The Emerson Chautauqua Circle". In January 1917, she hosted the group at her home:

The next week, she led the discussion:

And so on. On July 19, 1917, her third child, Charles Douglas Poth was born. Amaryl was 39 years old.

Charles Douglas with his mother Amaryl Crane Poth, 1917 or 1918:

And just a few months later Amaryl hosted the Emerson Circle again. Amaryl must have had help with childcare and housework. This is part of the invisible labor of women that doesn't get documented.

She hosted a Halloween themed evening for her daughter Amaryllis:

English teacher, director:

The 1920 census shows that Edward is an engraver and Amaryl is an English teacher, working "on her own accord." I wish we had more details about that.

In December 1920, she directed a one-act play at St. Ambrose Parish center:

And in 1921, she gave readings at programs at the Catholic Women's League, and the Daughters of Isabella (auxillary to the Knights of Columbus) in Des Moines.

We know that the Poths were still in Des Moines in 1924, but we are unclear as to exactly when, and why, they moved to Denver.

Move to Denver

In any case, by 1930, the family had relocated to Milwaukee Street in Denver. Sometime after the death of Amaryl's mother in 1932, Amaryl's sister Mabel moved from Chicago to Denver and lived with the Poths. In 1940 they are living at 1635 Adams Street and Doug is 22 years old.

I hope that more newspapers will become available and we might catch a glimpse of Amaryl's life in Denver during the empty nest years.

Amaryl died Aug 1, 1952. Edward died a few years later in Scottsdale, Arizona. Their gravestones are found in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Wheat Ridge, Jefferson County, Colorado, near their daughter Amarylis Poth Nunes' gravestone.

Children of Nellie Rose (Hogan) and William Henry Crane (Stephen Poth's great grandparents)

These are Stephen Poth's great grandparents (Stephen Poth < Charles Douglas Poth < Amarylis Crane < William H Crane and Ellen Hogan) and their children

Ellen (Nellie Rose) Hogan (1857, Chicago - 1932, Chicago) [daughter of Honora Burke(?) and John Hogan (both from Ireland)]

William Henry Crane (1848, Wisconsin - 1906, Illinois), [son of ? possibly Mr. Crane from Wisconsin (1827-1902)]

Nellie R. Hogan (age 17) and William H. Crane (age 26)

were married July 25, 1875 in Cook County, Illinois.

Their children:

1. William D. Crane ( May1877 - Nov 27, 1913, Chicago) - plumber in Chicago in 1900

2. Amarylis Ann Crane (Oct 24, 1877 - Aug 1, 1952, Denver) -
m. 1905 Edward John Michael Poth

3. Florence Helen Crane (Sep 1882, Chicago - ?)

4. Mabel Mary Crane (June 8, 1884 - ?) - lived in Chicago all her life as stenographer, bookkeeper, caregiver to mother; sometime in the 30's (after her mother's death) she moved to Denver and lived with the Poths.

5. Roland Roderick Crane (May 6, 1888 - May 29, 1935) singer, actor
m. Margaret Stitt

6. Ralph Frederick Crane (July12, 1891-May 7, 1969) clerk, advertising salesman, WW1
m. Helen K. Kelly

7. unknown Crane (the 1910 census indicates Nellie had seven children, with six currently living)

1900 Federal census, Chicago ward 34:

Sources:

Cynthia Poth Nanto family tree on Ancestry dot com

Ellen (Nellie Rose) Hogan (1857-1932), Chicago mother of seven, Stephen Poth's great grandmother

Ellen (Nellie Rose) Hogan (Aug 1857- Mar 15, 1932)

This is Stephen D. Poth's great grandmother (Steve < Charles Douglas Poth < Amarylis A. Crane < Ellen Hogan)

Nellie Rose Hogan, Doug Poth's maternal grandmother, was born in Chicago and lived there her whole life with the exception of two or three years in Kansas.

Parents:

Nellie's parents were Honora and John Hogan, both born in Ireland. Honora married a second time (presumably after John's death) to John Graham, and we find the Graham family in 1870 living in the 5th ward, Chicago, with Nellie and her siblings.

Marriage and children:

On July 25, 1875 in Chicago, Nellie Rose married William Henry Crane at age 17. They had two children in Chicago, William D. and Amarylis Ann, and then moved to Kansas to farm.

A few short years later the family moved back to Chicago, where they had four more children.

Widowhood and older age:

In 1906, when Nellie Rose was 48 years old, her husband died.

Our next glimpse of Nellie Rose is at age 53, in the 1910 census. She is head of a busy household on Jefferson Avenue in Chicago. Living with Nellie are two of her children, Mabel (24) - a stenographer for a wholesale hardware establishment, and Ralph (18) - a clerk at a steel mill - as well as her widowed, elderly mother Honora Graham. Also living in the house are two lodgers - young women working as milliners in a hat shop.

This census indicates that Nellie had had 7 children, with 6 currently living.

Nellie Rose lived in many Chicago locations in her lifetime.

Her son Ralph indicated Nellie's address to be 1122 Marquette Road in Sept 1919, on his World War 1 transport record.

In 1920 Nellie is still living with Mabel and Ralph, now at 66th Street in Chicago. Mabel is now a bookkeeper at a bank, and Ralph is a solicitor for an advertising firm.

In 1930 Nellie is living with Mabel in a different location, in a rented home at 1607 East 69th Street. Mabel is a filing clerk at a bank. Nellie's son Roland and his family are living nearby at 625B West 73rd Street. , so it is easy to imagine that Nellie saw her grandchildren frequently.

Nellie Rose passed away two years later at age 74.

Sources:

1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 census

Illinois marriage index, death index

US Army Transport Passenger Lists (for her son)

Cynthia Poth Nanto family tree on Ancestry dot com

Saturday, November 27, 2021

William Henry Crane (1848-1906), briefly farmed in Kansas, many years in Chicago, Stephen Poth's great grandfather

William Henry Crane (Dec 1848 - May 3, 1906)

This is Stephen D. Poth's great grandfather (Steve < Charles Douglas Poth < Amarylis A. Crane < William Henry Crane)

William Henry Crane, Doug Poth's maternal grandfather, was born in Spring Prairie, Wisconsin, about 85 miles northwest of Chicago. We know that his parents had also been born in Wisconsin, but we do not know anything about his childhood.

William married Nellie R. Hogan on July 25, 1875 in Chicago. Their first two children William and Amaryl were born around 1877.

The young family did not stay in Chicago long. We find them (William age 34, Nellie age 23) in 1880, in York Township, Stafford County Kansas, farming.

Two years later, however, they are back in Chicago and had two more daughters and two sons. In 1900 the family - parents and six children - are living at 117 113th Street in Chicago, in a home that they own. I am not sure what William did for a living (that line on the census is unreadable, unfortunately).

We believe that William died in 1906 at age 57, a year after his daughter Amarylis was married.

sources:

1880, 1900 census

Cook County, IL marriage index

Cynthia Poth Nanto family tree on Ancestry dot com

Friday, November 26, 2021

Edward J. M. Poth (1874 - 1956), engraver in Des Moines and Denver , Steve Poth's paternal grandfather

Edward John Michael Poth ( Sept 30, 1874 - Sept 28, 1956)

This is Stephen D. Poth's paternal grandfather

Youth:

Edward was born in Buffalo, New York, and we know that when he was a baby, his mother (Mary E. Poth/ Maria Clemens/ Anna Maria Clements) was raising her large family alone, as a laborer in a German immigrant neighborhood, in Buffalo New York.

We do not know anything else about Edward's youth, but we know that he overcame his difficult early childhood to become a successful engraver and raise a family.

Beginning engraver:

In 1900 at 25 years old, he was living in Chicago with his older sister Elizabeth and her husband Charles. Both Edward and Charles were engravers.

Marriage and family:

In 1905 he married Amaryl Ann Crane in Chicago. We are so lucky to have this wonderful photograph of the young couple:

The Poths had two children, Amaryllis and Edward Marshall, in Chicago.

Move from Chicago to Des Moines:

Sometime before 1915, the family moved to Des Moines Iowa.

We see in the 1915 Iowa state census that Edward had had an 8th grade education, is currently working as an engraver, earned $1500 the previous year, etc.

In Iowa their youngest child, Charles Douglas Poth, was born in 1917.

Here is Edward's WW1 Draft card, 1918:

Edward worked for the Iowa Lithography Company, about 2.5 miles from his home.

Edward sustained a head injury in November 1919 and spent several weeks in the hospital. Des Moines Tribune article, Dec. 10, 1919:

Newspaper clips show Edward was on a "crack bowling team" in 1916, played golf in 1919, and played bridge with his wife and other couples in 1920.

I love this photo of the family camping:

Move from Des Moines to Denver:

Sometime between 1925 and 1930, the family moved to Denver.

At least from 1933, and up through at least 1945, Edward worked for the Rocky Mountain Bank Note Company in Denver.

Edward died in 1956, in Scottsdale, Arizona, two days shy of his 82nd birthday, having survived the death of his wife in 1952 and his daughter in 1953.

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Elizabeth Poth, first generation American, supportive sister, Stephen Poth's great aunt

Elizabeth Poth (January 1868 - Dec. 3, 1939)

Stephen D. Poth's great aunt.

Elizabeth was born in Kentucky to German immigrant parents. We do not know much about her young life, except that in 1875 when she was seven years old, she was living with her siblings and mother in Buffalo, New York, most likely in poverty. Her father had left the family and her mother was a laborer.

We flash forward to 1900, and we find Elizabeth living at 25 Nebraska Avenue, Chicago, Ward 15, with her husband of 12 years, Charles Cerveny, her little brother Edward Poth, and her husband's nephew. All three of the men are engravers by trade. The house is owned outright with no mortgage.

We can infer that Elizabeth was supportive of her youngest brother Edward, who goes on to have a long career as a lithographer. The two siblings had shared a difficult childhood.

Elizabeth and Charles lived in several places in Chicago over the years, and then sometime before 1930, moved to Pasadena California. She and Charles lived the rest of their lived in California.

Sources:

1875 New York state census

1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 federal censuses

Find a Grave index