Among all the things I could use in family history research, city directories have never been very high on my list. In fact, I've never given them any thought. I never thought they could provide anything other than proving someone was living in a certain city at a certain time.
Recently (and by recently I mean yesterday) I decided to give them another look and now I'm a full convert.
City Directories around the turn of the last century provide a surprising amount of detail about your ancestors, including name, spouses name, street address, occupation (including employer) and whether they rent or own. In many ways it serves as a census between censuses. The only thing missing is birth dates and place of birth.
As I've written here before, largest, most aggravating mystery in my family history is the life of my great-great grandfather, Loren A. Finch. It's been more than a century since he walked out on his wife and children and to date no one knows what happened to him. I have always believed my great grandmother, who was 11 when her father walked out on the family, had some idea of where he went, but she never spoke of him during her lifetime. He wasn't a good father, a good husband, or generally a good person. I wish I could know more of what made him who he was. He and Clara, my great-great grandmother were married Dec. 4, 1896, nearly a full year before my great grandmother entered the world, so I have to believe they married for some reason other than necessity. Looking at Clara's affidavit for divorce, it's clear their relationship soured quickly.
…during the time that this plaintiff lived with said
defendant he did not support her; that he at different times during their
married life left this plaintiff and their four minor children destitute
without money or any means of support, and that during their married life the
said defendant spent $1800.00* of this plaintiff’s money, and that when he
finally left this plaintiff as above alleged he left her and their said minor
children destitute and has refused and neglected to support her or their said
children, and at times that this plaintiff has been compelled to call upon the
town or county where they resided for aid; That after the marriage of this
plaintiff and said defendant the said defendant has become an habitual drunkard
and that said habit grew upon him to such an extent that he would become
intoxicated at any and all times that it was possible for him to get liquor,
and that at one time when living in Boone the said defendant came to this
plaintiff and took from her ten cents, all of the money that she had, and spent
it for whiskey…
*About $42,000 in 2013 currency.
I know from the US Census in 1900 that Loren and Clara were living in Boone, Iowa, where he was employed as a fireman on the railroad. In the 1905 Iowa Census they are living in Madrid, Iowa. Loren walked out Jan. 9, 1909, and Clara filed for divorce in October of the same year, so by the time the Census taker strolled into town in 1910 Clara was listed as married, but living alone with her children.
For many years I've assumed those were the only clues I had of their married life together. The in-between years were left to speculation, as no one alive them is around to share details of their home, nor where they apt to do so when they were living. Newspapers, which so often provide glimpses into the everyday life of ancestors, could hold clues, but research is limited due to geography and time. The only newspaper reference to Loren I've uncovered to date is the obituary Dorothea, Loren and Clara's daughter who died in 1901.
The Boone County Democrat, March 29, 1901 p. 8
FINCH- The five week old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L.C. Finch
of Des Moines died at the parental home of J.W. Finch, 4020 Harrison St. on
Friday evening about 7:30 o'clock. The funeral was held Saturday afternoon at
2:30 o'clock and after brief services by Rev. S.E. Wilcox the remains were laid
to rest in East Linwood.
It's been several years since I found this sad chronicle while combing the archives at the State Historical Society in Des Moines. At the time, I didn't give much thought to the details outside of the actual death. I didn't think about the fact it mentioned Loren and Clara lived in Des Moines, or that the daughter was living in Boone with her grandparents when she passed away.
This is where it becomes important to think of each item as one piece of a much larger puzzle. Here we have Clara's statement to the courts detailing how Loren was unable to provide for his family, followed by a article about an infant's death that occurred at the home of her grandparents living in a separate town than her mother and father. Why were they not living together? What was happening in their lives at this time?
These questions are what led me to begin appreciating the information in city directories.
Loren is always on my mind when doing research, but I don't always make him the focus. Yesterday I decided to look into him again with a cursory Ancestry.com search. Once again, the search revealed the usual facts: the 1880 US Census (he was 6 years old), the 1895 Iowa Census, the 1900 US Census, etc. There was also the long list of city directory searches, mostly in Des Moines, Iowa. I looked at one, dated 1947, and was perplexed. Could it be this easy? Was Loren alive and residing in Des Moines all this time?
No. It's never that easy.
The directory listing was for Clara, who by some cruel irony was still listed as the wife of Loren Finch in the city directory, some 40 years after their marriage ended. I can only imagine how bitter she must have felt about still being considered "Loren Finch's wife" instead of her own person.
Further down the search results list, however, I found earlier listings - much earlier. I clicked on one from 1900 and found the following entry in a Des Moines city directory:
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| City Directory for Des Moines, Iowa, 1900. |
I already knew from the 1900 US Census that Loren was a fireman on the railroad, but this provided not only his job, but his employer (the Chicago and North Western Railroad) and his place of residence, 703 Lyon Street.
I continued looking through the records and found the next year, 1901, the same year little Dorothea passed away in Boone.
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| City Directory for Des Moines, Iowa, 1901. |
This is where I really started to appreciate the information directories can provide. A year after Loren was living and working in Des Moines the directory still has him listed, but states he had "removed to Boone, Ia." Perhaps when young Dorothea passed away they family was in the process of relocating, or part of the family had come to reside with his parents while he transitioned to a new home and new work. There are many possibilities, none of which will probably be answered.
The next year (1902), Clara is living alone in Des Moines.
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| City Directory for Des Moines, Iowa, 1902. |
She's still listed as Mrs. Clara Finch, but no mention of Loren. Unfortunately there is no online Boone city directory for 1902, so his residence is unknown at the time. What is known is that he wasn't in Des Moines with his wife. Was this one of those times, as Clara stated in the divorce petition, where he left the family destitute and alone? Was he on a prolonged bender, spending money on whiskey while she did what she could to care for her children?
By 1903 Loren and family were together again, this time living in Boone, where Loren continued working as a fireman for C&NW Railroads.
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| City Directory for Boone, Iowa, 1903. |
By 1904, Loren and family had moved yet again, though still in Boone. He was no longer employed with the railroad, and was listed dubiously as a "laborer".
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| City Directory for Boone, Iowa, 1904. |
That's where the trail goes cold. In 1905 Loren and family were living in Madrid, Iowa, though his employment unknown. According to Clara's statement, they moved to Tama County (where she grew up and where her father and step-mother still lived) around 1907. The city directory offerings on Ancestry are spotty. Boone, for example, doesn't have 1905 or 1906 online. What is available provides a informative look into the life of the elusive Loren Finch. It shows how transient the family was, how unreliable his employment became, and gives a better idea of what kind of life poor Clara and her children had to live during their decade in his house.
If you haven't considered using city directories in your research, I highly suggest you give them a second look. You might be amazed by what you learn.
