Cousin Lilly's 1931 Shower, Marriage, and Census Entry

My father's paternal first cousin, Lilly Berk (1906-1957) was married to Joseph Goldberg (1903-1981) in Montreal on Sunday, June 7, 1931, as the Depression took hold in Canada. 

Lilly's friends threw her a fun bridal shower that was covered in the Canadian Jewish Chronicle newspaper on March 27, 1931. I found this out by researching her name (with spelling variations) using the OldNews.com feature of MyHeritage. The list of attendees included her sister and many friends who came to play bridge and shower Lilly with gifts of linens. This same group of friends played bridge together regularly, as I could see by mentions in the newspaper's social column. Little tidbits like this bring ancestors to life for me!

What also caught my eye about Lilly's wedding date was the fact that it took place after the June 1, 1931 Census Day in Canada. As shown above, Lilly and her new husband, Joseph, are enumerated as married and seemingly landlord/landlady with others living in the same household. He is 28, she is 22. 

Um, it is possible but very unlikely that in that period, they would live together and call themselves married before the wedding, so I'm assuming the enumerator didn't reach their residence until June 8 at the earliest. Although the enumerator was supposed to indicate where he or she ended each day and put a date in right margin of the Census sheet, I haven't found any dates in this particular section. For now, my estimate is they were enumerated after June 8th ;)

Lilly died not too many months after celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary, mourned by her husband and two grown sons. Today I'm remembering this cousin on the 93d anniversary of her marriage.

Newspaper Research Adds Nuance to Family History

As I prepare a new family history photo book about my husband's paternal line, I'm freshening up my research to uncover any new info. 

The last time I wrote a booklet about the family trees of James Edgar Wood (1871-1939) and Mary Slatter Wood (1869-1925) was five years ago. Lots of genealogical content has been digitized since then, especially newspapers being added to databases.

Sure enough, I discovered there's a little more to the story of Mary's Slatter family. I already knew that her sister, Adelaide Mary Ann Slatter (1868-1947), married James Sills Baker on Aug. 23, 1896 in Cleveland, Ohio, as shown in marriage record at top. What I didn't know was exactly where and who was present.

When I searched GenealogyBank for news coverage of Adelaide, I discovered two social items that mentioned Adelaide's father (hubby's great-grandfather) John Slatter (1838-1901). The items are quite similar, so I'll quote from the Cleveland Leader, Aug. 25, 1896, p. 4:

On Thursday evening, a score or more of invited guests assembled at the home of Mr. John Slatter, 433 St. Clair Street, to witness the marriage of his youngest daughter, Miss Adelaide M. Slatter, to Mr. John Sills Baker of Toledo. Mr. Thomas Lees officiated in tying the legal knot. Hearty congratulations were extended to Mr. & Mrs. Baker by their many friends. Supper was served, and the remainder of the evening was devoted to music and a social time. Many choice flowers and presents adorned the parlors. The young couple leave for Toledo, their future home, Saturday morning.

Well, the father hosted the wedding ceremony and supper for his daughter! John had been widowed for the second time the previous year, and worked as a paper hanger. My impression was that his financial situation was rather tenuous. Perhaps the married couple actually paid for their own wedding supper but the father offered his home for the ceremony? I'll never know for sure, of course.

But I'll hold onto the image of a father happily watching his daughter get married. And of course this nuance about great-grandpa John Slatter will be in the new photo book.