History Girl: All About Uncle Dale

I have a totally cool uncle, my Uncle Dale (and another cool uncle, my Uncle Rickey who is not the subject of this post). Uncle Dale was brazen enough to toss me fully clothed into a swimming pool. He understood when I was hungover and swore I would never drink again--and he didn't believe that for a minute. When his son, my cousin Kevin, asked me to look into his father's family history, I was only too happy to help out. Any excuse to look into family history!

As part of my research, I located my Uncle Dale, with his parents, in the 1940 census.

Lewis Orth and Barbara Layne

Voter registration records and recollections from my mother and father gave me an address where I should find my Uncle Dale and his parents in the 1940 census.

Just because I had an address, though, did not make the little Orth family easier to find. They did not live within the city limits of Sacramento, and I did not know enough about the old names of county areas to readily identify the correct enumeration district. I checked each County area, and under the name of the Brighton area, I found an ennumeration district that contained Parker Avenue. And, sure enough, there I found Lewis Orth, his wife, Barbara, and the baby version of my Uncle Dale.

Lewis Orth is 30 years old at the time of the census, born in California. From earlier research, I know that this parents were both immigrants from Germany who settled in the area around Murphy's California, up in the foothills of Calaveras County. Lewis' father, Frederick, died when Lewis was just 11 or 12 years old and is buried in the cemetery in Murphy's. Lewis' mother, Katherine, at one point worked as a laundress to support her seven children, of whom Lewis was fourth born. That Lewis finished four years of high school, in spite of the fact that his mother was a widow with seven children, is an indicator to me of the importance that Katherine placed on the education of her children.

Uncle Dale's great-niece, Heidi,
visiting the grave of
Frederick Orth in Murphy's.

Barbara Layne Orth is 21 years old at the time of the census. She was born in Washington, Tacoma to be exact. Like her husband, Lewis, she finished four years of high school. Her son, my uncle, listed by his "real" name of Lewis D. Orth, is just three months old at the time of the census, having been born in California. Over the next several years, Uncle Dale and his parents would welcome additions to the family--Kathleen and Steven.

Lewis and Barbara own their home on Parker Avenue, valued at $2000. Their house was modest in comparison with those of their neighbors, whose homes had values between $1,700 and $7,000. Lewis works as a utility man at something called an "auto agency." From voter registration records, I know that Lewis is actually an auto mechanic. As auto maintenance (and race cars!!) has been a huge facet in my Uncle Dale's life, it does not surprise me that his father was involved with cars. In 1939, Lewis earned just about $100 per month, a respectable salary in 1940 although far from allowing the family to live in any kind of luxury.

From voter registration records, I also know that both Lewis and Barbara were Democrats. They would likely have supported Franklin D. Roosevelt, who in 1940 would be running for his third term as president. They would be supporters of Roosevelt's New Deal policies, and I am sure that they would be keeping an eye on news of the war raging in Europe in 1940. The fact that both Lewis and Barbara were Democrats would have put both of them at odds with Lewis' mother, Katherine, who was a Republican for much of her life. Political conversations around the Orth house must have been interesting.