More from the 1940 Census

My quest to find ancestors in the newly released 1940 census continues.  This time I took on my Gumz-Stratton family line, hunting for a few of them in the census records from Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Gus and Allie Gumz

I took a chance when I went out looking for Gus and Allie Gumz, my maternal great-grandparents.  I had an address from the 1960's, along with a pretty good idea that Allie and Gus had lived in that house for years.  I used the tools at http://www.1940census.archives.com/ to identify the enumeration district that would contain that address in Oshkosh, then looked at each image in the set from that district until Gus and Allie popped up, right where they would live for another 20+ years.

The home that Allie and Gus occupied in 1940 was located at 303 Prospect Avenue in Oshkosh, Wisconsin (since renumbered to 807).  The home was owned by Gus and he gave it a value of $2,800.  The homes around 303 ranged in value from $2,000 to $5,000, putting the home at 303 in just about the middle in terms of value.  The fact that most of the homes on the same census page were owned by their occupants tells me that it was a pretty stable neighborhood, a well-settled and established section of Oshkosh. 



Allie's father, John Arza Blake, with
his children.  Allie is seated at
the far left.

 At the time he spoke to the census taker, Gus was 62 years old, Allie 61, and both of them were born in Wisconsin.  Gus went through the 8th grade in school, while Allie finished through the 7th.  Allie was the second oldest of eleven children and the oldest girl in her family.  It is likely that she quit school to help her mother run the large and bustling household.  When her mother died shortly after the birth of her eleventh child, Allie was just 18 years old.  As her father did not remarry for several years, it fell to Allie to tend to her younger siblings, even as she had her first baby herself when she was just 21.

Gus, too, came from a large family, being the third born in a family of twelve children.  Like Allie, it would not be hard to surmise that Gus, too, left school to help out with the family.  However, even if neither one of them had to leave school to meet the needs of their families, it was not uncommon for children to quit school after the 8th grade to begin their work lives.


Living with Allie and Gus was their daughter, Norine, known to her friends and family as "Sis," and her husband, Arnold Zuelke.  Sis was 26 years old, Arnie 29, and both were born in Wisconsin.  While Arnie quit school after 8th grade, Sis went through all four years of high school. 

Gus and Allie Gumz along with their children
photo taken about 1920

Everyone at 303 Prospect Avenue except for Allie worked outside the home.  Gus was employed as a tent-maker at a tent and awning company, an occupation he had worked at for over ten years by the time of the 1940 census.  His daughter, Sis, worked as a clerk in a dry goods store, and his son-in-law Arnie worked as a "machine hand" in a woodworking concern.  The daughters in the Gumz family were no strangers to working outside the home.  Sis's older sisters, Fritzie, Fern, and Marian, had all worked as bookkeepers at one time or another.  It is to Gus' credit that he told the the census taker that his daughter, Sis, made $780 in 1939 while he himself made only $750.  Some men may have shied away from admitting to making less than their daughter, but I imagine that Gus was proud of all his daughters and the manner in which they made their way in the world.  Arnie was the big breadwinner in the home, bringing in $1,040 during 1939. 

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A friend once found a saying that really speaks to genealogists.  It says that a person dies three times.  The first is when they stop breathing.  The second is when their heart stops.  And the third is when their name is no longer spoken on earth.  I'm trying to make sure that my ancestors never reach that third stage.