Genealogy Wise

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hi all-

Here is another one of my Lavelle brickwalls. :)

Clara Erickson was the mother of William A Lavelle's only son(that we know of), John Henry Lavelle(Nov 11, 1887- October 10, 1949).

Clara was born circa 1868, according to the 1900, 1920 and 1930 census records, she was born in Sweden, and her year of immigration ranges from 1882-1884.

We have her death certificate, she died in 1942, in Manhattan, where she appears to have lived from her year of immigration until her death. However, we cannot find her in 1910, whether that is because her name is so badly misspelled, or she had traveled back to Sweden, or was just missed, we don't know. On the death certificate, she indicated her parents were Gustav Erickson and Anna Jensen, and that she had lived in the US for 60 years

In 1900, she claims to be married, and she is living with her son John H, who was 13, no husband is living in the household, and her occupation is listed as actress, though I've never been able to find an evidence that she worked in the US or anywhere else as an actress, though I've recently heard that she could sing. :)

In 1920 and 1930, she is living with her grandson, James Ivan Lavelle(1909-1976), as a widow, though we know William lived until 1924, and in fact remarried in 1903 in Ohio. James Ivan's mother died in 1912, his father John Henry is never seen living with him, in fact, there is no evidence that the two ever met. John Henry did serve in WW1, according to his death record, he died in a VA hospital, and is buried in Cleveland, OH. John Henry married Anna Morgan in Ohio, before 1920, we believe we find him in 1910 in Buffalo and according to his WW1 registration he is in Buffalo, NY.

I am trying to find evidence of when she arrived, she was only 12-14 as far as I can tell, so I'm assuming she may have immigrated with her parents, but haven't been able to find a record that fits for her. I did recently find a Mrs. C Lavelle on an incoming UK record in August of 1900 which could be her, and if she left the States at that time, and did not return until before the 1920 census, that would explain why I cannot find her in 1910, but then where is her 13 year old son? He does not appear to be on the record.

I also cannot find evidence of a marriage to William A. Lavelle, they appear on their son's birth record from 1887, but that doesn't indicate they were married, just that they were the parents of record. She was known to be Catholic, so she may have claimed marriage to save face? But William also indicated he had been married twice on the 1910 census in Chicago. I am assuming they had married in Manhattan, but I cannot find a record for it near the time of John Henry's birth of 1887.

I will add the census records as I can find them again, and if I can get Clara's death record scanned, I will add that as well.

Thank you!

Views: 61

Replies to This Discussion

Hi Gene-
I always found it odd too, but whenever I suggested that she was Lutheran, my MIL always said oh no, she was Catholic! ;)
Just talked to Dan, and he said his mother always thought Clara was Catholic because we thought James Ivan(Clara's grandson) was put into a Catholic orphanage, so I'm guessing that she probably was Catholic, and as Dan said, if Clara was Catholic, her bible would have been in Latin?
Hi Kate, don't know if you have the cd Emibas. I just did a quick check for "Clara Eriksdotter" with the time frames you mentioned above - this was the only post that came up, does it strike you as the right person? Do you know where she originated from in Sweden?:

Post 589634
Eriksdotter, Clara
Inhyses fattighjon (ogift kvinna) Unmarried, poor woman
f. 8/3 1867 i Tranemo, Älvsborgs län (Västergötland) Born March 8, 1867
Utvandrad 1882 / Emigrated 1882
från Snarås, Tranemo, Älvsborgs län (Västergötland)
till Amerika
Källa: Husförhörslängd, s. 120
Emibas emigrationsakt: Tranemo P 1882 004
Hi Monica-
That could be Clara, but I'm not positive, I've never known where in Sweden she was from, unfortunately.

I can't find her on a passenger list,arriving in the US.
I know I tried her under Eriksdotter at some point, but may have to look again at Ancestry. After I posted this morning, I found her son's death certificate and he listed his mother as Clarice Erickson, is Clarice a Swedish given name, or was that a misremembered first name?

And is it odd that on her death certificate she gave her father's name as Gustav Erickson?

Thank you for the look up, I really appreciate it. :)
No I wouldn't say Clarice is a typical Swedish name, not even "back then". Klara/Clara is more of a Swedish name. What would be odd about her father's name? That she should have been named Gustavsson - as the patronymic custom said then? I think when the families emigrated they tended to take the same last name - not all, but many. I have families in my lines with alot of children - they had different last names.
:) thank you Monica, I was curious about the patronymic custom, when it changed in Sweden?
It changed in the latter part of the 1800's, maybe 1870-1880 and onward.
Best wishes on chipping away at that wall. I would love to see the death certificate, as I had an ancestor who died in NYC just a few years before that, but I don't know any of his family information to be able to narrow down which William Green http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/search/label/William%20Green he is, and at $15.00 a pop, I can't just order randomly! I'd love to see yours, just to see what one looks like, and what information it has on it. :)
Hi Renate-

In 1942, Clara's parents names, place and date of birth, residence and place of death, in this case she died at the hospital, where she was cremated, marital status and other information related to how she died. So it depends what information you have for William Green.

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