Tidbits in City Directories

It has been almost two years since the 1940 census became public.  Yahoo for me--and for you too if you have any interest whatsoever in family history.  The US census records are very helpful in many ways; one of the biggest is that you can definitively put a person in a particular place at a specific time.  The federal government has been taking a census every 10 years since 1790.

I'm sure you remember filling out your own census forms for the 2010 and 2000 census.  This is not how it was done in 1790, believe me.  More's the pity because by the time the 2000 and 2010 census records become public, I don't think they will be nearly as helpful (or charming) as they are now. 

Though I have not yet finished "mining" the 1940 census for potential clues, I also use other resources to help bolster my research.  Some refer to these as "census substitutes" because they put people in a particular place at a particular time in their lives.  One such substitute is the city directory.  These are kind of like phone books but contain very interesting additional information.  I was lucky enough to be able to purchase the Olean City Directory for 1939-40 and this is the entry for the Flynns:

You'll see Barbara Flynn (Gammie Flynn) listed as a nurse at 117 1/2 S 6th St with son Charles.  You also see our mother Anne Flynn at home with her parents Francis P. (Weenie) and Paula Flynn.  Our grandmother Paula  is even listed separately as stenographer for her father Henry Nevins and brother Joseph.  Our grandfather's brother John and his wife Margaret are also listed.

A little searching around dug up an interesting little tidbit.  This is a different page of the 1939-40 city directory:

Take a closer look at the listing for Harry McLaughlin.  Mary F (his wife) is our grandmother Paula's sister "Teen".  Their address is 117 S 6th St--same as for Barbara Flynn!  Our great grandmother Barbara Flynn apparently lived at the same residence as her daughter in law's (Paula) sister.  That's kind of an interesting dynamic, don't you think?  These may have been apartments next to one another but it appears to me it was the same house.

This very topic has been in the news recently.  There's an uptick in the number of households combining for reasons such as unemployment or other. This is certainly true in our families today.  We have all seen examples of this in our own lives.  Although I don't really know the reasons why Barbara ended up in the same house as her daughter-in-law's sister (!?!) it brings some comfort to know this is a tradition that lives strong today.    You just never know who might be at the dinner table for the foreseeable future.