In the 1900 census, my maternal 3rd-great grandfather, Carey W. LAMBERTSON was living in Jackson Township, Hamilton County, Indiana. By the time the 1910 census rolled around, the family was living in the 2nd ward of the city of Elwood, Madison County, Indiana.
I'm not sure why they moved to Elwood, although it could be the fact that two of his older sisters, Sarah LYST (husband John) and Mary SNIVELY (husband Sam) were already living in the area.
I was hoping that city directories could help nail down a more precise date for the arrival of the Carey LAMBERTSON family to Elwood. The Elwood Public Library had a city directory for the year 1907, but no Lambertson entries. The earliest city directory I was able to find that lists Carey LAMBERTSON was the 1916 R.L. Polk & Co. city directory, living at 1906 North F Street in Elwood.
1906 North F Street in 2010
Through readings of the city directories of Elwood, I was able to track Carey LAMBERTSON living in this house on North F Street up until his death in 1918. The library had the 1916 directory, which listed the family living there. In addition, I was able to locate newspaper articles stating this was the family residence.
After Carey's death, his grandson, Clemon Beals LAMBERTSON somehow came to posses the home on F Street. I need to research deed records and mortgage records in Madison County, Indiana to find out all of the details. City directories for 1924, 1925, and 1929 list Clemon and his family living at 1906 North F Street. His daughter, my grandmother Bonnie, told my mother about growing up at the F Street house. The house was right behind the city pool where she learned to be a lifeguard. Clemon and family were living in the residence at the time of the 1930 census. City directories for Elwood in 1931, 1933, 1935 and 1938 show Clemon and family at the residence.
Sometime between 1938 and 1940, the family moved to Greentown, Howard County, Indiana. During this time, Clemon was still listed in the city directory of Elwood as being employed by the Sellers cabinet company, but residing in Greentown. Clemon's parents, Charles and Pearl (BEALS) LAMBERTSON, were living in the Greentown area at that time as well. It is assumed that the house on F street was sold out of the family during this time.
Clemon and family came back into Elwood at the close of the war, and the 1945 Elwood city directory lists them at 221 North 12th Street.
221 North 12th Street in 2010
Clemon and family only stayed at this home for a year or so, for by the 1947/48 city directory, the family was living at 717 South A Street. The family appears at 717 South A Street in 1949 and 1952, the last year Clemon was recorded in Elwood. My great-grandmother June had died in 1951, and by 1952 he was remarried to Helen (DUNCAN) FISHER. After that he lived in Anderson, Madison County, Indiana.
717 South A Street in 2010
Clemon's son, Harold LAMBERTSON begins to show up in the city directories in 1941, where he was living at 1303 South D Street. In the 1945 directory, he is shown living at 902 1/2 South Anderson Street, but is listed as being away in the Army (actually, he was in the Navy). Harold is back at 1303 South D Street in the 1947/48, 1949, 1952, 1957, 1959, 1964, 1969, and 1972 directories for Elwood. I hadn't continued into searching the phone directories, but I know he lived there for many more years.
1303 South D Street in 2010
There was a previous house that stood in front of where the house in this photograph stands. I remember helping haul away some of the bricks from the old house that once stood there.
Clemon's other son, Floyd LAMBERTSON, shows up in the Elwood city directory in 1947/48 and 1949 at 902 South B Street. From 1950 on, he was listed living in nearby Alexandria, Madison County, Indiana at 618 West Adams.
I have since visited the Elwood library many times over the past few weeks, trying to track the members of my LAMBERTSON family down and watching with interest as they change jobs and residences through the years. Ancestry.com also has recently placed many U.S. directories online which can help fill in the gap between the census years.
© 2010, copyright Travis J. LeMaster http://tjlgenes.blogspot.com
