Second Place at the Halloween Party, 1915

"Halloween Party," announcement, Alexandria Times-Tribune, 1 November 1915; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 29 March 2015).

HALLOWEEN PARTY

A masquerade party was enjoyed by a number of friends Friday evening at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Manring on East Eleventh street.  At 9 o'clock all marks were removed.  Miss Elsie McCord won the first prize.  Virgil Wright second and Kenneth Stoughton third prize.  Games and contents were followed by a Hallowe'en luncheon.  The home was beautifully decorated in black and yellow crepe ribbons, candles, pumpkins and yellow crysanthemums.  Attending were the Misses Elsie McCord, Hazel Foland, Mablel Wright, Mary Manring, Olivia Wright, Sarah Damens, Frances Wright, and Charley Sexton, George Harcastle, William Knopp, Kenneth Stoughton, Kenneth Allen and Mr. and Mrs. Virgil Wright, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Lawler, Mr. and Mrs. Virgil Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Ben Frazier, Mrs. Mary Danils, Mrs. McDonald, Mrs. Ada Stroughton and Clarence Smith, of Muncie.

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My maternal great-grandfather, Virgil Lee Wright (1894-1972) and great-grandmother, Edna Muriel (Pierce) Wright (1897-1968), attended this Halloween party shortly after their marriage with a number of friends and relatives.  I wonder what customer grandpa Virgil wore to win second prize?

Other relatives include Mabel Wright, daughter of James and  Clara (Hicks) Wright, Virgil's first cousin, as well as her other sisters Olivia and Frances Wright.  Frances Wright's future husband Charles Sexton was also in attendance.

Wedding Announcement, Virgil Wright to Muriel Pierce, 1915

"Rural Route 20," announcement, Alexandria Times-Tribune, 26 March 1915; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 23 March 2015).

Virgil Wright has joined the "Benedicts," having gone to Anderson and returned with a new wife Saturday. Mrs. Wright was formerly Miss Murrill Pierce, of Alexandria.  A crowd of their friends treated them to an old fashioned charivari Wednesday night.  They will live with Mr. Wright's father for a time at least.

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Located this announcement of my maternal great-grandparents wedding.  Virgil Lee Wright (1894-1972) and Edna Muriel Pierce (1897-1968) were married on June 19, 1915.  Edna was the daughter of William Francis Pierce and Clara A. Penisten.

Apparently, they took up housekeeping for a time with my 2nd-great grandfather, the John William Wright.

Census Sunday : Nancy J. LeMasters household, 1940, Merrick County, Nebraska

My paternal first cousin three times removed, Nancy J. LeMasters, was enumerated in the 1940 census in Palmer, Merrick County, Nebraska.  She was renting a room at the Coolidge Hospital where she worked.

1940 US census, Merrick County, Nebraska, population schedule, Coolidge Hospital, Palmer, enumeration district (ED) 61-8, SD 3, sheet 7B, [no household number], ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 April 2015); National Archives, Washington, D.C..

The household consisted of Nancy, aged 55, her mother, Sarah, aged 80, and a hired girl, Ruby Wagner, aged 21.  Nancy was single and born in Nebraska, Sarah was widowed and born in Indiana, and Ruby was single and born in Nebraska.  In 1935, the residence for Nancy and Sarah was St. Paul, Howard County, Nebraska, and for Ruby, her residence was Greeley County, Nebraska.

Nancy's occupation was listed as supervisor of nurses at the hospital.  Nancy had no occupation listed and Ruby's occupation was a housekeeper.  Nancy's previous occupation in the 1910 census was that of a school teacher.

Sarah was the widow of my paternal second great granduncle, John Stevens Lemasters, son of Rev. Luman Walker and Nancy (Young) Lemasters.  John was the youngest of the family.  He married Sarah I. Wilson in 1881 in Jay County, Indiana and moved to Nebraska by at least 1900, where they were living in St. Paul.

Prior to this find, I didn't have any information past the 1910 census on Nancy, nor did I know where Sarah was after her husband's death in 1932.  All are buried in the Elmwood Cemetery, St. Paul, Howard County, Nebraska.  A quick search on the internet shows that Coolidge Hospital was both a hospital and sanitarium, and today may be part of a mental health facility.

Census Sunday is a daily blogging prompt used by many genealogy bloggers to help them post content on their sites.

State & Federal census sheets are filled with information for genealogists. Both the population & non-population schedules give us insights into the lives of our ancestors. What have you found that is Surprising? Reassuring? Bewildering? Census Sunday is a daily blogging prompt suggested by Colleen Pasquale of Leaves and Branches.