Matrilineal Monday: Grandmother's family 1900-1910

My maternal grandmother, Helen Lysle Hunter, born February 1, 1907, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was the youngest of five girls. She married a man with two sisters as his only siblings, and was mother to three girls, two of whom went on to have only daughters. (How did I end up with all brothers, marrying a man with only brothers, and being mother to sons? A genealogical balance of sorts?)

In the 1910 census, Helen is three, and is living in Pittsburgh, with quite an extended family all born in Pennsylvania to parents born in Pennsylvania. Click on the image below to enlarge it.

U.S. Federal Census 1910; Census Place: Pittsburgh Ward 26, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1308; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 637; Ancestry.com image: 423; Record for Percy E. Hunter

The Hunter family is listed on lines 22-34, with three servants listed on the following three lines. Percy E. Hunter, age 36, is head of household. His parents both died in 1902, and it looks to me like Percy, the second son, was responsible for several younger siblings, in addition to his growing family. His wife is Marguerite, age 33; they had been married for twelve years, and she was mother of five, all of whom were still living. The five are listed below: Marion L. (age 10), Caroline L. (age 9), Mary L. (age 6), Margaret L. (age 4), and Helen L. (age 3). (All daughters were given the middle name of Lysle.) Below Helen are listed Percy's unmarried siblings who are still living at the 3623 Perrysville Avenue home that had previously been their parents' home. Harry M. L. (age 38), James F. (age 34), John R. (age 28), Chester A. (age 25), Mary Lois (age 21), and Curtis C. (age 18).

Percy's occupation is Manufacturer at the Iron + Steel Work. Most of his brothers also work at the Steel Co., except for John R. who works as an office manager at a Life Insurance Co. (Uncle Jack, as he was known, lived to be 102 years old, dying in 1984.) The census indicates that Percy owned the home free of mortgage.

Percy had one brother, William Edward, who died in childhood, and two other siblings who were married by 1910, Samuel Knox Hunter and Helen Rainey Hunter, for a total of ten siblings in that generation.

By 1920, Percy had moved, and the only brother still living with him and his family was Uncle Curt.

Going back another ten years to the 1900 federal census, I find Percy and Marguerite with only their first daughter, living in Allegheny, Pennsylvania.

U.S. Federal Census 1900; Census Place: Allegheny Ward 10, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: T623_1357; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 82; Record for Percy E. Hunter

Lines 79-81 show Percy E. Hunter, born Oct 1873, wife Marguerite L., born Aug 1876, and daughter, Marion L, born Sept 1899, living in Allegheny, on Broadway, owning his home free of mortgage. Percy works as a civil engineer. Percy's parents, James and Mary Hunter, happen to live in the same enumeration district (page 15A), on Perrysville Avenue, with all of their children listed above except for Harry M. L. Hunter, who appears to be in Margaretta, Erie County, Ohio, about 185 miles west of Pittsburgh.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Allegheny City was annexed to Pittsburgh in 1907, so even though in 1900 this family is in Allegheny, and in 1910 they are in Pittsburgh, they are in the same neighborhood.

Matrilineal Monday is a daily blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers, the genealogy community’s resource for blogging. It is used by many genealogy bloggers to help them tell stories of their ancestors.