Town of Ausable, Clinton County, New York enumeration district (ED) 3, sheet 5A, family 94, NARA microfilm publication T623
The household in Ausable, Clinton County, New York, is atypical to say the least. It is headed by Sarah Demarah, aged sixteen and living with her three younger sisters, Margaret (aged 11), Essie (actually Elsie, aged 8) and Mary (aged 6). No occupation is listed for Sarah, but her three sisters are all listed as attending school.
A few households away is their brother, Levi. He’s apparently a servant working in the household in which he is living (based upon his occupation):
The “Demarah” children are all children of Louis DeMar(e), a Clinton County native who was born there in the 1850s and originally went by the last name of Desmarais. By 1900, his wife Mary (Drollette)
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DeMare was deceased. Louis would not die until 1935 in Clinton County.
But…
Louis has not been found in the 1900 census and it is not known where he was living at that time, but he does not appear to be living near his children in Clinton County. By the time the 1910 census, was taken he has moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he lived through at least the 1920 census. Louis probably was the Louis Demar who was listed in the 1906 Chicago City Directory at 11588 State Street. It is speculated he went to Chicago looking for work.
While his children were “alone” in their household in 1900, their parents had nearly twenty siblings between them. Most of them remained in Clinton County so the children most likely had an informal support system nearby.
Margaret and Sarah married and remained in Clinton County. Elsie married in Clinton County but moved to Chicago near where Louis lived when he lived in Chicago. Daughter Mary went to Chicago and married there.
There are several tips based upon what is known about this enumeration and this family:
- Handwriting can be problematic-the last name really looks like Lemarah to the untrained eye.
- Look at the entire census page to determine if others with the same last name are living in nearby households.
- Don’t assume both parents are dead just because they aren’t in the immediate vicinity of their children.
- People move back and forth.
2 Responses
Interesting John but very typical of that era in Northern NYS. Being up in years even as a child in the 1940’s to 50’s a high school friend of mine headed their household in Northern NYS from time to time. The father traveled to Canada during the winter to do labor work in the Logging Business (which was still active in the and her mother would leave for several months to be employed as a Cook in a Logging lodge located in the woods. Depending on the weather (northern NYS is noted for heavy winters) it might be 2 to 3 months before one of them was able to get back to their home and check on the family. But they had not deserted the children they were only trying to support them and also while they were gone the mother family was close by and checked in to make sure they were not in need of help, food or supplies.
Thanks for your comments. I know Louis didn’t abandon the family as two of his daughters lived near where he did in Chicago from around 1906-1925 or so and his employment papers in Chicago mention travelling to New York one on occasion. My suspicion is that he simply was away working or looking for work at the time of the census. There would have been quite a few aunts/uncles in the immediate area who could have kept an eye on the girls or helped out if needed.