6: Josie and Willie

According to the cemetery transcription from 1914, five-year-old Josie and two-year-old Willie were  children of W. T. and Jane H. M. Sands (this information was written on the gravestone, but is almost completely illegible now). They died within ten days of each other in May 1864.

There are seven other Sandses buried in the cemetery, but none of them are Josie and Willie's parents. I identified the family in the 1860 census. Josie was in fact Joseph A. Sands, and his parents were Walter and Jane Sands. Yes, it looks like "John" in the census (and that's how it's transcribed), but the gender given is female (and the middle initials match - H.M.).

1860 US Federal Census

Walter Sands was a shoemaker, and Joseph was at this time their only child.

Here's Walter Sands as a 20-year-old in the 1850 census. He came from a family of shoemakers! His parents seem to be Abijah and Eliza (?) Sands, and he has one sister, Maria. Abijah and Eliza aren't buried in the cemetery. It's hard to say if Maria is; she probably would have a different name. Like Sarles.

1850 US Federal Census

In 1850, it's my best guess that Jane Sands was Jane H. Merritt. I have several reasons for this. First, it would account for her initials. She's of the right age and in the right town. Then of course, there's the fact that Joseph and Mary Merritt are buried in the cemetery, along with their only son Nathan. And Jane's sister would be Emma L. - the name she would later use for her daughter.

1850 US Federal Census

Joseph and Mary Merritt both died in 1870. Nathan died in 1854 at the age of 22.

In 1870, Walter and Jane had moved to White Plains. Walter was working as a clerk in a something office. Seriously, can you read what that says? Registrar's office, maybe? At this time, they had no children.

1870 US Federal Census

Ten years later, still living in White Plains, I found something surprising. Walter and Jane were living with two young children - four-year-old Walter and nine-month-old Emma. Did Jane really give birth at the ages of 45 and 48? I suppose it's possible, but they must not have seen that coming. It would seem that, after their children's death in 1864, Walter and Jane were childless for ten years, only to have two children late in life. Either that, or they adopted. My own great-grandfather didn't have children until he was in his 50s, and it was quite a surprise, but my great-grandmother was 18 years younger.

1880 US Federal Census

Both of my great-grandparents, however, were very long-lived. Would Walter and Emma live to see their children grow up? Plenty of people in the cemetery didn't, and they weren't in their 40s when they had children.

Well, the answer seems to be yes, to some extent. Here's the whole family living together on 58 Hull Street in Brooklyn in 1892.

1892 New York State Census

Walter Jr. was working as an electrician at the age of 17. I wonder if he knew my great-grandfather, who was also an electrician in Brooklyn? He was ten years younger than Walter Jr., so it's possible their careers overlapped considerably.

In 1910 Jane was widowed and living with her 30-year-old daughter at 1646 42nd Street in Brooklyn.

1910 US Federal Census

Five years later, Emma was on her own, living and working as an assistant housekeeper at the Church Home for the Blind at 550 Washington Avenue in Brooklyn. 

1915 New York State Census

I found a listing for the home in the Annual Report of the State Board of Charities from 1911.

 

Emma was still working there in 1925, when she was listed as a nurse.

1925 New York State Census

The Church Home for the Blind was still in operation in 1947, when it was listed in a directory. Today the address is occupied by the Bedford Zion Church of the Nazarene. I wonder if it's the same building.

Bedford Zion Church - Photo by Nancy Burton

Meanwhile, Emma's brother Walter married a woman named Sarah. In 1910 they were living in Hamilton, Pennsylvania. Walter was working as an electrician, "putting up [a] power plant." By 1920, they were living in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, and Walter was working as a house electrician.

In 1930, the couple was living in Fanwood, New Jersey.

1930 US Federal Census

This census reveals that Sarah, or S. Emma, was born in Illinois, as was her mother; her father was born in Missouri, spelled "Missoura" by the census taker - the result of Sarah's accent, maybe? This time Walter was working as a proprietor of a hardware store. They lived at 315 South Avenue.

The couple, now in their 60s, was still there in 1940, and Walter was still working at the hardware store as a manager, working an average of 66 hours a week.