A Close-Knit Family - Mappy Monday

I can't help but think that despite being a widow -- or perhaps because of it -- Catherine (Saylor) Froman somehow managed to raise a close-knit family.  Her seven children were all born within 9 years of each other so it makes sense that they would have become each others' friends and playmates in childhood, not to mention the probable need to work together, physically as well as emotionally, for the good of the family.

Until adulthood or marriage, the children lived with their widowed mother in Pymatuning Township on the west edge of Mercer County.  At marriage, they moved to their own homes.  The daughters married first:  Elizabeth between 1881 and 1883; Tressa in 1885; Catherine in 1888; and then the sons:  Jacob in 1889; Adam in 1895; Jacob again in 1898; Gust in 1898; and finally John in 1910.

Searching through four decades of census records fosters the image of a close-knit family.  The 1900 U.S. Census, the first after most of the children had moved from home, finds Fromans in and near Stoneboro, Pennsylvania.  Stoneboro is a small community in Lake Township on the eastern side of Mercer County, whose town proper consists of less than 2 dozen streets.

In 1900, I found

• John, Jacob, and their mother, Catherine, in Lake Township, E.D. 146, dwelling 36, family 36
• Gust Froman in Lake Township, E.D. 146, dwelling 36, family 37
• Catherine on Linden Street, Stoneboro, E.D. 167, dwelling 13, family 13
• Elizabeth on West Mercer Road, Stoneboro, E.D. 167, dwelling 208, family 209
• Tressa on an (unnamed street), E. D. 167, dwelling 231, family 232
• Adam in Sandy Lake Township, E.D. 157, about 2 miles east of Stoneboro

Sandy Lake is a smaller village than Stoneboro, situated about 2 miles northeast of Stoneboro.  The village had its own enumeration district during the census years in this post.  Surrounding Sandy Lake is the township of Sandy Lake where most of the land was rural farmland.  Adam was in the township of Sandy Lake, not the community of Sandy Lake.

In 1910, I found

• John in Lake Township, E.D. 163, dwelling 30, family 30
• Jacob and his mother, Catherine, in Lake Township, E.D. 163, dwelling 30, family 31
• Gust on unnamed street in Stoneboro, E.D. 184, dwelling 126, family 135
• Elizabeth on Strawberry Hill, Stoneboro, E.D. 184, dwelling 191, family 202
• Tressa on Strawberry Hill, Stoneboro, E.D. 184, dwelling 187, family 198
• Adam in Sandy Lake Township, E.D. 175, dwelling 62, family 65
• Catherine in Sandy Lake Township, E.D. 175, dwelling 134, family 140  (Catherine and family had moved)

In 1920, I found

• John on Linden Street, Stoneboro, E.D. 94, dwelling 131, family 136
• Jacob and mother, Catherine, on Linden Street, Stoneboro, E. D. 94, dwelling 132, family 137
• Gust on Linden Street, Stoneboro, E.D. 94, dwelling 136, family 142
• Elizabeth on Linden Street, Stoneboro, E.D. 94, dwelling 138, family 144
• Tressa on Linden Street, Stoneboro, E.D. 94, dwelling 106, family 106
• Adam in Sandy Lake Township, E.D. 77, dwelling 122, family 122
• Catherine in Sandy Lake Township, E.D. 77, dwelling 57, family 57

Elizabeth Froman Proud died in 1927; her mother, Catherine (Saylor) Froman, in 1928.

In 1930, I found

• John on Linden Street, Stoneboro, E.D. 43-78, dwelling 88, family 88
• Jacob on Linden Street, Stoneboro, E.D. 43-78, dwelling 89, family 89
• Gust on Linden Street, Stoneboro, E.D. 43-78, dwelling 73, family 73
• Tressa on Linden Street, Stoneboro, E.D. 43-78, dwelling 67, family 67
• Adam on Hittle Avenue, Greenville, E.D. 43-25, dwelling 233, family 239
• Catherine in Sandy Lake Township, E.D. 43-53, dwelling 99, family 100

Greenville is located nearly 20 miles west of Stoneboro, still in Mercer County.  Rather than Adam having been the forgotten son, Tressa (Doyle) Wilson may not have known him because visits may have been less frequent.

Most of the siblings seemed, over the years, to gravitate to Linden Street in Stoneboro -- all except Catherine and Adam.  Perhaps it's the times in which I live when people move every few years, and move away from parents and siblings, that causes me to be so surprised at the proximity of the Froman siblings' homes.

By the 1940 census all of the siblings were gone.  Just as they'd been born within 9 years of each other, they all passed away during a 9-year period.  

No stories have been passed down so I have no knowledge of family dynamics among these Froman siblings.  How I wish I did!  But all things considered, they continue to impress me as a close-knot family.

--Nancy.

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