Sophie (Meinzen) Kropp in the 1910 U. S. Census

I'm working my way back in time searching for Sophia (Meinzen) Kropp, hoping to find information to support her relationship as sister to Henry Meinzen, my great-grandfather.  I moved from the 1920 U.S. Census to the 1910 U.S. Census.

Sophie (or "Siphie," as the census taker wrote) is at the tail end of the list of family and hired men who lived with Sophie's daughter and son-in-law.  She was already a widow at that time.

In 1910, Sophia and her family were enumerated in Wintersville Precinct, Cross Creek Township, Jefferson County, Ohio, on April 23, 1910, recorded in S.D. #18, E.D., #95, Sheet 4B, lines 56-67, Family #73.  This image is from FamilySearch.  (Click to enlarge images.)

A partial transcription for Sophia's family is as follows:

• Spahn, John, head, male, white, 35 years, married 10 years, born Germany, immigrated 1889, naturalized, speaks English, dairy farmer, can read and write, owns farm with mortgage, #21 on farm enumeration
• -------, Siphie M, wife, female, white, 33 years, married 10 years, mother of 4 children, 4 living, born Germany, immigrated 1887, naturalized, speaks Englihs, can read and write
• -------, Wilhelmine S A, daughter, female, white, 9 years, single, born Ohio, attended school
• -------, Carl J, son, male, white, 7 years, single, born Ohio, attended school
• -------, John [?], son, male, white, 4 years, single, born Ohio
• -------, William T, son, male, white, 1 3/12 years, single, born Ohio
• Clendenning, LeRoy M, hired man, male, white, 33 years, single, born Ohio, speaks English, laborer on dairy farm, can read and write
• Hoffstetter, John, hired man, male, white, 31 years, born Switz, parents born Switz, immigrated 1887, naturalized, laborer on dairy farm, can read and write
• Nicelworth, Michael, hired man, male, white, 25 years, single, born Germany, immigrated 1904, Al[ien], speaks English, laborer on dairy farm, can read and write
• Schuchter, Ignecz, hired man, male, white, 21 years, single, born Germany, immigrated 1907, Al[ien], speaks English, laborer on diary farm, can read and write
• Wittstrom, John, hired man, male, white, 21 years, single, born Germany, immigrated 1904, Al[ien], speaks English, laborer on diary farm, can read and write
• Kropp, Siphie, mother-in-law, female, white, 65 years, widow, mother of 6 children, 4 living, born Germany, immigrated 1889, speaks German, can read and write

Comments and Observations
I don't know if there was a prescribed order of recording individuals living in a dwelling but I've never before seen a mother-in-law listed after hired men.  The order I usually see is family, grandchildren, in-laws, hired/non-family members.  Might the order in this census suggest something about the mother-in-law/son-in-law relationship in the Kropp/Spahn family?

Because I'm working backward it makes sense that if Sophia didn't speak English in 1920 she wouldn't have spoken English in 1910 but one can never tell from census records.  It's possible the 1900 census may record something different.

Sophia's immigration year was noted as 1889 in this census, as 1899 in the 1920 census.  Her obituary gives her immigration year as 1887.   If Sophia immigrated between 1887 and 1889 she would have been between 42 and 44 years old.

From this census I learn that I should search for six children, four living and two dead (in 1910).  Did two die in the U.S. and/or in Germany?  Because Sophie's listed as a mother-in-law, the wife in this census, Sophie/"Siphie" Spahn, was likely born Sophia Kropp and is the older Sophia's daughter.  First child of six found.

The search continues.

--Nancy.

Copyright ©2016 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.
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