Where Did Dad Live
Among the artifacts left by my father was a letter sent to him by his mother. He was about 18 ˝ years old at the time and had apparently just left home to take a job in Hibbing, MN, some 200 miles away from home. The contents of the letter are poignant and rich in the flavor of a close family in a small town in 1915. More about this letter can be found elsewhere.
From a genealogical standpoint, I was interested in the names mentioned and the address on the envelope. I set about trying to find who lived at 120 First St. in Hibbing, MN in 1915. A clue was reference to a Charles and Esther in the letter. I had “lost” Charles Godfrey Anderson (my father’s mother’s brother) and hoped this might lead to him. The 1920 census had no good match for him in Hibbing in 1920, so I threw myself on the mercy of the Swedish list to which I subscribe to see if any member lived in or near Hibbing. One kind lady responded and offered to check the Hibbing city directories. Bingo – she found Chas. G. Anderson living at that address in 1915!
Further looks at the 1920 census turned up a pretty good match for Charles in Superior, WI, but I haven’t located him after that. However, it seems pretty clear that my father lived with his uncle Charles in Hibbing, MN on that fateful day in August 1915 when his mother wrote scolding him for not coming home to play baseball with the home team last Saturday.