Who are you and how do you know my Grandmother? --Part 2

Questions about Flora's letter and her connection to my family

What year was the letter written?
Flora's daughter was married  to her first husband in 1943.  The daughter would have been divorced some time prior to 1956 as that is when her ex husband marries again.  This leads me to believe that the letter was written some time between 1943-1956.  I searched for a source for divorce records for area of Akron, Summit Co Ohio, USA but didn't find one available on-line.  So I did what I would have done if I were "on the ground" in that area.  I went to their library by way of the website.  As it happens the Akron-Summit Co. Library has done a wonderful job of getting many of the City Directories on-line.  One of the most impressive ones I have seen.  I now totally get the importance of City Directories and how they contain a vast amount of information.

By checking the Directories for the years from 1940 to 1956 I was able to get an idea of the time period in which it was written.  The 1956-57 Directory shows Flora's Son-In-Law and her Daughter living apart from each other.  They were together in the 1954-1955 listing so I think it's safe to say that the letter was written some time in the period from the publication of the 1954 and the 1956.  Flora's son-in-law marries again in June of 1956 so it may be closer to 1954 when they separated and divorced.


Where is their oldest son in 1940 was he already in the Navy?  If so he should be enumerated at the location which he is stationed.

 326. Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines.-Enumerate soldiers, sailors, and marines in the Army or Navy of the United States as residents of the place where they usually sleep in the area where they are stationed. If, therefore, any household in your district reports that one of its members is a soldier, sailor, or marine stationed elsewhere, do not report him as a member of that household. 

Full instructions for 1940 Census are located HERE  (pdf file)


I'm continuing to search for the oldest son in the 1940 Census.  I was able to request a copy of his obit and found that he was living with his sister in 1974 when he passed away.   Oddly it didn't mention the younger brother who I had found through public records and marriage records living in Dade Co FL.  He would pass 6 years after his brother's passing.

As I was searching the directory I also came across some of my Dad's paternal cousins who had moved north from Tennessee to Akron Ohio for work.  Because they had lived in Indiana a good bit of time when I knew them,  I'd forgotten about their Akron Ohio connection.  So I've sent a message to see if any of them know who Flora might be and her connection.

At this point I still kind of think the connection is a chance meeting when my Grandmother went to see her son who was at the naval hospital in the Washington DC area.  Add to this too that I also noticed that Flora's Social Security Application was completed in Washington DC. The years 1952-1954 are listed in parenthesis in the place where the application year is usually located.  These years differ from the time period that my Grandmother would have been there.  I wonder if the older son was living in Washington from 1940-1954.  By the time she wrote the letter in the card he would have been in the hospital in Chillicothe Ohio.

Much more information and research is needed.  A lot of clues but no clear answers yet.