Week 31 Help

I should be writing about myself for this one! I’ve needed more help lately than I would like. I haven’t been able to find the information I wanted to use for this post. I know I have it and thought I had already scanned that information but I guess not. So this is a reminder post, organize while you are young, so you can bend and stretch and lift without reopening stitches. I have too many boxes of things I started to work on but they got set aside because something more pressing called me at the time. Instead of going back to that box I would move on to the next and end up with another unfinished box. Don’t be like Janet, finish what you start.

My sister suggested writing about our grand aunt Gert, Gertrude Mary Siepmann (1890-1966). In the photo above Gert is the second from the left. I’m guessing my mom took this picture. I think the baby; held by my grandma, Frieda (Siepmann) Cook, is my oldest brother. My dad would have been serving in WWII at this time. There are two more of Gert’s sisters and two of her brothers also in this photo. Nelle Siepmann, front and center in the dotted dress, is the sister who helped Gert and later she helped my grandma.

Gert was born 8 February 1890 in Blairstown, Iowa to Katie or Catherine White and Frederick William Siepmann. Gert was their third child and the first daughter. One of her older brothers is in the photo above. James Frederick Siepmann is on the far left.

The first Census I found Gert in was from 1895 in Tipton, Iowa. Gert is now seven years old and has two younger sisters. The 2 year old sister, Catherine is in the photo above, the second from the right. You can see another example of how this family helped each other through the years in this Census. Katie (White) Siepmann’s parents are now living with the family.

The 1900 Census is also from Tipton, Iowa. Two more daughters have been added to the family. Nelle (pictured in the polka dot dress) and Frieda (holding the baby). Gert is 10 years old. She is a student and able to read and write. The White’s are no longer living with the Siepmann’s, but the family is still helping out other family members. This census shows August Siepmann, a brother of Frederick William Siepmann is now living with the family. August arrived in the U.S. in 1899 from Germany so I would guess they are helping him get established in this new country.

Gert is a 20 year old school teacher in 1910. The Siepmann household only contains immediate family members this time. Their family was listed at the bottom of the page so I had to look at the next page to find the entire family. They have now added one more son, Frederick Edward Siepmann who is on the far right in the above family picture.

On September 14, 1914 Gert married James Thomas Fitzpatrick. It was a first marriage for both of them and they were both 24. Their marriage did not last long. I think possibly they married because they had a son. I haven’t been able to find a birth certificate for their son yet but it looks like he was born in Aug of 1914 according to his draft registration. I also haven’t found anything about a divorce but this is the only document I have found with Gert and James on the same page.

From what I can tell Gert was living with her parents in 1915 along with her son. I found both of their Iowa State Census records for 1915 and they are living in the same ward as Gert’s parents. James Thomas Fitzpatrick is not listed in the records. It doesn’t give an exact address but it is the same Ward as the rest of Gert’s family.

Looking at the Census for James, on the far left at the bottom it looks like it says he has been in Iowa for 6 months. On the top right at first I thought it said 0 months but I think it’s the swoop of the m running into the 6. So, I’m trying to find out when the Census was taken in order to pin down the birth date for James. I think his parents married and separated at the same time. According to information about the Census “the information was “The facts were gathered and reported by the assessors at the time of the regular assessment as of January 1, 1915.” (1)

In 1920 Gertrude is living with her parents. Gertrude is now 29 and working as a milliner. Her son is five. I am very glad she was able to keep her son and had the support of her family to raise him. I’m sure with the rules they had for teachers at the time she was no longer able to be a teacher but she has found another way to support herself. The following is a list of Rules for Teachers from 1915.

In 1930 Gert and her son switch households and cities. They have moved in with her sister Nelle, Nelle’s husband, Lymon and Lymon’s parents. Another multigenerational household working together to make life easier for all involved. Gertrude is once again teaching! I’m glad for her that rules were changed and women were allowed to be human beings once again. Gertude is 40 and her son is 15.

We are up to 1940 now in the life of Gertrude Mary Siepmann. Gert is living with her sister Nelle in Cedar Rapids. Nelle’s husbands parents are no longer a part of the household but Nelle and Lymon have children of their own. James, Gert’s son is living in this blended family too. Gert is now 50 and is working as a sales lady for a clothing store. According to one of my cousins Gert worked for Armstrong Department Store as a Sales Lady and Buyer in the children’s Department. Probably the time she spent as a teacher helped her to do this job very well. This photo was also from my cousin and probably from about this time period. James is 25 and working as a sorter in the accounting department for the Railroad. There is a lodger living with the family at this time. I haven’t figured out if there is a family connection yet but it wouldn’t surprise me at all.

I am not positive but I had an ah-ha moment while writing this post. I realized James Fitzpatrick, Gert’s son was married in 1944 and maybe that was the reason for this family get together. That would mean the two younger adults in the photo could be James and his wife Mary Eleanor Crowley. I could be way off on this idea though. Here is a later picture of the two or maybe this is their wedding photo?

In 1950 Gert is aging slowly as she only aged 7 years in the past 10. The Census says she is 57 and still working as a sales lady. She is living with Nelle and Lymon and their children in Cedar Rapids. We don’t have the 1960 Census yet but I am sure Gert is living in Cedar Rapids with her sister.

Gertrude Mary (Siepmann) Fitzpatrick passed away 24 Nov 1966. She is buried in St Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Tipton, Iowa. I made a trip there a few years ago with several of my sisters and in laws. Here is a photo of Gert’s headstone.

This story has been about how family members work to help each other through those transition times in life and other obstacles we encounter along the way. The Siepmann’s really embody the help theme with their multigenerational approach to life. In today’s mobile society we seem to have lost this part of family life. In some ways that may be good but in other ways maybe not. Is your family multigenerational?

(1)https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433107706990&view=1up&seq=6