My Lucas line has been one of my most elusive lines to discover so I’m going to reanalyze all the information I have on them and post my findings here on my blog. I have already mentioned a couple of their records in these posts; Death Certificate - Raymond Lucas, Collateral Damage Can be a Good Thing, Census Sunday - Who is Frank Goodman and I will continue today with their record in the 1910 census.
Finding them in the 1910 census was not easy as their name is spelled differently and the actual image of the census is quite faded. However, using the search variants in Ancestry landed me their record. They are lines 42 – 47.
The surname looks to be spelled Lookec but it could very well be Lookes or Lookis. It still sounds the same just not spelled as we would spell it. Anyway, here is the information from the census.
General and address information: They lived in the town of Northbridge, Worcester County, Massachusetts and this was enumerated on 21 April 1910. The only indication of a road name is an X in that block so I am assuming this is a rural area with no road names or addresses as the address block is blank. The dwelling number is 41 and visitation number is 44.
Individuals:
1. Raymond Lookec, head of household, 28 year old white male currently married 1 time for 6 years. He was born in Aust-Poland as was his mother and father. He immigrated in 1902(?) and is an alien. He speaks English. His occupation seems to be some kind of laborer at the woolen mill. He was working on 15 April 1910 and was not out of work in 1909. He can read and write. They are renting a house.
2. Katherine, wife, 32 year old white female currently married 1 time for 6 years. She has had 4 children and three still survive. She was born in Aust-Polish as was her mother and father. She immigrated in 1902 or 3? She speaks Polish, does not list whether naturalized or alien and lists no occupation. She can read and write.
3. Mary, daughter, 3 year old white single female. She was born in Massachusetts.
4. Joseph, son, 2 year old white single male. He was born in Massachusetts.
5. Raymond, son, 6 month old single male. He was born in Massachusetts.
6. John Pots?vek or Pods?bek, boarder, 32 year old white male. He is married one time for 7 years. He was born in Aust-Poland as was his mother and father. He is an alien and immigrated in 1909. He speaks Polish. His occupation is unreadable and works in the cotton ?? industry. He was not out of work on 15 April or anytime in 1909. It is unreadable whether he can read or write.
Here is some of my analysis from this census:
1. Raymond and Katherine immigrated in 1902/3 and have only been married for 6 years. I can assume they were married sometime in 1903/4. From this I can make a guess that they met and married in Massachusetts. Looking at all the other names and nationalities that lived around them in the census, they are very much like many immigrants of the day; they lived and worked around people very similar to them.
2. There is no street address given for them, just a dwelling number. Looking at the other people on the census, the two families enumerated before them share the same dwelling number. The other two families say that they are renting. The first family enumerated says that this is a home just like my great grandparents; the second family says this is a farm on farm schedule 13, however, no one in that household or anywhere else on the census lists an occupation as farmer or working in the farming industry. Seems odd to me as I thought that the same dwelling numbers meant that they would live in the same house, apartment building, or some other type of attached housing.
3. Raymond lists his occupation as a laborer in what looks like woolen mill. The occupations of the other families around them all list occupations relating to the mills and textile factories.
4. Katherine is listed as having 4 children but only 3 still survive; this is information I did not know before.
5. The children, Mary and Joseph, match what I already know about them with Joseph being my grandfather.
6. Raymond does not match what I’ve been told of the family. I believe this could be who they called Edward. Maybe one is a middle name?
Additional Searches from this record:
1. Marriage record between Raymond and Katherine sometime in 1903/4.
2. Continue immigration record search in 1902/3 for both of them.
3. The type of home living in seems odd. Need to try and do some research on how dwelling numbers were enumerated. My wife mentioned that maybe the mills had some kind of housing for the workers?
4. Search of the woolen and textile mills in the area – maybe they have some employment records in which I can find Raymond. Or, at the very least, I’ll get a sense of the kind of work he did.
5. Do a comparison of the records I have which shows Edward as a son and see if they match with the information on the census – are Raymond and Edward the same child?
6. See if I can decipher the boarder’s name. It seems to be similar to what I have as variants of Katherine’s last name, Podrushack, Pascrumba. Is it possible that this is her brother? His immigration record could prove vital in finding their home village!
That is what I have for the 1910 census of my great grandparents, Raymond and Katherine Lucas. Am I missing something or did I overlook an obvious piece of information?
Thanks for reading and keep diggin’ for that family.
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