One of the more fascinating things about local history is the question of just who lived in the Village, when did they live here and what did they do for a living. While many local officials’ dates and their homes are known and architectural masterpieces have been inventoried, it is the story of the “ordinary” people that too often slips through the cracks.
A new donation, from the Village of Glencoe, is a Housing Survey from the year 1942, Appendix IV, Area F-G-H. The complete survey would be even better, but this is a valuable addition to our collection, a treasure-trove of information about those who lived in the so-called “presidents streets,” Adams Ave., Glencoe Road (the old Green Bay Road), Jefferson, Randolph and Madison streets.
Each entry of about 8 to 10 pages gives us information about who lived in what houses and fills in details much as today’s U.S. Census does.
For example, for the first entry “Report on Property at 378 Adams, Lot 5, Block 4 in Harwell’s Addition,” the owner of Record is Carrie P. Turner, of Evanston, and the occupant is James Lamkin.
In this single first page, we have found a Glencoe resident, James Lamkin, via the fill-in-the-blanks on the mimeographed sheet and the handwritten answers provided by H.E. Perkins either with blue ink and/or copied via blue carbon paper on Dec. 4, 1941. Page 2 is blueprint paper with a red outline of the lot and white outline of the house placed on the lot, which is 50-ft. across facing Adams. Page 3 is still recording info on 378 Adams, this time with building permits, water tap info, assessed valuation for the year 1939 ($1231) and zoning statistics.
The next three pages are again blueprint paper showing the interior configuration of the two-flat building, followed by a photo, a dwelling description including framing, numbers of baths and toilets, flooring, siding materials and “miscellaneous,” that asks if there is a finished basement, finished attic, sky lights, fire place or garage and electric light, the latter the only “miscellaneous” 378 Adams had.
Finally, there is a listing of all the people who lived in the two-flat, ranging from Mr. Lamkin, 35 years old, a skilled worked, laborer; to Lucilla Lamkin, 30, most likely his wife but could be a sister as she is listed as a blood relation but there is no code for wife, and Burton, a 7-year old student at Central School. The other family, also on the first floor, are Margaret Sidney, 26, a housewife, Earl Sidney, 28, a laborer and Earl Jr., 1. All of the occupants are marked as being good physical condition. (If they were in poor condition, that would have to be explained.) Mr. Lamkin owned a 1938 Ford that was stored on the property—likely sitting outside since there is no garage, detached or attached, listed.
Living on the second floor were James, 35, and Lucy Hubbard, 36. Mr. Hubbard’s business address was listed as Winnetka; he, too, was a skilled worker/laborer. Austin Moore, 17, and Mary Moore, 13, both in high school lived with them—one of the parents children by a previous marriage? Donald Hubbard, 2, and Nancy Worneck, 7, were also listed, but Nancy, the form says, did not live at home. Mr. Hubbard owned a 1935 Plymouth also stored on the property.
In the first eight pages of the book, then, we have learned about three families (Lamkin, Sidney and Hubbard), none of whom we had information about before in our People files. We learned that a skilled worker could afford to own a car—two cars were owned by people in this building—and that it is likely a blended family lived in the neighborhood.
While chock-full of information, the book is only a beginning. It would be fascinating to further find out where Carrie Turner, the owner, lived in Evanston, how much real estate she owned altogether, how much of it was in Glencoe, and when she sold them. And, we should careful go through the entire book to find those whose names we do know so we can attach the information to their personal files.
The value of this survey cannot be overemphasized. It is a snapshot of those who lived in Glencoe in the late 1930s and early 1940s; the people who likely built many Glencoe homes in the period since many were skilled workers. And, it identifies those who were part of the warp and woof of the community in its stage before population exploded in the 1950s.
GHS Board member Sara Weaver was invaluable with this acquisition. She took the book home and scanned each page into a digital file. Now the material can be searched either by hand or via computer. We thank her immensely for her work.
The book is available for purview just for fun or if you are interested in an address in the area under investigation. The Research Center is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays and 1-4 p.m. on Sunday.
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