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| Santa Cruz Sentinel 26 Aug 1945, page 7 |
What really struck me is that this article is from 1945 when Louis Schwartz, my 2x great grandfather, had been dead since 1893. WAIT – WHAT? I had never, ever thought about looking for newspaper articles so many years later. But, fortunately, Louis was pretty well known in Santa Cruz and contributed to so much history that it makes sense that they were talking about him 50 years after his death.
The second thing that struck me was that the address of the house he built was 105 Mission Street – I’d always heard that the address was (and is) 222 Mission Street. So where did 105 come in?
So I couldn’t stop there and have spent some time looking for newspaper articles about Louis after his death. Which has led me to many different discoveries.
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| Santa Cruz Sentinel 30 Sep 1894, page 3 |
In 1894, the house was at 99 Mission Street. So now we've gone from 99 to 105 to 222. Puzzling. Google Maps shows me that there is currently a 99 and 105 Mission Street but they are NOT the house Louis built as it is at 222 Mission Street. Did the numbering conventions change along the way? I have connected with someone who has been researching the house so I'll need to ask her what she knows.
Now this article from 1977 is interesting - a Mission Hill Historic Unit was torn down.
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| Santa Cruz Sentinel 24 Aug 1977, page 35 |
This is the part of the article that really caught my attention.
My mother once told me that she remembered a small studio behind the house where my great grandmother, Bertha "Birdie" Schwartz, used to do artwork. When I connected with the current (now former) owner of the home a few years ago, he confirmed that the art studio was no longer in existence. So this is probably the structure they were referring to except my great grandmother's name was NOT Rose. Must have been a typo. But it secretly (or maybe not so secretly) makes me happy to know that people were so angry at this historic structure being demolished. I'll bet Louis and Birdie would have been happy, too.
And just by searching on Louis Schwartz, I found some other interesting articles about Birdie and her husband, Abraham Gunzendorfer, and their living arrangements. This one is COMPLETELY new to me - I thought Birdie and Abe lived in Monterey until Abe died in 1944.
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| Santa Cruz Sentinel 27 Jul 1943, page 3 |
I assumed the corner of Jeffenson and Larkin Streets was in Santa Cruz since this was a Santa Cruz paper. But, I couldn't find anything like that currently. I also tried Jefferson - no luck. But after further review, I found a corner of Jefferson and Larkin in Monterey. I guess it was big news in Santa Cruz since Birdie grew up there.
And just shy of a year later, Abe died and left Birdie on her own. I knew she spent the last years of her life in a hotel - looks like she moved there in 1948.
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| Santa Cruz Sentinel 4 Jul 1948, page 12 |
The 1948 San Francisco City Directory, page 788, shows Birdie at 490 Geary which was either the Hotel Maryland or Hotel Warwick. I'm fairly certain she lived there until her death in 1950. It's crazy how many people in that time period lived in a hotel. I'm sure it was safer for an elderly, single woman to be a resident with so many people just a step away to help her.
I just love to peruse newspapers - it sure tells us a story of the details of their lives.
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| Louis Schwartz Home 99 or 105 or 222 Mission Street Santa Cruz, California Birdie on the left, Louis on the right behind the fence |
A thought - check out the front section of city directories over a period of years for the possible street re-numbering if you're sure the family always lived at the same house. I know that both Pittsburgh and Chicago had street renumbering (and some renaming) in the first decade of the 20th century.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Elizabeth - I'll give that a try!
DeleteI would guess the house numbers changed. That happened with my great-grandmother's house which went from 3 numbers to 4. My husband's childhood home only had a rural route and box number until I guess it was in the 1990s when they got to name the street. There are only 2 houses on the street but the house numbers have 5 digits. That's too many to remember! (Of course, now his parents are gone so we don't have to remember it ha ha.) I loved reading all these interesting articles you found. It pays to come from a prominent family.
ReplyDeleteYes, I feel fortunate that I'm able to find so much information. It surprised me to see things about Louis so long after his death.
DeleteYou know I love newspapers also. I also have found articles about relatives in newspapers from towns where they once lived or even where current relatives then lived even after the person who is the subject of the article had left. For example, if a brother was getting married in X town, but grew up in Y and had a siblings in Z, papers in all three towns might have an article about the wedding!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Debi! I take it that the house on Mission Street (whatever it's number!) is still standing?
Yes it is. It just sold last summer but I see that now it is available for rent. https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/222-mission-street-santa-cruz_rb/16107694_zpid/
DeleteWow, it still looks lovely. I'd hate to see it rented to students...What a great house. Have you been inside?
DeleteI have not been inside :-(
DeleteSounds like you need to make a trip to Santa Cruz!
DeleteI was there about 6 years ago and stood outside and took pictures. I wish I'd had the guts to knock on the door - my dad would have!
DeleteI have had the same feeling when seeing houses where my family once lived. We need to be braver!
DeleteI love newspapers too! I've been spending so much time lately reading articles about ancestors in newspapers. They really are wonderful tools to give us glimpses into the lives of our ancestors.
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me the details that were published in the newspapers 100+ years ago - who was registered at which hotel, who was visiting whom, etc.
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