Home of Henry Edwin “H. E.” Aiken and his second wife Lizzie Schmink in Amherst, Ohio. The young woman and man may be William Hanford “W. H.” Aiken and his wife Dora J. Russell. Image would have been taken after about 1891 when H. E. married Lizzie. A family picture provided by a kind collaborator, DB. (Click to enlarge.)
Since I have been focused on building a new home and have not had much time for writing, I thought some pictures of family homes might be in order on the blog.
Image of “Grandpa Aiken” or W. H. Aiken, d Feb. 17, 1942 in Tylerlawn, Mississippi. Unknown if this is actually his house. (Click to enlarge.)Interior of Lee home at 6204 Alamo, St. Louis, Missouri. The clock on the mantel is still in the family, and the beloved dog in the picture is Mickey. (Click to enlarge.)
Lee home at 6204 Alamo, St. Louis, Missouri. (Click to enlarge.)
Three generations of Lees lived in the above house at 6204 Alamo Drive in St. Louis, Missouri: Samuel J. Lee and his wife Dorothy Adele Aiken, Lloyd Eugene Lee and his wife Ruth Nadine Alexander along with their son Robert Eugene Lee, and after Ruth died, Gene’s second wife, Vada Kovich.
The buildings we live in contribute so much to our daily lives, even though we often forget about them or their beauty and comfort until the house demands attention, like cleaning, painting, or plumbing repair. Knowing where our ancestors lived and what their houses looked like, inside and out, can give us a better understanding of their lives.
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) Family treasure chest of photos and scans.
Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.
Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
Lee headstone in Memorial Park Cemetery, Jennings, Missouri: Lloyd Eugene “Gene” Lee, Ruth Nadine (Alexander) Lee, and Claude Frank Aiken. (Click to enlarge.)
Lloyd Eugene “Gene” Lee is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Jennings, St. Louis County, Missouri, along with his first wife and uncle.
Gene Lee was the son of Samuel J. Lee (1879-1964) and Dorothy Aiken Lee (1884-1953).
His first wife, Ruth Nadine (Alexander) Lee, was the daughter of George Harrington Alexander (1879-1951) and Wilhemina Schoor (1882-1942). Ruth was also the mother of his son, but died at the young age of 47.
Claude Frank Aiken was the uncle of Gene Lee, and brother to Gene’s mother, Dorothy “Dottie” (Aiken) Lee. Claude was a pharmacist and helped Gene get his license as well; they attended school together and tested together for their licensing- see Friday’s Faces from the Past: Claude Aiken. Gene was very close to his uncle throughout their years.
Gene’s dearly loved second wife, Vada Kovitch, was cremated. Sadly, the state of Missouri has allowed a stranger to control her ashes and burial, rather than the family who loved her so much. (They wouldn’t let us see her either- unbelievable.) The last contact with this person indicated that she still had the ashes but not the money to bury them with a headstone; she still refused to give them to family.
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) Tombstone photograph taken by family member and permission to publish granted.
Please contact us if you would like a higher resolution image.
Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
Possibly Claude Frank Aiken, c1930s? (Click to enlarge.)
A man with two families probably deserves two blog posts.
Claude Frank Aiken married Mildred Paul sometime after 1933 and his divorce from Elvira (Kring) Aiken. He was 45, she 23.
Mildred M. (Paul) Aiken Jan 1932 (Click to enlarge.)
He had three children with Mildred as well, but neither of his families really knew each other. They knew there was another family, but no details. Fast forward to the age of Ancestry.com and Find A Grave, plus some researchers interested in collateral relatives (that would be your blog editors); it added up to children of the two families finding each other after many, many years.
Back to Claude’s life:
Claude had passed the exams to be a Registered Pharmacist after the required two years of college. His nephew, Lloyd Eugene “Gene” Lee, son of Claude’s sister Dorothy (Aiken) Lee, passed the exam for Assistant Pharmacist at the same test session. The clipping does not have a date but it was probably 1928.
New Registered Pharmacist- Claude Aiken, Assistant Pharmacist- Lloyd Eugene “Gene” Lee, date and newspaper unknown from clipping. (Click to enlarge.)
Claude bought Martin’s Drugstore about that time, and he and Mildred worked together in the drugstore at 922 S. Vandeventer. They lived in the back of the building.
The neighborhood got rougher, and times were tougher during the depression, but they kept on with the pharmacy being an important part of the community. Their first child was 2 and a second child was expected or newborn when Claude foiled a robbery attempt from a very dangerous convicted burglar:
19 Sep 1936- Robbery Attempt Foiled, St. Louis Globe Democrat. (Click to enlarge.)
Transcription:
“FOURTH CHARGE FACED BY CAPTURED BURGLAR.
C. L. Patterson Caught in Drug Store as Proprietor Enters With Pistol.
Police asked the Circuit Attorney’s office yesterday for the issuance of a fourth burglary warrant against Carson Lee Patterson, 28-year-old ex-convict, following the capture earlier in the morning while ransacking a drug store at 922 South Vandeventer Avenue.
Patterson told police he had entered the place to secure enough money to hire a lawyer to defend himself in three pending burglary cases.
He was apprehended by Mr. and Mrs. Claude Aiken, operators of the store, who live in the rear of the building. Hearing the cash register ring as the burglar opened it, Aiken secured a pistol, rushed in to the store, and forced Patterson to hold up his hands. He fired one shot high upon the wall to scare the intruder.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Aiken called the police. Patterson readily admitted his identity upon arrival of officers.
Patterson is one of five youths who admitted 29 burglaries when they were arrested last month. He has served two prison terms, one for grand larceny in 1928 and one for burglary in 1931. He received a parole after serving part of the burglary sentence, but it was revoked after he was arrested as one of the men who tortured a Franklin County farmer and his wife to secure $150. Withing four months of his release from prison he was again facing burglary charges.”
Interesting that Peterson thought to pay his legal fees concerning previous burglaries through proceeds from another burglary. Ah, the criminal mind…
June 1942- Claude Frank Aiken and his wife Mildred Paul in their drugstore. (Click to enlarge.)
The 1939 St. Louis City Directory lists them and the store at 922 Vandeventer, as does the 1940 US Federal Census which states that the home and store were rented. They had two children, ages 6 and 4, living with them in 1940.
Claude died just four years after the census, on 05 May 1944. He is buried in the Lee family plot with his sister, Dorothy (Aiken) Lee and her husband, and her mother, Dora (Russell) Aiken. Mildred passed away 18 Nov 1972 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) Family photos and ephemera.
Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.
Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
Lee Family Pillar Mantle Clock, St. Louis, Missouri
The family oral history is that this clock sat on the fireplace mantle in the household of Samuel Lenton Lee (1849-1932) and later his son, Samuel J. Lee (1879-1964), and then grandson, Lloyd Eugene “Gene” Lee (1907-1991). It is known positively that it belonged to Samuel J. Lee and Gene Lee, but not verified that it was owned by the elder Samuel Lee. The two younger Lees lived on Alamo in St. Louis, Missouri.
Lee Clock- Pillar Detail
Inside it has printing on how to use and regulate the clock, and states “Made and sold by Seth Thomas, Plymouth Hollow, Connecticut. Warranted Good.”
Lee Clock- Face
The clock is a wood veneer, possibly rosewood, with ebonized pillars and gold at the cap and base of the pillars. It appears that the clock face has been replaced as it has little wear. Note the “S” and “T” on the hands of the clock.
Further research is needed to date the clock. My very brief research suggests it may be from 1870-1875 or so.
The clock has not worked for more than a day or two since it has been in our possession, despite numerous rides to the clock repair shop.
Samuel Lenton Lee immigrated to Bunker Hill, Illinois in 1870, per censuses, at age 21, from his birthplace in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. (Family oral history stated the year as 1856, but he would only have been 7 at the time.) He arrived in New Orleans and took passage on a boat up the Mississippi to Macoupin County, Illinois. On 7 Oct 1878, he married Louisa Marie Brandenberger- perhaps the clock was a wedding gift? Samuel died in Bunker Hill, and his son Samuel J. moved to St. Louis, Missouri, sometime between 1906, when he married Dorothy Adele Aiken (1884-1953) in Bunker Hill, and 1910, when he is found in the US Federal Census in St. Louis, Missouri.
So okay, I really cannot do a Wordless Wednesday post, and this will be my last. But what good is seeing an artifact if one does not know the history to make it a family treasure?
3) Source Citation: Year: 1910; Census Place: St Louis Ward 23, Saint Louis City, Missouri; Roll: T624_821; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0355; FHL microfilm: 1374834.
4) Dating clock: https://www.antiqueclockspriceguide.com/labelstrademarks.php?lm=Seth%20Thomas
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Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
