Sepia Saturday 640. Eighth in a series about family history discoveries in the recently released 1950 U.S. census.
Census enumerations capture our ancestors at a particular point in time and can often lead to exciting discoveries. Yet when older ancestors appear in a census, their earlier life accomplishments are usually missing – children have left home, they may be winding down careers with transition jobs, or they are unemployed elders in a younger household.
Thus, while I was excited to find my paternal grandparents, William Ray and Mary Frances “Molly” (Owen) Charboneau, in the 1950 US census, I was also aware of all that was missing. So, I’ve decided to move backwards in time to tell their story.
My paternal grandparents in 1950
In 1950, Ray, 62, and Molly, 61, lived in Holland Patent, N.Y. – a small hamlet at the intersection of Routes 274, 291 and 365 in Town of Trenton, Oneida Co., N.Y.
Their home at 105 Elm St. (now 7901 Elm St.) was a small property close to Main St., where my grandfather worked in a grocery store owned by his sons Owen and Frederic. In fact, he lived close enough to walk to and from work.
My grandparents’ census enumeration
| Name | Age | Born | Job | Worked | Details |
| Charboneau, William R. | 62 | N.Y. | Wk. | 60 hrs. | clerk, retail grocery |
| Charboneau, Mary | 61 | Md. | H. | — | — |
From their census enumeration, my Grandpa and Grandma Charboneau might seem pretty basic – he worked as a clerk and she was a homemaker. Nothing special, although I was impressed that Ray put in 60 hours the week before the census was taken!
However, ten years earlier they were the proprietors of the Otter Lake Hotel in the Adirondack foothills of Forestport, Oneida Co., N.Y., which (as shown below) was packed with guests every summer.
My grandmother ran the kitchen and oversaw the hotel staff. My grandfather tended to the bar and led tourist excursions to surrounding lakes and mountains. In the winter, he ran the Charboneau Brothers School Bus Service with his brother Orville (who everyone called Tom).
Their previous hotel careers
The Otter Lake Hotel was across the road from a railroad stop, which transported vacationers from sweltering cities to the cool surroundings of New York’s forested North Country. My dad told endless stories about the activities at the hotel during tourist season since he essentially grew up there.
If you went by the 1950 census, though, you’d never imagine that my Grandpa C, a grocery clerk, and Grandma C, a homemaker, had such an interesting past.
As they entered their late 50s and their five sons – Owen, Francis, Hubert, Fred and my dad, Norman – had left the nest, my paternal grandparents no doubt realized that running the hotel was a bit much. Plus, tourism was changing with more families having cars that could take them to all sorts of destinations.
So, in 1947, they packed it in and moved to Holland Patent for a simpler, semi-retired life. That’s where the census enumerator found them in 1950 — living near two of their married sons.
Up next, my other Holland Patent relatives in the 1950 US census. Meanwhile, please visit the blogs of this week’s other Sepia Saturday participants.
© 2022 Molly Charboneau. All rights reserved.
What a vivid rendition to you paternal grandparents’ story! I love how you always go past what meets the eyes in the stories of your family, truly bringing family history to life! What interesting, and what seemingly full, lives they lived! 🙂
Thanks so much, Diane. I always try to tease out the story behind the documents. Glad to know I am succeeding!
Wow, a really interesting backstory expanding on your grandparents’ lives between Census years. My ancestors fled the summer heat of New York City and stayed upstate in various cottages and bungalows. I’m sure your grandparents had their share of city dwellers wanting to vacation in the cooler North Country!
Yes, they had city-dwellers from New York and as far south as Baltimore. In fact, the Otter Lake Hotel ran ads in Brooklyn and other papers to boost the summer business.
Wonderful to link your grands’ lives from their owning and running the Hotel to their “retirement” lives where a father worked in a store owned by his sons. I have so many friends from upstate NY, one from the Utica area, and several blog friends. It must be in the water! Good people all.
Thanks, Barb. A census snapshot is never enough to reveal the whole story, although the 1940 US census, when my paternal grandparents ran the hotel, did a good job. More on that in a future post. And yes, we upstate New Yorkers are a convivial bunch!
The little house on Elm St. looks so neat and tidy and charming today. I hope it looked much the same in 1950? That must have been quite a change, however, moving from the excitement and busy-ness of the hotel. I’m kind of comparing it to a move my husband and I just made – from a large open floor plan home with lots of windows and a gazebo with a lovely view of mountains and hills in a large open community to a much smaller home in a closer-living senior community. I know it will be nice once we get used to all the differences, but I’m, at the moment, wishing we were back “home” (sigh). On the other hand, the new place has a swimming pool and walking paths and is right across the street from the hospital, doctors’ offices, and all manner of shopping so it shouldn’t be too hard to get acclimated sooner than later. I just have to put my mind to it! 🙂
I visited my p. grandfather’s Elm St. home as a child, after my p. grandmother passed, and it looked just like this — only today the Internet shows a pool in the backyard. I wish you well in your new home. Change is always difficult, but hopefully you will find new friendships and a welcoming community at your new residence.
I’ve been thinking about lately how in my childhood I rarely asked older relatives about their “past”. It’s as if when young we can’t quite grasp the concept of others already having existed (and gone through various changes and moves) a long time before our own arrival in the world. My p. grandmother did tell me stories of her childhood sometimes but I’ve realised later that I completely failed to understand for example the vast age difference between her and her older siblings.
I was the same. Busy leading my own life as a teen and young adult when my grandparents (maternal and paternal) were still around, and wishing now that I had asked them more questions. Fortunately, family history research helps us piece together at least some of their stories.
I have travelled through the Adirondacks and can appreciate the cool summertime attraction of its resorts and inns. I also have a few postcards of musical groups that entertained guests at similar hotels during the early 1900s. For the tourists the beauty and climate made for restful holidays, but for hoteliers it was nonstop work during the season, then and now. Early retirement must have felt like a real holiday.
You are so right, Mike. All the money for the year had to be made during the warm weather months — particularly the summer when teachers, who were frequent guests, had their vacations. I’m sure my paternal grandparents welcomed the quieter times in Holland Patent where daily life had a more regular year-around rythym.
I wonder if people who were self employed or in family businesses automatically put down 60 hours work. My father, a minister and his father and brother who were doctors all put 60 hours too.
That’s interesting about the 60-hour work week. I imagine the self employed frequently worked evenings and/or weekends, which would put them beyond the usual 40 hours at other jobs.