John and I enjoyed a little trip out to Kemptville and stopped off at th cemetery in Oxford Mills to checkout some stones and do a geocache. This stone caught my eye. Charles W Crane who was killed in Chicago on Oct 10, 1919 at the age of 35 in his 14th year of Christian ministry. I decided to find out a bit more about him.
Charles Wesley Crane was born on March 30, 1884 to parents Edward W and Melissa Norton in Augusta, Grenville County. (6) I quickly found him in the 1891 census in Osnabrook, Cornwall and Stormont, Ontario, living with his older brother Norton and younger sisters Frances and Mary. It seems that Charles followed in his dad's footsteps. Edward was also a clergyman.(5)
Charles does not live with his parents in 1901 census although Richard (Norton) and his sisters follow their parents to Athens, Ontario. (12)
In 1911, I discovered that Charles, by now a reverend in Pembroke was given a ministry station in Fort Coulogne, Quebec on June 2, 1911. (19)
I'm not able to find a trace of Charles again until I uncover him in the 1916 census in Battleford, Sask with his wife Lillian and his sister M.D.E Crane. He works at a private school. (10) In that same year, on July 12, 1916 an unnamed daughter was born and died in Regina Saskatchewan. Lillian's name is recorded as Lillian Anderson Buckler. (11) I can't find their marriage record but I was able to find Lillian living with her parents in the 1911 census in Hilton Village. Her father was also a Methodist clergyman. (13)
By 1918 Charles and Lillian were living at 6017 Kimbark Ave in Chicago, where Charles was a clergyman at the 42nd Congregational Church on Keeler Ave and Thomas St. (9)
He and Lillian had John Norton Crane in 23 April 1919 in Chicago (7)
In 1919, Charles and family were living on Kimbark Ave when he was struck by a truck on the evening of Oct 10th while crossing the intersection of Iowa Street and Crawford Avenue. He was on his way home from a Friday evening prayer session and was the pastor of the church. (1) The newspaper reported that he died the following day (Oct 11)Ω and the driver John Schoble was exonerated by a coroners jury.(2) His death registration confirms the date of death to be Oct 10.(3) His estate went to probate on Nov 17, 1919. (4)
I find Lillian in the 1920 census still living on Kimbark with her sons Charles, aged 2 and John. Her occupation is an apartment building manager and her house is owned but mortgaged. Her immigration year is listed at 1915. (14)
It appears that Lillian later remarried. John Norton was drafted 16 Oct 1940 and lists his mom Lillian Buckler McBride as his next of kin. (8) He was still living at 6017 Kimbark Ave at the time and he was a student at the University of Chicago.
Armed with the last name of her second husband I was able see that she was naturalized in 1925. Interestingly, one of the witnesses was William M Crane who was also living in Chicago at 3956 South Michigan Ave. (18) Not sure what his connection is to the family. I also found her in the 1930 census with her sons (listed with the last name of Mc Bride) and husband John Mc Bride. She is still a building manager and in this census it reports that her age at her first marriage was 25, so her and Charles were married around 1915. In this census, her immigration year is 1916. (15)
I find her again in the 1940 census with John and their home is valued at $20,000. Lillian answered the questions in the census and her boys are both listed as step sons and their Crane last name. Her occupation is still owner manager of an apartment house and works 60 hours a week (but no pay is recorded). She had earned a college degree as had Charles Jr. John had completed 2 years of college thus far (16). What a wealth of information in the 1940 US census!
John McBride died March 23, 1946 in Chicago, with Lillian and the boys named in the obituary (and still living).(17)
A search of obituaries also uncovered Charles' mom's obituary. She passed away 3 August 1940 in Toronto, Ontario and her husband the previous year. Her remaining children were all still living.(18)
(1) 11 Oct, 1919 Chicago Tribune page17
(2) 12 Oct, 1919 Chicago Tribune page15
(3) Ancestry.com. Illinois, U.S., Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
(4)Administrators bonds and letters, 1877-1931; Author: Illinois. Probate Court (Cook County); Probate Place: Cook, Illinois
5)Year: 1891; Census Place: Osnabruck, Cornwall and Stormont, Ontario, Canada; Roll: T-6331; Family No: 199
(6) Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Births and Stillbirths, 1869-1913; Series: MS929; Reel: 65; Record Group: RG 80-2
(7) Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois, U.S., Birth Certificates Index, 1871-1922 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
(8)National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Illinois, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 351
(9) Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005
(10)Year: 1916; Census Place: Saskatchewan, Battleford, 15; Roll: T-21935; Page: 10; Family No: 107
(11)Genealogy Index Searches. Saskatchewan Information Services Corporation. http://www.isc.ca/VitalStatistics/Genealogy/vsgs_srch.aspx: accessed 15 July 2021.
(12) Year: 1901; Census Place: Athens (Village), Leeds (South/Sud), Ontario; Page: 4; Family No: 55
(13) Year: 1911; Census Place: 4 - Brighton Township, Hilton Village, Northumberland East, Ontario; Page: 12; Family No: 130
(14) Year: 1920; Census Place: Chicago Ward 7, Cook (Chicago), Illinois; Roll: T625_315; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 386
(15) Year: 1930; Census Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0226; FHL microfilm: 2340158
(16) Year: 1940; Census Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Roll: m-t0627-00931; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 103-334
(17) Chicago Tribute 25, March 1946 page 16
(18) Ottawa Citizen 6 August 1940, page 12
(19) The Gazette Montreal Quebec 2 June 1911, page 6
