Clues to the Mystery of Clara – Howard Harold Day (Part 7)

In the previous installment, I introduced you to Clara Margaret Badger and Howard William Day’s daughter, Clara Marie Day. Clara Marie was the half-sister of Eva Johnson (my grandfather’s foster sister).

The second child born to Clara Badger and Howard Day was Howard Harold Day (predominantly called “Harold”). He arrived when his older sister, Clara Marie, was 21 days shy of her first birthday. After losing their mother at a very young age, he was also sent to live with Anne Chilian “Day” where he and his two siblings were located in the 1930 census in Beech Creek, Indiana.

Locating “Harold” in the 1940 census was a bit tricky. At some point prior to 1940, the father, Howard William Day, changed his surname to Daley – perhaps because on his WWI Registration Card there is a word at the bottom by his signature – “Deserter.” 

 

Via the name change from Day to Daley is how I was able to locate the oldest son of Clara and Howard. At eighteen years of age, “Harold” was living in the household of his father and step-mother, Ella (Garringer), in Chicago, Illinois. Their address was 920 N. Fairfield. The home is still standing today and Trulia.com explains that it is a multi-family property of two units with 2 baths and over 2800 square feet built in 1909. It has two stories and a basement.

Those living in the household included Howard William (Day) Daley’s son from his first marriage (Clara Badger was his third marriage) – Howard age 26 as well as his youngest son with Clara – Verle age 15.  Also living in the household were Howard and Ella Daley’s two sons, Robert age 8 and Donald age 2. All of the children were listed under the Daley surname. Howard (the Senior), Howard (the younger), and Ella all worked in the laundry and “Harold” (subject of this sketch) was a laborer.

 

Within the next year, “Harold” married Audine Adele Pyne, who was born and lived in California. The couple had four children. Daughter, Barbara J. Day, was born on April 28, 1944 in Alameda and died on October 3, 2012. Son, Lyle Howard Day, was born on July 22, 1952 also in Alameda. He died on February 24, 1990. The other children may still be living so no further information is provided.

“Harold” died in Los Angeles on November 28, 1975 and was buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park. His wife, Audine, remarried after Harold’s death. She passed away on February 13, 2000.

 

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Clues to the Mystery of Clara–Clara Marie Day (Part 6)

In my last post, Who Is Clara Badger?, I mentioned that Clara Badger, birth mother of my grandfather’s foster sister, Eva Johnson, had married Howard William Day and given birth to four children – one daughter, a son, and twin boys. One of the twins, Earl, died at the end of November 1924, at the age of six months, and Clara died a month later. What happened to the other children – Eva’s half sister and brothers?

Clara and Howard’s oldest child, Clara Marie Badger (not to be confused with Clara Margaret Badger, who is the subject of this series), was born on February 5, 1922 probably in Indianapolis. Her birth came just 24 days after her parents, Clara Margaret Badger and Howard William Day were married in Marion county. Little Clara lost her mother when she was not quite 3 years old.  In the 1930 census, she is living in the home of Anne Day in Beech Creek, Greene county, Indiana. (Anne was never a “Day” – she was Howard’s “adoptive” mother and there was no blood relation.) In the same household was Anne’s brother, Henry Chilian, and Clara Marie’s brothers – Harold and Verle. Anne is listed as the children’s grandmother. Their father, Howard Day, is not living in the household. When Clara was just a tad over 16, she married Frederick A. Garringer in Marion county on June 5, 1938. Two years later, the couple is found in the 1940 census living at 2449 Van Buren Street in Chicago. Their residence was one of several in an apartment building. They rented their apartment for $13 a month and was a few blocks from Lake Michigan. She is age 18 and he is listed as age 25. Clara only completed the 8th grade but her husband had finished one year of high school. Both of them worked for a wet wash laundry. He was the night watchman and she was a “shaker.”  In 1940, they are also listed in the directory for Indianapolis living at 2828 Clifton, Apt. 7, and listed Fred’s occupation as a laborer. I don’t know if they moved back to Indy from Chicago or vice versa. Clara Marie (or “Marie” as she was frequently called) and Fred had a son and a daughter.

Marie and Fred’s son, Fred Arnon Garringer Jr. was born on November 14, 1940 in Indianapolis and died on August 27, 2014. He and his wife had five children and twelve grandchildren.

Their daughter, Mary Margaret Garringer was born on October 4, 1942. She married John R. Atkins. Mary died on December 3, 1986 in Martinsville, Indiana.

Clara Marie Day Garringer died on January 18, 1997. Her husband, Fred A. Garringer died 16 years earlier on May 13, 1981. They are both buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.

(photo of Clara Marie Day Garringer originally shared on Ancestry.com by Elizabeth Day Martin – no infringement intended or implied)

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Clues to the Mystery of Clara – Clara Badgly

In the previous post, the Anderson (Indiana) Herald’s article about reuniting mother and daughter gave the name of Eva Louise Johnson’s birth mother as Clara Badgly. So I set out to see if I could locate this mysterious woman. The best place to start is to look at census records for 1910 since Eva was born in October 1910.

In order to get a better group of results, I wanted to find women who would be within child-bearing age in 1910 – someone age 14-50 (taking to the extreme on both ends). Eva was conceived in January so by the census date of April, I would have a pretty good idea of how probable it would be to rule out someone. I want to look at all different spellings: Clara/Clare/Clair/Clarra/Clora and Badgly/Badgley/Badgeley/Badglie.

I can rule out the Clara Badgly born about 1899, age 11, who is living with her parents, Frank and Grace, in Shelbyville, Indiana. I can also rule out Clara Badgley who is a newborn infant living with her parents, Sydney and Grace, in Anderson, Indiana.

There is a Clare Badgley age 43 living in Perry township of Marion county. She is married to Lewis and the household consists of Lewis’ two older children in their 20s, Clare’s six year old daughter from a previous marriage and the couple’s one year old son. The seat of Marion county is Indianapolis. The town of Fortville, where Eva was born on the interurban car, is half-way between Indy and Anderson where Katie and John Johnson lived. So Clare Badgley could be a possible candidate as Eva’s birth mother. The one year old son makes her a strong improbability but it is not an impossibility. In the 1920 census, she is now a 53 year old widow living with her daughter and son-in-law in Indianapolis. The one year old son from the 1910 census is not living with them.

There is also a Clora Badgley living at 1930 Nichol Avenue in Anderson. She was 52 years old and living with her husband, Joseph, and two of her three chidren. It is her second marriage and her husband’s first. In 1910 they had been married 31 years. The youngest child is 16. They lived a little less than a mile and a half away from my great-grandparents. If Clara was Eva’s biological mother, she would have been in pretty close proximity to the girl and quite possibly might have even known John and Katie. Again, I can’t rule out this Clara just because she is over 50 but as with the previous woman, the length of marriage and having children in the household makes this woman improbable.

A Cora Bagley, age 29, is married and the mother of a six year old daughter in the 1910 census. She is living in Duck Creek, a township of Madison county. This woman could also be a good possibility. Ten years later, she and her husband are at the same location and have added another daughter to their household.

All of the women (not the young children) mentioned above are using their married name. According to the news article in the previous post, Badgley was the woman’s maiden name. 

Since the news article mentioned Chicago, I took a look at the 1910 Chicago directory. The Badgley residents: Bert and Edward L., home address 1341 Glenlake Avenue; Edward, Hannah and Joseph,  831 Sedgwick; Fannie, 1712 Park Avenue; Louis, 6242 Wayne Avenue; Rufus, 1941 Hancock; and Timothy, 850 Monticello Avenue. For residents with the surname Bagley, there are quite a few.

There is a 26 year old Clara Biagley residing with her cousin and his family in Chicago. She is single and her birth place is listed as Illinois. Prior to giving birth on the eastern side of Indiana, it is improbable that Eva’s birth mother resided in Illinois. In 1910, that would have been a long way for a pregnant woman to travel – especially so close to the time of giving birth.

Based on the information found in directories and census records, it seems rather unlikely that any of these women were Eva’s biological mother. So the mystery seemed to come completely to a stand still.

Until the letter was found.

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