Hi again, I forgot to mention that many, many people during the Great Depression or in other "hard times" rented out their bedrooms in order to bring in some money for running their home. If you watch a lot of old movies about the 1920's to 1950's, you see that some people even slept in the living room - or with their children - in order for all the bedrooms in the house could be - rented out. And there are a great many "boarding houses." People with large houses could "renting out their bedrooms" into a business. And anyone who has read a lot of census pages has read that many, many couples had their family's information written down - and beneath the family members is a list of the "boarders." And, "foster parenting" has existed for a very long time ! And, I believe those "foster parents" did earn a little money from that. And, as someone said, people who were creative could create things in their home and sell them ! Betty (near Lowell, MA) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kathy Montgomery" <kathym@uvic.ca> To: <mamiddle@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2009 12:56 PM Subject: [MAMiddle] odd question . . . > Hi all - I have done a fair bit of genealogy, and learned interesting > stories and such about all sorts of ancestors and relatives. I have > learned > tons about my mom's family, and much less about my dad's. (And wouldn't > you > know it, my dad was curious about it all; my mom - "not so much.") > > However, my mom's sense of family mystery is less genealogy, and more > financial. She is 80, and the only question she ever asks me about family > history is in one area I see very little about. My mom's maternal > grandparents (my maternal great grandparents)appear to have modest income > partnered with very comfortable lifestyle. She has tried to think how > they > did that. It is the only family history mystery that keeps her in the > conversation. > > Her grandparents lived in a rented Cambridge apartment, owned a house in > Billerica, and a summer cabin at Point Judith RI. They had nice clothes, > china, sterling cutlery, etc. They ate well during the depression. I > found > a newspaper article that said she bought shore front land in Scituate. > But > in contrast, he worked behing the meat counter in a small grocery shop; he > did not own it. She did not work. My mom's question - where'd the money > come from? Neither of them came from families where they would have > inherited much. > > Her grandmother did not want her mother to marry - ever. So she eloped to > NH at age 17. She would never accept money or anything of particular > value > from her parents, even while trying to raise 6 kids through the > depression. > Thus my mom sort of worries that maybe they did something bad; but there > is > no known evidence of that. If anything, they were pretty strict from the > sound of it; much a part of the Victorian era. (As a 6 or 8 year old > budding family historian, I made the mistake of asking my grandmother how > old she was, and where she was born. trust me, I never did that again . . > . > I digress) > > My mom is the oldest of her generation still living; there is no one else > to > ask. > > so, my question - what clues are there to finances? Ideas I have had: > > 1) man from the above couple died in 1959 (before I was old enough to do > something so naughty as to ask how old he was!). But there doesn't seem > to > have been a will; or not that my mom ever heard. > > 2) I don't have any experience in using land records. maybe that would > help - any suggestions on land ownership in Cambridge and Billerica say > 1900 - 1960 as a timeframe? > > any suggestions? > > oh, and I can't resist adding - I do remember this great grand dad; he is > among my earliest memories. I was quite young, maybe just 4. We were > visiting him at the Cambridge apartment. They had a huge dining room > table > with one of those crocheted tablecloths. On it was a small bowl with the > most incredible looking apples I had ever seen; and I knew my apples let > me > tell you; my favorites for sure. So I asked him if I could eat one. He > said no, they were wax. I said that was okay, I liked all kinds. He said > no, you can't eat it, it is wax. Well wax was fine with me if that was > apples . . . I couldn't understand, I had never met an adult that would > not > let me eat an apple. We had to be rescued from the conversation by the > intervening generations! what a way to be remembered - all the things he > did in his life - and the only thing I remember about him is that he would > not let me have an apple! > > > >