School is out for the summer, and we're celebrating with a guest post from cousin Leanna that should help clear up the mystery of what happened to William Zardius Sly (1882–1954).
Oh my, Uncle Jack, where to begin.
Actually he was my great-uncle, the eldest brother of my paternal grandmother, Fanny Fern Sly Elder. (I’m sure retribution will hit me eventually for revealing her correct given name, Fanny Fern Sly. She hated ‘Fanny’. I’ve often wondered if she realized she’d probably been named for her great-grandmother, Francis/Fanny Cooper Meeker, or maybe for her mother’s sister, Fanny. She changed it to Fern F. early on.) But I digress. This is about Zardy, or to me, Uncle Jack.
Since I only heard first names of relatives as a kid, I didn’t know about this name change for a long time. Uncle Jack & Auntie Margaret would come from Chicago and visit Fern and her husband Cash almost every summer in the 1940s & early 1950s. They both loved to cook. They would work away in Fern’s kitchen during the day, making batches of food for us, or extra portions, which were put in the freezer. Auntie Margaret was from Virginia and her light Southern drawl was a joy to me. They always tolerated this little kid watching in the kitchen, since mom, dad and I lived next door. We lived in the old village of Eagleville, about 2 miles North of Bloomdale in southeastern Wood County; about 18 miles southeast of Bowling Green. Eagleville was an old village from the 1860s and 1870s and had been plotted. There were actually 2 or 3 lots between our houses, but Fern & Cash owned it all, so it was a great big yard for me to play in.
I use the birth date of 20 Sept. 1882 for William Zadius / Zardy Sly. That’s the one in the Callin Family History book, the one on his Masonic records with the Grand Secretary. Grand Lodge of A. F. & A. M. of Illinois, and the one on his World War II Draft Registration, filled out in 1942. (Isn’t it nice that those 3 agree?) This shows that the birthday of 20 Sept. 1882 for Zardy in the Callin History is the same as the birth dates of Uncle Jack who was a Mason and the Uncle Jack who filled out a World War II Draft registration.
This also means I have discounted his Dec. 1882 birth date in the 1900 Federal Census, Wood Co., OH, Washington Twp., Tontogany village, p. 234A, the 20 Sep 1880 date he gave on his World War I draft registration card, and the year 1881 in his obituary in the Oak Leaves. (newspaper) Oak Park, Illinois, 17 June 1954, p. 59. (quoted below)
Eventually I found out that Uncle Jack had actually been married to someone before Auntie Margaret, and they even had a child, a daughter. My parents told me that for some reason, Uncle Jack divorced his wife and changed his name to get away from his first wife and daughter. Since they were always tolerant of this little kid, I found it a bit hard to think of Uncle Jack not wanting his child.
My parents told me that in the beginning, Uncle Jack and Auntie Margaret so enjoyed their cooking they spent summers at resorts in Wisconsin and places in the North, then went to Florida resorts for the winter. Not sure when they did this since they apparently were settled in Chicago by 1918. It seems that Zardy had a bit of a wanderlust and I wonder if he felt marriage & a child would tie him down.
I have not been able to determine exactly when Uncle Jack changed his name. He was William Zardy Sly in 1902 when he married Jessie Stockstill and in 1903 when his daughter Lulu was born. I haven’t been able to locate him in the 1910 Census under either name. When his daughter got married in 1924, naturally she knew the name of her father but I doubt that he was at the wedding.
I was not aware of his career with the railroad so was surprised to read about those activities in 1906 and 1907 that Tad mentions in Mightier Acorns: William James Sly. He also mentions he lived in Detroit & Toledo. I’m eager to see those newspaper clippings. Actually, I have been able to find some newspaper reports from that time & place, since I was motivated to look, so I evidently found a few of them.
The first instance I can find of him using his new name, John St. Clair, is when he joined the Masonic Lodge in Illinois - Home Lodge # 508 in 1917 in either Chicago or Oak Park. His occupation was a cook. Interestingly enough, they had no mention of his other Masonic activities such as the Shriners and Knights Templar. Dad was positive he was & since dad was also a Mason, I would expect him to know, and we have photos of Uncle Jack in regalia.
He was definitely going by John St. Clair by fall 1918. He had met Margaret Rebecca Walters and they got married in Lake County, Indiana on 3 October 1918. Lake County is the northwestern-most county in Indiana and borders Cook County, Illinois. Interestingly, on 12 Sept. 1918, two weeks before they were married, when he filled out his World War I draft registration card, he listed his nearest relative as his wife, Margaret, living at 640 Barry Ave., which is the permanent address he gives initially on the card for himself. At that time he was working as a chef at the Ontario Hotel, where his employer was William Hogan. And they were still living on Barry in January 1920, when the 1920 Census was taken. They rented rooms at that location from the homeowner. At the time of the Census, he was a hotel chef, possible still the Ontario Hotel, and she was not working.
On the other hand, since the Census is taken every 10 years, and they are only renting, it’s plausible that they were spending summers cooking at resorts in the North and Florida in the South off and on over these years.
They were living in Chicago for the 1930 Federal Census. She was not working and Uncle Jack was a chef in a wholesale grocery. They were still renting rooms from a homeowner, but had moved to 1758 N. Linder Ave. Oddly, they had a boarder with them. Her name was Esther Gahagan. I don’t recognize her name as anyone in the family. I wonder how often renters, in a home, have a boarder with them.
By the 1940 Federal Census, they were living in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, at 1138 Erie, in their own home. Uncle Jack is a chef at a café and Margaret is a Pantry Girl at a Country Club.
On 27 April 1942, Uncle Jack, at age 59, dutifully filled out his World War II Draft Registration Card in Oak Park. This registration card was interesting as it finally gave an indication that the St. Clairs did move around for work from time to time. While it gives his residence as the same Erie St. address as in the 1940 Census, it does not ask for an occupation, just an employer. And that employer was Eagle Waters Corp., Eagle River, in Vilas County, Wisconsin. Now there’s a resort, and I found it’s in the way-North of Wisconsin, on the Wisconsin – Michigan U.P. border. Now I’m wondering if this is where Uncle Jack worked in summers – one of those Northern resorts in Wisconsin my Mom talked about, and Chicago was just sort of a home base.
Since I was born about 6 weeks before Pearl Harbor, I don’t really remember much until the mid to late 1940s. By then, Uncle Jack was the chief chef at the Cook County jail in Chicago. He prepared food for the warden and bailiffs. Auntie Margaret was the head salad maker at the fabulous Marshall Field store restaurant. According to Wikipedia, that downtown Marshall Field store was the first to provide ‘in-store’ dining facilities. That was their life – working with food. I remember going to Oak Park to visit a couple of times, with side trips to places like the Natural History Museum being included.
On 11 June 1954, Uncle Jack had a heart attack at work and died. I secured an obituary from the Oak Park Public Library:
Oak Leaves. (newspaper) Oak Park, Illinois.Copy of obituary obtained from the Oak Park (IL) Public Library, Oct. 1996.p. 59, June 17, 1954, (page and date from accompanying letter):"St. Clair - John St. Clair, 72, of 1138 Erie, died suddenly Friday of a heart attack at work, at 26th and California. He was long the chief chef for the warden and bailiffs there. He was born September 20, 1881, in Bowling Green, Ohio and had lived in the village a number of years. He was a member of Chevalier Bayard commandery, No. 52, K.T., of Chicago chapter, No. 127 R.A.M., and of Medinah Shrine. His widow, Margaret survives him, a brother, Sanford, and two sisters, Fern Elder and Fay Baumgardner. Masonic rites were accorded Monday at Drechsler's chapel, under the auspices of Home lodge, 508. Burial followed at Mt. Emblem cemetery."
June 17, 1954 was a Thursday so he died on Friday, 11 June 1954.
I thought it was interesting that an address was given as to the place he died, so I wrote back to the Library, inquiring about the address and the Cemetery and was told:
"Dear Mrs. Shaberly:The central court building for criminal cases in Cook county is located at 26th and California. This building is at the edge of a whole campus, of county buildings, including Cook county jail, offices for the county states attorney, sheriff's police, social services etc. The phrase 26th and California is used to refer to the court building and to refer to the whole complex.I don't believe I had heard of Mt. Emblem cemetery before but there are many, many cemeteries in the Chicago area. Mt. Emblem, I find, is in Elmhurst, a suburb about fourteen miles further west than Oak Park. Oak Park is on Chicago's western border.Mount Emblem Cemetery Assn510 W. Grand Ave.Elmhurst, IL 60126 Telephone 830 834-6080…"
The Cemetery is in DuPage County, just West of Cook County. I created Memorial #196924112 for John St. Clair on Find-A-Grave and requested a photo. Then I recently saw that there was a Memorial for him under his birth name with the correct dates, but the note: burial unknown. I’m mulling this over in my mind about whether to try and merge the 2 records. Since the burials are 3 states apart, I might just leave them as they are. I did submit a note to Find-A-Grave for Zardy with the AKA information and burial place. It is currently under consideration.
And in his obituary, the deception of his name was kept right to the very end. His brother Sanford is mentioned, but not his last name. And with the 2 surviving sisters married, their names don’t point to anyone named Sly. I’ve included the obituary here, to help tie the threads together.
Auntie Margaret stayed in Chicago for several years before moving back ‘home’ to Virginia. She died on 27 May 1977, in Staunton, Augusta Co., VA. She is buried in Oak Lawn Cemetery, in Bridgewater, Rockingham Co., Virginia, with her father, Joseph Wesley Walters, and one of her sisters, Jessie Walters Hamilton. I cannot find where her mother is buried, and not really sure when or where she died, just that it was before the 1910 Census.
And that’s pretty much what I know about William Zadius Sly AKA John St. Clair, my Uncle Jack!
Leanna Elder Shaberly
11 April 2019
Bowling Green, Ohio
No comments:
Post a Comment