The Case of the Disappearing Daughters, Part 3

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this post, I talked about my search for the daughters of James M. Galt James M. Galt (1849-1939). Part 1 showed how the probate record of the girls’ maternal grandfather David West (1823-1898) provided key information that allowed me to complete the biographies of all but one daughter. Part 2 showed how information in a record set that became available after I completed the first part of the research, Ancestry‘s “U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007,” enabled me to pick up the trail of the third daughter, Nellie Florence (Galt) Patterson Jamm Majors.

I didn’t expect to publish Part 3 so soon, but I received an early Christmas gift from a friend who read the “Disappearing Daughters” posts, Kimberly T. Powell. Kimberly, who is a powerful researcher as well as a friend, messaged me that while she was on a phone call she found the marriage license application of Joseph Jamm (indexed as “Jamin”) and “Nelle F.” Patterson, filed 8 June 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri. The image and index entry for the application are contained in Ancestry‘s “Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002” collection.[1. St. Louis, Missouri, marriage license application, (1916), Jamm-Patterson; digital image, “MIssouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002,” Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 December 2017), St. Louis > Record images for St Louis > 1916 > image 463 of 1033.]

The names and ages of the couple filing the application–28 for Joseph and 30 for “Nelle”–match the known ages of Joseph Anton Jamm and Nellie Galt. Joseph Jamm was known from city directory entries and naturalization records to have resided in St. Louis between 1911, when his Baltimore passenger list entry reported that he was traveling to join a sister there,[2. Manifest, S.S. Neckar, December 1911, stamped p. 252, line 23, Joseph Jamm, age 23; database and images, “Baltimore Passenger Lists, 1920-1964,” Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 December 2017).] and 1917, when he appeared in the St. Louis city directory.[3. Gould’s St. Louis (Missouri) Directory for 1917 (St. Louis, Gould Directory Co., 1917), p. 1114; digital images, “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 December 2017), Missouri > St. Louis > 1917 > St. Louis, Missouri, City Directory, 1917 > image 561 of 1532.] St. Louis was also the place of residence of Nellie’s sister Maud (Galt) Myhre, who had moved there from Silver City, New Mexico, sometime between 1900 and 1910.[4. 1900 U.S. census, Grant County, New Mexico, population schedule, Silver City, enumeration district (ED) 53, sheet 5B, dwelling 137, family 138, Oswold (sic) G. Myhre, Maude Myhre; database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 December 2017). 1910 U.S. census, St. Louis (independent city), Missouri, pop. sch., St. Louis Ward 11, ED 169, sheet 4B, dw. 65, fam. 99, Oliver (sic) G. Myhre, Maud M. Myhre; database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 December 2017).]

Kimberly also found Joseph and Nellie in the 1920 census, still residing in St. Louis, where her sister Maud Myhre also continued to reside.[5. 1920 U.S. census, St. Louis (independent city), Missouri, pop. sch., St. Louis Ward 13, ED 269, sheet 15A, dw. 189, fam. 316, Joseph Jamm, Nelle Jamm; database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 December 2017). 1920 U.S. census, St. Louis (independent city), Missouri, pop. sch., St. Louis Ward 28, ED 581, sheet 8A, dw. 123, fam. 190, Olaus G. Myhre, Maud G. Myhre; database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 December 2017).] This entry nicely filled in a large blank spot in Nellie’s life story, which now appears as follows:

1883–Nellie Florence Galt was born in Mitchell County, Iowa.
1885–Nellie Galt was enumerated in the census household of her father James Galt in Otranto, Iowa.
1895–Nellie Galt was enumerated in the census household of her father James Galt, who had moved to Austin, Minnesota.
1898–Nellie Galt lived in Austin, Minnesota.
1900–Nellie Galt was enumerated in her father’s household in Austin, Minnesota,
and also in the household of her married sister Lulu (Galt) Anderson in Stearns County.
1902–Nellie Florence Galt married Fred Leroy Patterson in St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota.
1905–Nellie F. Patterson lived in St. Paul, Minnesota with her husband Fred L.
Patterson.
1908–Fred L. Patterson left St. Paul for Bay City, Michigan, moving on from there to Dallas, Texas; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Houston, Texas, marrying again and raising a family.
Between 1905 and 1916–Nellie F. Patterson left St. Paul and traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, where she met and married an Alsatian immigrant, Joseph Anton Jamm in 1916.
1920–Nellie F. and Joseph A. Jamm lived in St. Louis, Missouri.

1921–Nellie came to Portland, Oregon.
1923–Nelle Jamm, born in Austin, Minnesota, was recorded as the wife of Joseph Anton Jamm in a declaration of intention filed in Portland, Oregon.
1924-1928–Joseph A. and Nell/Nell F/Nellie/Nellie F Jamm, manager of the Grand Oak Apartments, lived in Portland, Oregon.
1930 and 1931–Nellie F Jamm, manager of the Grand Oak Apartments, lived in Portland.
1933–Joseph Anton Jamm, husband of Nellie Jamm, died in St. Louis, Missouri.
1934–Nell Jamm, widow of Jos. A., lived in Portland.
1935–Nell Jamm lived in Portland.
1940–Nell Jamm was enumerated in the census household of George “Major” in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon. As Nell Majors, she applied for a Social Security Number in December of that year.
1942–Nell W. (sic) Majors was named as a person who would always know the address of George Washington Majors.
1947–Nell Majors died in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon.

Thank you, Kimberly!

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