Arlie Virginia Howell 1913 - 1934

• 1913 -- birth in October
• 1914 -- brother Garland is born
• 1916 -- sister Pauline Melissa is born
• 1918 -- sister Blanch is born
• 1920 -- sister Lois is born
• 1920 -- residence Boon Hill, Johnston, North Carolina
• 1920 -- Historical Insight, Sears, Roebuck and Company
• 1920 -- Historical Insight, Nationalization of 4-H programs
• 1921 -- brother Thad is born
• 1924 -- brother Paul Coolidge is born and died
• 1926 -- brother Roland is born
• 1928 -- brother Haywood is born
• 1930 -- residence New Hope, Wayne, North Carollina
• 1931 -- sister Alline is born
• 1933 -- sister Eula Evelyn is born
• 1934 -- untimely death and burial

She was on this earth for only 20 years.  She was the eldest of 13 children born to Fristus and Katie Howell.  Fristus was 41 years old and Katie was 18 when she was born.  I don't really have much information about her life, but what I have is here.

Arlie Virginia Howell
Mini Pedigree from Ancestry.com

1913 -- birth in October, the first of 13 children

I don't have a birth certificate for Arlie Virginia.  I suspect she was called by her middle name, since it seems that everyone else went by middle names.  I think they used the first name in formal instances, and the middle name was the more familial and informal name.
According to North Carolina Vital Records, birth certificates are available in 1913.  I tried to access a birth certificate, but am unable to at this time.  It isn't available for a Great Niece online, I have to fill out a form and send in a check (what? nobody uses checks anymore?).  If I do this, I will update this post, or create a new post.

1914 to 1920 

Brother Garland is born, and sisters Pauline, Blanch and Lois are born.  I don't have much information about this bit of time.

1920 -- residence Boon Hill, Johnston, North Carolina

1920 Census, Boon Hill Lower Precinct, Johnston North Carolina

In this census, which I covered in detail when I wrote about Fristus and Katie Watkins Howell here, we find the family of six living on a farm outside of Princeton, Johnston NC.  Arlie is six years old.

1920 -- Historical Insight, Sears, Roebuck and Company

Credit: Historic Catalogs of Sears, Roebuck and Co.
1896-1993/Ancestry.com

1920 -- Historical Insight, Nationalization of 4-H programs

October 7, 1921, Marlinton, West Virginia. Credit: Library of Congress
from Ancestry.com Historical Insights

Youth who participated in 4-H programs learned skills related to farm animals, soil, tools, cookery, and housekeeping. 

Did Arlie participate in 4-H programs?

1921, 1924, 1926, 1928 

Brothers Thadius, Paul Coolidge, Roland and Haywood are born in this decade.  She was aged 8, 10, 12, and 14 years old.  She was just 10 years old when her baby brother Paul Coolidge was either stillborn or died just after birth.  He is buried in Johnston County North Carolina.

1930 -- residence New Hope, Wayne, North Carollina

1930 Census, New Hope, Wayne County, North Carolina

Again, I covered this census in great detail in the blog about Fristus and Katie Watkins Howell, here. Be sure to check it out.  Arlie is 16 years old, here.

1931, 1933

1930 ad, Ford Tudor Sedan
Gasconade County Republican, Owensville MO
11 September 1930, page 5
Downloaded 21 March 2017 from Newspapers.com

Sisters Alline and Eula Evelyn are born when she was aged 17 and 19 years old when these little sisters were born.

1934 -- untimely death and burial

Nurse image, source unknown

No social security death index, it seems she didn't have a social security card.  It was a bit early for that.  She was only 20 years old when she died on a cold February day in Goldsboro, Wayne County North Carolina.  She is buried on the family plot in Johnston County NC.

1934 death certificate for Arlie Virginia Howell

• She died at Goldsboro Hospital in Goldsboro NC
• She lived at 609 Simmons street in Goldsboro
• Her birth date is 2 October 1913, Johnston County NC, age 20
• Occupation is worker in the Cotton Mill
• parents F.H. Howell born NC, Katie Watkins born NC
• Informant was Miss Louise Watkins who lived in Goldsboro NC.  This would be the Aunt Lou that my dad talked about.  She was Katie's sister, who was married to Ernest Buck.
• She is buried 2 February 1934 in Princeton, Johnston County, NC
• the cause of death is acute diffuse purulent peritonitis caused by an abortion.  This means the infection spread throughout the membranes of her abdomen and which then spread to her blood, she went into septic shock, her organs shut down causing death.  Apparently an autopsy was performed.  I cannot decipher the answer to the question "What test confirmed diagnosis?"

Gravestone for Arlie Virginia Howell
from FindaGrave
photo by A.Price

Later in 1934, there was a major strike at the cotton mill in Gastonia NC.  This is about a four hour drive from Goldsboro, today.  The National Guard got involved, using tear gas.  Here is one of several photos of that event.  Now that I've had a chance to peruse the photographs, there seems to have been several mills involved.  I can't include the photos here, but this is the first page of a search for this subject, check it out!

Arlie Virginia Howell 1934, 609 Simmons St
Google Maps view

Note the proximity of her parents who lived a few blocks away (toward the mid-upper right of the screenshot).  The Cotton Mill, known as Borden Cotton Mill, or Goldsboro Cotton Mill, or Wayne Cotton Mill, was a few block the other direction on Ash street, in the lower right corner of the screenshot.

Arlie Virginia Howell 1934, 609 Simmons St
Google Maps Satellite View

Arial view of the same house

Arlie Virginia Howell 1934, 609 Simmons St
Google Maps Street View

It looks like a cute little house, perhaps abandoned today, by the looks of it.  According to Realtor.com, it is 1800 square feet with 3 beds and 2 baths on a lot less than 8,000 square feet.

I checked the Goldsboro City Directory for 1934, and I did not find Arlie Virginia Howell.  I searched and found 119 Howells, both related and unrelated, but nothing for Arlie nor Virginia.  So, when I ran a search for the house number, it came up with two hits.  The first one, on page 120, is for Jason W. Herring and his wife Maggie T, a sheet metal worker for Roscoe G. Shipp.  His house is listed as 609 Simmons.  The second one on page 233 at the bottom is for Ruth W. Wilson who is renting the same address.  Hmmm.  the line above is Ruth W. Wilson renting another address on S. Herman.  Am I wrong in assuming that they are renting this place to live in?  Or, since she is renting two places, maybe SHE is the owner and is renting the places out?


I did find, in the same directory, page 307, that the Goldsboro Hospital was on 307 N. Herman in Goldsboro.  Let's check that address out.  My goodness, that hospital was only a block or three from Arlie's house.

Goldsboro Hospital 1934
Google Maps street view, image April 2017

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Resources

1. FindaGrave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46234901
2. Millican Pictorial History Museum, Textile Strikes 1934 North Carolina http://millicanpictorialhistorymuseum.com/product-category/textile-mill-events/1934-strike/
3. The General Strike of 1934 http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newcentury/5165
4. Borden Cotton Mill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borden_Manufacturing_Company
5. Realtor.com https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/609-Simmons-St_Goldsboro_NC_27530_M53617-63130
6. Goldsboro City Directory 1934 http://www.ancestraltrackers.net/nc/wayne/hills-goldsboro-city-directory-1934.pdf
7. 
   

Dorothea Dix Hospital 1960

There is a lot of information about Dorothea Dix Hospital.  

It was opened before 1850 and closed about 2000.

In an 1872 "Bird's Eye View" of Raleigh, the Dix Hill Asylum
(now Dix Hospital) was labeled simply
"Lunatic Asylum."
(Inset illustration in C. Drie,
"Bird's eye view of the city of Raleigh, North Carolina 1872."
from Learn NC, link below

But the most interesting information I gleaned from Katie Howell's death certificate is that she was either

1. taken to Dix Hill (as it was called) after she'd died at home, where the death was pronounced and the autopsy performed, or
2. she was already a patient at Dix Hill at the time of death.

If she died suddenly and was taken to the hospital on an emergency basis, I have no further questions.  Her death was sudden and unavoidable.

If she was already a patient at the hospital, there are a ton more questions I have.  Why?

Because Dorothea Dix Hospital was a mental hospital. 

Dorothea Dix Hospital Female Annex 1900s
"View of Female Annex, Dorothea Dix Hospital 1900.
From the General Negative Collection, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC."
from Flickr, State Archives of North Carolina

According to the Learn NC website,

"Traditionally, the mentally ill who could not be kept with their families became the responsibility of local government, and were often kept in common jails or poorhouses where they received no special care or medical treatment. Reformers sought to create places of refuge for the insane where they could be cared for and treated. By the late 1840s, all but two of the original thirteen states had created hospitals for the mentally ill, or had made provision to care for them in existing state hospitals. Only North Carolina and Delaware had done nothing."

"[In] 1856 that the facility was ready to admit its first patients. Dorothea Dix refused to allow the hospital to be named after herself, although she did permit the site on which it was built to be called Dix Hill in honor of her father. One hundred years after the first patient was admitted, the General Assembly voted to change the name of Dix Hill Asylum to Dorothea Dix Hospital."

Cherry Ames Rural Nurse 

On the wordpress site NC Archives, we find this information:

 

Dorothea Dix Hospital, formerly known as the The State Hospital at Raleigh, was named for Dorothea Dix (1802-1887), an activist who worked for improving conditions for the mentally ill in hospitals and asylums. Dix influenced North Carolina legislators to remove mentally ill inmates from prisons and to create a state institution where they could receive treatment. A location was chosen in the countryside a short distance outside of Raleigh, North Carolina . The first patient was admitted on February 22, 1856, and, fifty-one males and thirty-nine females were admitted during the next nine months. During the early twentieth century the hospital continued to add more buildings to the facility in addition to new patients. By the 1930’s there were over 2,000 patients. Situated on a 425 acre tract of land on the south side of the city of Raleigh, there are more than 120 separate buildings on the site, many of which were constructed during 1910-1930 and 1960-1980. The buildings are used for patient care, offices, shops, warehouses and other activities in support of the hospital. The photographs in this collection include images of the hospital’s buildings, facilities, staff, and residents. (1 box, ca. 3 linear feet.) 

This website includes some links that are broken, unfortunately.



From the Science Museum in UK, we find this explaination of women's mental issues in the 1950s and 1960s:

Feminism and Change:  Many women’s lives in the 1960s and 1970s were still organised around Victorian stereotypes of the loving mother and dutiful housewife. Women who did not behave ‘properly’ risked ending up in psychiatric care. ... Freud’s focus on sexual fantasies, and the fact that most of his patients were women, rehashed old ideas. It was similar to hysteria being labelled a ‘women’s problem’ that should be cured by finding a man.

Nurses and Mental patient

Patients discharged from the State Hospital in Raleigh suffered from the stigma associated with mental institutions, and having been a patient of that hospital.  In 1959 the name of the hospital was changed to the Dorothea Dix Hospital to honor Dorothea Lynde Dix.  It is incredible that legislators assumed that changing the name of the hospital would change people's perception of mental illness.

In the 1960s and 1970s North Carolina used federal funds to open a number of community mental health clinics to relieve the overcrowded state psychiatric hospitals. . As a result of these trends, a reevaluation and downsizing of the state mental health programs was undertaken. The populations of the four state psychiatric hospitals decreased from approximately 10,000 in 1964 to 2,700 by 1989. As patient populations continued to shrink at state hospitals, physicians began to offer more sophisticated treatments. Dorothea Dix Hospital, once the cornerstone of psychiatric care in the state, was scheduled to be closed in 2007. -- https://www.ncpedia.org/psychiatric-hospitals

The Questions

If Katie was in the mental hospital, it could be for a couple of reasons.  She could have genuine mental problems.  or she could have been sent there for some spurious reason.

Some reasons for admission to mental hospital include:

List of reasons for admission to an insane asylum
from the late 1800s
from dangerousminds.net

While this list is applicable for 1860s, I cannot find a list of reasons for a woman, a grandmother, to be admitted in the 1960s.  Author Wendy Wallace published an article about women's mental health.  She included an anecdote about her grandmother who, in the late 1960s, fell into serious depression after the sudden death of her husband.  She was too lonely and found it impossible to cope.  This is the ONLY story I found of this decade, and it makes me wonder if Katie was depressed?  Assuming, of course, that she was already a patient of the hospital at the time of her death.

In the late 1960s, my gentle grandmother was plunged into a serious depression after the sudden death of her husband from a heart attack. A daring and sporty young woman, who grew up in a lively family, she found the loneliness and grief of widowhood in her 50s unbearable.

1954 dresses, The News Herald, 10 December 1954, Newspapers.com

I was 11 or 12 when she became ill; the stigma around mental distress was stronger than it is now and my parents tried to protect me from it. But I noticed how Gran’s round shape changed to a drastically reduced outline and was aware of my parents’ worried conversations about her, of emergency phone calls and sudden dashes to see her in hospital, where, I later found out, she was admitted more than once after attempts on her own life.

My grandmother’s grief might today be recognised as such, and treated with bereavement counselling rather than being labelled ‘depression’, as it was in the 60s, and treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). However horrific the idea of ECT seems to my generation, which associates it with the shocking scenes in the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, how much worse, I wondered, would her situation have been 100 years earlier. Anyone who could persuade two doctors to sign certificates of insanity could put away inconvenient or embarrassing relatives in a madhouse. Women – with lower social status, and usually less power and money – were more vulnerable. -- By Wendy Wallace

An Answer

I have contacted family members to find out.  I essentially crowd-sourced my question on FaceBook, knowing several Howell kin were my friends, or were my Dad's friends.  I wrote,

I am a genealogist/Family Historian. I'm looking for information regarding the death of Katie Watkins Howell, wife of Fristus Howell, North Carolina. If you have any information, reply here or in a private message. Thank you. Feel free to pass this request along to any family member who might be able to help.

Dad replied that Great Gramma died just after he and my mother married, and is buried in the same Howell Family cemetery that her husband Fristus Howell and my grandmother Lois Howell Vidunas are buried.

A cousin added "She had an aneurysm. Died at Dorethea Dix hospital from what I’ve been told."  Dad didn't know this information.

I then asked if she'd been taken to the hospital or was she already there at the time of her death.  Cousin replied that she'd had an aneurysm and died at Dorothea Dix Hospital, had been staying at the hospital at the time of her death, and that she had had some mental problems in her later years.  

The Skirmisher, History of the United States by Ellis 1894

Dad mentioned that his grandmother had problems remembering things, of knowing what was going on around her.  I'm not sure what kind of mental problems she actually had, but I do know that her family was a loving family and they cared for her the best way they possibly could.  The doctors did not know very much about mental illness, what caused it, how it should be treated.  Even the definition of mental illness was debatable by today's standards.  I'm sure, if she were alive today, her treatment would look entirely different due to the research scientists did in recent years.  Mental illness is just as debilitating as physical illness is.  It can sap the vitality right out of you, and it takes a great deal of energy to get out of that great abyss.  Sufferers need lots of help.  From us all.

Credits

• Learn NC website
• http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newnation/4780
• Science Museum
• http://broughttolife.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/themes/menalhealthandillness/womanandpsychiatry
• dangerousminds.net
• http://dangerousminds.net/comments/list_of_reasons_for_admission_to_an_insane_asylum
• State Archives of North Carolina, Flickr
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/north-carolina-state-archives/6238475302/
• Wendy Wallace Article "Sent to the asylum: The Victorian women locked up because they were suffering from stress, post natal depression and anxiety"
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-2141741/Sent-asylum-The-Victorian-women-locked-suffering-stress-post-natal-depression-anxiety.html 
• 
  

Resources of interest
https://www.flickr.com/photos/north-carolina-state-archives/page5

Katie Elizabeth Watkins Howell Part 6 from 1950 to death in 1960

• 1955 husband died
• 1952 residence Alexandria Virginia
• 1954 Hurricane Hazel; Residence Goldsboro NC
• 1958 Brother Jasper died
• 1960 Mother died

1950, age 55 

death of  husband Fristus Haywood Howell, 23 June 1950, Goldsboro, Wayne NC

1950s

Katie Watkins Howell 1950s by Bill Vidunas (2)

She has her cane.  She has her handbag.  Don't mess with this gramma!

Katie Watkins Howell 1950s by Bill Vidunas (2)

I think this is the Elm Street address discussed in the previous post.

1950s Katie Watkins Howell
photo by William Vidunas

Whenever she went out, Katie always had her handbag with her.  The sign in the background says that Parking for C.H. Smith is 25 cents.

1951

Ida Warrick Watkins 1951 Howell Katie Watkins, Roland, Linda abt 5, Watkins Ida Warrick

1952, age 58 

Katie Howell 1952 residence
Alexandria Virginia city directory

605 South Fairfax Street, Alexandria Virginia
2014 Google Maps streetview

Unfortunately for me, Streetview shows only 605, 604, 603, 601 but not 602.  This is as close as I get.  It would have been on this side of the street, it is the even side.  it looks like a townhouse apartment complex.  I don't know if this is the building, or what.  She didn't live here very long.  Wonder what brought her out here in the first place?

1954, age 59 

Historical Insight -- Hurricane Hazel
In addition to information from Ancestry.com, I present for your viewing pleasure these photographs my father took in the aftermath of the storm.

1954 Hurricane Hazel dropped tree on
Blake and Ida Warrick house
on Daisy Street
photo by William Vidunas

While not technically for this page, it is sort of relevant when you want to talk about Hurricane Hazel of 1954.

1954, age 60 

Residence per City Directory -- Goldsboro NC

Katie Howell 1954
112 East Chestnut, Goldsboro, Wayne NC

This is the City Directory for Goldsboro NC in 1954.  You can see Katie, who is listed as the widow of "Fritz H."  Look down beside the small yellow arrow, and you see Lois Howell who is a waitress at Central Lunch, living at 246 Johnson Lane.  I believe this may be my Grandmother.

1954, age 60 

Katie Watkins Howell 1954 by Bill Vidunas

Katie Howell, 112 East Chestnut Street
Goldsboro NC (Red Circle)
2017 Google Maps

Above, we find Katie's 1954 address, the red circle.  The black circle on the left is Cecil and Lois Howell Vidunas Willoughby residence of 1956, and the black circle on the right is Fristus and Katie Watkins Howell residence of 1946.

Satellite View, 112 East Chestnut Street, Goldsboro NC
2017 Google Maps, Satellite View

A closer view of this address.  I think this area changed a lot, I don't see anything that resembles a former residential area.  

Street View image capture of area
from 2017 Google Maps Satellite View
image from PDF printout

Again, not much to see here, move right along.  Actually, that little park looks quite pretty.

1955, Goldsboro NC

1955 view of Goldsboro NC
photo by William Vidunas

1956

1956 Bill Vidunas, age 17
409 something, Goldsboro NC

I think this is the house where the kids sat for a Christmas photo

1956 Living Room
photo by Bill Vidunas

1958, age 63 

death of brother Jasper Frederick Watkins, 15 December 1958, Richmond VA

1960, age 65 

death of mother Martha Ida Warrick Watkins, 15 August 1960, Goldsboro, Wayne NC

1960, age 65 

105 East Pine Street, Goldsboro, Wayne NC

226-44-7862 ssn issued Virginia

death, 29 October 1960, Raleigh, Wake NC, buried Johnston County NC

Katie Watkins Howell 1960 Death Certificate

Katie died 2 months after her mother died, and 6 months before I was born.  She was only 64 years old, but died what must have been a sudden death.  She'd lived in Raleigh, Wake (?) County for the last four years.  Her death occurred within the city limits, and she was in Dorothea Dix Hospital at the time of death.  She usually lived at 105 East Pine Street, Goldsboro, Wayne County, NC, within the city proper.  She a housewife, and her social security number 226-44-7862 was issued in Virginia.  The information came from her Clinical records as well as from her daughter Mrs Pauline Edwards of Goldsboro, NC.

1962 Food Prices
The Mason City Globe-Gazette
Mason City Iowa
20 December 1962, page 21
downloaded September 2017
Newspapers.com

The cause of death was massive hemopericardium with cardiac tamponade.  A little anatomy lesson will help here.  The heart is a muscle that is surrounded by a protective sac called the pericardium.  "Peri" means around, and "Cardium" pertains to the heart.  Thus, the sac surrounds the heart.  It usually is filled with fluid which acts as a lubricant so the heart muscle can work without interference.  In Katie's case, she had some bleeding (the "hemo-" part of the word) into the pericardium, causing pressure to build up.  This build-up caused so much outside pressure on the heart that there was no more room to expand.  This is the "cardiac tamponade" part of the equation.  pronounced CAR-dee-akk TAM-poh-NOD.  Today, if it is diagnosed early enough, the Emergency room doctor can insert a large-bore needle to suck out (called aspirate) the excess blood, giving enough time for surgeon to find the leak and seal it up.

However, the cause of this bleeding was caused by "ruptured arteriosclerotic aneurysm of aortic arch."  The heart sends blood out to the body through a very large vessel called the aortic arch -- because it comes out from the top of the heart, arching down towards the rest of the body below -- it must withstand a lot of pressure.  She had an aneurysm of this aortic arch, which means that the layers of the aorta split apart causing a weakness and a bulge, and it then leaked between the heart and the sac.  She had advanced arteriosclerosis in most if not all of her arteries, which is also known as "hardening of the arteries."

Interestingly, she suffered from chronic pyelonephritis, and had had surgery to remove her right kidney at some time in the past.

She died at 0930 in the morning of October 29th at the hospital, and is buried at the family cemetery in Johnston County NC, 31 October 1960. In the next post, we will talk about Dorothea Dix Hospital.

1960 Katie Elizabeth Howell obituary

Smithfield Herald, Tue., Nov. 1, 1960

Death would have been October 29, 1960

Howell Funeral Service is Held

Goldsboro – Mrs. Katie Elizabeth Howell, 64, widow of F. H. Howell died Saturday.

The funeral was conducted Monday afternoon at 3 o’clock at Seymour Funeral Home.  The Rev. W. G. Batten officiated.  Interment followed in the Howell Family Cemetery in Johnston County.

Surviving are four sons, Garland and Haywood Howell of Alexandria Va., Thaddeus Howell of Springfield, Va., and Rowland Howell of Herndon, Va.; five daughters, Mrs. Earl Edwards of Goldsboro, Mrs. Harry Garris of Greensboro, Mrs. Cecil Willoughby of Brooklyn, N.Y., Mrs. Eddie Wright of Eaton Rapids, Mich., and Mrs. Eula Leibert of Danboro, Pa.; 17 grandchildren; one brother, Frank Watkins of Enfield; four sisters, Mrs. I. I. Strickland of Halifax; Mrs. Aaron McGuin of Durham, and Mrs. Walter Buck and Mrs. Ernest Buck of Goldsboro.

• "Mrs Earl Edwards" is Pauline Howell Edwards
• "Mrs Harry Garris" is Letha Blanch Howell Garris
• "Mrs Cecil Willoughby" is Lois Howell Vidunas Willoughby
• "Mrs Eddie Wright" is Ida Alline Howell Wright
• "Mrs Eula Liebert" is Eula Evelyn Howell Kiebert
• "Mrs I. I. Strickland" is Lessie Myrtle Watkins Strickland, wife of Isaac Isaiah Strickland
• "Mrs Aaron McGuin" is *** I don't have a name for this person ***
• "Mrs Walter Buck" is Beulah Watkins Buck
• "Mrs Ernest Buck" is Louise Watkins Buck

• {Batten was Laurenda Batten Howell’s name, mother of Fristus Howell.  – J’Anette V. Scott}

Does anyone have which Watkins sister married Aaron McGuin?

Fristus and Katie Watkins Howell gravestone
photo by Amanda Price

In a previous post I noted that Katie is listed in the census as born in South Carolina.  Well, her Social Security application also says she was born in Dillon South Carolina.  So, maybe the records saying she's born in NC are the anomaly.  This is why is is important to get primary sources of information if at all possible.



The following article is one I stumbled upon, and I thought it was interesting, although it happened after Katie's death.

Nuclear accident[edit]

Main article: 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash

In 1961, two 3.8 megaton hydrogen bombs were dropped accidentally on the village of Faro, 12 miles (19 km) north of Goldsboro, after a B-52 aircraft broke up in mid air. The two Mark 39 weapons were released after the crew abandoned a B-52 bomber which had suffered mid-flight structural failure. Both bombs went through several steps in the arming sequence, but neither one detonated.^[11] One bomb was recovered. Although much of the second bomb was also recovered, a missing piece containing uranium was believed to have sunk deep into the swampy earth and could not be recovered. The piece remains in land that the Air Force eventually purchased in order to prevent any land use or digging.^[12] In 2013, it was revealed that three safety mechanisms on one bomb had failed, leaving just one low-voltage switch preventing detonation.^[13]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldsboro,_North_Carolina

Katie Watkins Howell 3-gen Pedigree
from Ancestry.com

Katie Elizabeth Watkins Howell Part 5 from 1940 to 1949

• 1940 Census, 733 North Herman Street, Goldsboro, Wayne NC
• 1944 -- 916 East Elm Street, Goldsboro, Wayne NC
• 1946 -- 211 East Beech Street, Goldsboro, Wayne NC
• 1948 -- death of brother Clarence

1940s

Katie Watkins Howell 1940s Howell, Roland, Blanche, Katie Watkins

1940, age 45  Census

733 North Herman Street, Goldsboro, Wayne NC.  Living with Fristus.

Fristus and Katie Howell 1940 Census

• This family starts on line 14, where they rent the home at 733 North Herman Street.  Fristus is 65 years old, and Katie is 44 years old.  
• This census says she was born in South Carolina, but I think that is an anomaly.  
• This indicates that Katie engages in working at home, while Fristus is unable to work.  What happened that he can no longer work?  Is it his age?  Is it his knees?
• At the bottom is some additional information.  Fristus' usual occupation is as labourer for the County Laundry
• Several of their kids live with them, including 20 year old Lois.  Lois works in the City Laundry.  Did her father get her that job?
• Interestingly, the last child, Alford is not actually a Howell child.  He is, instead, the child of Lois and Joseph Vidunas.  Joseph is in the Army, Lois lives with her parents and, I guess he went by the name "Alford?"

1940 Residence

Fristus and Katie Howell 1940
733 North Herman Street, Goldsboro NC
2017 Google Maps Standard

Notice some of the places the Howell's lived.  Fairly close by, actually

Fristus and Katie Howell 1940
733 North Herman Street, Goldsboro NC
2017 Google Maps Satellite View

Pretty little area as of 2017.  I don't think it would have looked that much differently in 1940.  Different trees, smaller trees perhaps.

Fristus and Katie Howell 1940
733 (almost) North Herman Street, Goldsboro NC
2012 Google Maps Street View

I can't find the exact street view spot for this address.  This is the closest I can get.  Nothing to see here, move along.

About 1942, USA.
Credit: Anthony Potter Collection/Archive Photos/Getty

1941, age 46 

Historical Insight -- The United States enters World War II

From coffee to panty hose to chicken wire fencing, most common foods and supplies were rationed during World War II. Each American family was issued a ration book that contained an allotted number of coupons to purchase staples at stores.  

1944, age 50 

Residence 916 East Elm Street, Goldsboro, Wayne NC, per draft registration for William Roland Howell.

1944 WWII Draft Registration William Roland Howell, age 18

I include, for your perusal, the Draft Registration for Roland.  While it isn't directly Katie, it does include her as a person who will always know where he is, and her address -- which is also his address.  I wonder why he mentioned his mother, Mrs. F.H. Howell, and not his father Fristus H. Howell?

Fristus and Katie Howell 1944
916 East Elm Street, Goldsboro NC
2017 Google Maps

Fristus and Katie Howell 1944
916 East Elm Street, Goldsboro NC
2017 Google Maps Satellite View

Fristus and Katie Howell 1944
916 East Elm Street, Goldsboro NC
2012 Google Maps Street View

I think this is the house in a certain photo.  My dad took a photo of his grandmother Katie in front of a house in 1950.  That photo will be in the next blog as tribute to her, but I include it in this blog to examine the house itself.

Close up of same photo

Katie Howell 1950s
photo by Bill Vidunas

This is the original photo, and the next one is the detail I want to point out. If I use my imagination, I can see the porch of the house looks similar.  I checked out Trulia, found out this house was built in 1900, so it could, indeed, be the same house.  The current street view looks like a brick wall and I don't see that on this house.  In this photograph, Dad also pointed out the new convienience store in the background.  Sort of a dichotomy, the old and the new.  The street view doesn't give me that same store.  Does anybody know what this house address may be?  If so, let me know and I will correct this blog.

1945-1953
Harry S. Truman
33rd President

1945, age 50 

Historical Insight -- V-J Day

Impromptu outdoor displays of patriotism took place in
cities and towns across the United States on V-J Day.
August 14, 1945, UnitStates.
Credit: Hulton Archive/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

1946, age 52 

Residence per draft registration for Henry Haywood Jethro Howell -- 211 East Beech Street, Goldsboro, Wayne NC.  Once again, we have extracted an address for Katie Howell from another son's Draft card.  Henry Haywood Howell registered when he turned 18.

Fristus and Katie Howell 1946 Residence

And, once again, we see his contact person is Mrs F.H. Howell, not Fristus Howell.  So, let's look at this address.

Fristus and Katie Howell 1946 Residence
211 Beech Street, Goldsboro NC
2017 Google Maps, Standard view

Fristus and Katie Howell 1946 Residence
211 Beech Street, Goldsboro NC
2017 Google Maps, Satellite View

Fristus and Katie Howell 1946 Residence
211 Beech Street, Goldsboro NC
2017 Google Maps, Almost Street View

Fristus and Katie Howell 1946 Residence
211 Beech Street, Goldsboro NC
2012 Google Maps, Street View

Whelp, nothing to see here, move along.  It's all industrial, now.  NEXT!

Government-sponsored posters encouraged Americans
to stay positive and reminded them that the ration system
supported the boys fighting abroad.
About 1942. Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

1946, age 52 

Historical Insight -- WWII Rationing in the United States.

1948, age 53 

death of brother Clarence Arthur Watkins, 30 January 1948

Katie Watkins Howell 3-gen Pedigree
from Ancestry.com

1. https://www.trulia.com/homes/North_Carolina/Goldsboro/sold/1000427041-916-E-Elm-St-Goldsboro-NC-27530
2.