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. 
   

Fristus and Katie Howell part 2, 1920-1929

• 1920, Lower Boon Hill Census
• 1920, birth of daughter Annie Lois Howell
• 1921, birth of son Melvin Thadius Howell
• 1924, birth and death of son Paul Coolidge Howell
• 1924, death of sister Mary Catherine Howell
• 1926, birth of son William Roland Howell
• 1928, birth of son Henry Haywood Jethro Howell
• 1929 Historical Insight -- The Great Depression

1920 Census

Fristus and Katie Elizabeth Watkins Howell
1920 NC Census

1920 Census, Boon Hill, Lower Precinct, Johnston County North Carolina.  Dated 21 January 1920

• Start at Line 70.  Farm, owned free and clear.  
• Frrist (sic) Howell, Head, white male, age 46, married.  Unable to read nor write.  He was born in North Carolina as were both his parents.  Speaks English, is a Farmer on his own General Farm.
• Kattie Howell, wife, white female, age 24, married.  able to read and write, born in NC, both parents born NC.  Able to speak English, not employed.
• Artie Howell, daughter, white female age 6, single.  born NC.    Able to speak English, not employed.
• Garland Howell, son, white male age 4.    born NC.  
• Pauline Howell, daughter, age 3.    born NC.  
• Letha Howell, daughter, age 1.    born NC.  

Screenshot of Boon Hill NC.  The lower precinct would be south of the highway, borders the Neuse River.

Boon Hill NC
from google Maps 2017

This is an 1896 newspaper article describing how the township was divided for voting purposes.

Upper_and_Lower_Boon_Hill_precincts_1896 (1)
from Newspapers.com

1920, age 47

Birth of daughter Annie Lois Howell, 26 February 1920, Princeton RFD, Micro Twp, Johnston County NC


This is a photo of Fristus and Katie Howell, with their son and granddaughter Henry Howell and Wilma Gray Howell in Gastonia NC.  Wilma was in hospital for a long time, I think with an injured leg.

Update -- My dad tells me Wilma Gray had one leg longer than the other, and the surgery was to "balance things out."  Her brother Joe had the same condition.  Sounds like it is genetic?

Fristus and Katie Howell with
Henry Howell and Wilma Gray Howell
Gastonia NC, photo from Amanda Price

1921, age 49

Birth of son Melvin Thadius Howell, 27 October 1921, Johnston NC

1924, age 51

Birth of son Paul Coolidge Howell, 7 January 1924, Boon Hill, Johnston, NC

Death of sister Mary Catherine Howell, 28 April 1924, Johnston County NC

Death of son Paul Coolidge Howell, 27 May 1924, Boon Hill, Johnston NC

1926, age 53

Birth of son William Roland Howell, 13 March 1926, Wayne County NC

1928, age 58

Birth of son Henry Haywood Jethro Howell, 18 May 1928, Wayne NC

Fristus Howell 3 gen pedigree
from Ancestry.com

1929 Historical Insight -- The Great Depression

The Stock Market Crash of 1929 propelled the United States into the worst hard times: the Great Depression

Credit: MPI/Archive Photos/Getty Images
from Ancestry.com

October 24, 1929, was one of the darkest days in American history. On Black Tuesday, the hopeful, prosperity of the Roaring Twenties came to an abrupt end when the stock market crashed. Suddenly, the United States, and the world with it, was propelled into the Great Depression. Americans began withdrawing their money from banks, causing them to fail. Industrial production came to a standstill and unemployment skyrocketed. Unable to pay their bills, hundreds of thousands of Americans became homeless. By 1933, 15 million were without work and almost half of all U.S. banks had shuttered. To make matters worse, a historic drought caused widespread farmland erosion across the Prairie, precipitating the Dust Bowl. The “only thing we have to fear is fear itself” declared incoming President Franklin D. Roosevelt during his 1933 inauguration. Immediately he set to work rebuilding the country. Through a series of federal programs, he launched the New Deal, which revived banks, created millions of jobs, and helped Americans from going hungry. Slowly, the economy picked up, and with the outbreak of World War II in 1939, factories across the United States kicked into high gear, propelling the country out of the worst economic depression in its history.

Media Gallery

Hundreds of thousands of Americans relied on soup kitchens and charity for meals during the Great Depression. February 1931, Chicago, Illinois. Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

 

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Dust storms wreaked havoc on farms across the American heartland, caused the closure of entire towns, and prompted hundreds of thousands to flee their homes for greener pastures along the West Coast. Many became migrant farmers in California. April 1936, Cimarron County, Oklahoma. Credit: Arthur Rothstein/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

 

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Because so many Americans were unable to pay their bills, evictions became widespread. Many built makeshift homes, dubbed “Hoovervilles” because of the outgoing president’s inability to combat the growing poverty. Condemned as unsightly, some like this shantytown in the nation’s capital, were burned to the ground. 1932, Washington, D.C.. Credit: Signal Corps photographer/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

 

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Though the vast majority of the jobs created by President Roosevelt during the Great Depression were for unskilled laborers, he also employed artists to document life across the country. This photograph of a migrant family escaping the Dust Bowl was shot by Dorothea Lange and has become an iconic work from the era. 1936, Nipomo, California. Credit: Dorothea Lange/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain