Content of the Record:
The relevant portion of the census of 1910 is presented below for readability. This record, found early in my search, has always been a puzzlement to me. It shows Kate Beaver listed as a head of family and living with her daughter Edith on Wickliff Street in Newark. The ages of both are off but there can be no question these are my ancestors. Kate is said to be 50 years old and immigrated in 1870. Kate and her parents are all from Ireland. Kate is said to be a peddler of shoestrings.
Daughter Edith is said to be 30, married 14 years, and the mother of four children. In this record, she is said to have been born in New Jersey (not New York) and both her parents are said to have been born in Ireland.
Conclusions and Speculations:
Wickliff St. is near central Newark adjacent to the present campus of Rutgers.
My puzzlement over this record was accompanied by a degree of sadness. Why was Edith living with her mother and not her husband and children? Was there a problem with the marriage. I have so few facts about my Great-Grandparents that this was a possibility. Additionally, a peddler of shoestrings seems not to offer a substantial livelihood and suggests poverty.
Of course, the census takers would gather information from whoever was available. Some of the confusion about ages and places of birth may reflecs such a possibility. Alas, as will be shown in the next records, there was a substantial degree of unhappiness in this family.