It was Free Access To 1930 Census Weekend at Ancestry.com. Some surprises. My grandmother's mother, sister, and niece lived right around the corner from Harry and Ruth in Lakeville. Her half-uncle had a cottage on Conesus Lake. It must have made for some rollicking Thanksgivings, what with all Harry's people trooping through too. But everybody hunted, so there was plenty of squirrel stew to go around.
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My great-grandmother was born Anna Sans in 1864. She was the only child of her mother's second marriage, to George Sans. Younger than George by 8-10 years, Anna's mother, Sophia, was born in Germany (Baden) in 1824, emigrated to the US in 1852, and had two children from her first marriage, to a man surnamed Nelson. Son John F. Nelson was born in Rochester in 1855, daughter Louise came along in 1858.
George Sans was also born in Baden. In Rochester City directories, beginning in 1861, George is found working in a saloon, then a meat market; next he's a steward in Rochester's first skyscraper, the Powers Building. They lived at 27, then 21, then 40 Martin Street. The Bausch & Lomb factory was a block away.
In 1885, George's occupation is hack driver. Patrick Punch also drove a hack. Same neighborhood. Patrick's son and George's daughter may have met because their fathers knew each other. Or it could have been that both families attended St. Bridget's Church, then located on Gorham Street, at the end of Martin Street. For the Sans family, it was much closer than St. Joseph's, the German Catholic church. Mass was in Latin, it mightn't have mattered what language they spoke at home.
In a history of St. Bridget's, established in 1854 to serve "the Dublin District" of Rochester, William Punch is identified as one of the key players in its founding. Since William V. Punch wasn't born yet, and his father's name was Patrick, this feeds my suspicion that Patrick had a father and/or a brother named William. It suggests why, with all those Williams in the family, he gave his son the distinctive middle name Vincent, and why my great-grandfather was always known as William V. Punch. This V. middle initial became the center of each of his children's names as well: Raymond Vincent, born 1890, Ruth Vandia b. 1895, and Rena V., b. 1899.
Growing up, I knew that William V. had died in a railroad accident when Gram was little. I assumed that he'd worked on the railroad. When I started investigating census records, I saw that his occupation was salesman. So I figured he was a salesman for the railroad. Finally I found the 1902 newspaper article about his death (Mortuary Matters). William V. never worked on or for the railroad, he was just walking on the tracks at 4 in the morning and a Lehigh Valley freight train mowed him down.
"Punch had been employed at the Glenny store for the last seven years and had charge of the picture frame department there. He was formerly with the Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Company in its picture frame department, which business he had followed all his life."
In the 1880 city directory, Anna Sans, age 16, has an occupation: frame maker.
So finally, it occurs to me that William met Anna through their mutual line of work. Framing. I like this picture.
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