Viola Myrtle Pierce. Missing from 1930 & 1940 US Census.

[Lisa in California]

Have you been able to find Abner in documents besides the 1910 census and a couple of directories?  (I haven't)

If you've not been able to find him, could he have used his middle name for other documents?  Perhaps he wasn't really 55 years old in 1910 -- could he have been quite a bit younger or older than Arvilla, and told people he was 55?  I tried searching for just Br*gg* and born within 10 years of 1855 and can't find him besides the 1910 and a couple of directories.  There is another Abler Briggs, but he appears to be a different man.

[KiwiRose]

Lisa,

Thanks for your continuing help in my quest to find Viola Pierce nee Moore. No, I have not been able to trace Abner L Briggs anywhere other than when he was the informant on the record of Henrietta Arvilla’s July 1915 death in Salt Lake City.

In order to find Abner I have even looked, unsuccessfully, for Henrietta Arvilla’s daughter, Maria Adelaide, (Francis Pierce’s sister) who married a Patrick Ferry. Maria was possibly the mother of the 1910 Census grandchildren Marguerite and Theodore who were on the 1910 Census with Abner and Arvilla. My only luck has been to find a Rootsweb Word Connect tree where I found information about Francis’s sister, Maria Adelaide. The tree mentions Henrietta Arvilla and her two children but it seems to have no further information beyond the marriage of her two children and the birth of the grandchildren, Marguerite and Theodore Ferry.
 
My head has been spinning at times trying to trace Viola and Francis Pierce during their missing years and also Viola’s death. Viola, under the name of Pierce, does not appear to have died in Washington State, California or Oregon.  I have even looked in British Columbia! These states are the only states where Viola had close Moore relatives. I am beginning to suspect that maybe she remarried, possibly in Oregon, after Nov. 1937. Unfortunately Ancestry’s Oregon marriage indexes available online, for the years I would be interested in viewing, have a gap between 1924 until 1946. The Oregon State Archives Marriage index does not have a Viola Pierce marriage recorded.
I did get excited when I found a Viola M Pierce in the US City Directories living in Martin, Spokane but on further investigation her middle name turned out to be May.

In spite of all the help and suggestions from Rootschatters, Viola’s 1930 and 1940 Census entries and her death remain hidden.  I may have to be patient and wait until  the Oregon marriage indexes gap years  are filled or another of her siblings obituaries appear online or another record source appears  before I can find her. 

Kind regards,
KiwiRose.

[Lisa in California]

ErrorSPAM REPORT THIS POST AS SPAM (Use 'Report to Moderator'). DO NOT CLICK ON ANY LINKS IN THIS POST. DO NOT REPLY TO THIS PERSON.]

Viola aged 35yrs was last found in the 1920 US Federal Census living with her husband, Francis Pierce, aged 37yrs at 914 19th Street, Commercial, Anacortes, Skagit, WA.  There are apparently no children born to this couple. Viola’s parents’ birthplaces are correct – Ireland and Illinois as is her birthplace which was Washington.  Francis was born in Minnesota.

1920 Anacortes, Skagit, Washington Census
Francis Pierce, age 37, born Minnesota, father born Maine, mother born Iowa

...looked unsuccessfully for Henrietta Arvilla’s daughter, Maria Adelaide, (Francis Pierce’s sister) who married a Patrick Ferry. Maria was possibly the mother of the 1910 Census grandchildren Marguerite and Theodore who were on the 1910 Census with Abner and Arvilla.

December 24, 1899 - Tacoma, WA - Marriage
Patrick J Ferry and Marie Adelaide Pierce

1910 Seattle Ward 11, King Co., WA
Adner & Arvilla Briggs
Marguerite F, granddaughter, age 13, born Washington, father Pennsylvania, mother Iowa
Theodore F/T, grandson, age 9, born Washington, father Pennsylvania, mother Iowa

A lot of the information does not match up with the above, but is there any chance that this family could be "your" Patrick and Maria Adelaide?   

Washington Birth Records - Seattle, King, WA
Ferry, born December 14, 1900, Seattle, Male
Mother:  Nannie? [b]Pierce[/b], age 23, born Minnesota
Father:  P. J. Ferry, age 39, Miner.  Born Pennsylvania
The "date of return" is December 15, 1900

A lot of information is "off" from your family, but...
1900 Seattle Ward 08, King, WA
Patrick J Ferry, born Feb 1861, age 39, married 4 years, born Pennsylvania, parents born Ireland, Miner
Minnie, born October 1868, age 31, married 4 years, mother of 1 child, born Minn, father born Maine, mother born Minn
Margaret, born October 1886, age 13  , born Washington, father born Penn, mother born Minn
220 Second Avenue West

I know some of the dates are really off, but it seems rather coincidental with Minnie's birthplace of Minnesota and her father's birthplace of Maine (which is the same info for Francis).

Patrick Ferry was apparently buried in Seattle.  Born February 1861.  Died June 29, 1908
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01hfw/

[Hopefully I've typed correct dates and places.  I'm not taking the time to proof-read.]   

[Lisa in California]

...Henrietta Arvilla (nee Shaw) remarried in 1903 to an Abner L Briggs.  Francis Pierce and Viola were married, “at the home of the groom’s parents” (i.e. must be mother and stepfather Briggs) in Seattle in 1904. Francis’s mother died in July 1915 in Salt Lake City.  Abner L Briggs was the informant. Any obituary for Henrietta Arvilla, if found, would not help fill in Francis and Viola’s missing years. 

The 1910 Census has Adner(sic) and Arvilla Briggs still in Seattle with two Briggs grandchildren and Arvilla’s mother.

I don’t know what happened to Abner L Briggs at this stage. If he has an obituary somewhere it may prove to be helpful.

Apparently, Abner was living in Centralia, Lewis Co., Washington in 1914-1915
Abner L Briggs, Engineer, (spouse Henrietta) 411 S Diamond
http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/B279F80B0AC31FA1CBC3BB897D07CBC7

[Lisa in California]

Abner is mentioned in the 1914-1915 City Directory (Centralia), but I found an entry in a 1915 Salt Lake City Directory
Abner A Briggs, eng.  431 E 4th South
 

Henrietta's death record shows a different address: 457 E. 4th So.   They had apparently lived there for 2 1/2 years.

While Salt Lake City is a beautiful city, I wonder why the Briggs decided to move there -- for work perhaps?  It's fairly far away from Washington State.   

[Lisa in California]

Francis’s mother died in July 1915 in Salt Lake City.  Abner L Briggs was the informant. Any obituary for Henrietta Arvilla, if found, would not help fill in Francis and Viola’s missing years. 

No help for finding Viola, but since it was found, I thought I would post it.
Obit for Henrietta Briggs.
http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/slh14/id/96538/show/96615/rec/16

and
http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/slh14/id/96735/show/97149/rec/17
It mentions "some of the family coming from Chicago, Ill. to attend the funeral services."

[KiwiRose]

Lisa,

I cannot believe all the information that you have found regarding Francis’s Pierce/ Briggs side whilst I have been going round in circles getting nowhere. As Francis is only the husband of a family member, the search is not helped by my very limited knowledge of Francis’s background. ( From a Rootsweb World Connect tree.)

Thank you so much for posting the links and all the research you have done to help me.  I am amazed that you found the death and funeral notices for Henrietta Arvilla.

   Maybe I should refocus back onto my Moore line and search once more for obituaries of the other three siblings of Viola. Over the years the only obituaries I have managed to find have been for Viola’s mother (1933) and one sister (1969/70).

 The earliest sibling died in Vancouver, BC, 1932, then another in Tillamook, Oregon, 1939, and lastly a sister in 1954 Aberdeen, Grays Harbor, WA. The first two siblings were only short term residents of the places they died in so it is possible that no obituary was placed in the local newspaper. The other stumbling block is that, so far, I have not found any newspapers online for Grays Harbor.  I must be patient. All brick walls eventually get knocked down.

Kind regards
KiwiRose.

[KiwiRose]

2020 update to April 2016 thread

Viola’s still missing in the 1930 and 1940 US Census but …………

At last I have had a breakthrough in my search for what happened to Viola Myrtle Pierce, nee Moore, born 18 June, 1884 in Sedro Woolley, Skagit, WA after last finding her as a witness at her brother’s wedding in Nov, 1937, in Tillamook, Oregon. All thanks to Familysearch’s "Missouri, Jackson County Voter Registration Records, 1928-1956,".

It seems that the widowed Viola married twice in Jackson County, Missouri, once on 1 Dec 1938 to a Gomer G Griffiths and on 12 Sept 1948 to a George Robert Simpson. Viola remained married to George Robert Simpson until her death in Independence, Jackson, Missouri on 15 Sep 1966. (Her father’s name is correct.)

Viola is voter registered as Viola Griffiths on Mar 8 1939. Address 333 S Grand. 16th Precinct, Blue Township, Jackson, Missouri.

The marriage to Gomer Griffiths must have been very short as by 19 July 1939 a G. G. Griffiths has married again in Jackson, Missouri.

Viola is voter registered under her Pierce surname on date 1 Oct 1940. Address 411 South Grand, 16th Precinct, Blue Township, Jackson, Missouri. Remarks: Off by canvass 18 June 1942. The entry has a line right through it.

The date of the 1940 Us Census was 1 April 1940 so did Viola hide under the bed from the enumerator? Based on the Missouri voter registration Viola/Violet should have been in the 16th Precinct, Blue Township unless she was on holiday somewhere.
However, no matter how I search for Viola (aka Violet) Pierce or Griffiths, with or without a surname etc., I have been unable to find her anywhere in Jackson, Missouri or anywhere else in the 1940 US Census on FamilySearch.

Whilst I am happy to have found out what happened to Viola, I would still love to find her in the 1930 and 1940 US Census.

Maybe a fresh look by Rootschatters will help me break through my two Census brickwalls.

Kind regards,
KiwiRose.

[KiwiRose]

Oh dear, what is the Report as Spam notice!!
Lisa of California 12 April 2016

A worried and puzzled,
KiwiRose