Clara May (Kelly) Paul, 1874-1935

 

CLARA MAY (KELLY) PAUL was born on 25 November 1874 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to parents Samuel W. Kelly and Rachel (Forkum) Kelly.[1]  She was baptized on 14 March 1875 at the Scott Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[2]  She married Samuel Bartram Davis Paul [Sr] on 24 December 1894 at 20 years old in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and died 26 June 1935 in Aldan, Pennsylvania.[3]

Clara grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her parents, living at 1147 S. 13th Street in 1880.[4]  It appears that Clara grew up as an only child – there are no other church or civil records of siblings that have been found.[5]  Both of Clara’s parents died when she was young.  Mother Rachel passed on 18 March 1892 when Clara was 17 years old, and her father Samuel passed on 7 January 1895 when she was 20 years old, about two weeks after her marriage.  Because she was a underage at the time of her marriage, her father signed his mark, an “X,” on the “Consent to the Marriage of a Child” on 18 December 1894 from his residence at the Philadelphia Hospital:

Source: Kelly/Paul marriage license application
 

In 1900 Clara lived with her husband and in-laws, and a number of other family members, at 1334 Fairmount Avenue, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Also living here were the first two of her five children:  Miriam Clara and Samuel BD Jr.[7]  In 1910 the family had moved to 1204 Reno Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and two more children had come along:  Walter and Russell.[8]  Finally, their last child, Clara, was born in 1911.[9]

The family moved to the Philadelphia suburbs sometime before 1920.  Per the 1920 census, they lived at 1029 Tyler Avenue in Collingdale, Pennsylvania, then in 1930 at 225 Maryland Avenue in Aldan, Pennsylvania.[10]  The 1930 census is the first time an occupation is listed for Clara – she is a ‘helper’ at a towel supply company.  Her husband was a manager, probably at the same company.  It may have been a result of the Great Depression that pushed for Clara to work outside the home at that time.  They owned their home on Maryland Avenue, valued at $12,000, and may have had a mortgage to pay, or if not, they may have needed to supplement the family’s income.[11]

Clara died on 26 June 1935, at age 60, of carcinoma of the rectum, which she had suffered with for eight months, despite having had an operation to try to cure it in November 1934.  She was buried on 29 June 1935 at Fernwood Cemetery, Yeadon, Pennsylvania, in section 30, R-11, lot 5.[12]  There is no headstone to mark her grave.

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[1] Scott Methodist Episcopal Church (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), "Record of Baptisms," 1875, Clara May Kelly; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2451/images/40355_267304-00370 : viewed 25 Nov 2020), image 315.  See also 1880 U.S. census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Philadelphia, enumeration district (ED) 550, p. 4,  dwelling 41, family 46, Samuel Kelley household; NARA microfilm T9, roll 1185; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4244550-00282 : viewed 16 Oct 2020), image 4.  For Rachel’s maiden name, see Pitman Methodist Episcopal Church (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), "Marriage Record," for Samuel W. Kelley [sic] and Rachel F. Forkum (1874); image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2451/images/40355_267300-00109 : viewed 13 Dec 2020), image 110.

[2] Scott Methodist Episcopal Church, baptism, Clara May Kelly.

[3] For marriage, see Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Affidavit of Applicant for Marriage License, file no. 73615 (1894), for Sam'l B. D. Paul and Clara M. Kelly; Family History Library Film 004287335; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DKTS-7FP : viewed 13 Dec 2020), images 52-55.  For death, see Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate no. 57176 (1935), Clara May Paul; Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/5164/images/42342_647680_0924-01830 : viewed 24 Nov 2020), image 1830.

[4] 1880 U.S. census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ED 550, Samuel Kelley household.

[5] Searches of church records in Philadelphia from 1874 through 1894 with parents Samuel and Rachel resulted in no other children.  Searches of public Ancestry trees resulted in no siblings.  Other than the 1852-1855 period, civil records did not start until 1893 per Kay Haviland Freilich, NGS Research in the States Series: Pennsylvania 3rd edition (Arlington, Virginia: NGS, 2016), p.46.  By this time, Clara’s mother Rachel had passed. For Rachel Kelly’s death see City of Philadelphia, return of a death, death certificate no. 20742 (1892), Rachel Kelly; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DBR7-DR8 : viewed 24 Nov 2020), image 296.

[6] Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Affidavit of Applicant for Marriage License, file no. 73615 (1894), for Sam'l B. D. Paul and Clara M. Kelly.

[7] 1900 U.S. census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Philadelphia, ward 14, enumeration district (ED) 0248, sheet 2B, dwelling 31, family 36, Harry K. Paul household; NARA microfilm T623, roll 1457.

[8] 1910 U.S. census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Philadelphia, ward 14, division 16, enumeration district (ED) 0205, sheet 6A, dwelling 108, family 125, Samuel B. Paul household; NARA microfilm T624, roll 1391; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/4450132_00186 : viewed 16 October 2020), image 11.

[9] Pennsylvania Certification of Birth no. 137031 (1911), Clara May Paul; Department of Health, Division of Vital Records, New Castle; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/60484/images/48218_1421012671_0133-03238 : viewed 13 May 2022), image 3238.

[10] 1920 U.S. census, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Darby,  ward 1, enumeration district (ED) 157, sheet 3A, dwelling 42, family 43, Samuel B. D. Paul household; NARA microfilm T625, roll 1560; image, Ancestry  (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4385026_00909 : viewed 20 November 2020), image 5. 

[11] 1930 U.S. census, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Upper Darby, enumeration district (ED) 0176, sheet 1B, dwelling 15, family 15, Samuel B Paul household; NARA microfilm T626, roll 2034; image, Ancestry  (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6224/images/4639365_00536 : viewed 20 Nov 2020), image 2.

[12] Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate no. 57176 (1935), Clara May Paul; Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/5164/images/42342_647680_0924-01830 : viewed 24 Nov 2020), image 1830.  Specific plot information provided by Fernwood Cemetery email to Dawn Vanderwolf dated 5 August 2019.