Columbia House Deep Dive Part 2

In the second part of this two part series, we're going down the rabbit hole of what MY past resident's lives were like. To receive these blog posts as newsletters once a month - subscribe here.

In the first part, we talked about the Tuckers. Ezra left the family and the house in the great depression and based on Ezra Tucker's career as a carpenter, census records, and the lack of floor plans at the time that match my house, we suspected he built it! Their daughter Helen found work as a bookkeeper and Maude is happily married and keeping home.

Let's pick up with The Rapers, an entirely different story that involves one of my favorites to tell about my old house.

When I first went to the library archives to ask for my address' Title Abstracts, the librarian handed it to me and said "Prepare to be bored!" and I most certainly was not with the story that told itself in the pages that followed. 

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The Rapers

Richard Raper was born in Indiana in 1893. The earliest I can find him is on a 1900 Census Record where he was one of 6 siblings. The earliest I can find Ida is in the 1910 Census in Urbana working as a maid. She was 22. In 1910, Richard was 16 and still working and living with his family in Indiana.

In 1917, Richard was drafted into World War 1. By the 1920 Census he was back in Indiana continuing work as a farm laborer. I have been unable to find Ida in a 1920 Census, but I know that by 1930 she had married and been divorced.

Now one might ask why I think these are the same people found in previous census records and city directories, despite the name differences and Richard's increased age here. Despite schooling being pretty regularly attended by this point, people were still taught to read purely by phonics. Census takers then were much like census takers now - just regular folks needed a temporary job. Many census takers - as well as individuals in labor fields - were not highly educated. They might not have known exactly how to spell their own name if they didn't complete 8th grade. The census taker themselves might not have heard correctly or known exactly how to spell a name. They just wrote it down to the best of their ability.

Because of this and having known Ida got married and divorced and that Richard had just finished being drafted into WWI, he might have been willing to fudge his age a little. They are both in the same occupations as precious census and city directories and live in the same area. Plus, there is another clue from the 1940 Census record that confirms this...

Oh, my what does 1940 bring to Ida and Richard Raper?

A new baby boy! Not even a year after they got married, a new baby was born to Ida and Richard. Baby Donald joins them in their residence in 1940 and they are now officially resident's of my old house! In that time, they hit the local newspapers a bit with Ida hosting a few birthday parties for a friend and in 1941 Richard registered his draft card. Ida is still a cook for a sorority on campus and Richard is still working as a laborer. Donald was the key to me finding and confirming that the Ida and Richard we see in the Census for 1930 are the same ones as who lived in my house!

Local City Directories reveal that the family continued to live in my old house from 1940-1945. What went on in those 5 years, we'll never know, because they don't turn up in newspapers or anything else, until my Title Deeds which tell the real story.

Unfortunately, Richard was caught committing adultery between November of 1944 and 1945 before he up and left in May. The fascinating thing about this title deed is not only the entire drama that is captured in the document, but that Ida did not claim Donald as Richard's son... This tells me he was probably the reason they married in the first place and conceived outside of marriage. The math just ain't mathing and they knew with the government involved, they'd be able to count as well. However, because of Richard's cheating, they won the house and all of it's furniture!

Sadly, it must have been too much to keep up with. By the 1950 Census, Ida and her son had moved to Pennsylvania and Richard had already remarried into a new family.

Although this family's time in my old house ended in sadness, it seems like things worked out for them. Ida took back her maiden name and so did Donald. Donald really seemed to thrive in his new High School based on his yearbook description. He stayed in the area, his own marriage lasting long and having many close friendships, according to his obituary. Although this is certainly not the family story we're used to hearing from the 1940s and 1950s, it seemed things worked out for the best!

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