52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks–Week #9–Robert Walton Hall–1907-1987–My husband’s uncle–Part 2

Now, where were we?  Oh yes, Robert had just married Alice Evelyn Bullock on 15 Jul 1929 in San Diego, California.  They were married at St. Vincent’s church by Rev. Thomas Morris.  Please read Part 1 of this story here.

The next time I find information about Robert W. Hall is in a San Diego newspaper.

ROBERT HALL HANDCUFFED IN CONSCRIPTION EFFORT DURING ALPINE FIRE – October 1929

What the heck is that about?

Turns out there was a pretty bad fire in Alpine, here in San Diego County, in October 1929.  The fire seemed to have gotten worse and worse as the days went by.  They had it under control and then lost it again.  There are so many articles about this incident on Genealogy Bank, that I don’t have time to read them all.  The one that caught my eye was this one.  During this time they were conscripting (forcing) citizens to fight the fire. It seems as if there were not enough fire fighters.

 

“Robert Hall who for more than two years has been employed at Price garage, Second & E. streets, declares that Deputy Sheriff Blake Mason and another officer had handcuffed him at the height of the Alpine blaze, dragged him into a car and released him only when his employer telephoned to Sheriff Cooper.”

Here are more headlines from this time in San Diego history





Robert remained in San Diego for the rest of his life.  I next find him working as a Salesman in the oil industry in the 1930 census. His wife, Alice is working as a Directory Clerk for the telephone company.
 


On 16 Sep 1932, Robert and Alice have their only child, a son, Robert Walton Hall.

California Birth Index, 1905-1995 
Name:Robert Walton Hall            
Birth Date:16 Sep 1932           
Gender:Male           
Mother's Maiden Name:Bullock           
Birth County:San Diego

In 1934 and 1938 Robert is shown in the San Diego City Directory Listing.  On both occasions his wife, Alive Evelyn is also named with him.

However, by the time of the 1940 census, Robert is living in the home of his parents, Charles & Daisy, along with his younger brother, Gordon.

He’s working at an Auto Park and the enumerator lists him as divorced.


The next time I locate Robert is in the San Diego city directory listing in 1943.  He’s now living at 4038 4th with his second wife Cornelia K. Hall and his occupation is United States Army.  That area on Fourth Ave. is all commercial today.


As far as a divorce for Robert & his first wife, Alice Evelyn, I have not found one.  Although that event must have occurred between 1938 and 1943, based on the records I have located.  

My husband’s mother kept a record of family births and anniversaries.  In that book is the marriage date for Cornelia K. and Robert W.  She lists only June 24th, with no year.  That’s another record I have yet to locate.

I was able to find a high school yearbook for Grossmont High School here in San Diego County, for the year 1932.  Cornelia’s senior photo is in that annual.  



Robert’s second wife, Cornelia, went by her middle name Kay. My husband and his cousins all remember her as Aunt Kay.  My husband said she always drove a Cadillac and that she smoked.  Funny what people remember.  There were no children born to Robert & Kay.

I located a U.S. Veteran gravesite index for Robert and found out a bit about his military service during World War II.
 

Robert and Cornelia are both buried at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California.  You may visit their memorial his #3404241.

I did not find any obituaries for either Robert or Cornelia.  Genealogy Bank has the San Diego papers, but I’ve turned up nothing.

Questions still unanswered:

• What became of Robert’s first wife Alice Evelyn Bullock?
• Why did they divorce?
• Is their son, Robert Jr., still living?  Last we heard, he was still in San Diego.  He would be 84 years old now.
• Are there other pictures of Robert and either of his first wives?
• Was Robert in combat during his time in the Army during World War II?
• What was his cause of death?  I should be able to order a death certificate from San Diego County to find out.

There is still work to do on this family and I will continue my efforts.  However, while writing this post today, I did locate Robert’s birth certificate on Ancestry.  YEAH!

If you have anything to add or corrections to anything I’ve written, please contact me.

Additionally, if you are related to this family, I’d love to hear from you.

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Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2017   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

PAPER vs DIGITAL–DON’T LET YOUR WORK GO UP IN FLAMES

Images like this are very difficult to watch.  As of today no lives have been lost.  But, when a home goes up in flames it is devastating.

As I sit here for the past two days, watching 9 fires burn in my home county, San Diego, it has brought some thoughts to my mind.

I see a lot of discussion on the several Facebook groups which I follow, regarding paper vs. digital files.  These are the comments I read all the time.

• “I’m keeping all my paper files because I don’t trust computers.”
• “I like to hold a piece of paper in my hand as I’m doing my research.”
• “I feel more comfortable using pen & paper to make notes.”
• “I prefer having paper copies of all my family group sheets.”
• “I print out every census record and other document I find online.”
• “You never know when or if those records will still be online when you need them.”

Sound familiar?

Who among us hasn’t thought those same thoughts at least once?  I’m not here to ridicule those who like their paper files.  Not at all.  BUT, I want to say to those people......

PLEASE, make digital copies of your files and keep them on several different medias. Or at the very least make paper copies of everything you have and store them at another location.

Most of us live in areas where we are subject to one kind of natural disaster or another.  Be it floods, hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, fires or something else.  When the time comes to leave your home in a hurry it is much easier to grab your computer, back up hard drive, laptop, flash drives, CD’s etc. than to try to decide which paper files you can take.  

Having been in the local fires in San Diego County in 2003 and 2007, we have had to evacuate.  We lost part of our barn and nearly our home in 2003.  There was no way I could fit all the plastic tubs of scrapbooks, photos, family files etc. in the space we had in our truck and car.  Let alone grabbing financial records, the fire safe, any photos hanging on the walls, or other precious keepsakes.   I had to make some very tough decisions.  Thankfully, our home was spared.

Here are a couple of links to the Cedar Fire, which was in 2003 and the worst one for us.
Cedar_Fire
Cedar Fire - Worst in CA history

I do keep the originals of vital records I’ve sent for and other documents I’ve obtained at various courthouses or libraries.  They are kept in binders. However, they’ve all been scanned or photographed and saved digitally.  I have 3 small archival plastic bins with family photos (again all have been scanned).  Yes, this is truly all of my paper files and two of these pictures are of my genealogy books.

Here are photos of those items.  These are the extent of my paper files.  Several of those binders in the photos will be cleaned out and combined this year.  One of my many projects.  

(Click on any image to enlarge it)
      
  

We all work so very long and hard, over many years, on our research.  

Don’t lose it all.  

Here is a great Facebook page that is all about “getting organized.”  THE ORGANIZED GENEALOGIST.  And another great page that is all about technology for genealogists.  TECHNOLOGY FOR GENEALOGY.

We all learn from one another and genealogists just love to share their failures and their successes.  Those two Facebook pages I mentioned has all of that and more. 
Here is my system for saving my digital files.

• Primary computer is a desktop PC with a very large hard drive.
• I also have a Toshiba laptop to which I copy all of my files via flash drive or Dropbox.  This serves as a partial backup of my desktop computer.  I don’t transfer photos to the laptop due to space considerations.
• I have two Passport external hard drives that I backup to.  They measure 5" x 3" and can literally fit in your pocket.

• I save my Legacy database files to Dropbox in addition to the other places I’ve mentioned.
• I also save my Legacy database files to a couple of flash drives.  Although flash drives are, in my opinion, the least reliable.

Are all of those devices likely to fail at the same time? NO!

Please let me know your thoughts on this subject. Or share your experiences if you’ve had to evacuate or, heaven forbid, lost your research.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION