4 Generations: Cheney / Cooper / Horton

Julia Westbrook (married name Cooper)
Born: November 29, 1859; New Jersey
Died: November 7, 1949; New Jersey
Relation to Author: 2nd Great Grandmother

Leila Cooper (married name Cheney)
Born: May 7, 1886; New Jersey
Died: December 7, 1975; Dover, New Jersey
Relation to Author: Great Grandmother

Bruce Judson Cheney
Born: October 28, 1917; Morris County, New Jersey
Died: July 16, 2012; Dover, New Jersey
Relation to Author: Grandfather (aka PopPop)

Bruce Judson Cheney, Jr.
Born: July 26, 1947; Morristown, New Jersey
Died: October 14, 1947; Kenvil, New Jersey
Relation to Author: Uncle

I recently wrote about Baby Bruce - Bruce Cheney, Jr., - and the medical explanation for his early death at 3 months. It is a clinical description of his condition that I was able to write because we have his autopsy. But fortunately, we also have a picture of baby Bruce. We can see the person that lived such a short time.

Pictured here are 4 generations together: Bruce, Jr.; Bruce (Sr. - my PopPop); Leila Cooper - Bruce, Jr.'s grandmother; and Julia Westbrook Cooper - Bruce, Jr.'s great grandmother. 

The picture makes me a little sad, knowing that Baby Bruce died before he reached 3 months. And I imagine it was hard on Bruce and Betty to lose their first child and wonder if they would ever be able to have children. But from the vantage point of more than 75 years in the future, we can take heart that Bruce and Betty had two awesome children after Bruce Jr., and Julia Westbrook would get to meet one more of her great grandchildren.

Leila Horton Cooper

Leila Horton Cooper (married name Cheney)
Born: May 7, 1886, Mt. Hope, Rockaway Township, Morris County, NJ
Died: December 2, 1975, Dover, New Jersey
Relation to Author: Great Grandmother
Father of Bruce Judson Cheney

On this date in 1975, Leila H. Cheney passed away. She was 89 years old and had been living at the Lincoln Park Nursing Home. Her cause of death is listed as heart failure due to arteriosclerotic heart disease, or a "a narrowing of the small blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the heart".

Although she died a little more than two years too soon to meet her first great grandson, she did have a long life. She was born when Grover Cleveland was president and died during Gerald Ford's presidency, having witnessed 15 presidencies, including such monumental ones as Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Eisenhower, LBJ, and Nixon. She lived through World War I, the depression, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam and the civil rights and women's rights movement. In fact, she was born before women were allowed to vote and was 34 when the 19th amendment was passed.

1940 Census: Cheney and Paulus

As you might know, the 1940 US Census was released this week. There was a lot of excitement, so much that the website of the National Archives crashed the first day and had to get more servers to handle the traffic.

My uncle has been doing some of leg work and showing me the files, and I have to say, it is pretty interesting. To me, the occupation information is the most interesting.

For example, the census tells us that in 1940 my great grandfather William Cheney (age 61) was working as a post office clerk at the local post office. His wife, Leila (53), was not working. My grandfather - Bruce Cheney - was working in the stock room at a hosiery mill. He was 22 at the time, had graduated high school but did not go on to college. 

His future wife, Elizabeth Paulus (20), was already working at the arsenal as an inspector (they married in 1943 after having met at the arsenal). Elizabeth's brother Alvin (24) was also working at the arsenal as "labor" in the storage department. Her other brother Frederick (27) was not at the arsenal but a meter reader for the gas company (both brothers would serve in World War II). Her sister Edna (29) was a cashier at a loan company and Edna's husband Russel (31) was an ammunition inspector at the arsenal.

Frederick Paulus - father of Elizabeth, et al - had passed away six years prior (at the age of 47 - a post about his early death is coming soon).  Margaret (52), their mother, was working at a silk hosiery mill as a "finisher". All of the children except Edna were living at home with Margaret.

Anyway, that's the interesting stuff so far. I'll keep you posted.