Charles Grant Clemens - Part 4

Grant

So what happened to Grant? We know by his WWI Draft Card by 1917 he's living in Cleveland. And as we saw from the 1920 Census he's living as a lodger with an Elizabeth (Elenora/Emma?) in Cleveland. On the 1930 Census he's still living in Cleveland, but he's moved and is living as a lodger with other people and now it says he's single. What happened to his wife? I've not been able to find her yet, so I don't know if he's separated, divorced or a widower.

1930 Census

One of the questions on the 1940 Census was "Where were you living in 1935?" In 1935 Grant was back in Pennsylvania; Conemaugh, Cambria County to be exact. By 1940 he had moved to Pittsburgh. He was in a homeless shelter named Improvement of the Poor. He is now shown as a widower.

1940 Census

It seems to be about 1938 when he went to Pittsburgh. He spent October 1938 in jail for vagrancy.

Prison Register 3 October 1938

Prison Discharge Register 1 November 1938

In 1942 he registered for the WWII draft as was required. I know this is his draft card because the person he has listed as a permanent contact, Mrs. L. B. Hartman, is his sister Effie Clemens. From his WWI draft card and the prison registers, he was tall - 6'. He put his height as 5' 4" on this draft card. I think this was another attempt to make sure he wasn't drafted.

WWII Draft Card

In 1949 he was arrested for vagrancy again. I know the name is spelled differently, but the description is the same and the life he was living makes me believe this is him.

Prison Register 15 June 1949

Sadly, he died in 1951. The 1950 Census has not been released to the public to learn if he's still in Pittsburgh, but I'm pretty certain this is his death certificate. There are a couple of reasons. He seemed to be mostly homeless while in Pittsburgh. The address listed as his Usual Residence is a doctor's office. The Doctor's name is James William MacDonald. The Informant did not have much information about his family, for instance, his birthdate or his parent's names. Her name is Marie MacDonald. I suspect she is the Doctor's wife.

Doctor's Office Address

And his death certificate.

Death certificate

The "Name of Cemetery or Crematory" is shown as SAB Phil. SAB is "Sent Anatomical Body". In other words, his body was donated to medical science.

This is the story of Charles Grant Clemens as best as I can tell. These are the best pictures I have that have identified him.

Part 3          |