The Mystery of Elizabeth M. Hurtt
As you can see, this site attempts to track not only the Roberts family, but some associated families that come into the tree at some point or another.
My grandfather, Junior Paul Roberts, married a woman named Annie Marie Hurtt. Annie Hurtt's parents were Elizabeth Addison and Edwin H. Hurtt, Sr. To this point, the origin of Annie's mother, parents and siblings, has been a mystery. After extensive research, I am ready to say that I believe I have found the parents of Elizabeth, and siblings. I am, however, missing the definitive link that proves the link as anything but circumstantial.
Edwin and Elizabeth Hurtt are buried in Maryland in the same cemetery as daughter Annie and their sons Edwin, Jr. "Bubby" and Nolan Henry Hurtt. Elizabeth's stone actually says that her name was Mary Elizabeth, although her funeral card puts her name as Elizabeth M. Hurtt. All documents that I have personally located, included SS Index listings, directory listings in Baltimore, MD., the SS applications of her children, census records, etc. all list her name as Elizabeth, generally no middle initial. However, it is important to note that Elizabeth's husband and children were all alive at the time that Elizabeth passed and would have had a hand in having her stone inscribed and placed. In addition, the social security applications of all of Elizabeth and Edwin's children other than two list Elizabeth's maiden name as Addison. My grandmother Annie does not appear to have ever had a social security application on file (she was deceased by age 39). Also, Elizabeth's youngest son Bob's social security application lists his mothers maiden name as Anderson. This is the only time that the name Anderson appears in conjunction to Elizabeth Addison Hurtt to my knowledge, and I have no reason to believe that the use of the name Anderson was anything but a typo or other error.
Before going into the information I have found, I would like to mention that there are a number of rumors surrounding this woman and her family. One story claims that Elizabeth's mother died, her father remarried, and her stepmother had Elizabeth and a brother placed in an orphanage. Other rumors state that her father died and that her mother remarried and Elizabeth was adopted by her step father. In addition, rumor has it that Elizabeth's family was strongly opposed to her marriage to Edwin and basically disowned her after her marriage. At this point, the evidence we have, assuming it is pertinent, is not enough to prove that any of this is the case.
The first definitive appearance of Elizabeth that can be found by me at this time comes from the 1930 census taken in Baltimore, MD. In the 1930 census Elizabeth was around 17 years of age and was just married to Edwin, 20 years old. Further review of that census shows that Elizabeth and Edwin Hurtt were living with the family of Samuel and Jessie N. Brocato. My aunt can remember calling the children of Samuel and Jessie her aunts and uncles and my mother can remember Jessie and Samuel taking her shopping for school clothes.
I can find no prior census records for Elizabeth Addison, the name she was presumably using before she married.
I believe that there is a familial connection between Elizabeth Addison and Jessie Brocato, maiden name Bradfield. Working on this theory, I began tracking Jessie in the hopes of finding something that might prove a connection. In my research I was able to discover that Jessie Nellie Bradfield was born in Virginia to Carrie Moreland and Iras/Iris C. Bradfield. According to census records, Carrie (Moreland) Bradfield was a widow by 1910. Jessie, still a child, and her siblings were living in the home with her mother and they had relocated to Washington, D.C. by the time of the 1910 census.
A marriage record index exists for Carrie Bradfield, indicating that she married a second time in 1911. Carrie's second husband was Theodore Dwight Addison, born about 1853. There is also a marriage record, in Washington, D.C., for the son of Theodore Dwight Addison and Carrie Bradfield, William Henry Addison. William Henry Addison was born in 1913 in Washington, D.C., the year prior to the year Elizabeth Addison-Hurtt was supposedly born. I can find no further information concerning either Carrie or Theodore and what happened to them after the birth of their son, William who was married in 1936 to a woman named Alma.
I did find a 1920 census with individuals whose information bears a striking resemblance to the information I have for Carrie, William Henry Addison, and Elizabeth Addison. The census was taken in Baltimore, MD. and lists a William H. Addison who was born abt. 1913. This matches the information for Carrie and Theodore's son William well. The census lists a younger sister of William named Eliza, born about 1915. This, of course, does not match my information but is close enough to merit consideration. Eliz was often used as shorthand for the name Elizabeth and it is possible that the census taker had used Eliza as shorthand for Elizabeth. It's also possible that the census taker made a mistake in transcribing the name. Years are commonly recorded inaccurately in census records and close matches in years are sometimes the best you can hope for.
My major concern with this 1920 census record is the mothers name as shown. Ancestry shows the name as Carver, but Ancestry commonly makes mistakes in transcribing names as it isn't always easy to read these old records. After studying the name closely in the record, I do NOT believe that the name shows as Carver. Not to mention, after hours of searching I can find no other Carver Addison anywhere within the U.S. during that timeframe. However, it is apparent to me that whatever the name is, it is not written as Carrie in that census record. It does appear that the name begins with Carr but it appears to end in an r or an s. Again, this could be a mispelling and likely is. This still does not necessarily mean that the name in that census record is supposed to be Carrie, although the woman in that census record was born the same year as Carrie and was also born in VA, as Carrie was.
The slight mismatch in names is not my only concern with that census and with believing that that census is the missing census that I need. As I mentioned previously, my Carrie was supposed to have been born in Virginia as was the "Carver"in the census. Although William and Eliza are listed as the son and daughter of "Carver", the census also says that their mother was born in Maryland. It's worth noting that it is not unusual for a census record to indicate the birth state of a listee as being the same as the census state of origin. In addition, the census shows that William was born in Maryland and Eliza born in Washington, D.C. According to other docs, my William was born in Washington D.C. My Elizabeth would also likely have been born in Washington D.C. as the census lists for Eliza, but she might also have been born in Maryland as Elizabeth's social security number indicates a Maryland birth. Unfortunately, social security numbers issued for those born prior to the use of social security numbers are often issued based on the state the person was living in when social security numbers came about in the 1950's rather than the state they were originally born in. This being the case, Elizabeth may not have been born in Maryland despite having a Maryland SSN but I have no way of knowing this as of now.
Basically, Elizabeth Addison Hurtt had some connection to Jessie Brocato that caused them to live together and otherwise interact as family would. It appears that Elizabeth and Jessie, whose mothers second marriage was to an Addison, might have been half-sisters. If this theory is true, Elizabeth's parents would be Theodore Dwight Addison and Carrie (Moreland/Bradfield) Addison.
Again, the connection between Elizabeth Addison, Jessie Brocato, and Carrie Addison is only speculation. It could be only coincidence that Elizabeth was an Addison and that she lived with Jessie, whose mothers second marriage would have made her an Addison.
