Jacob H. Carman Death Certificate
Transcribed by Alex J. Conrad from photocopy of original

Place of Death: Hoyes Mechanics Home, Phila., Pa
Usual Residence:Hoyes Mechanics Home, Phila., Pa
Name of Deceased: Jacob H. Carman
Sex: M
Color or Race: W
Widowed
Wife: Lena
Date of Birth: May 26 1863
Age: 78 Years 9 Months 24 Days
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Penna.
Occupation: Bricklayer
Father’s Name: no record
Father’s Birthplace: no record
Mother’s Name: no record
Mother’s Birthplace: no record
Informant: Official Record, Hoyes Mechanics Home
Burial date: 3/28/42
Burial place: Mt. Moriah, Phila., Pa.
Date of death: March 20th 1942

This post is part of the Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.

Today’s prompt:

What education did your mother receive? Your grandmothers? Great-grandmothers? Note any advanced degrees or special achievements.

Carol L. Garrison – Nurses Training Graduation 1959

Both of my grandmothers left school after the eighth grade to work in the hosiery mills in Philadelphia. My mother was the first person in my family to graduate high school. Her father attended one year of high school and my other grandfather attended 3 years. She also was the first to obtain an education beyond high school.

My mother graduated from the Presbyterian Hospital nurses training program in Philadelphia in 1959. It was a three year program with traditional classroom learning and hands-on training. She told me she had always wanted to be a nurse. She also told me some eye-opening stories about working in a city hospital in the 1950’s. Hint: drugs and violence are not new phenomena.

Upon graduation my mother worked in the maternity ward of Presbyterian Hospital. Later in her life she worked as a home health care nurse.

Clayton M. Todd Death Certificate
Transcribed by Alex J. Conrad from photocopy of original
Photocopy is difficult to read.

Place of Death: Episcopal Hosp., Phila., Philadelphia
Usual Residence: 2077 E Pacific St., Phila., Pa.
Name of Deceased: Clayton M. Todd
Sex: M
Color or Race: Wh
Married
Wife: Mary Jane
Date of Birth: 2-6-1897
Age: 52 Years 9 Months 1 Day
Birthplace: Phila
Occupation/Industry: [can’t decipher]
Father’s Name: John A. Todd
Father’s Birthplace: Scotland
Mother’s Name: Olivia R. Moore
Mother’s Birthplace: Phila
Informant: Clayton W. Todd, 2077 E Pacific St. Phila., Pa [his son]
Burial date: 11-11-49
Burial place: [can’t decipher]
Date of death: 11 – 7 – 1949

Sarah B. Bennett Death Certificate
Transcribed by Alex J. Conrad from photocopy of original

Name of Deceased: Sarah B. Bennett
Place of Death: St. Jos. Hospital, Lancaster, PA
Sex: Female
Color or Race: White
Married
Husband: George C. Bennett
Date of Birth: Aug 12, 1850
Age: 82 Years 8 Months 5 Days
Birthplace: Delaware City, Delaware
Father’s Name: Benjamin N. Ogle
Birthplace of Father: Delaware City, Delaware
Mother’s Name: Clara Matthews
Birthplace of Mother: Delaware City, Delaware
Informant: W.O. Bennett, 338 College Ave., Lancaster, Pa. [her son]
Date of Death: April 17, 1933
Burial date: Apr 20, 1933
Burial place: Kirkwood Del.

This post is part of the Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.

Today’s prompt is: “Working girl: Did your mother or grandmother work outside the home? What did she do? Describe her occupation.”

As far as I know, my father’s mother did not work after she married, but like most everyone else in her neighborhood she worked in the hosiery factories before then. My mother was a Registered Nurse and worked in a hospital before I was born and in a nursing home when I was in high school, and later in home health care.

It was my mother’s mother who I always thought of as a working woman. She did stay home with my mother for about a decade, but the rest of her pre-retirement adult life was spent working.

She worked at a book bindery and at least part of her time was spent packing boxes for shipping and she became an expert at that. If you needed items packed in a box wasting the least amount of space, she was the woman to ask. She could eyeball it and get it all in there on the first try.

I recently rediscovered this interesting piece of ephemera in my family documents:

It details all the pays scales and benefits negotiated for by her union. It even has raises built in with separate tables of pay for 1965, 1966 & 1967. This being the 1960’s there are different pay scales for men and women, even if they had the same job title, e.g. Male Helpers, Female Helpers, Journeymen, Journeywomen. Someday I plan to scan the whole booklet. It’s a fascinating look at the time period and industry.