Eureka - I think I found it! Part II

In part one, I reviewed what I thought I knew about Harry Hughes and described my renewed effort to find out more about him. I grumbled that the answers I was finding were creating more questions. I resolved to review the information I had in my files.

Harry Hughes draft card 1918²

The first evidence that he was in Minnesota came from the I.O.O.F. Grand Lodge of Minnesota in St. Paul in the form of a letter included in his railroad retirement file. The letter was dated 22 Nov 1944 but indicated that he was inducted into the I.O.O.F. at Breckenridge, MN on 21 May 1906.1

In Harry's 1918 WWI draft registration card he gave his name as Harry Hughes with the middle name field blank. He gave his age as 43, born Dec 31, 1874, in England (Chester). He was a declared alien. His wife was Anna Hughes and he was a laborer at the [illegible] Bros Mfg Co. on 10th Ave SE. His physical description on the backside of the card is as follows:

Height: Tall
Build: Stout
Color of Eyes: Brown
Color of Hair: Dark

Harry Hughes Alien Registration 1940 ³

Harry's 1940 Alien Registration form reveals similar information.

His name is Harry [None] Hughes and he entered the United States as Harry Hughes. He was born 31 Dec 1874 at Chester, Chester [sic], England. He is a citizen of Great Britain. He entered the United States on 1 July 1892 at Niagara Falls, NY on foot.

I only show a partial record at left. But it goes on to state that Harry had been in the United States for 48 years and expected to remain permanently. He was a freight handler for the Soo Line Railroad. He was a member of the Brotherhood of Railroad Clerks. He had a wife and four children in the United States but no parents. He had not been arrested in the previous five years and he had not affiliated with any organization that furthered the political or public policy of a foreign government. His signature looks almost identical to the one on the draft registration above.

Railroad Employee Statement 1944⁴

Harry's Railroad Retirement Board Employee's State of Compensated Service had similar information. Harry gave his name as Harry [None] Hughes. He was born on 31 December 1874 in Chester, Cheshire, England. His father's name was Samuel Hughes and his mother's name was unknown. He was a freight handler for the Soo Railroad from July 1920 to October 1944. He give his wife's name as Anna [none] Kline. Only a small section of the file is shown at right.

Harry Hughes death certificate 1957⁵

Also included in the Railroad Retirement file was Harry's death certificate. The informant was Mrs. Howard Tenney who state that the deceased's name was Harry P. Hughes, he was born 31 Dec 1874 in England and was still a citizen of England.

His father's name was Samuel Hughes and his mother's name was unknown. His spouse's name was Anna Kline Hughes.

He was a resident of Valley View Rest Home when he died and had been there for 46 days. My husband remembers visiting him there but also remembers visiting him at an I.O.O.F. home near Northfield, MN.

Harry Hughes obituary ⁶

The obituary for Harry Hughes doesn't give any additional information about the past life of Harry Hughes. Like his death certificate, his name is listed as Harry P. Hughes. It lists his four children and mentions he has 7 grandchildren.



Questions to follow up on:
Does the I.O.O.F. have records available that would give more information about Harry's whereabouts before he married in 1916?
Would the I.O.O.F. have information about his time in the rest home in Northfield, MN?
Would his marriage license give more information about his life before marriage?
Does the Brotherhood of Railroad Clerks have archival information that would give additional information?
Why didn't Harry use a middle name when his daughter insisted he had one: "Percy"?
Where was Harry before he entered the United States in July of 1892?
Where in the U.S. was Harry between 1892 and 1916 when he married his wife, Anna Kline?

Do you see what I mean about more questions!

1.  Hughes, Harry. Pension file. Social Security no. 701-05-4003, 1944. Records of the Railroad Retirement Board, Chicago, IL.

2. "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-818N-4YL?cc=1968530&wc=9FZ7-4WL%3A928311201%2C928497801 : accessed 19 Mar 2020), card for Harry Hughes, Minnesota > Hennepin County; D-V > image 1757 of 6042; citing NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

3. Hughes, Harry. Pension file. Social Security no. 701-05-4003, 1944. Records of the Railroad Retirement Board, Chicago, IL.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid; Minnesota Department of Vital Statistics, death certificate no. 006344 (1957), Harry P. Hughes; Minnesota Historical Society, St Paul.

6. Obituary of Harry P Hughes (d. 15 Jan 1957), Minneapolis (Minnesota) Star, 16 Jan 1957, p. 7D. Cp;/ 1; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://mewspapers.com: downloaded 13 Jun 2019).