Hi there, welome back.

I have started writing my book on my father.  I find myself spending hours verifying, cross-referencing and typing said information into my new laptop.  My first laptop.  The most up-to-date device of this type I have used since acquiring my mom’s desktop that we bought in 2007.  Have you ever lost whole pages of typing?  It is maddening.  And takes time away from my blog, which I hate, because writing this blog has helped me believe in my ability to write cohesive sentences.

In cross-referencing Eddie’s whereabouts from year to year, I discovered THIS:

Edward Green

 in the U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.

I pulled up the draft card and checked the signature.  Yep, Eddie’s signature.  Two years ago, I could not find this for the life of me.  This document yielded good cross-reference information, an address, his occupation as an actor and the street on which the theater used to be that Eddie worked in I at the time. It also provided some surprising information, Eddie had a wife and child.  I have always known I had a sister, I just didn’t know she was born that long ago.  Of course, Eddie was 25 years old.

The card also included the age of each person’s first marriage, 18.  So Eddie had gotten married for the first time at age 18 in 1909.  In 1909  Eddie was  performing his magic act and had added a comedy routine. I guess he was earning enough to get married.   He was performing in various theaters, one of which was the Horn Theater, which opened in 1909 and stayed open till 1920 when  it was closed for repairs.

Two days before this 1917 discovery,  I found Eddie (actually Edward) listed in the 1930 census married to a woman named Anna.  Anna was 29 years old, born in 1901.  Eddie was listed as 37.   Anna was an entertainer in a nightclub, maybe in Connie’s Inn, which is where Eddie performed.  He was appearing in a musical called “Hot Chocolates” for which he wrote the comedy sketches.

I also have the 1940 census report of Eddie being married to a woman named Constance.  He is listed as an actor in the theater and she is listed as a housewife.  Constance is 29 years old, born in 1911.   Eddie is now listed as 43.  (Somewhere along the way Eddie changed his birth year from 1891 to 1896, and the census is not always accurate.)

Eddie married my mom in 1945.  She was 22.  He was 54 in reality but claimed to be 50.

This is so much fun, but I have to stop, because I have lost this document four times and each time my stats line grows, very funny.

Till next time.