Census Records

Using the names found in the City Directories, one can then look for more details on the families resident in the house from the U.S. Census.  Currently the data from the decennial federal census has been made public up through 1940. My workplace subscribes to Ancestry, which allows easy lookup by name.

1920 Census
Alfred (mistakenly listed as Elfred) Berghausen was 37 at the time of this census, and owned the house without a mortgage. He was born in Ohio, as was his mother, but his father was born in Germany. He is listed as an engineer in the chemical industry. His wife, Eunice, was 31 and born in Ohio to Ohio-born parents. She did not work outside the home. Their son Alfred was 8 and attending school, and their son Philip was 2. Also living with the family was a maid named Corinne Habig, age 23, who was born in Ohio to Ohio-born parents.

(For friends reading this who know a librarian with this last name, the 2 year old in the census listing here was, in fact, the grandfather of our librarian friend's husband.  We did not know this before we bought the house. Cincinnati is a very small town sometimes!)

1930 Census
Based on the city directory listing, I expected to find a widow, Elizabeth Beiser, and her son Edward. The census revealed a larger family!

Edward Beiser was 47, a bookkeeper at a bank, and not a veteran. When he was 32 and she was 21, he had married, and his wife Charlotte was 37 at the time of the census. They had 3 children: Thomas, 10, Julius, 8, and Charlotte, 5.  Edward's mother Elizabeth Beiser was a 64 year old widow who had married at 17.  She was born in Ohio, but her father was born in France (Alsace) and her mother in Germany (Baden). Edward is listed as owning the home, having an income of $15,000 (nobody else was working), and the family owned a radio (!).

1940 Census
In 1940, the Beiser family continued to live at the house.

Edward Beiser was 57, married, and this census revealed he only had a 8th grade education. He is listed as not employed, and worked no weeks in 1939. His wife Charlotte was 47, and is revealed to have completed 2 years of high school. She is also not working. Their son Julius is 23, completed 4 years of high school, and is working 50 hours a week as a salesman. Their son Thomas is 20, completed high school, and is working as a trestle operator 48 hours a week. Their daughter Charlotte is 17, has completed her 2nd year of high school, and is attending school.  Grandmother Elizabeth Beiser is 78, and has a 6th grade education.