The Rock family was a very small one for the time: just a mother, father, daughter, and son. According to mother Elsie on the 1910 census, she only had the two children, eldest Adelina in 1905 and youngest Earl in 1907.
Father Paul worked in various professions related to home decor – painting and shade hanging are two that show up on his census records — and there are no hints of financial struggle in the extant records.
Sadly little Adelina died at just seven years old. Earl reached adulthood and even married at 18 years old, but tragically, he died at just 21, leaving Paul and Elsie childless — but not grandchildless! Earl and his wife Anna had had two children together, a son and a daughter who they had named Adeline and Earl Jr
On the 1930 census, Paul was not working and the couple had taken in lodgers while Elsie was also working outside the home, so one wonders if he had suffered some kind of injury. Sadly, Elsie herself passed away in 1939 and the rest of Paul’s life he spent as a retired lodger.
Earl’s widow lived until 1995. She remarried in 1931 and had at least one more child as three surviving children are mentioned in her obituary, including Earl and Adeline.
As the children are not mentioned in Paul’s 1950 obituary, (only his surviving siblings are), it is likely that the families drifted apart, which is sad. But it is nice to know that the Rock family endured in spite of Earl Sr and Adelina passing so young.
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