Fred Nevole in Chicago - One Man or Two?

research note by Wesley Johnston, begun 25 Apr 2015, last updated 25 Apr 2015

The Question

The 1920 US Census of 2510 Sawyer Avenue in Chicago lists Fred (age 59, born Bohemia) and Mary Nevole (age 50, born Bohemia) and six Chicago-born children: http://interactive.ancestry.com/6061/4300192_00146/89300840

Although the children are all shown in the census with the surname Nevole (which Ancestry mis-transcribes as Nevoli), they are in fact the Lenoch children from Mary's prior marriage to Vaclav Lenoch. Thus none of the children shown were Fred's own children.

Fred Nevole and Mrs. Mary Lenoch (her maiden name was Vanek) married 9 Nov 1918. The minister was Frank Duha of 2400 South Harding Avenue, which is a bit over a block north and 14 short-blocks west of 2510 Sawyer Avenue, a walking distance of about 1 mile.

Even closer to the house on Sawyer Avenue was 2439 South Trumbull Avenue, just a bit over a quarter mile away. This was the 1910 census residence of Fred and Anna Nevole and their five children. In fact, Anna was shown as having had 5 children, all of whom were then living.

Anna (maiden name Klepetko/Klepetka) Nevole passed away a few doors down the block, at 2458 South Trumbull Avenue, 3 Dec 1917.

So there seems to be a chronology of (1) Fred and Anna living in the 2400 block of South Trumbull Avenue, (2) Anna passing away in the same block, (3) Fred and Mary re-marrying less than a mile away, and (4) Fred and Mary living only a bit over a quarter mile away at 2510 South Sawyer Avenue.

But there are also inconsistencies in the 1920 census. Fred is shown as arriving in 1891 and being naturalized at a date that may have been 1905 or may have been 1915. The 1910 Fred was a laborer in street work, while the 1920 Fred was a machinist in a factory. And none of Fred and Anna's children is shown in the home.

So was the Fred Nevole who married Mary, widow Lenoch, in 1918, the same Fred Nevole who was lef widowed in 1917 by the death of his wife Anna? This research note is intended to present the evidence and evalutaion of the evidence and a conclusion about the question.

Interim Status

This is very much a research note in progrress, since I do not have the resources at this time to fully delve into the question. I had originally concluded that the Fred who married Mary was the one left widowed by Anna's passing. But I was made aware of the inconsistencies in the 1920 census record that could inidcate that Mary's husband was a different Fred Nevole.

While I am exploring this problem, I find the consistencies sufficiently strong to retain the representation in my tree with this being the same Fred Nevole. This could change when the evidence is more fully examined, but I believe that at this point, the consistencies are sufficiently strong and the inconsistencies sufficiently weak to support separating them and carrying them as two separate Fred Nevoles.