Lucy Elizabeth Melissa Henize

Lucy E. M. Henize is best remembered for her excellent cooking and generous dessert portions. She ran a restaurant out of her family's home and made the most delicious desserts her children and grandchildren had ever tasted. When she served a piece of cake or other dessert, she wasn't stingy. My dad told me that many times, the widest part of the wedge of cake that she'd serve would be over three inches wide! Many of her recipes are still used by her daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Birth: January 2, 1908
Marriages:

1. March 26, 1927 to Cecil Denver Wallace. They had three children together:
   Cecil Denver Jr, Janet, and Kathleen Raye
2. February 3, 1963 to Lloyd Albert Bohl 

Death: September 1986

1910 Census:

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Something funny from this particular census page is that two other families--in addition to Lucy's family--had a boy named Ora. Since these families are on the same page as the Henize family, I know that they were neighbors. I wonder if there was a prominent man named Ora in the Amelia community that these boys were named after?

This census is very interesting. You can see that Lucy had a lot of siblings (eight siblings, to be exact), and that Lucy was the youngest. The two siblings just older than her -- Bery and Bee-- were fraternal boy/girl twins. I wonder if Lucy ever felt left out? Whether she did or didn't, she seems to have enjoyed being around her family as evidenced by the family reunions they had every summer that Grandma Kathleen remembers very fondly.

Another interesting thing is that although I'm sure all of the children helped on the farm, the older boys were listed as "farm laborers" on the census. You can also see that none of the children that Mollie, Lucy's mother, gave birth to passed away before this 1910 census was taken. She was very blessed for the time she lived in, since medical care and accident prevention weren't as good in those days as they are now.

1920 Census:

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In this census, we see that three of Lucy's siblings have moved out and probably started families of their own.   We also see that Lucy's sister Vesta is a teacher working on salary.

As you can see from the records, Lucy's paternal grandfather immigrated to America from Germany. You can also see that her maternal grandmother was born in Indiana. Something striking about the family that Lucy grew up with is that they owned their own farm without a mortgage. This is unique. The families of my other great-grandparents--probably excepting my granddad Broadus, who I haven't researched yet--either rented or owned with a mortgage.

1930 Census:

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1940 Census:

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Something interesting from this 1940 census is that it lists the yearly income of the families. If you enlarge the picture, you'll see that Cecil's yearly income was $1,640. For comparison, a civil engineer on the same page of the census earned $3,000 and a store manager earned $2,400. The clerk at that store earned just over $500 a year. Also of note is that Cecil was a music teacher when his family was young as well as when it was more mature. As you can see, Lucy had not yet started her restaurant; the censuses show that she was a homemaker.

Aside: The restaurant was started when Grandma Kathleen was a teenager.