The C. A. McAdams FamilyOur American Rootsby Charles G. Petersen |
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Siblings
Charles and Lillian's Son |
Charles Lillian
Andrew May
McAdams Whitcomb
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Paul
Henry
McAdams
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Paul Henry McAdams
Picture Family Group |
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Marriage
I had wondered how a small town Iowa boy meets a small town Minnesota girl
back in the 1920's when they lived 100 miles apart.
Paul met his future wife, Margaret Sweet, when her parents,
long time Minnesotans, rented a house for a
short time in 1925 in Swea City, Iowa, Paul's home town.
The marriage took place on July 2, 1927, not in Swea City, but
nearly 100 miles east in Mason City, Iowa.
Paul was nearly 28 years old and Margaret was just 2 months shy of 21.
At the time, Paul had taken a job with a telephone company in the small town of
Nora Springs, Iowa, just east of Mason City.
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Children
A year later their first child, Barbara Jeanne, was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota
where the mother's parents were living.
The next year Charles Bertram was born in Nora Springs, Iowa.
He was named after his grandfathers, but he was always known as Bert.
I didn't know his first name was Charles until I started doing genealogical
research.
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Minnesota
Shortly after their son was born they moved in with her parents in Grand Rapids,
Minnesota, as evidenced by the 1930 U.S. Census.
The census lists him as a laborer in an iron mine.
Grand Rapids is in northern Minnesota in Itasca County.
Itasca Lake, named after the county (or vice versa), is the source of the
Mississippi River.
The city directory for Rochester Minnesota for both 1933 and 1935 show that Paul was living there and working as a lineman for the Viola Telephone Co. It is reported, but not verified by me, that a third child, a son, came in 1935 and was either stillborn or died the same day. In 1936 they moved back in Grand Rapids where William Wayne was born in 1937. They were living in Grand Rapids in 1940 according to the U.S. census. Paul is said to own his home and is a self-employed electrician. In 1941 they moved to Milnor, North Dakota. |
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P & M Electric
Paul became a licensed electrician in North Dakota.
During World War II when help was hard to get Margaret started working
with her husband.
They started their own business and called it P & M Electric.
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Retirement
They were planning to retire when Paul reached 65, but just a month short of
that Paul died in August of 1964 while in the hospital in Wilkin County, Minnesota.
He is buried in Lakeside Cemetery in Milnor.
Margaret then became the first woman in North Dakota to be issued an electrician's
license. She is quoted as saying,
"People won't let me quit. They say I've got to keep going."
Margaret died in December of 1974 and is buried beside her husband in Milnor.
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Children of Paul Henry McAdams and Margaret Esther Sweet
Barbara Jeanne born June 13, 1928 in Grand Rapids, Itasca County, Minnesota. Charles Bertram born September 2, 1929 in Nora Springs, Floyd County, Iowa. Paul Roger born September 29, 1935 in Rochester, Olmsted County, Minnesota. William Wayne born June 2, 1937 in Grand Rapids, Itasca County, Minnesota. |
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