How many children did Minnie Estella Miner and Charles
Alonzo Huyck have? Also, was there a baby born in the 12 years between Gladys
Mae, born in 1898 in North Dakota, and Pearl, born in 1910 in North Dakota?
On 15 July 1888, Charles Alonzo Huyck and Estella May Miner
(also known as Minnie Estella Miner) were married at Shell Lake, Washington
County, Wisconsin.
[1]
The known natural children of Charles Alonzo Huyck and
Minnie Estella Miner (The name she went by through most of her life. And also
the name on her delayed birth certificate recorded 1939)
[2]
Name
|
Birth Date
|
Birth Place
|
Informant
|
No. of children born to this mother
|
Children still living
|
|
|
26 Aug 1894
|
Lorain, Polk, Wisconsin
|
Mrs Julia A Latson
|
Not given
|
|
|
|
9 Nov 1898
|
Oberon, Benson, North Dakota
|
mother
|
4
|
2
|
|
|
12 Jan 1910
|
Rich Valley, Benson, North Dakota
|
John Crawford
|
6
|
3
|
|
|
19 May 1911
|
Rich Valley, Benson, North Dakota
|
H R Thurber MD
|
6
|
4
|
|
|
8 Feb 1916
|
Esmond, Benson, North Dakota
|
mother
|
7
|
4
|
Looking at just the birth certificates of the known natural
children of Minnie Estella Miner Huyck, it appears she had 7 children with 4
living past childhood. Kenneth Charles birth certificate states differently,
but it is possible that the doctor was not aware that Robbie Joe was adopted
and not a natural born child. The two delayed birth certificates, Gladys Mae
and Velva Wynetta, are signed by their mother, Minnie Estella Huyck.
There are two additional records that would give us the
number of children this mother had. They are the 1900 and 1910 censuses.
Census
|
Number of children born
|
Number of children living
|
Robbie Joe listed as
|
|
|
4
|
2
|
Adopted son
|
|
|
6
|
3
|
son
|
Even adding the information from the 1900 and 1910 censuses,
we still come to the conclusion that Minnie Estella Miner Huyck had 3 children
that died at a young age. This includes Pearl who was born and died in January 1910
(which was before the 1910 census). We can also conclude that there is not a
child born between Gladys and Pearl since both Gladys’ birth certificate and
the 1900 census indicates that there were 2 children born and died before Gladys’s
birth in 1898.
So now what about these 2 missing children can we find any
information on them? Yes, additional
information has been found.
First, a family story about why Robbie Joe was adopted.
According to the family story, Minnie Estella Huyck had a child that died at a
young age and so she and her husband adopted Robbie Joe. The story goes that
the reason why Minnie Estella Huyck and her husband Charles Alonzo Huyck
adopted the boy, which they named Robbie Joe, was because Minnie had just
recently lost a young child and Robbie Joe’s mother had died about the same
time. Thankfully, there was a formal adoption, which was not very common for
the time period. The boy was born 26 December 1890 and had originally been
named Joseph Smith Klinck Jr. On 24 January 1891 the Huyck’s filed a petition
to adopt a baby boy in Polk County, Wisconsin. The petition was granted 4
February 1891 and signed by both the Huyck’s and Mr. Joseph S. Klinck, the
baby’s father. In the petition Mr. Klinck states that his wife, the boy’s
mother, was already dead. With the boy being less than a month old at the time
of his mother’s death and the time period, there would have been a need for a
woman to breast feed the child in order for him to thrive. This fact and the
age of Robbie Joe at adoption lend credence to the family story that Minnie
Estella Huyck had a young child at this time in order for her to properly take
care of the child. The fact that there is no family record of the Huyck’s
having a child born at this time that lived past infancy also adds credence to
the story.
[11]
Second, a note was found in a cousin’s genealogy papers
after her death that leads to the possibility that Minnie E Huyck had a boy in
December 1889 in Shell Lake, Polk County, Wisconsin
[12].
Whether this is referring to the child born and died that lead to Robbie Joe’s
adoption or not is unknown.
Third, in the Lorain Union Township Cemetery, Polk County,
Wisconsin there is two listings for infant Huyck (Charlie’s child)
[13].
Unfortunately, there is no record as to when the burials took place only a
record of who is buried there. Can one
of these burials be Pearl’s? No, Gladys Mae, the second daughter told me that
Pearl was buried in North Dakota
[14].
Gladys would have been 12 at the time and would have remembered someone
traveling from North Dakota to Wisconsin to bury baby Pearl.
Therefore, Minnie Estella Miner Huyck was the mother of 7
natural children. Four of these children lived to adulthood and had their own
families and three that died young. Of these three that died young, one was a
girl named Pearl (possibly remembered because of Robbie, Lucy and Gladys being
old enough to understand what was going on). All we know of the other two is
that they were more than likely born in Polk County, Wisconsin between 1888
(when Minnie Estella Miner and Charles Alonzo Huyck were married) and died
before 1898 when Gladys was born.
[1] Charles Alonzo Huyck and Estella May Miner, marriage certificate, no. 23
(1888), Wisconsin State Department of Health and Social Services, Division of
Health ,Wisconsin State Archives, copy in possession of Betty-Lu Baker Burton
[2] Minnie Estella Miner, birth certificate (delayed but on a form for at
birth registration), (birth 1872, registration 1939), Wisconsin Department of
Health and Social Services, Division of Health, copy in possession of Betty-Lu
Baker Burton
[3] Lucy Mary Huyck, birth certificate, (1894), Wisconsin Department of
Health and Social Services, Divisoin of Health, copy in possession of Betty-Lu
Baker Burton
[4] Gladys Mae Huyck, delayed birth certificate , no. 90 (birth 1898,
registration 1942),North Dakota, State Department of Health, mother signed the
delayed registration, copy in possession of Betty-Lu Baker Burton
[5] Unnamed Huyck, female, birth
certificate, no. 00525 (1910), State of North Dakota, Bureau of Vital
Statistics, copy in possession of Betty-Lu Baker Burton
[6] Family Records obtained from Lucy Mary Huyck
Baker, the oldest known daughter, names this child as Pearl even though the
birth and death certificates names her as unknown Huyck.
[7] Kenneth Charles Huyck, birth certificate, no. 00579 (1911), State of
North Dakota, Bureau of Vital Statistics, copy in possession of Betty-Lu Baker
Burton
[8] Velva Wynette Huyck, delayed birth certificate, no. 15987 (birth 1916,
registration 1944 ), North Dakota, State Department of Health, copy in
possession of Betty-Lu Baker Burton
[9] "United States Census, 1900," index and
images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11666-59311-73?cc=1325221
: accessed 24 March 2015), North Dakota > Benson > ED 13 T.151-152-R.70
Fairview, T.141-R.71 North Fork, T.152-R.71 Pleasant Valley, T.163-R.69 Albert
> image 15 of 33; citing NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.:
National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
[10] "United States Census, 1910," index and
images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11551-47581-19?cc=1727033
: accessed 24 March 2015), North Dakota > Benson > Esmond > 0022 >
image 22 of 32; citing NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.:
National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
[11] Robbie Joe Huyck; Adoption Papers; Charles A Huyck and
Minnie E Huyck; 4 February 1891; Polk County Court, Wisconsin: Ole Larson
County Judge: Recorded in Vol 3, page 121: copy in possession of Betty-Lu Baker
Burton
[12]
The note possibly originated from Harriet Hilditch, a younger sister of Minnie
Estella Miner.
[14]
Interview with Gladys Mae Huyck Hanson in the late 1970’s; Date of interview
not recorded; Interviewed by Betty-Lu Baker
