Individual Details
Charlotte Inez PRATHER
(23 Jul 1912 - 5 Aug 1995)
Charlotte was born on 23 July 1912, to James Marcus Prather and Mamie Elmira Younkin Prather, and grew up in Dodge City, Kansas. Her father was a railroad engineer, and the house which is listed on her birth certificate and the 1920 census, 909 Avenue D, is just a couple of blocks from the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe railroad tracks.
According to an e-mail to me from Charlotte's son (my uncle) Vernon Douglas Loverde, dated 5 February 2003, "I visited the place with my Mother in Dodge City. The house in Dodge City was next to the railroad tracks, but I believe it was taken down about 50 years ago. It was across the street from a very small (but historic) chapel that a religious fanatic built. The man who built it used to climb the telephone poles and shout 'God's word' to those below. Mom also told me about Ben Hodges, a true historic figure, who was the last of the horse thieves and who, instead of being hung, had his Achilles tendons cut so that he could only shuffle along behind a cart. Somehow these two men may have been connected in her mind, perhaps just as childhood memories."
The story I had always heard from my mother, Elizabeth Rosaria Loverde, was that Charlotte's father James left the family, but Mamie and James produced 12 children over 23 years, from the birth of their oldest, Luella, in 1895 to 1918, when their youngest child James was born, and they were still living together at 909 Avenue D as of the date of the 1920 census.
By the 1930 census, Charlotte was living with her mother and siblings Norman, Leva and James in a separate house, at 504 E. Cedar Ave, and James was still at 909 Avenue D with son Loren. It appears from a Mapquest search that 504 E. Cedar Ave. and 909 Avenue D, are both at or very near the intersection of Cedar Ave. and Avenue D. Mamie's occupation is listed as saleslady in a drygoods store. Both Mamie and James apparently gave their marital status as "w'd," presumably for "widowed."
There seems to have been some very sad and bitter separation between Charlotte's father and his family. He died in La Junta, Colorado, on 22 October 1941. In an e-mail to me dated 7 February 2003, Mamie's granddaughter(my aunt)Alice Loverde Savage said, "I had always thought, growing up, from the way she talked, that her father must have died when she was young (though she never quite said so), but we visited his grave once, and I believe he didn't die till ... after I was born so I always figured there was something mysterious there."
Charlotte's mother, MamieYounkin Prather, commissioned genealogical work that proved they were descendant from a Revolutionary War patriot, Peter De Moss, qualifying for membership in the DAR. Charlotte joined also. According to Alice, Charlotte "was very active in the DAR and we were all raised in the CAR (Children of the American Revolution). I remember meeting regularly at the Chicago Historical Society, and at one point being President of the Chicago area chapter, which was called the Virginia Elot Cabell Society or some such thing.... We would visit Kansas and she was very proud to have belonged to the DAR. I always understood that her childhood had been one in which her mother had sought to prove that they had worth despite poverty, and tracing the DAR lineage was very important in that."
In a February 2003 letter to me, Mamie's grandson (my uncle) Albert Loverde wrote, "As I understand it, the Prathers were the poor white trash of Dodge City, Kansas, and registering as a DAR was very important to your great-grandmother [Charlotte's mother, Mamie Younkin Prather]."
Charlotte met her husband Albert Angelo Loverde at the University of Washington in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was in medical school and she was training to be a nurse. She worked as a nurse at Bellevue in New York as a young woman. Her medical experience seems to have had a profound and lasting impact on her.
She and Albert married in Chicago on October 23 or 24, 1936. They lived in the Mother Cabrini apartments in Chicago as newlyweds. Their first house was at 4145 Eddy St. in Chicago, and that is where Charlotte lived with children Elizabeth, Al, and Vern while Albert was away during World War II, where he was stationed in France and North Africa.
Al used to go on long walks, and one day came back and told Charlotte that he had bought another house, furniture and all. They lived in that house, 3648 N. Springfield Ave., Chicago, in an area called "The Villa," until they prepared to move to California to be with children.
Charlotte took the Santa Fe Chief every summer to visit her mother in Kansas City (and then presumably to Garden City, where her mother Mamie lived with Charlotte's sister Leva).
Charlotte, Al, and children took summer trips at times. In 1952 they drove from Chicago to the Black Hills, to Bremerton WA to visit Charlotte's brother James (Fud), to San Diego, and Texas.
Al's family couldn't have been more different than Charlotte's. She cooked Italian food and must have gotten used to the differences over time to some extent, but her husband's family must have seemed very foreign to someone with her background. As Alice Loverde Savage says, "[Charlotte's father-in-law] Santo Loverde and his brother Angelo married two sisters and lived next door to each other. [Charlotte's husband Albert] was one of 12 children, with 8 cousins growing up next door, and when we were growing up, all of these siblings and cousins were grown and living in Chicago with approximately 8,327 children ... and then there was Mom's family; she was also one of 12 children, scattered around the country; the only other in Chicago was Aunt Leva."
In later life Charlotte was a long-time volunteer docent at the Art Institute in Chicago, and one of the highlights of her experience there was that she once gave a private tour to Katherine Hepburn. Apparently they hit it off, Miss Hepburn was very interested, and they spent an agreeable afternoon talking.
In later life Charlotte moved first to Orange County to be near her son Charles Clarence Loverde and his family, and later to Santa Cruz, California, where she lived in a small house next to that of her son Vernon Loverde and his family. She died on 5 August 1995 and is buried in Santa Cruz Cemetery (exact name?). The headstone gives her full name and has a carving of a stalks of wheat, representative of Kansas.
Sources:
- Personal communications cited above.
- Other personal communication with family members, including Charlotte's children Elizabeth, Al, Vern, Alice, and Chuck.
- Notes from conversation with Charlotte Prather Loverde, c. 1972.
- DAR Application of Charlotte Inez Prather Loverde. Not dated, probably written c. 1950. Received copy in March 2003 from her son Albert A. Loverde, who holds the original.
- Birth certificate of Charlotte Inez Prather. Original in possession of Elizabeth Loverde; copy received July 2003. The address of the birth is given as 508 Avenue B, Dodge City, Ford Co., Kansas. The certificate states that Charlotte was born at 6 a.m., and was legitimate. It states that she was the ninth child her mother had born, and that there were 8 children living. Her father's age was 38, her mother's was 35. Her father's occupation was locomotive engineer; her mother is "at home." The name of the doctor appears to be W.F. Price.
- Marriage license of Charlotte Prather and Albert A. Loverde. Copy received summer 2003 from my mother, Elizabeth Rosaria Loverde, who has the original in her possession. The copy is hard to read and the date in October 1936 is not clear. The certificate identifies the person performing the marriage as a "Catholic priest" but the name is illegible on the copy.
- 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Dodge City, Ford Co., Kansas (ED53, Image 3 when accessed on ancestry.com.) The 1920 census shows Charlotte in the household of her father, James Marcus Prather. (See his entry for further details.)
- 1930 U.S. Federal Census, E.D. 5, Dodge City, Ford Co., Kansas. This census shows Charlotte at 504 E. Cedar Ave. with her mother, Mamie Younkin Prather (see her entry for further details) and siblings Norman, Leva, and James.
According to an e-mail to me from Charlotte's son (my uncle) Vernon Douglas Loverde, dated 5 February 2003, "I visited the place with my Mother in Dodge City. The house in Dodge City was next to the railroad tracks, but I believe it was taken down about 50 years ago. It was across the street from a very small (but historic) chapel that a religious fanatic built. The man who built it used to climb the telephone poles and shout 'God's word' to those below. Mom also told me about Ben Hodges, a true historic figure, who was the last of the horse thieves and who, instead of being hung, had his Achilles tendons cut so that he could only shuffle along behind a cart. Somehow these two men may have been connected in her mind, perhaps just as childhood memories."
The story I had always heard from my mother, Elizabeth Rosaria Loverde, was that Charlotte's father James left the family, but Mamie and James produced 12 children over 23 years, from the birth of their oldest, Luella, in 1895 to 1918, when their youngest child James was born, and they were still living together at 909 Avenue D as of the date of the 1920 census.
By the 1930 census, Charlotte was living with her mother and siblings Norman, Leva and James in a separate house, at 504 E. Cedar Ave, and James was still at 909 Avenue D with son Loren. It appears from a Mapquest search that 504 E. Cedar Ave. and 909 Avenue D, are both at or very near the intersection of Cedar Ave. and Avenue D. Mamie's occupation is listed as saleslady in a drygoods store. Both Mamie and James apparently gave their marital status as "w'd," presumably for "widowed."
There seems to have been some very sad and bitter separation between Charlotte's father and his family. He died in La Junta, Colorado, on 22 October 1941. In an e-mail to me dated 7 February 2003, Mamie's granddaughter(my aunt)Alice Loverde Savage said, "I had always thought, growing up, from the way she talked, that her father must have died when she was young (though she never quite said so), but we visited his grave once, and I believe he didn't die till ... after I was born so I always figured there was something mysterious there."
Charlotte's mother, MamieYounkin Prather, commissioned genealogical work that proved they were descendant from a Revolutionary War patriot, Peter De Moss, qualifying for membership in the DAR. Charlotte joined also. According to Alice, Charlotte "was very active in the DAR and we were all raised in the CAR (Children of the American Revolution). I remember meeting regularly at the Chicago Historical Society, and at one point being President of the Chicago area chapter, which was called the Virginia Elot Cabell Society or some such thing.... We would visit Kansas and she was very proud to have belonged to the DAR. I always understood that her childhood had been one in which her mother had sought to prove that they had worth despite poverty, and tracing the DAR lineage was very important in that."
In a February 2003 letter to me, Mamie's grandson (my uncle) Albert Loverde wrote, "As I understand it, the Prathers were the poor white trash of Dodge City, Kansas, and registering as a DAR was very important to your great-grandmother [Charlotte's mother, Mamie Younkin Prather]."
Charlotte met her husband Albert Angelo Loverde at the University of Washington in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was in medical school and she was training to be a nurse. She worked as a nurse at Bellevue in New York as a young woman. Her medical experience seems to have had a profound and lasting impact on her.
She and Albert married in Chicago on October 23 or 24, 1936. They lived in the Mother Cabrini apartments in Chicago as newlyweds. Their first house was at 4145 Eddy St. in Chicago, and that is where Charlotte lived with children Elizabeth, Al, and Vern while Albert was away during World War II, where he was stationed in France and North Africa.
Al used to go on long walks, and one day came back and told Charlotte that he had bought another house, furniture and all. They lived in that house, 3648 N. Springfield Ave., Chicago, in an area called "The Villa," until they prepared to move to California to be with children.
Charlotte took the Santa Fe Chief every summer to visit her mother in Kansas City (and then presumably to Garden City, where her mother Mamie lived with Charlotte's sister Leva).
Charlotte, Al, and children took summer trips at times. In 1952 they drove from Chicago to the Black Hills, to Bremerton WA to visit Charlotte's brother James (Fud), to San Diego, and Texas.
Al's family couldn't have been more different than Charlotte's. She cooked Italian food and must have gotten used to the differences over time to some extent, but her husband's family must have seemed very foreign to someone with her background. As Alice Loverde Savage says, "[Charlotte's father-in-law] Santo Loverde and his brother Angelo married two sisters and lived next door to each other. [Charlotte's husband Albert] was one of 12 children, with 8 cousins growing up next door, and when we were growing up, all of these siblings and cousins were grown and living in Chicago with approximately 8,327 children ... and then there was Mom's family; she was also one of 12 children, scattered around the country; the only other in Chicago was Aunt Leva."
In later life Charlotte was a long-time volunteer docent at the Art Institute in Chicago, and one of the highlights of her experience there was that she once gave a private tour to Katherine Hepburn. Apparently they hit it off, Miss Hepburn was very interested, and they spent an agreeable afternoon talking.
In later life Charlotte moved first to Orange County to be near her son Charles Clarence Loverde and his family, and later to Santa Cruz, California, where she lived in a small house next to that of her son Vernon Loverde and his family. She died on 5 August 1995 and is buried in Santa Cruz Cemetery (exact name?). The headstone gives her full name and has a carving of a stalks of wheat, representative of Kansas.
Sources:
- Personal communications cited above.
- Other personal communication with family members, including Charlotte's children Elizabeth, Al, Vern, Alice, and Chuck.
- Notes from conversation with Charlotte Prather Loverde, c. 1972.
- DAR Application of Charlotte Inez Prather Loverde. Not dated, probably written c. 1950. Received copy in March 2003 from her son Albert A. Loverde, who holds the original.
- Birth certificate of Charlotte Inez Prather. Original in possession of Elizabeth Loverde; copy received July 2003. The address of the birth is given as 508 Avenue B, Dodge City, Ford Co., Kansas. The certificate states that Charlotte was born at 6 a.m., and was legitimate. It states that she was the ninth child her mother had born, and that there were 8 children living. Her father's age was 38, her mother's was 35. Her father's occupation was locomotive engineer; her mother is "at home." The name of the doctor appears to be W.F. Price.
- Marriage license of Charlotte Prather and Albert A. Loverde. Copy received summer 2003 from my mother, Elizabeth Rosaria Loverde, who has the original in her possession. The copy is hard to read and the date in October 1936 is not clear. The certificate identifies the person performing the marriage as a "Catholic priest" but the name is illegible on the copy.
- 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Dodge City, Ford Co., Kansas (ED53, Image 3 when accessed on ancestry.com.) The 1920 census shows Charlotte in the household of her father, James Marcus Prather. (See his entry for further details.)
- 1930 U.S. Federal Census, E.D. 5, Dodge City, Ford Co., Kansas. This census shows Charlotte at 504 E. Cedar Ave. with her mother, Mamie Younkin Prather (see her entry for further details) and siblings Norman, Leva, and James.
Events
| Birth | 23 Jul 1912 | Fullerton, Orange Co., CA |  |  | |
| Census | 1920 | U.S. Federal Census, - Dodge City, Ford Co., KS | | | |
| Census | 1925 | Garden City, Finney Co., KS | | ||
| Census | 1930 | U.S. Federal Census - Dodge City, Ford Co., KS | | ||
| Education | Abt 1933 | Nursing training - University of Washington, St. Louis, St. Louis Co., MO | |||
| Death | 5 Aug 1995 | Soquel, Santa Cruz Co., CA | | ||
| Obituary | 8 Aug 1995 | Tribune - Chicago, Cook Co., IL | | ||
| Marriage | Albert 'Angelo' LOVERDE | | |||
| Burial | Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Co., CA |
Families
| Spouse | Albert 'Angelo' LOVERDE (1907 - 1984) |
| Child | Elizabeth Rosaria Loverde (1938 - 2006) |
| Child | Living |
| Child | Living |
| Child | Living |
| Child | Living |
| Father | James Marcus PRATHER (1875 - 1941) |
| Mother | Mamie Elmira YOUNKIN (1877 - 1956) |
| Sibling | Luella 'Abigale' PRATHER (1895 - 1925) |
| Sibling | Lillian 'Jennie' PRATHER (1897 - 1987) |
| Sibling | Loren Alava PRATHER (1900 - 1950) |
| Sibling | Leora Margaret PRATHER (1902 - 1980) |
| Sibling | Leroy Younkin PRATHER (1904 - 1904) |
| Sibling | Daisy Bernice PRATHER (1906 - 1983) |
| Sibling | Thompson Alvenon PRATHER (1908 - 1972) |
| Sibling | Walter Homer PRATHER (1910 - 1975) |
| Sibling | Norman Ellsworth PRATHER (1915 - 1988) |
| Sibling | Leva Orvetta PRATHER (1917 - 1987) |
| Sibling | James 'Verdun' "Fud" PRATHER (1918 - 1990) |
Notes
Birth
From: U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 2 (Ancestry.com)Census
Charlotte appears in the household of her father, James Marcus Prather, at 909 Avenue D, the house near the railroad tracks in which the family lived for many years.Census
Age 12Obituary
From: Chicago Tribune, Obituary Index, 1988-1997 (Ancestry.com)Endnotes
1. Charlotte Inez Prather birth certificate.
2. Charlotte P. Loverde - Social Security Death Index (Accessed on-line and printed, 16 August 2002.).
3. Conversations with Loverde Siblings (Personal communication with family members, including Charlotte's children Elizabeth, Al, Vern, Alice, and Chuck, summer 2003 and other times.).
4. Bagwell, Gillian, Notes from conversation w/ Charlotte Inez Prather, c. 1972. (Unpublished notes taken during conversation with Charlotte Inez Prather, c. 1972. She was probably referring to information in her possession that may have included "The DeMoss Family in America" and research commissioned by her mother, Mamie Younkin Prather, to qualify for membership in the DAR.).
5. Caughron, Mrs. G.L. (Edith Susannah DeMoss), Sequel to The DeMoss Family in America (Neodosha, Kansas (privately published), 1967).
6. Caughron, Mrs. G.L. (Edith Susannah DeMoss), The DeMoss Family in America (Neodosha (?) Kansas, privately published, 1952).
7. ther familyU.S. Federal Census - 1920 - Dodge City, Kansas - James Prather family (On-line at Ancestry.com.).
8. therU.S. Federal Census - 1930 - Dodge City, Kansas - Mamie Prather (On-line at Ancestry.com.).
9. ther familyU.S. Federal Census - 1920 - Dodge City, Kansas - James Prather family (On-line at Ancestry.com.).
10. therU.S. Federal Census - 1930 - Dodge City, Kansas - Mamie Prather (On-line at Ancestry.com.).
11. Charlotte P. Loverde - Social Security Death Index (Accessed on-line and printed, 16 August 2002.).
12. Conversations with Loverde Siblings (Personal communication with family members, including Charlotte's children Elizabeth, Al, Vern, Alice, and Chuck, summer 2003 and other times.).
13. GEDCOM File : ~AT271.ged.