Anna and Paul

I learned from the 1900 Census that Lydia had 6 children, but I only knew about 4 of them. So I decided to search for the 2 children to see what happened to them.

First I wanted to look for the birth certificates. (I really hate looking for death certificates for children! It's too depressing!)

I was only able to find one birth certificate. It was for Anna Elsner, born Jan. 17, 1891 in Cook County, Illinois. It shows that Anna was the 4th child of Albert and Lydia Elsner, Lydia's maiden name is Richter and it also has Albert's occupation. It says Albert was a Milk Dealer! So in 1891, Albert was a milk dealer and by 1900 he was a saloon keeper. Very interesting!

Next, I started looking for the death certificate for Anna. I found Anna's certificate in Cook County, Illinois. She was 2 years, 10 months when she died on Dec. 7, 1893 at 7pm. She had been ill for 3 days when she died of membranous croup. She was buried at Concordia Cemetery.

I also found another death certificate in Cook County, Illinois. This one is for the child that I couldn't find the birth certificate for.   His name is Paul Elsner and he was born in Chicago, Illinois.  He was 4 years, 5 months, 3 days old when he died on December 19, 1893 at 7pm. (So that would make his birth date, July 16, 1889.)   He was ill for about 1 week before he died of laryngeal diphtheria. He was buried at Concordia Cemetery.

I can't imagine how devastating this must have been for Albert and Lydia to loose two little children in less than 2 weeks of each other.