1910-1920: A Sad Decade for Anna & Her Family

The decade of 1910-1920 was not a happy one for the Lamons. Anna Lamon was eight years old when her mother, Ann Nora Jacobs Lamon, died on 18 May 1911, from "shock following hysterectomy for cancer of uterus," according to the death record. She was 38 years old. Less than a year later, on 12 February 1912, Anna's father, John E. Lamon, died from "congestion of the brain." Researching that cause of death, I learned that it referred to a swelling of the brain that could result from a variety of causes, all of them some kind of damage to the brain, such as a blow to the head, an infection, or an ischemic stroke. It's not clear from the record what injury John Lamon suffered, but his death must have been sudden and no doubt devastating to his family.

Of the children who were left, four were under the age of 18: Anna, Nettie, Leroy, and Walter. Walter was 17, but the others weren't old enough to go out on their own just yet.

In 1911, before all this happened, the Lamons were living in Savannah. Below is the Savannah Directory listing for that year.

As you can see, John E. and Nora were still alive, living at Montgomery Street. John was still the proprietor of the Palace Pool Room, apparently with a partner, F.J. Ciucevich. John Jr. lived with his parents and was working as a printer at the Savannah Morning News. Walter was also living with John and Nora, working as a clerk and traffic officer for the Central Railway of Georgia.

Leroy, however, was at that time living at 1701 Ogeechee Avenue, which was where his maternal grandmother, Sarah Royal Jacobs, was living. It's not known why he was not living at home, as he was only 12.

In 1913, a year after their father died, Anna and Nettie Lamon became wards of their grandmother, Sarah. Below is a segment of the document that gave her guardianship of the two girls, who would have been 10 and 11 years old at that time.

In 1915, Leroy Lamon was living in Atlanta, working as a clerk for H E Boynton. I haven't been able to learn what kind of company that was. Below is the listing from the Atlanta City Directory.

On August 16 of that year, Leroy Lamon died, and his was another sudden death. The death record describes the cause as "fractured cervical vertebrae"--in other words, a broken neck. There's no record of how he was injured, but he died in Jesup, GA, not Atlanta. Why he was in Jesup is also unknown. Was he murdered? Did he get in a fight? Was he in an accident? Maybe there was a piece in the newspaper of the time that explains. That might be worth looking into.

In any case, another member of the Lamon family died. It's not clear if the two girls were living with their grandmother at this time, but in 1917, Walter, one of the other brothers. claimed he was responsible for them on his WWI draft registration card. Though he was then living in New York City as an engineer with Army transport, he was probably sending money home to care for his sisters.

By 1920, the two girls were no longer living with their grandmother but were boarders in a convent in South Carolina, according to the census record. Why they ended up there is unknown. But not long after that, Anna married Jerome Sternberg and began her life as a wife and mother.

Anna Lamon Sternberg: Early Years

Anna Lamon, wife of Jerome Sternberg Sr, was born 3 June 1903 in Savannah, Georgia, to John Evans Lamon and Ann Nora Jacobs. She was the youngest of six children who survived infancy; there were two others who were born after Anna (in 1906 and 1907) but who did not survive. One died immediately at birth; the other lived three days before dying. Neither were named. A sibling born in 1898, Fred, lived only a year. All are buried in the Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah along with their parents and four other siblings.

In 1910, the Lamons lived at 530 Montgomery Street. (That building no longer exists.) All six children were at home, and according to this census, they were the only six left of 16 children born to Anna Nora Jacobs Lamon, Annie's mother. We can only speculate how Annie's mother lost 10 of her children. It seems unimaginable. The number may have been erroneously recorded, but one would have to look elsewhere for confirmation. Below is a segment of the Savannah census record for 1910.

From this source you can see that Anna's father, John was 42, his wife Nora was 38 and they had been married for 20 years. Next to Nora's name are the numbers 16 and 6; the first column is #children born to this woman and the second column is #children living. And you can see the six surviving children: John, Walter, Harry, Leroy, Anna, and Nettie.

Nettie and Anna are listed as the same age here as well as in 1920, but I don't think they were twins. There is a discrepancy in their ages in two places; though they are the same age in both early census records, Anna was listed as 27 in the 1930 census and 37 in 1940 when she died. Someone else's family tree on ancestry.com shows her birth date as 3 June 1903. I have no records that support that date, but perhaps her death certificate would show it. That could possibly be obtained in Savannah.

Another part of the census record shows the occupation of the people in the house.

You will note that John Lamon works in a pool room and that John Jr. and Walter Lamon are both clerks for a railroad. That railroad may have been the Central Georgia Railway. the one that John Sr. worked for at this time, according to the Savannah City Directory.  Therefore, the pool room was not his only occupation. In fact, the directory names him as proprietor of that business.

From this record you can also see that the Lamons had a live-in servant, Rosa B. Johnson, a 20 year-old black woman (race is "B") who is married but has no children. She is listed as their cook.

1972: Jerome Sternberg Sr. Dies

On January 2, 1972, in Savannah, GA, Jerome Sternberg Senior died at the age of 81.  He was buried January 3, 1972 in Lot 1694 in Laurel Grove North Cemetery in Savannah.

Below is the burial record from Laurel Grove Cemetery.

I do not have access to his death certificate, so I can't say how he died. But the certificate could be obtained from Georgia vital records. Here is the VA's record of death and burial that includes information about his time in service:

1952-1955: Jerome Remarries

Sometime between 1952 and 1955, Jerome married Loretta M. Floyd of Savannah. I haven't been able to find a marriage record for these two, but there is a Savannah Directory entry that shows Loretta as Jerome's wife in 1955, but in 1951, Jerome is listed without a wife and in 1953, Loretta is still Loretta Floyd. Below is the 1955 listing showing them as married,

and the 1953 listing of Loretta, one of the many Floyds in the Savannah Directory that year. 

Loretta and Jerome stayed married until his death in 1972, as far as I have been able to determine. Then she lived another 30 years, dying February 7, 2002 as Loretta Sternberg. Below is her brief obituary that appeared in the Savannah Morning News:

Loretta Sternberg

Guyton - Loretta Sternberg, 94, died Tuesday, Feb. 5 at Westview Nursing Center. She was a homemaker and a member of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Survivors: her niece and nephew, Carolyn & Cecil Zeigler of Guyton and numerous great nieces and nephews. Thomas C. Strickland & Sons Effingham Chapel (912) 754-6421

September 3, 1940: Annie Lamon Sternberg Dies

On September 3, 1940, Annie Lamon Sternberg, Jerome's wife, died at age 37. I have not found any records of what she died from. Unfortunately, her son Jerome Jr. was only 16 years old and his sister, Ida, was 18; it must have been difficult for all of them. There was quite an age difference between Jerome and Annie. He must have believed she would outlive him, but instead he lived another 32 years, eventually remarrying in his 60s.

Below is a death notice from the September 28, 1940 edition of The Bulletin of the Catholic Laymen's Association of Georgia, a publication of the Diocese of Savannah.

Their proofreading leaves something to be desired. Their daughter's name was Ida, not Eda, and according to the Georgia Death Index, Annie died on September 3rd, not August 3rd. And something seems to be left out in the list of brothers. I think that N. Tucker refers to her sister Nettie, so it's nice to know whom she married.

1930-1940 The Depression Years

The thirties were not too bad for the Sternbergs. They stayed in Savannah and it appears that Jerome was employed during that time. The 1934 Savannah City Directory shows Jerome (and Annie) living at 1234 East 42d Street.

Below is a photo of the house that is currently at that address. Whether it was the house they lived in is not certain; one source I read said the house was built in 1935, so it's possible it's the same house.

In 1934 Jerome was working as a salesman for Libby, McNeill & Libby Company. We know that company today as Libby, maker of canned foods.

In 1936, Jerome's father, Jacob Sternberg, died in Jacksonville, FL on October 30th. He was buried in Savannah, in the Laurel Grove Cemetery.

I have no other documents from the thirties, but the 1940 census shows Jerome as working full time for a different employer, this time as a timekeeper for a housing project. He is no longer living at the house pictured above, but is still living in Savannah.

Throughout his adult life, Jerome rented rather than owned his housing. I think people didn't buy houses so much back then. And considering how often the Sternbergs moved, it's probably just as well. But despite the frequent changes in residence and employment, and the fact that he had only a 6th grade education (see 1940 census), I think Jerome was quite successful!

1930: Jacob Retires and Moves to Florida; Jerome Stays in Savannah

Throughout the twenties, Jerome had some kind of sales or merchandising position, often with his father, Jacob. In 1928, Jacob was selling school supplies, and apparently owned the business with his son, Jerome. Jacob's brother, Simon, was working there too, it seems. Below is the 1928 Savannah City Directory listing for the Sternbergs.

By 1930, however, Jacob had retired to Jacksonville, Florida and was living there with his daughter Blanche and her family. Her husband was the owner of an auto dealership.

Jerome was still in Savannah in 1930, and was a salesman for a meat products company. He had two children by then, Ida and Jerome Jr. It's not clear what happened to the school supplies business, J. Sternberg & Son, but the stock market crash of 1929 may have had some impact on it.