Edward Hammond Vance


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Edward Hammond Vance
Posted by: gar3131 ()
Date: March 30, 2013 03:01PM

Searching for info on my grand uncle Edward Hammond Vance. 1930, he was a partner in a funeral home on 730 E. 63rd St, Chicago, which matches an address in Polk's Directory for Skeeles-Biddle, who later handled the burial of Clarence Darrow. By the 40's, Edward was working at the Cook County Hospital on Harrison & Wood St, with a Mr. Jarvis as his supervisor, according to WWII draft registration. He listed his home address as 6231 Kimbark Ave, again, early 1940's. Edward was born in Kinsman, OH, son of a Presbyterian minister, and attended Cornell. I don't know if he ever married, have not been able to find a death record for him. His sister, my grandmother, married and settled down in Westfield, NJ. Perhaps some type of records from the funeral home or Cook County hospital might shed some light, but I don't know how to go about that. His partners in 1930 in the funeral home were Thomas J. Shannon and Robert H. Kirkham, both from IL, and about 16 years younger than Edward. Gary Richardson

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Re: Edward Hammond Vance
Posted by: WayOutWardell ()
Date: March 30, 2013 07:59PM

Before it was the funeral home, the building housed the Washington Park National Bank until the bank built a new building across the street. Here's a photo from the LOC website of the building when it was still the bank:

[url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/I?cdn:1:./temp/~ammem_w7Km::displayType=1:m856sd=ichicdn:m856sf=n065569:@@@cd]Washington Park National Bank, 63rd & Evans, 1916[/url]

The building was most likely demolished for the Woodlawn Gardens urban renewal project in the late '60s.
However, the house on Kimbark is still standing. Hope this helps a bit!

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Re: Edward Hammond Vance
Posted by: nordsider ()
Date: April 01, 2013 08:36AM

In a 1923 Chicago Directory, I found: "Vance, Edw hlpr r5483 Kimbark av"
In the --- List Of Abbreviations --- hlpr = helper

He doesn't appear in the 1920 census; could he have been in the military?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/01/2013 11:20AM by nordsider.

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Re: Edward Hammond Vance
Posted by: gar3131 ()
Date: February 01, 2014 01:38PM

His family lived in Worcester, MA during the 20's and 30's, and EHV attended Cornell, so he may have been in school for some of this time. I didn't realize he had been in Chicago as early as 1923. Other members of the family worked at cemeteries in PA or OH, and his father was a minister, so the funeral business was somewhat from his ancestors. Skeeles Biddle handled the funeral of Clarence Darrow, who was born in Kinsman, OH (33 years before EHV was born in the same town) so I wonder if he had anything to do with the firm getting the job. Later on, I see that EHV was working at Cook County Hospital. The last record I have for him is a WW II draft registration card, around 1942-43. No death record.

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