Charles Andrew Skaggs

Charles Andrew Skaggs was born December 21, 1917, in Shipman, Macoupin, Illinois, to parents Marshall Uyzel Skaggs and Martha Andrews Skaggs. They were listed in the 1920 census in Shipman as Marshall, 43, Martha, 28, and Charles, 2. They owned their own home free from a mortgage and Marshall was working as a merchant of a general store. A sister named Eva Alice was born in 1921, and sadly, their mother, Martha, passed away in 1923 at the young age of only 34 years old. By 1930 they were still living in Shipman, and were listed as follows in the census: Marshall, 55, Charles, 12, Eva Alice, 9, and also living with them was Marshall's sister, Alice, 45, and a roomer named Lucille Wheeler, 21. Marshall was still working as a general store merchant and Lucille Wheeler was working as a public school teacher. Sadly, just seven years later, Charles and Eva's father, Marshall Yuzel Skaggs, also passed away at the relatively young age of just 62 years old. At the time of their father's death, Charles was only 20 and Eva was only 16 years old. I would assume that Charles and Eva took care of themselves after their parents death, and at some point, they both moved to St. Louis, Missouri.

By the 1940 census, Charles, 22, was living in St. Louis, Missouri, and working as a bell hop for the Park Manor Hotel during the day and as a night attendant at a gasoline service station in the evening. For the 52 weeks he worked in 1939 at 99 hours per week his income was $1,000 which was the equivalent of about 20 cents per hour! I don't know if Charles ever married or had any children, but he passed away in April of 1977 while living in Shipman, Illinois.

His sister, Eva Alice, was also living in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1940, as a "lodger" with a woman named Ada Henley, 80, a widow from Illinois, and her daughter, Sarah Herold, 49, and her daughter Ruth Herold, 19, as well as Ada's brother, Maury Wightman, 78, and another "lodger" Dorothy L. Woods, 19. Their home was located at 3533 Halliday Street, which they were renting for $40 per month.

Both Eva and Dorothy had been previously living in Carlinville, Macoupin, Illinois, in 1935. They both had 4 years of their high school education. Eva was working as a secretary for a manufacturer of machinery and Dorothy was working as a stenographer for a credit business. Dorothy may have been Eva Alice's cousin, since her father's sister married a man named Alfred Benjamin Wood and they had a daughter named Dorothy.