Are You My Great Aunt?

A few days ago, I found a marriage entry that kind of blew me away.  My Great Aunt, Margaret (Jackson) Fafri, was known to have married three times.  But the marriage entry that I found for her “third” marriage showed that we all were wrong.  She was married (at least) four times.

In 1944, she was going by the surname of Nelson.  It made me realize that I had another shot at the 1940 census.  She wasn’t under Jackson (her maiden name), Engebretson or Habernicht (her two previous marriages).  Might she have been listed under Nelson?

I did a couple of searches in the 1940 Census at ancestry.com, but didn’t find anyone who fit Margaret’s description.  I decided to look at familysearch.org since sometimes people index names different.

I wasn’t sure where Margaret lived in 1940 so I did a general search for California.  There were way too many Margaret Nelson’s in the state.  I narrowed my search by place of birth.  This time I found a Margaret Nelson born in 1909 and residing in San Francisco.  This might be the person I am looking for.

Living on Post Street in San Francisco was “Margrit Nelson”.  She was born in 1909 in California and she was divorced.  She had completed 9 years of schooling (a clue to when she was married, perhaps?)  She was a waitress at a sandwich shop, but had no hours worked or wages.  It said she was seeking work.  She was living in the same place in 1935.

I’m inclined to think this is my Margaret.  No other Margaret fit the bill.  I never did find Margaret in the 1930 census.  She was not living with her mother and her two sisters.  Nor was she living with her other sister and brother, both of whom were married by 1930.

It looks like I’ll be working backwards to see if I can piece all of this together.  But, I think finally I am on the right track.