Who was Clinton's father?
My great-grandfather Clinton Paul Bealer (1896–1979) carried his mother's surname all his life, and no record yet names his father. This is everything found so far: what is known, what the one clue might mean, and what is still being looked for. Clinton's own story is in his card above.
What we know
- His mother was Gertrude Bealer, later Mrs. Joseph P. Madden (1882/83–1938), born in Philadelphia, the daughter of Peter Bealer and Catherine Gress. The 1910 and 1920 censuses make her only about 13 or 14 when Clinton was born.
- He was born on October 25, 1896, at Red Hill in upper Montgomery County (Greenlane, the next village, on his 1942 draft card), far from Philadelphia, where the family had been living.
- His father was never Gertrude's husband. In the 1930 census she gave her age at first marriage as 33, which matches her 1917 marriage to Joseph Madden.
- Clinton never knew him. Asked on his 1918 draft card where his father was born, he wrote "Does not know." His 1979 obituary calls him "a son of the late Gertrude Bealer" and names no father.
- Peter Bealer was his grandfather, not his father. Peter was Gertrude's father.
- He was raised apart from his mother but stayed close to the family. He was not in her household in 1910, but in 1909 he was with his grandmother, mother and uncles on a visit to Bally, and his grandmother's 1926 obituary lists him first among her grandchildren.
The one clue: "Gertrude Bealer–Cress"
Clinton was baptized at Red Hill on December 22, 1896, as Paul Clinton. Everywhere else on the page, the pastor writes the parents as father's first name – mother's first name, family surname, as in "Oswin – Emma Kulp". He never records a mother's maiden name. Clinton's entry breaks the pattern. It gives only his mother's full name, then a dash and a second surname, Cress.
The capital is the pastor's C. It matches the C of "Clara" just above and not the G of "Gertrude". But in Pennsylvania German speech G and K sound almost alike, and Gress, Kress and Cress are well-known spellings of one name. A pastor writing by ear could easily turn Gress into Cress, and Gress was Gertrude's mother's maiden name.
The Gress family lived a few miles away
A 1903 death notice in the Pennsburg Town and Country places Gertrude's Gress relatives right next to Red Hill. Mary Gress, widow of George Gress, of Pleasant Run, died on January 14, 1903, aged 89, at the home of her daughter Mary Willauer. She was Catherine's mother and Gertrude's grandmother. Her children were George E. Gress; "Mrs. Kate, wife of Amos Royer, of Pottstown" (Catherine); Paul Gress and Mrs. Mary Willauer, both "of near Willow Grove"; and Mrs. Lizzie Steyer of Frankford. She was buried from the Church of the Blessed Sacrament at Bally. Pleasant Run is a hamlet on the Frederick–Upper Hanover border, only about four miles from Red Hill.
What "Cress" might mean
- His father's surname, Cress or Kress. This is the simplest reading: the surname sits where the family surname goes, and the pastor may simply not have had a first name for him. Nothing yet names a Cress or Kress man in the area at the right time.
- The Gress family, written by ear. A girl of 13 or 14 from Philadelphia who gave birth near her grandmother's country home was very likely sent to stay with Gress relatives. Then "Cress" may record the family she was with, or whoever brought the baby to church, not his father. This fits the geography well, but the pastor recorded nothing like it anywhere else on the page.
- A man of the Gress family. This can't be ruled out, but nothing points to it.
One small thing stands out. Clinton was baptized Paul Clinton, and his great-uncle, Gertrude's uncle, was Paul Gress, living "near Willow Grove" with his sister Mary Willauer. He may simply have been named after a favorite uncle. It may not mean anything at all.
Still being looked for
- Where Clinton was in 1900. He has not been found yet. The households of Paul Gress and Mary Willauer near Willow Grove are the first places to look, under Bealer, Gress, Kress or Cress.
- Cress or Kress men of about the right age (born about 1860–1878) around Red Hill, Pennsburg, Green Lane and Pleasant Run in the 1880 and 1900 censuses.
- Which church kept the register, and who its pastor was. St. Paul's Lutheran at Red Hill is the likeliest.
- Gertrude's 1917 marriage license to Joseph Madden (Montgomery County, no. 28402), for her own account of her parents and any earlier marriage.
- DNA. A Y-DNA test of a man descended from Clinton through his sons would carry his father's Y line, and a match to Cress, Kress or Gress men would be strong evidence. Ordinary DNA matches are harder to read here, because Clinton already carried Gress DNA through his mother.