1210 Monterey St. Pittsburgh, PA - The Story of a Brick House

This compilation of research originally started out as a way for me to solve the mystery of what happened to my Great Aunt Helen Anna Herbert Watson after she returned to this address when the S. S. Gripsholm brought her back from a Faith Fellowship missionary assignment in Shanghai.  In the years she was in Shanghai, she became married, pregnant, widowed, suffered the loss of her child, and was THEN imprisoned in an internment camp when Japan invaded China!  Wild story, right?!  Wouldn't you be curious to find out what happened next?

Records indicated other family members here, and a directory listed Helen living here as well in 1944, which led me to get curious about who actually owned the house and what happened to Helen and her mother Lisette after this became their residence.

While looking for resident listings of the address, I quickly learned that the newspaper often associated the addresses with the names of people when mentioning them in the newspaper.  This then led to a discovering everyone else who had lived and died in the home and the personal situations that unfolded in this one house over the course of a century.

As my curiosity deepened, I decided to create this post as an attempt to pull the best finds of that history together in one place.  This barely scratches the surface of the many lives who passed through this home as renters at various points in their lives full of transitions and change.  However, I hope that it will inspire you, should you find yourself in a home with over 100 years of history, to do some investigating too!  (All sources cited, when I actually remembered to grab the links.)

1900 April 18 / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Funeral at 1210 Monterey St. Allegheny for Annie (McGirr) Rice, wife of John Rice, Jr. aged 42 yrs.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7952229/pittsburgh_postgazette/


1901 September 24 / Pittsburgh Press
TO LET- One large furnished room third floor; new and clean; 1210 Monterey St. Allegheny
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31056290/to_let_one_large_furnished_room_on_3rd/


1902 August 3 / Pittsburgh Press
WANTED: Renter for 2 Nicely Furnished Second Floor Rooms. 1210 Monterey St. Allegheny.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31059269/wanted_renter_for_2_nicely_furnished/


1903 March 22 / Pittsburgh Press
Married: Miss Mary Rife and Mr. Samuel Brown, home at 1210 Monterey St.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31060510/married_miss_mary_rife_and_mr_samuel/


1903 March 29 / Pittsburgh Press
WANTED: Girl to do general housework, must give good reference. 1210 Monterey St. Allegheny.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31059539/wanted_girl_to_do_general_housework/
 

1903 November 11 / Pittsburgh Press
A. Z. Byers & Co (realty) sold for Mrs. E. Rife to Miss Margaret A. McBride, a lot 20x110 feet, improved with a brick residence, 1210 Monterey St, 2nd Ward, Allegheny. $8,000 cash.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31056197/mrs_nancy_e_rife_to_miss_margaret_a/


1904 February 14 / Pittsburgh Press
Clever People who Solved Puzzle: John W. Stoup of 1210 Monterey Ave.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31056952/clever_people_who_solved_puzzle_john/



1910 April 20 / The Pittsburgh Press
Wednesday 2pm Funeral of James Ross, father of resident Mrs. Homer Turk
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13877958/1210_monterey_st_pittsburgh_funeral/

1910 May 10 / The Pittsburgh Press

Wanted: Good English speaking German girl for housework at 1210 Monterey St.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31057901/wanted_good_english_speaking_german/

1910 May 16 / The Pittsburgh Press
To Let- 4-Roomed House in Good Condition

1910 November 4 / Pittsburgh Daily Post
Funeral for Catherine Brown, wife of William A. Brown, at home 1210 Monterey Ave.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31057146/funeral_for_catherine_brown_wife_of/


1912 June 30 / The Pittsburgh Press
To Let- Eight Rooms, Gas, Bath, Laundry, Beckfield Real Estate Co.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13878263/1210_monterey_pittsburgh_8_bedroom/

1916 December 12-18 / Pittsburgh Daily Post

Rooms for Rent- Two Nicely Furnished Rooms, Private Family

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13878399/1210_monterey_pittsburgh_furnished_two/

1917 October 2 / Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Draft Discharge Announcements for Resident James McNaught, already enlisted in US Navy
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13878716/1210_monterey_pittsburgh_resident_james/

1918 April 28 / The Pittsburgh Press
To Let - Three, Four, or Five Furnished or Unfurnished Rooms, Private Family, No Children
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13879055/1210_monterey_pittsburgh_room_to_rent/

1918 June / 27 The Pittsburgh Press / 28 Pittsburgh Daily Post / 28 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Draftee Announcement for Resident Vincenso Allesis
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13878884/1210_monterey_resident_vincenso_allesis/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13878520/1210_monterey_pittsburgh_resident/

  

1918 August 8 / The Pittsburgh Press

Drafted Resident Vincenso Allesis Prepares to Train at Camp Wadsworth

1918 August 10 / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Drafted Resident Vincenso Allesis Train Sendoff to Camp Wadsworth with Farewell Parade

1920 June 23 / The Pittsburgh Press

Furniture & Home Goods for Sale: Two hall racks, combined writing desk and bookcase, window shades, 2 hot plates, small couch.  Call mornings 10 to 12: no dealers.

1920 June 30 / The Pittsburgh Press

WANTED- At once, seamstress experienced at summer dresses.

1922 June 16 / The Pittsburgh Press

For Sale: Wearing Apparel: 12 wash suits for boy 4 years. Norfolk. 2 pants brown suit for 12 year, like new, cheap.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31058590/the_pittsburgh_press/

1924 February 12 / Pittsburgh Daily Post

Apparel for Sale: blue flowered taffeta party dress size 18, like new, cheap.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31059489/apparel_for_sale_blue_flowered_taffeta/

1924 July 27 / The Pittsburgh Press

Children's Clothing for Sale

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31058542/children_clothing_for_sale_1210/

1926 March 21 / Pittsburgh Daily Post

Grace Hoover of 1210 Monterey St. elected vice president of YWCA at Ohio Wesleyan University.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31060844/grace_hoover_elected_vice_president_of/

1926 December 5 / Pittsburgh Daily Post

Grace E. Hoover of 1210 Monterey St., senior at Ohio Wesleyan read a paper "Transcendentalism as a Background of Victorian Literature" at a meeting of the Philosophy Club.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31055838/grace_e_hoover_1210_monterey_st_read/

1927 January 25 / Pittsburgh Daily Post

Harry Ruble, 35, of 1210 Monterey St. bitten by his own police dog

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31057027/harry_ruble_35_of_1210_monterey_st/

1928 January 8 / The Pittsburgh Press

For Sale: Five-Piece parlor suite and radio cabinet in good condition. 

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31058648/fivepiece_parlor_suite_radio_cabinet/

1932 June 23 / The Pittsburgh Press

Resident "Peanut" Walters likes risky job.  Husband and father of daughter and son.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31058388/peanut_walters_sand_hog_resident_of/

1936 September 16 / The Daily Republican, Monongahela, PA

Obituary for James Hagerty, resident of 1210 Monterey St.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31056045/james_hagerty_obituary_1210_monterey/

1937 June 19 / Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph

Helen A. Herbert to sail Empress of Japan to China for Faith Fellowship Mission

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31054696/helen_a_herbert_missionary_to_china/

1937 August 26 / Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph

Daughter of resident Lissette Herbert and other Pittsburghers reported in Shanghai War Zone.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30984661/john_watson_and_helen_a_herbert_in/

1937 December 08 / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Death of Rev. James Kier Pollack, age 74, former pastor of the College Methodist Episcopal Church

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31054999/1210_monterey_st_rev_j_k_pollock/

1938 December 22 / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Marriage in Shanghai: Helen A. Herbert, daughter of Mrs. John Herbert 1210 Monterey to John R. Watson son of Reverend O. O. Watson.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31060510/married_miss_mary_rife_and_mr_samuel/

1939 May 22 / The Pittsburgh Press

Marriage License Application: John L. Wilson 100 North Ave - Lillian M. Herbert 1210 Monterey St.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13879508/1210_monterey_pittsburgh_marriage/

1940 March 3 / Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph

Resident Mrs. John Herbert's Son-in-Law John R. Watson dies during Missionary work in China

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31060241/john_r_watson_death_announcement/

1941 March 13 &14 / Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph & Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Resident Carl A. Creutz, Design Engineer from Sweden, Dies at Allegheny General Hospital
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31059682/obituary_carl_alfred_creutz_resident/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31057387/obit_carl_a_creutz_69_design/

  

1943 October 14 / The Pittsburgh Press

Resident Mrs. Lisette Herbert's daughter Mrs. Helen H. Watson returns on S. S. Gripsholm after being interned by Japanese in Shanghai.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13879712/1210_monterey_pittsburgh_residents/

1943 December 2 / The Pittsburgh Press
Resident Lisette Deiss spends week in New York to meet daughter Mrs. Helen A. Watson, Pittsburgh Missionary returning home from Japanese Internment on S. S. Gripsholm.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13878343/the_pittsburgh_press/

1943 December 4 / The Pittsburgh Press
Additional neighbors of resident Helen A. Watson who landed in New York from the S. S. Gripsholm.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13877198/mrs_helen_watson_pittsburgh_neighbor/

1943 December 10 / The Pittsburgh Press
Resident Mrs. Helen A. Watson tells her story of living in a Japanese Internment Camp in Shanghai.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13859272/helen_watsons_shanghai_china/

1944 May 17 / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Funeral at Aeberli's Chapel for former resident Sarah F. Hammond of 1210 Monterey

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31057820/funeral_for_sarah_f_hammond_formerly/

1947 December 4 / The Pittsburgh Press

Death of Ira E. Hoover, age 71, Pastor of North Ave Methodist Church, and Mission Superintendent.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13877438/ira_e_hoover_obituary_1210_monterey/

1953 July 26 / The Pittsburgh Press

Birth Announcement: Mark Steven Roadman, son of Mr. & Mrs. Jack Roadman, 1210 Monterey St.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20736649/alan_hausrath_birth/

1953 September 24 / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Betty Ivansin Custody Battle for boy Eugene Michael from Olander Foster Family

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31060882/betty_ivansin_custody_battle_for_son/

1953 September 25 / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Eugene Michael Ivansin, born August 3 in Roselia Maternity Hospital to unwed resident Betty Ivansin

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31060355/eugene_michael_ivansin_born_august_3/

1953 September 26 / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph

Betty Ivanisin, 33, of 1210 Monterey St. recovers custody of her baby boy Eugene Michael from foster parents, Herman and Margaret Olander

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31058212/betty_ivanisin_33_of_1210_monterey/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31060672/eugene_michael_ivanisin_returns_to_mom/

  

1954 March 8 / Pittsburgh Press

James L. Sherrow of Houston, Pa and Delores Burnside of 1210 Monterey St. apply for Marriage 

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31056811/james_l_sherrow_of_houston_pa_and/

1956 July 27 / Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph

Resident Mrs. Mary Ann Benkapec assaulted while working at Music Shop for $35 record album.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31058102/mrs_mary_ann_benkapec_of_1210_monterey/

1959 August 1 / Pittsburgh Press

Marriage License for resident Mary Ann Berkopec of 1210 Monterey St. to Richard E Anderson of 707 Ridge Ave.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31057705/marriage_license_richard_e_anderson/

1961 October 2 / Pittsburgh Press

Resident Weichel, Donald J. of 1210 Monterey St. applies to marry Dowden, Sandra Lee of 907 Kirkbride St.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31055458/1210_monterey_resident_donald_j/

1962 July 26 / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Resident Louise LaBertew notice for unclaimed wages from Wolverine Supply & Mfg.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31059428/louise_labertews_unclaimed_wages_from/

1967 June 19 / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Marriage License: John V. Wilson III to Judith A. Clark of 1210 Monterey St.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31058944/marriage_license_john_v_wilson_iii_to/

1969 March 11 / The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Marriage License: Stephen J. DePhillips to Marcia L. Kohnke of 1210 Monterey St.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31059742/marriage_license_stephen_j_dephillips/

1971 September 30 / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Marriage License: Robert E. Holloran of 1207 Buena Vista to Irene C. Mock of 1210 Monterey St.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31060414/marriage_license_robert_e_halloran_of/

1988 April 28 / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

John W. Ceranic III to Beverly J. Parker, 3-story house, 1210 Monterey St. $22,000

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31056403/nathan_nissim_1210_monterey_st/

1988 November 17 / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Beverly J. Parker to Robert W. Blackham, 3-story house, 1210 Monterey St. $42,000

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31059828/1210_monterey_st_sale_42000_beverly/

1991 August 27 / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Nathan Nissim, 1210 Monterey, relative of deceased Nitsa Nissim

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31056403/nathan_nissim_1210_monterey_st/

What is "Retirement" as a Creative?

I definitely caught some flack when I said that I was retiring from photography at the age of 38.  Some people thought it meant I was retiring from ALL work and had some massive pension or savings plan.  Even my own husband dissed me, like "where's the beef"... as in "pension"?  Frankly, there are many people who retire without a pension, so can we just quit with the limited definitions?  I think my favorite back-channel comments were from skeptical colleagues who assumed I had somehow failed and was using the word "retired" to cover up some kind of failure.  I find it hilarious how people love to run away with their imaginations rather than just asking me!  People love to project their internal fears and worries onto others, but thankfully I've got enough experience and success not to be phased by these kind of projections.  So, let's consider some other definitions of retirement, OK?


(Art by Dale Chihuly, Photo by Anne Ruthmann)

Here's what retiring means to me... to have completed a working journey and learned all that I came to learn in my choice of photography as a career.  To me, "retired" means I did everything I wanted to do, met the challenges, figured out how to make it work for me, and don't have any challenges left that I want to conquer.  I won awards.  I spoke at conferences.  I was published in magazines.  I received international recognition.  I made a little money and then I made really good money.  I learned how to keep my business going during an economic crash.  I learned how to move my business 5 times.  I learned how to work with low end clients and then how to work with high end clients.  I sold photography packages I didn't even think were possible to sell.  I gave back everything I learned every step of the way on PhotoLovecat.  What more do I really need from a photography career?!

My journey with photography as a career feels fulfilled and complete.  I conquered the issues.  I overcame the challenges.  I learned.  I grew.  I became whole and full as a photographer, feeling secure in my work and my worth and how I operated as a creative business.  Because of this sense of completion, I felt I really needed to put everything I learned into the Pricing Workbook for Creatives so that it can help others have a great creative journey as well.

I don't know anyone else who has had to restart a creative in-person service business in as many different states as I have.  This journey has definitely been unique and taught me what I needed to get up and running quickly with the appropriate pricing and offerings each time I've landed in a new place.  This journey taught me how to hustle hard with little jobs when I needed to make freelance contract work turn into a full time income.  It has taught me how to network, negotiate, and price appropriately to meet the needs of high-demand clients without completely slitting my own creative wrists.  All of that starts from the solid foundation that I've outlined in the Pricing Workbook for Creatives.

I learned so much of this process through hard knocks, but if I can help early creatives, small business owners, and service providers have a better grasp on their value and worth up front, than I am sure that people will stop overworking and undercharging for their creative efforts.  I am certain that personal service, individual creativity, and creative careers can be extremely rewarding businesses for the right people.  Running a small business, or just operating in a fully-supported way as a freelancer is an amazing journey, one that I continue on in many different forms.  However, as for commercial photography... I feel complete and fulfilled.

I could have continued working with my amazing recurring commercial photography clients just for the money, but money can be made in a lot of different ways.  I've always been multi-passionate and one forever job just doesn't feel like it has ever been my path.  I love learning new things, and it was time to move on and learn some new things!

Never be afraid to pivot for your own development and happiness.  Society likes us to stay in a safe box of pre-defined options, but your story is yours to create, no one else's.  Do what fulfills your soul, and don't let the critics or naysayers keep you down.  Do what works for you and let your journey inspire others to do the same!

Sorting Out My Clairsentience

For a long time, I thought empathy and clairsentience were the same thing, but once I gained more control over my own emotions, sensory experiences, and energetic field in general, here's how I now sense the difference between the two:

Empathy - an emotional attachment to the condition of another living being
Clairsentience - an intuitive felt understanding about another being's condition



When I see someone stub their toe, I might cringe and say ouch because I have a memory of what that pain feels like and where it's stored in my own body, which is empathy because I'm responding with emotional attachment to something that triggered a feeling.  When I see a foot that has no obvious signs of issues or pain, but I begin feeling an odd pain in my own foot when I'm close to someone, that's clairsentience working between two energetic sensory fields full of information and awareness.

When I watch the news and begin feeling the weight of the world weighing down on me and depressing me, that's empathy triggering and engaging my emotional response.  When I watch the news and suddenly start feeling a sense of tummy issues when a particular person is on the screen, even though I can't see their tummy, that's clairsentience working with my intuitive awareness of what may be happening in that person's body.

The challenging part of clairsentience is that you can't exactly tell what feeling is yours and what isn't yours until you know your body so well that you know what you're feeling can't possibly be yours because it makes no sense based on everything you know about yourself.

Meditation helped me learn how to treat all of the sensations and feelings in my body more like clouds of information that simply move through the body so that I can be less attached to how things make me feel emotionally and a much better observer of my own sensations.  Once I was able to see sensations more objectively and less emotionally, it was easier to notice what sensations would come and go from my body and how it correlated with what I was doing or experiencing in a moment.  This made it easier for me to understand clairsentience as an energetic awareness full of information rather than an annoying physical sensory experience.

By being such an intensive observer of myself and of everything else around me in my environment (thank you photography career), I began to notice that some feelings would enter my body when people would get close to me and then leave my body when people would walk away from me.  Likewise, I would have some sensations that only happened in certain buildings or rooms, but not others.  The quickest way to figure it out was to step in, and then step out, and then step in again to see if it was just me or my proximity to something. Those were the first clues I used to help me understand and make sense of my clarisentience and sensitivity to my environment.

I've had these sensations all my life but never understood them.  They would just bother me and distract me and make me self-conscious or not feel well, but I didn't know how to sort them out from myself until I figured out how to manage my mind's observation tools separately from my emotions and sensory experiences.  When emotions and sensory experiences are tied together, it's really challenging to sort out our own stuff from other people's stuff, because emotions make it all personal.

Once I became more aware of what sensations came and went, versus which ones traveled with me all the time, it became easier to sort out what was and wasn't mine.  My aches, pains, or tummy things that travel with me no matter where I go, or only happen when I eat certain foods or move in certain ways, become so predictable that they are like learning how to ignore the sound of an air conditioner or refrigerator.  Knowing the hum of our own body means that it's easier to be aware of what is unusual and how it seems to pair with environmental changes.  This is also why it's important to observe your own body's reactions to different foods, different lighting conditions, different temperatures, different everything.  If you can't sort out what predictably makes you feel a certain way, it's hard to sort out a lot of other things, so we always need to start from within first.

Once I was finally able to understand what was mine and what was outside of me, I also became aware of ways my sensitivity grew or diminished in relation to certain things.  I noticed that clean living foods like fruits and vegetables made me more sensitive to the environment around me, and heavily processed or fried foods and alcohol dampened my sensitivities more.  Once you know this, you can really use food and drink to shut down your intuition and awareness when you just don't want to feel things, and I'm sure that's why people make the worst decisions when they are drinking or have reached a point of feeling numb to the environment around them.

Until I learned the daily practice of reiki self-care, it was almost a fight between wanting to be healthy and sensitive, versus not wanting to feel everything around me.  Reiki gave me more balance and control over my energy, my sensitivity, and the reach of my energetic field as well as more practice in containing it when needed.  I eventually learned how to move through the world much more comfortably even while having my sensitivities engaged.  I learned how to gain a little more control over my energy field, and how to push it outward, build an energetic wall, and pull it inward.  This is mostly just a process of controlling our thoughts and awareness, because our energetic field actually has some level of conscious control.

I'm not unique in being able to control my energy field and awareness- we all can place our awareness in someone else's field.  As an example that most people have experienced, or that you can try the next time you're in a crowded space... it's looking at someone across a crowded room and then having them suddenly look directly back at you even though you're far enough away not to be easily noticed.  They become aware of you specifically because you placed your energy and awareness next to them on the other side of the room and they intuitively picked up on it, whether they knew it or not.  Now, when you do this, because your awareness is across the room, you may not be completely aware of the person right behind you that may be eyeing your wallet or about to startle you, because your awareness has been placed on the other side of the room, so use with caution and don't be creepy about it.  Likewise, the next time someone startles you or catches you off-guard, double check where your awareness was just before you were startled- you were likely mentally focusing on something away from your immediate surroundings.

Now that I have better control and use of my clairsentience and ability to feel into things, I don't have to go around feeling everyone's stuff when I don't want to.  When people ask me to "see what I can feel about them" at random in public, it's easier for me not to immediately feel it, because I've actively learned how to turn the sensitivity down in public spaces.  Having control also makes it easier for me to have a level of sensitivity and clarity when I do want to feel deeply and accurately for clients during reiki sessions and distance medical intuitive work, because I'm not carrying a bunch of other confusing stuff around with me or trying to sort out other information when I'm not doing a client session.

Do you recognize your own sensitivities?  Have you learned how to work with them and better control them as they show up in your life?  Share your thoughts or questions in the comments below!

Anne Ruthmann
www.abundantsphere.com