Abel Nicholas Dyksterhuis part 4

1930

1930 age 32

1930 Sumas City, Whatcom County WA Census

Abel, age 31, lived with his wife Reka age 24 and children Grace age 3 and Gene G. age 2 on Second street (there is no house number).  He rented his home worth about 12 dollars.  Abel is an insurance agent, and he is not a veteran.  This means that even though he registered for the draft in WWI, he did not fight.

A. Dyksterhuis, Dairyman, RD3, Lynden

Note G. Dyk who would be Guy Dyk of Lynden; G.E. Dyksterhuis of Sumas; and J.F. Dyksterhuis of Sumas.

1930 Whatcom County Business directory

Here we see Abel Dyksterhuis is on 8th and Pine, Lynden Washington.  This entry doesn't indicate his occupation.

1930 directory

Here we have Abel and wife Reka Dyksterhuis.  Abel is an insurance agent with his home at 8th and Pine.  Note Guy and Grace Dyk his wife's parents; John Dyk a laborer living with Guy; Avedina Dyksterhuis, the widow of Jacob T; Bert and Agnes; and Klaas and Jontina Dyksterhuis.

Do you see a problem with these three entries?  The first entry has a first initial, "A" working as a dairyman on a rural road in Lynden.  The other two say he is an insurance agent living on 8th and Pine in Lynden.  I don't know of any other male Dyksterhuis with first name starting with "A" so I assumed -- yes, I remember what Momma told me about how it makes an ASS out of U and ME --that this was the same man.  The question is, can he be a dairyman AND an insurance agent?

Okay, it's Google Maps Time, folks!  First up, RD3 Lynden Washington

Lynden, Whatcom, Washington
Google Maps 2018

Okay, that was a bit disappointing.  I can't find what used to be RD3.  But looking at Google Maps, I can see the city of Lynden, and the proximity to Sumas.  I also see that both are border towns.  If I were to do more research, I would look for other location markers to indicate where RD3 may have gone off to.  It didn't disappear, it is still there, just under a different name.

Next, let's look at 8th and Pine in the fair city of Lynden

Abel Dyksterhuis 1930 Residence
8th and Pine -- Google Maps Satellite View 2018

There is no street view option, this time.  Pretty area, though.  If you have more information about this home, and whether he was a dairy farmer or insurance agent or both in 1930s, let me know using the contact form on the right.

In Other News -- 

Scientists discover the ninth planet, Pluto!  (OurTimelines.com, 2018)

1929 Landau advertisement
Green Bay Press-Gazette, Green Bay, Wisconsin, page 10
15 September 1928, downloaded 20 March 2017
from Newspapers.com

1931 age 32

Birth of Child Three Dyksterhuis in Washington

Abel Dyksterhuis 1931 directory

Note the Dyk Building (is this related to Guy Dyk?); "Geo" and Grace on Judson near 7th; John Dyke; Abel N. and Reka Dyksterhuis.  Abel is a laborer, his home is 1515 E, Lynden.  Also Jacob's widow Avedina; Bert and Agnes; Klaas and Jontina.

Google Maps says:

1515 E street, Lynden Washington
Google Maps Satellite 3D view

As the Stradman says -- Views upon Views!

Abel Dyksterhuis 1931

1515 E, Lynden Washington, occupation Laborer.  The red circle is the home on E street in Lynden, the blue is the residence on 8th and Pine.

1933 age 35

Birth of daughter Audrey Rae Dyksterhuis, 3 November 1933, Lynden, Whatcom Washington, who died in Tacoma, Pierce, Washington.  She has no Find A Grave memorial that I've been able to find thus far.

Audrey Rae Dyksterhuis Bolls 1989 obituary index
unable to access the actual obituary

Historical Insight -- End of Prohibition

Abel Nicholas Dyksterhuis may have been part of the majority that celebrated in Bellingham, Washington when the 21st Amendment ended national alcohol prohibition on 5 December 1933

5 December 1933, New York, New York
Credit:  Imagno/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
from Ancestry.com Historical Insight

The 21st Amendment left alcohol prohibition for the states to decide, and Mississippi remained a "dry" state until 1966.  

In a 1939 news column, Eleanor Roosevelt looked back at the prohibition era and concluded that "a moral change still depends on the individual and not on the passage of any law."  The idea that the state cannot legislate morality was a clear lesson from the federal government's nearly 14-year attempt to prohibit the production and sale of alcohol.  Ratification of the 18th Amendment in 1919 led to a lucrative black market for organized crime, corruption within police departments, and a general lack of respect for the law by a broad cross section of the American public.  Many people celebrated on 5 December 1933 when ratification of the 21st Amendment repealed prohibition.  The editors of the Milwaukee Journal wrote:  "Prohibition is gone.  Few will mourn its passing.  It never was a real success, for it never really shut off the supply of alcoholic beverages to those who sought them." -- Ancestry.com Historical Insight 

Historical Insight -- Social Impact of the First "New Deal"

The government programs started by the first "New Deal" in 1933 may have assisted Abel

February 1931, Chicago Illinois
Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
from Ancestry.com Historical Insight

Despite the efforts of the first "New Deal," long lines outside of soup kitchens persisted in cities across the nation.  -- Ancestry.com Historical Insight

1933 - 1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President
(FDR Presidential Library & Museum, 2018)

Franklin D. Roosevelt President of the United States from 1933 to 1945 (OurTimelines.com, 2018)

1934 age 36

Historical Insight -- Bonneville Dam

The construction of the Bonneville Dam meant that Abel had nothing to fear but fear itself during the Great Depression

About 1938, Columbia River, Oregon.
Credit: Hulton Archive/Archive Photos/Getty Images
from Ancestry.com Historical Insight

Located just 145 miles from the mouth of the Columbia River, Bonneville Dam was built in 1938 to improve navigation of the river and to provide hydropower to the Pacific Northwest.  -- Ancestry.com Historical Insight

In other news -- 

35,000 Longshoreman strike for 83 days (OurTimelines.com, 2018)

The St. Louis Star and Times
St. Louis, Missouri
10 November 1931, page 8
downloaded 21 March 2017
from Newspapers.com

1935 age 37

Residence in Rural Whatcom County, Washington per 1940 census -- We will get to that one in 1940.  Stay Tuned!

Historical Insight -- The Great Depression

During the Great Depression, Abel Nicholas Dyksterhuis likely faced hardships like joblessness and scant resources while living in Washington in 1935.

April 1936, Cimarron County, Oklahoma.
Credit: Arthur Rothstein/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
  – Ancestry.com Historical Insight

Dust storms wreaked havoc on farms across the American heartland, caused the closure of entire towns, and prompted hundreds of thousands to flee their homes for greener pastures along the West Coast. Many became migrant farmers in California.    – Ancestry.com Historical Insight

1936 age 37

Birth of Child Five Dyksterhuis in Washington

McGuffy's Eclectic Primer, page 6

In Other News -- 

King Edward VIII (Windsor) ends his Reign and King George VI (Windsor) begins his Reign from 1936 to 1952; The Spanish Civil War begins; the Helicopter is first developed (OurTimelines.com, 2018)

(Vintage Graphics, 2017)

1937 - 1939 age 39 - 41

Nylon invented by DuPont; Germany annexes Austria; Aircraft Jet Engine is invented by Oltain; The Digital Computer begins to change our lives.  Oh, yes, and World War II starts 1939, but the US doesn't join the fight until later (OurTimelines.com, 2018)

Vintage Graphics Oh So Nifty

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Resources:

OurTimelines.com. (2018). TimeLines. Retrieved from OurTimeLines.com: http://ourtimelines.com/

Vintage Graphics. (2017, April 26). ROYALTY FREE CLIPART | VINTAGE MIX. Retrieved May 28, 2018, from Oh So Nifty Vintage Graphics: https://vintagegraphics.ohsonifty.com/royalty-free-clipart-vintage-mix/