Elmer Sorensen & Florence Heydon

Almor Gyldenlove “Elmer” Sorensen Elmer Sorensen in 1927Almor Gyldenlove “Elmer” Sorensen in January 1927. was born on August 21, 1901 in Philadelphia to Danish immigrants Anders Sorensen and Anna Alminde. Elmer’s father was a wagon driver and iron worker, and his mother ran a dry goods store out of the family home. The 1910 census places the Sorensen family on 2348 Harlan Street in North Philadelphia, but according to “family lore” they changed houses on a regular basis. Elmer’s daughter-in-law and one of his grandchildren recall hearing stories about Elmer greeting his older siblings as they arrived home from school—and informing them that their family had moved earlier that day.

In 1920, the census lists him at 2518 West Allegheny Avenue, which appears to have been the family’s more permanent home. It also shows Elmer working with his older brother as a “chauffeur” at “Auto Steel Bod’s,” the same place where their father was a “rigger.” This might be the Budd Company, a factory at 2450 West Hunting Park Avenue.

Florence Elizabeth Heydon was born on October 27, 1905 in Philadelphia to Samuel Heydon, a carpenter and landlord, and Elizabeth “Bessie” O’Leary. Both of her parents were immigrants, her father from England and her mother from Ireland. She was baptized at St. Columba, a Catholic church, on December 22 in the presence of her parents and her godmother, Catharine Hall.

The 1910 census lists her with her family at 2418 North Natrona Street in Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion section. Sometime between 1916 and 1920 they moved to 3226 North Bailey Street, where Florence is recorded in the 1920 census and where her mother died in 1922. The latter address is only a three-minute walk from where the Sorensens were living at the time, so it’s safe to say that Elmer and Florence met in the Allegheny West neighborhood of Philadelphia sometime during the 1920s.

Florence Florence Heydon in 1927Florence Elizabeth Heydon in January 1927. was very outgoing and eccentric according to most people who remember her, and my mother recalls how this contrasted with Elmer’s easygoing and accommodating personality. Elmer once recounted to one of his grandchildren how he and Florence went to a speakeasy near the corner of North 3rd and Race Streets sometime in the mid 1920s. When Florence’s father confronted Elmer, upset that a man would take his daughter to an illegal bar, Elmer made it clear that he didn’t take her—she took him.

Elmer and Florence married on November 29, 1928 when Elmer was 27 and Florence was 23. They had one child together:

After getting married, Elmer (or “Couk” as Florence called him) moved into the Heydons’ home on North Bailey Street, where the 1930 census records the couple with Florence’s father Samuel and sister Ethel. Ethel—or “Essie” as most people knew her—would live with her sister and brother-in-law for the rest of her life.

Both Elmer and Florence were employed. According to my mother, Essie took care of most of the household’s chores. She also maintains that Florence “never cooked anything in her life.” While Florence was a stenographer at a number of local companies over the decades, Elmer took several jobs involving machines. For a time during the 1920s, he was an organ tuner and repairman at various Vaudeville theaters and music halls in Philadelphia; according to “family lore” he often watched performances (or fell asleep) there, and he allegedly helped install the organ at the city’s famed Mastbaum Theater.

In the 1930 census, Elmer Elmer and Florence in about 1928.Elmer and Florence at the Jersey Shore in August 1928, three months before their wedding. is listed as a “machinist” at a “machine company,” and by 1940 he was a “tester” at a radio company. A draft card he filled out in 1942 reveals that his employer was Philco Radio. This company (known at various times as Philco and Philco-Ford) was a pioneer in electronics manufacturing and was notable for their “Baby Grand” cathedral radio, among other products. Elmer worked as an assembly line supervisor, first in their factory at C and East Tioga Streets in Philadelphia and later in their factory at 501 South Main Street in Spring City, Pennsylvania. He kept his job at Philco until his retirement in 1966.

Sometime after 1942, Elmer, Florence, their son, and Florence’s father and sister moved to 3216 West Allegheny Avenue, where Florence’s father died in 1945. They moved again in the late 1940s or early 1950s to 453 Summit Avenue in Roxborough, where Elmer would live for the rest of his life.

Elmer died on July 6, 1992 at the age of 90 after suffering from congestive heart failure. My mother remembers Elmer’s last request was that Essie stop bringing him ice cream to eat. He was buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

Shortly after his death, Florence and Essie moved into the Masonic Home, a long-term care facility at 801 Ridge Pike in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania. Florence died there on April 10, 2001 at the age of 95 (possibly of Alzheimer’s disease) and was buried with her husband in West Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Further reading

Almor “Elmer” Sorensen’s and Florence Heydon’s entries on my Ancestry.com tree (requires a subscription).

Elmer Gyldenlove Sorensen’s and Florence Elizabeth Heydon’s pages on FamilySearch (requires a free account).

Sources

“Pennsylvania Births and Christenings, 1709–1950,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HHVJ-DWZM : 15 February 2020), Elmer Guldenlove [sic] Sorensen, 1901.

“Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Births, 1860–1906,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBTG-LHF : 25 September 2019), Almor Guldenlove [sic] Sorenson, 21 Aug 1901; citing Birth, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, City of Philadelphia, Department of Records, Pennsylvania.

“Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Births, 1860–1906,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBT2-J6P : 25 September 2019), Florence Elizabeth Heydon, 27 Oct 1905; citing Birth, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, City of Philadelphia, Department of Records, Pennsylvania.

Catholic Heritage Archive. Baptisms, St. Columba parish, 1895–1921. Florence’s baptism record, which indicates that she married her husband in the church in 1946, 18 years after they were legally married. Link

“United States Census, 1910,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MG7W-PKB : accessed 16 December 2020), Almor Sorensen in household of Kjestine Sorensen, Philadelphia Ward 29, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 669, sheet 8A, family 171, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1399; FHL microfilm 1,375,412.

“United States Census, 1910,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGHS-XV1 : accessed 16 December 2020), Florence Heydon in household of Samuel H Heydon, Philadelphia Ward 28, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 658, sheet 4A, family 84, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1402; FHL microfilm 1,375,415.

“United States Census, 1920,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF1N-R5V : 11 December 2020), Anders J Sorensen, 1920. Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 38, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1636; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 1365. NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls.

“United States Census, 1920,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF1J-KPK : 11 December 2020), Samuel Heydon, 1920. Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 38, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1636; Page: 14A; Enumeration District: 1366. NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls.

“Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Marriage Indexes, 1885–1951” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JJBM-WZ1 : 22 April 2020), Florence E Heydon and Sorensen, 1928.

“Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Marriage Indexes, 1885–1951,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ZWSN-P2T2 : 29 April 2020), Elmer Sorensen and Heydon, 1928.

“United States Census, 1930,” This census incorrectly lists Elmer and Florence’s son as a girl, “Elinore.” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHWP-F9S : accessed 16 December 2020), Elmer Sorensen, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 773, sheet 15A, line 35, family 243, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2125; FHL microfilm 2,341,859.

“United States Census, 1940,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQWT-P8Q : 6 May 2020), Elmer Sorrensen in household of Samuel Haydon, Ward 38, Philadelphia, Philadelphia City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 51-1414, sheet 7B, line 58, family 118, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790–2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 3732.

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940–1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Pennsylvania, 10/16/1940–03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 2380. Link (requires subscription)

Ancestry.com. U.S., Phone and Address Directories, 1993–2002 It seems that Elmer’s name was in the phone book for at least a year after his death. [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. City: Philadelphia; State: Pennsylvania; Year(s): 1993. 1993–2002 White Pages. Little Rock, AR, USA: Acxiom Corporation. Link (requires subscription)

Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007 Elmer’s birth date on social security records is consistently incorrect; he was born in 1901, not 1900. [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936–2007. Link 1 Link 2 (require subscription)

Ancestry.com. U.S., Public Records Index, 1950–1993, Volume 2 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Voter Registration Lists, Public Record Filings, Historical Residential Records, and Other Household Database Listings. Link (requires subscription)

Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2014. Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration. Link (requires subscription)

“Find A Grave Index,” database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVL8-RZ42 : 16 June 2020), Elmer Sorensen, 1992; Burial; citing record ID 91221248, Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/91221248/elmer-sorensen