Ellis W. Diggs (Sammy)

1930 Colorado Census

Mt Harris, Colorado

This Census was taken April 22nd, 1930 in Mt Harris, Colorado, Routt County. Precinct #21 by a Mrs. G. W. Smith. Mt Harris was a coal mining town established in the early 1900's. There were several coal mines in the area of this town. It is certain that my dad worked in some of them...which ones is still unclear...but I am sure he worked in the mines that were in and around Mt Harris since he was living there. For the story of Mt Harris along with pictures of the way it was back then and what it now looks like today click here. Here is how the census reads and I have broken it down into the different sections. The answers to the census will be placed in ( )... Place Of Abode: (52)  House Number (187) Number of dwelling house in order of visitation: (188) Name: (Ellis Diggs) Relation: (Head) House owned or rented: (R) Value of Home if owned or monthly rental if rented: ($6) Radio Set: (blank but means no...those who owned one puts in R) Does this family live on a farm: (N) Sex: (M) Color of race: (W) Age at last birthday: (23) Marital condition: (M) Age at first marriage: (20) Attended school or college anytime since Sept 1, 1929: (No)  Whether able to read or write: (Yes) Persons place of birth: (Kansas) Fathers place of birth: (Indiana) Mothers place of birth: (Ohio) State or M.T. : (70) Whether able to speak English: (Yes) Occupation: (Miner) Industry: (Coal Mining) Code: (78.5) Class of worker: (W) (Wage) Employment whether actually at work: (No) Line number for unemployed: (55) Whether a veteran of the U S Military or Naval forces: (No)                                                                                                                                                                                              Interesting Notes: Dad was paying $6.00 a month for rent...they did not own a radio...and he was not working at the time but possibly living on unemployment. Dad got married when he was 20 years old to Zelda...who was 17 years of age. Another interesting note is that if you look at the place where he put down marital status something was written over...looks an S underneath...which one Dad? Ok here is a math question for all of you...Dad states that he was 20 at his first marriage...Zelda states that she was 17...The age at the time of this census...Dad states that he is 23...Zelda states that she is 18...Ok here is the big equation...Dad's age mathematically figures out that they have been married for 3 years...Zelda's age mathematically figures out to be they have been married for only 1 year...???? So we can only draw three conclusions to this riddle...#1. Somebody is lying about their age (usually the woman) perhaps Zelda was 18 years old the time of this census but maybe she was only 15 years old when they got married...???...#2. This was not Dad's first marriage since the census states "Age at First Marriage"...#3. Somebody made a "BIG" mistake in writing down the numbers...I will let you ponder this one for a while...if you feel you can help us solve this major math problem then please share it with the rest of us on my message board and let's discuss it.

All these photos were taken at Mt Harris, Colorado from the 1920's - 1930's of the coal mining operations. The picture on the far left 2nd row is a picture of some of the coal miners from Mt. Harris...see if you can spot Dad. The last picture on the 2nd row was taken in the early 30's...one of those houses may of been rented by Dad and believe it or not...for only $6.00 a month with paid utilities!