Grover and Millie Brown in the Louisville City Directories

Where did Grover and Millie Brown live in Louisville?

Using information from City Directories and some other records, we can track where Grover and Millie lived and worked while they were in Louisville.

Phillip Michael Brown

I already covered the second half of 1941 in my post 1941 - Millie's Stressful Year. Her father had died, her older brother, Peter, was a POW in the Philippines, her younger brother, Fred, was also in the army, and she was pregnant with her first child.

Their first child, Linda Lee (my mother) was born in May 1942. She was the first of 5 children.

Five you ask? Most of us may only know about four: Linda, Peter, Julia and Douglas. But they had another child, Phillip Michael Brown. 

1941 - Millie's Stressful Year

Millie and Grover were married in August 1941.

After they married, Grover moved in with Millie, into her father's house at 1308 Rufer Avenue. Her father, Peter C. Tschudi, had owned this house since about 1937. He worked at the Stimpson Computing Scale Co since moving to Louisville from Detroit.

More on Grover & Millie's Marriage

In my post Why Did Grover & Millicent Go to St. Louis to Marry?, I suggested that maybe they traveled to St. Louis because their families disapproved of the marriage. Since then I've come across some more information that may shed some light on the situation.

The Wedding of Millicent and Grover

In my previous post, I asked “Why Did Grover & Millicent Go to St. Louis to Marry?” I conjectured about possible reasons they traveled from Louisville to St. Louis to get married. This post is about what we know about their wedding.

Millicent Tschudi & Grover Brown (on their wedding day?)

Why Did Grover & Millicent Go to St. Louis to Marry?

Eighty-one years ago today, on Tuesday, August 12, 1941, my maternal grandparents, Grover Brown and Millicent Tschudi, were married in Saint Louis, Missouri. But they lived in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Why did they travel to St. Louis to get married?

---

Today the trip would take about 6 hours (279 miles) while avoiding interstate highways. I imagine that it took much longer back then. Of course, they could have flown (unlikely) or taken a train. But why?

Google Maps - Louisville to St. Louis without highways

I want to believe that it was a romantic elopement. But who knows?

They did not need to get married because she was pregnant. Their first child, Linda Lee Brown, was born nine and a half months after their marriage.

Did they elope because the families disapproved of the marriage? Could be. Remember from the 1940 Census we learned that Grover had been unemployed for 2 years, and before that he pumped gas. I could imagine that her father (Peter C. Tschudi) might not have been too optimistic about Grover’s potential to provide for his daughter.

However, legally they did not need to get their parents’ permission to marry since she was 23 years old, and he was 21.

A reason they may have wanted to get married was the military draft. (But this doesn’t explain why they went to St. Louis.) Grover registered for the draft on July 1, 1941. Although the United States was not at war, the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 required all men between 21 and 36 years of age to register for the draft. On July 1, 1941, the second registration was held.  All males who had reached 21 years of age since the first registration on October 16, 1940. As required, Grover registered for the draft in Louisville on July 1, 1941. At first married men were not drafted, which led to a marriage boom. ¹  

Front of Draft Registration Card ² 

Back of Draft Registration Card ²  

My mother thought they may have selected St. Louis to marry and to attend a fair (like the St. Louis World’s Fair, but that was in 1904.) I can find nothing about any fairs in St. Louis in 1941. The 1939/1940World’s Fair was in New York City, and it ended in October 1940. So, I think we can rule that out.

Along that line, was it a destination wedding? Did they go to St. Louis with some friends and/or family members? Often witnesses were required to sign the marriage license or application and friends or family would act as the witnesses. Sometimes these witnesses could provide some clues in our research. Unfortunately, there are no witnesses were required by St. Louis on the marriage documents. So, we don’t know if anyone was there with them. I also looked at the marriage licenses issued the same day to look for familiar names or couples from Louisville, but I found none. Thus, we cannot answer this question.

Read my post The Wedding of Grover Brown & Millicent Tschudi for details on their marriage documents.

Could it have been to avoid restrictive marriage laws in Kentucky? Kentucky had some restrictive marriage laws at the time, including a waiting period between the application for a marriage license and its issuance.³ Thus many Kentuckians married in other states, like Indiana. I can find no reason why they could not marry at home in Louisville, Kentucky. And if that was the case, why didn’t they just cross the Ohio River to Indiana?

What do you think? Why do you think they traveled to St. Louis to get married?

Please post your thoughts and comments below.

---

¹  John W. Jefferies, World War II & The American Home Front: A National Historic Landmarks Theme Study: Part One, (Washington D.C.: National Park Service, 2007), page 21.
²  National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Kentucky, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 77
³  Dawn Mitchell, “Indiana was a scandalous marriage mill and Valentino took advantage,” IndyStar, 4 July 2019, online archives (https://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2019/07/04/indiana-scandalous-marriage-mill-and-valentino-took-advantage-gretna-green-weddings/1621342001 : accessed 6 August 2022), para. 3.

1940 Census - Millicent and Grover

In the 1950 census, we found Grover and Millicent married with three kids living in Louisville, Kentucky. Where were they ten years earlier during the previous decennial census?

Millicent was living with her father Peter C. and her two brothers, Peter H. and Frederick C. Tschudi. They lived at 1308 Rufer Avenue in Louisville, Kentucky.

1940 Census Image - Peter C. Tschudi Household

1950 Census - Grover Brown's Family

The United States has the "72-Year Rule" concerning information about individuals collected during the decennial US Census. Thus the information from the 1950 US Census was released on 1 April 2022.

Recently, I found my mother's family in the census records.