The Louis Okeson Family of Camden, NJ
I came across this article in the February 10, 1928 edition of the Camden Evening Courier, the afternoon version of the Courier-Post newspapers, the morning one being the Morning Post. I figure there has to be more to write on this large family, so I’ve posted the article. Perhaps someone in the family will find this and we can continue the saga.
June 23, 2005
Newest Arrival in Family of Nineteen
Camden Evening Courier —
Newest Arrival in Family of Nineteen
Six of the ten living children of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Okeson, of 766 Division Street, are shown with their 57-year-old mother in the above photograph. The Evening Courier photographer snapped part of the “little family” as it grouped itself about the mother’s bed to see Francis, their three-day old brother who is the nineteenth child to be born to Mr. and Mrs. Okeson. Left to right are Violet, 19, holding Peggy, 2; Raymond, 6; Louis, 4; Harriet, 5, and Mrs. Okeson holding Francis, three days old.
In a huge volume in the office of the city clerk at Camden City Hall, there has been recorded:
“Born, on February 7, a son, Francis, to Mr. and Mrs. Louis Okeson, 766 Division street.”
Registration of a birth does not disturb the routine of the city building. Work goes on just the same.
“Another future citizen of Camden,” sighs a clerk, thumbing reports of other “arrivals” as turned in by Camden physicians.
But down at No. 766 Division street, the coming of Francis brought great joy.
For Francis is the nineteenth child of Mrs. Mary Okeson, an attractive mother of but 37 years.
“I dote a darlin little brudder” — this from little Harriet Okeson who will be five years old in October.
“And I have a fine, big baby boy whom I love just as much as my first.” This from Mrs. Okeson, who pulled back a corner of a pink blanket that her visitors might see the little “bundle of pink” beneath.
Francis weighed 12 pounds at birth. “A healthy-looking boy, don’t you think? We think he’s wonderful, don’t we?” asked the proud mother as she cast her eyes toward her other children who had grouped themselves around the crib, again to “see baby.”
Ten Living, Nine Dead
Ten of the Okeson children are living.
Grim death has visited the Okesons nine times. Nine little plots in a Camden cemetery are visited by the Okesons several times a year.
Of the ten, John, 20 years old, married, himself the father of a baby girl born in November, lives in Spring Garden street, Philadelphia.
Violet, 19 years old, is likewise married and with her husband, John Stewart, an employe of the Victor Talking Machine Company, lives with her parents in the Division street home.
Albert, 18 years old, needs no introduction to people in Camden who have seen his chalk drawings on street corners — drawings of the flag, historical characters, war scenes and the like — which have netted him an income from time to time, which has helped to support the family. Albert is crippled, but “he’s always cheerful and brave,” his mother declared today.
“He’s not the only one who helps me,” said Mrs. Okeson. “For there’s Bertha — she’s in school now; she goes to the Liberty — but after hours she sells candy. You know it takes a lot of money to support a big family like ours, and Bertha and Albert help a lot.” Bertha is twelve.
Ellsworth, eight years old, attends the Spruce street school. The next child, Raymond, will be six years old in April. Little Harriet, dark-eyed, with black hair like her mother’s, will be five in October. Louis has just passed his fourth birthday.
Up until Tuesday morning Peggy, now two, had been the “baby of the family.” But Francis now “claims” that honor.
Loves Them All
“I love everyone of them,” declared Mrs. Okeson. “And I miss the others who were taken from us.” They had been named Charles, Florence, Leonard, George, Mary, Evelyn, Theodore, Margie and Ellen.
One of 14 children, Mrs. Okeson, who before her marriage was Mary E. Wolf, of Chicago, came to Camden with her parents when she was a small girl.
She married Louis Okeson, now 43 years old, a junk dealer, in 1907.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Okeson are of Irish descent.
“And daddy, he’s just as crazy over Francis as he was over the other children. He works hard during the day, but he enjoys gathering the little ones about him after supper.”
See Also
Camden Families