By the time the 1910 U.S. Census rolled around, little Hazel Elizabeth Quinn had gone from a newborn in her parents’ Brockton home to a toddling one-year-old nestled in a multi-generational household. This snapshot of her early life gives us a vivid look at family dynamics, immigration stories, and—once again—some eyebrow-raising details about her father’s age and birthplace.
Citation: 1910 U.S. census, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Brockton Ward 1, enumeration district (ED) 1180, sheet 8-B, dwelling 131, family 170, Handly [sic] Sabean household; imaged database, “United States, Census, 1910,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RVP-QKB).
The Sabean Household at 63 Wheeler Avenue
On April 23, 1910, census enumerator Hattie Doane made her way down Wheeler Avenue in Brockton, Massachusetts, clipboard in hand. At number 63, she recorded the residents of the Handley Sabean household—a lively home packed with four generations under one roof.
Hazel, her two-year-old brother Bernard, and their parents—Marshall and Flora Pearl Quinn—were living with Flora’s parents, Handley and Ella Sabean. Alongside them were three of Flora’s younger siblings: Ella, Clarence, and Ernest. And to round things out, Hazel’s great-grandmother, Mary A. Cogswell, also lived in the household. It was a full house in every sense.
The Working Men of the Household
Hazel’s grandfather, Handley Sabean, was a provisions dealer, which meant he was in the business of supplying meat and other goods—likely a steady trade in an industrial city like Brockton. His son-in-law, Marshall Quinn, continued his work as a gas fitter, helping to install and maintain gas lighting and appliances. Both men were recorded as able to read and write, a sign of their social standing in a time when literacy wasn’t yet universal.
The Women Who Ran the Home
Like many women of the era, Hazel’s mother, Flora Pearl, and her grandmother, Ella, had no occupation listed in the census. That, of course, didn’t mean they weren’t working—it simply meant their work wasn’t considered part of the official economy. Raising children, maintaining a household, and caring for elderly relatives were all full-time jobs. We also know that Pearl worked for private clients as a seamstress and milliner, skills she may have learned from her mother Ella, and grandmother Mary.
Marshall Quinn’s Massachusetts Mystery Continues
Once again, we find Hazel’s father, Marshall Quinn, shifting his birthplace to Massachusetts. If this sounds familiar, it’s because this wasn’t the first—or last—time Marshall strayed from the truth about where he was born. As discussed in a previous post, Marshall was actually born 21 April 1871 in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, but throughout his life, he frequently claimed Massachusetts instead.
Adding to the confusion, this census reports Marshall’s age as 33. That’s a problem because, based on the available evidence, he should have been 38. His fluctuating age had been a recurring theme in records before his 1907 marriage to Flora Pearl Sabean, after which it finally stabilized. Did he shave off a few years to seem closer in age to his younger wife? Possibly. Or maybe he just found it easier to keep up with the version of events he’d already been using. Regardless of why these inconsistencies appear, one thing is clear: The 1910 Census adds yet another layer to the ongoing puzzle of Marshall Quinn’s evolving identity.
Given that we know Marshall’s mother was a McIntyre from Canada, it’s tempting to wonder if the neighboring McIntyre family on this census page was a distant relation, but that’s a mystery for another day.
Life at 63 Wheeler: A Glimpse Into the Past
For Hazel Quinn, this census entry represents her second earliest recorded place in history. At just a year old, she was too young to understand the importance of that moment—too young to know that 114 years later, someone would be reading about her in a genealogy blog. But thanks to this simple document, we can imagine her world:
- A house filled with family, from a great-grandmother to younger uncles and aunts.
- A father working in the gas industry during a time of rapid urban expansion.
- A mother caring for two young children while sharing a home with extended relatives.
As Hazel grew up, her surroundings would change, but this census gives us an early glimpse into the people and places that shaped her childhood. The next time we find her on record, she may be a school-aged girl, beginning to leave her own mark on the world.
Until then, this snapshot of the Sabean household reminds us that family history isn’t just about names and dates—it’s about people, their choices, and the stories hidden in the details of a census form.
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