Friday, December 1, 2023

My Maternal Grandfather, Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976)

Lyle Lawrence Carringer[1-10] was born on 2 November 1891 in San Diego, California, the only child and son of Henry Austin and Abbey Ardelle "Della" (Smith) Carringer. When he was born, the family resided at 16th and Market Streets in San Diego.  

They built a house at 2105 30th Street (northeast corner of 30th and Hawthorn) in San Diego in 1898, and Lyle grew up in that house.  


The photograph above shows the Carringer home in about 1900.  The persons shown (from the left) are:  Della (Smith) Carringer (mother), Lyle Lawrence Carringer (self), D.J.Carringer (grandfather), Henry Austin Carringer (father), Rebecca (Spangler) Carringer (grandmother), Edgar Carringer (uncle) and Abbie (Vaux) Smith (grandmother).

Lyle lived his entire life in San Diego. He attended kindergarten and 1st and 2nd grade at Logan School, 3rd through 8th grade at Sherman Elementary School, and attended San Diego High School from September 1909 to June 1914[10]. He also attended Kelsey-Jenney Commercial College night school.

While still a youth, he started work as a cash boy at Marston's Department Store in 1905 at 6th and C Street in downtown San Diego. By 1917, he had worked as a cashier, mail order clerk, post office clerk and floorwalker[10]. He worked as a clerk and as an accountant at Marston's for many years, and retired in 1960.  
He rode the trolley car down 30th Street to Broadway and downtown San Diego to go to work until the trolley tracks were removed in the late 1940s.  

Lyle enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on 7 May 1917 as a Private Class 4, to serve four years[9]. His enlistment record says he was a floorwalker, citizen of the US, 67-3/4 inches tall, weighed 121 pounds, with hazel eyes, brown hair, fair complexion, a chest expansion from 30 inches to 34-1/2 inches. On 1 August 1917, he qualified as a marksman at North Island, noting "lucky, as have never handled rifle before." His service record says he trained in San Diego and Washington state, was posted to the Barracks Detachment at the Marine Barracks in Balboa Park, but did not see action in World War I. He was a clerk in the Post Exchange at the base on 6 August 1917, until the war ended. On 29 March 1919, he was transferred to inactive status, and was honorably discharged on 6 May 1921.


Lyle Lawrence Carringer and Emily Kemp Auble were married on 19 Jun 1918 in San Diego, San Diego, California, United States[7,10-12] by the Rev. H.E. Crabtree at the Central Christian Church in San Diego.

A marriage license notice for Lyle L. Carringer, age 26 of San Diego, and Emily K. Auble, age 19 of San Diego, was published in the 21 June 1918 edition of the San Diego Union newspaper[12]. On the same page, the marriage announcement was listed:
"Miss Emily Auble Weds Lyle Carringer, U.S.M.C.

"Mrs. Georgia K. Auble has announced the marriage of her daughter, Emily Kemp Auble, to Lyle Carringer, who is stationed with the marines at Balboa Park. The wedding took place last Wednesday afternoon at the parlors of the Central Christian church, only the immediate families of the two being present at the ceremony, performed by Rev. W.E. Crabtree.

" The young people are both residents of San Diego, and attended the local high school. Mr. Carringer is the only son of Mr. and Mrs. H.A. Carringer, 2105 Thirtieth street, who are almost pioneers of this city. He has been in the canteen at the Exposition camp for the past year, but is expecting to leave soon.

"The wedding was very quiet and came as a complete surprise to the many friends of the couple. The bride wore a blue silk suit with a large white hat, and had no attendants. Mr. and Mrs. Carringer will make their home at the Marine View apartments at First and Hawthorne streets."

Early in their marriage, Lyle and Emily Carringer rented a house at 2054 Harrison Street in San Diego, where their only child was born[10]:

i Betty Virginia Carringer, born 30 Jul 1919, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States[14]; married Frederick Walton Seaver Jr., 12 Jul 1942, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States; died 4 Jan 2002, El Cajon, San Diego, California, United States[15].

In the 1920 U.S. census, this family resided at 2054 Harrison Avenue in San Diego, San Diego County, California[16]. The family included:
  • Lyle L. Carringer -- head, rents, male, white, age 28, married, can read, can write, born CA, father born PA, mother born KS, an auditor in a dry goods store, a worker
  • Emily K. Carringer -- wife, female, white, age 20, married, can read, can write, born IL, father born NJ, mother born Canada
  • Betty Carringer -- daughter, female, white, age 5 months, born CA, father born CA, mother born IL
  • Georgia K. Auble -- mother-in-law, female, white, age 50, a widow, born in Canada, parents born Canada, immigrated in 1889, naturalized in 1898
In 1920, the family built and moved into a new house at 2130 Fern Street in San Diego. Lyle borrowed money from his parents to build the house, and Betty remembers the mortgage was $21.10 per month. Lyle inherited all of the family property when his father died in 1946. The gardens on the property had plants, vegetables, berry bushes and fruit trees. There was a greenhouse on the 2130 Fern Street property[10].


In the 1930 United States census, the Lyle L. Carringer family resided at 2130 Fern Street in San Diego, San Diego County, California[17]. The household included:
  • Lyle L. Carringer - Head, owns home, worth 10,000, has a radio, male, white, age 38, married, first at age 26, born California, parents born Pennsylvania/Wisconsin, an office worker, works in dry goods store
  • Emily K. Carringer - Wife, female, white, married, first at age 18, born Illinois, parents born New Jersey/Canada English
  • Betty V. Carringer - daughter, female, white, single, born California, parents born California/Illinois
  • Georgia K. Auble - mother-in-law, female, white, age 61, widow, born Canada English, parents born Canada English/Canada English, native language English, immigrated in 1890, a naturalized citizen.
From the San Diego Union newspaper, dated 24 March 1935, on page 18:

"Carringer Gardens, Model of Beauty, Have Also Wealth of Entertainment"
By Ada Perry

"Mr. and Mrs. Lyle L. Carringer, 2130 Fern st., are never bored with their garden. They have four fish pools in it filled with finny pets that are always on the move. Sometimes they move out on the grass but the Carringers chalk this up to playfulness and continue to enjoy the aquatic aspects of their home.
"The Carringer place is distinctly in the livable small garden or outdoor living room class. The pools are strategically located to invite folks outdoors for pleasure and relaxation. One pool, the smallest, is placed near the rear door of the house as a starting point. From there to a sunny larger pool planted to lilies and overhung with shrubs is a natural step.

"Other parts of the garden planted in flowers, cacti and succulents and several fruit trees are easily accessible from the second pool and then the Carringers and their friends naturally gravitate to a lath house furnished with chairs and tables.

"There are sources of amusement in the lath house. The remaining pools are located there. One is a rill in the heart of a pretty rockery and the other a shadowy oval presided over by a rice plant with curving stalks topped with leaves like giant hands. Directly above the pool a tree rests apparently on the water. The invisible stand which holds it up represents some clever household ingenuity. It was formerly a piano stool.

"A grill is built at the end of the lath house on a rock structure. The grill space can be filled with a decorative potted plant when not in use although the Carringers have found it a consistent entertainer.

"Next the grill in a glass house annex is a surprise feature. On shelves are aquariums filled with tropical fish, paradise, moons, guppies and other fancy swimmers weaving about in grassy water jungles; blinking, gobbling and raising families in the most distracting style. The glass house is heated for them and each aquarium has individual radiators and thermometers for perfect comfort.

"Tropical aquariums are often kept indoors but the Carringers have theirs handy to the pools where fish life from goldfish to guppies can be observed. Certain of the tropicals are moved to the goldfish pools at favorable times for variety."
Lyle sold the property at 2123 and 2127 30th Street (identified as the westerly 29 feet of lots 5, 6 and 7 in block 61 of Seaman & Choate's Addition on Map 631) to his wife, Emily, as her separate property, on 22 January 1938 (Grant Deed recorded in Book 741, Page 214). She subsequently granted it to the both of them as joint tenants on 5 September 1950[10].

In the 1940 U.S. Census, this family resided at 2130 Fern Street in San Diego, San Diego County, California[18]. The household included:
  • Lyle L. Carringer - Head of household, male, white, age 48, married, 4 years of high school, born California, lived in same house in 1935, worked the last week of March 1940, occupation is office clerk, Industry is Retail Dep[artmen]t Store, worked 52 weeks in 1939, earned $1,475 in 1939, did not make over $50 in other income.
  • Emily K. Carringer (provided information) - Wife, female, white, age 41, married, attended school in March 1940, 3 years of high school, born Illinois, lived in same house in 1935, did not work the last week of March 1940, had a job, occupation is clerical & saleslady, Industry is Retail Dep[artmen]t Store, worked 52 weeks in 1939, earned $269 in 1939, made over $50 in other income.
  • Betty Z. Carringer - Daughter, female, white, age 20, single, attended school in March 1940, 4 years of college, born California, lived in same house in 1935, did not work the last week of March 1940, in School, occupation is student art clerk, Industry is College, worked 6 weeks in 1939, earned $100 in 1939, made over $50 in other income.
  • Georgia K. Auble - Mother in law, female, white, age 71, widowed, 4 years of high school, born Ontario, Naturalized citizen, lived in same house in 1935, did not work the last week of March 1940, did Housework, occupation is housewife, Industry is own home, earned $0 in 1939, made over $50 in other income.
Lyle L. Carringer registered for the World War II Draft Registration (for men born between 1877 and 1897) in 1942; his registration card for Lyle L. Carringer includes this information[19]:
  • NAME (Print): Lyle L. Carringer
  • PLACE OF RESIDENCE (Print): 2130 Fern St San Diego, San Diego Calif
  • MAILING ADDRESS: Same
  • TELEPHONE: R3683
  • AGE IN YEARS: 50 DATE OF BIRTH: Nov 2 1891
  • PLACE OF BIRTH: San Diego Calif.
  • NAME AND ADDRESS OF PERSON WHO WILL ALWAYS KNOW YOUR ADDRESS: Mrs. Emily K. Carringer 2130 Fern St San Diego Calif
  • EMPLOYER'S NAME AND ADDRESS: Marston & Co. 6th & C St San Diego Calif.
  • PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT OR BUSINESS: 6th & C Sts San Diego San Diego Calif.
  • AFFIRM THAT I HAVE VERIFIED ABOVE ANSWERS AND THAT THEY ARE TRUE.
  • Lyle L. Carringer (Registrant's Signature)
In the 1950 United States Census, the Lyle L. Caringer household resided at 2115 30th Street in San Diego, San Diego County, California[20]. The household included:
  • Caringer, Lyle L - head, white, male, age 58, married, born California, worked last week, worked 45 hours, an office man, for invoice office in department store, a private company, lived in same house a year ago, father born U.S., mother born U.S., highest grade S12, finished S12, over 50 years old, $3615 income as employee, did not work in own business, $3510 earned as dividends, interest, rents, etc., relatives earned $0 as employee, relatives earned $0 in own business, relatives earned $900 from dividends, interest, rents, etc., did not serve in WW2, did serve in WW1, no other service.
  • Caringer, Emily K - wife, white, female, age 50, married, born Illinois, worked keeping house in 1949, did no other work last week, not looking for work, has no job or business.
  • Auble, Georgia H - mother-in-law, white, female, age 82, widowed, born Canada Eng, naturalized citizen, worked keeping house in 1949, did no other work last week, not looking for work, has no job or business.
Lyle and Emily sold the 2130 Fern Street property (lots 5, 6 and 7 in block 61 of Seaman & Choate's Addition on Map 631, except the westerly 29 feet thereof) on 25 September 1950 to John M. and Leona E. Smith for $8,850. They subsequently sold the property to William Phillips. Lyle and Emily also sold the south lot (the south 20 feet of Lot 10 and all of Lots 11 and 12) for $9,000 to Glenn Glasford on 16 November 1950. He built apartment houses on the property[10].

The remaining parcels (the two-story apartment at 2114/2116 Fern Street, the two-story apartment at 2115/2119 30th Street, and the two cottages at 2123 and 2127 30th Street) passed to their daughter Betty Seaver after Lyle died in 1976 and Emily died in 1977. Betty sold the properties in the early 1980s to Steve and Gilda Sandoval[10].

On 24 August 1950, Lyle and Emily purchased a triangular lot on Point Loma at the intersection of Armada Terrace and Harbor View Place (identified as Lots 14 and 15 in Block 4 of Ironton according to Map 689, the address was 825 Harbor View Place) from Edmund and Eleanor Pieper for $3,750 (Grant Deed recorded in Book 3759, Page 119). They built a unique and beautiful two bedroom wood home overlooking San Diego Bay with a fantastic view of the City, San Diego Bay, North Island and points south, and the mountains to the east. They planted fruit trees and many colorful shrubs on the terraced land below the house. Their grandchildren have fond memories of many Christmas Eves spent bedded down in the spare bedroom, singing Christmas carols, and falling asleep before Santa Claus came[10].

Starting in the 1920s until the end of his life, Lyle Carringer collected postage stamps and corresponded with other stamp collectors from all over the world. Over the years, friends from Pitcairn Island and Australia came to visit them. Family, friends and coworkers sent postcards from their travels all over the world. He was also an excellent photographer, and the family albums have many pictures of family groups, San Diego scenes, and of his daughter. He was a hardy and enterprising man who liked to garden, do handyman work on the properties, and go for automobile rides in the countryside. He was a disciplined, kind and gentle man, yet firm, who loved his family very much[10].


Lyle died in a San Diego convalescent hospital from pulmonary edema and cardia failure due to colon cancer on 5 November 1976[4,6,9,21-23]. Emily died following a stroke at home less than a year later.

Lyle's obituary (San Diego Union newspaper, 11 November 1976[22] and San Diego Evening Tribune, 10 November 1976[23]) reads:

"Lyle L. Carringer

"Services will be at 1:30 p.m. today in the Chapel of Prayer at Cypress View Mortuary for Lyle L. Carringer, 85, of 825 Harbor View Place, a lifelong county resident who died Friday in a hospital. Inurnment will be in the mortuary mausoleum.

"Mr. Carringer, a native San Diegan who attended Sherman Elementary School and was graduated from the old Russ High School, was an accountant at the old Marston Department Store for 46 years before retiring in 1960. He served in the Marine Corps during World War I and was a member of the Marston Oldtimers and the East End gang.

"Survivors include his wife, Emily K.; a daughter, Mrs. Betty Seaver of San Diego; three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren."

His body was cremated, and is inurned at Cypress View Mausoleum (Bronze Corridor, Niche 60) in San Diego, CA[24].

SOURCES:

1. unknown, Devier J. Smith, 1889-1920, Devier J. Smith Family Bible [loose pages of Birth, Marriages, Death and Note Pages] (no publication information), Lyle Lawrence Carringer birth entry, 2 November 1891.

2. San Diego County, California, Certificate of Death, Lyle Lawrence Carringer, died 5 November 1976; State of California, Department of Health (certificate dated 18 November 1976) .

3. Rebecca (Spangler) Carringer, Carringer Family Births, Marriages and Deaths (loose pages, 1828-1946) (n.p. : n.p., n.d. before 1901), Marriages, Lyle Lawrence Carringer and Emily Kemp Auble entry, 19 June 1918.

4. Social Security Administration, "U.S. Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014," online database, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com), Lyle Carringer (1891-1976) entry.

5. Rebecca (Spangler) Carringer, Carringer Family Births, Marriages and Deaths (loose pages, 1828-1946), Births, Lyle L. Carringer entry, 2 November 1891.

6. San Diego County, California, Certificate of Death, Lyle Lawrence Carringer, died 5 November 1976; State of California, Department of Health (certificate dated 18 November 1976) .

7. Family data, D.J. Carringer and Rebecca Spangler Family Bible, The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments, (New York: World Publishing Co., 1885); original owned in 2014 by Randall J. Seaver, 1154 Via Trieste, Chula Vista, Calif., USA, D.J. and Rebecca Carringer to Henry Austin Carringer to Lyle Carringer to Betty Carringer to Randall Seaver.

8. Smith/Carringer Family Correspondence (Loose Letters, 1888–1902), Abigail (Vaux) Smith list of family births and deaths, Henry Austin Carringer and Abbie Ardell (Della) Smith marriage entry, 11 September 1887, originals privately held by Randall J. Seaver [1154 Via Trieste, Chula Vista CA 91911],1988 (great grandson). Family letters to and from Abigail (Vaux) Smith, Rebecca (Spangler) Carringer, and Della (Smith) Carringer. written by Abbie (Vaux) Smith in about 1895, passed to Della (Smith) Carringer in 1931, to Lyle L. Carringer in 1946, to Betty (Carringer) Seaver in 1977, and to Randall J. Seaver (2nd great-grandson) in 1988.

9. "U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010," indexed database, Ancestry.com, (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 November 2011), entry for Lyle Carringer (1891-1976), SSN 553109373; citing Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

10. Personal knowledge of the author, Randall J. Seaver [1154 Via Trieste, Chula Vista CA 91911]; including memories and knowledge from his mother, Betty Virginia (Carringer) Seaver.

11. California, San Diego County, Marriage Certificate, Lyle L. Carringer and Emily K. Auble certificate, 19 June 1918.

12. Lyle L. Carringer and Emily K. Auble marriage, 19 June 1918, issued by Central Christian Church, San Diego, California. marriage certificate by supplied by Betty (Carringer) Seaver; held in 2018 by Randall J. Seaver (1154 Via Trieste, Chula Vista, Calif.).

13. "Miss Emily Auble Weds Lyle Carringer, U.S.M.C.," San Diego [CA] Union, 21 June 1918, page 8, marriage announcement for Lyle L. Carringer and Emily K. Auble, 19 June 1918; online index and digital image, GenealogyBank (https://www.genealogybank.com ), Historical Newspapers, in Newspaper Archives, 1690-2010 collection.

14. San Diego County, California, Birth Certificate, Betty Virginia Seaver, born 30 July 1919, Department of Public Health Index No. 798 (1919).

15. San Diego County, California, Certificate of Death, Betty Virginia Seaver, died 4 January 2002; State of California, Department of Health (certificate dated 11 January 2002).

16. 1920 United States Federal Census, San Diego County, California, San Diego city; ED 341, Sheet 3B, Lyle Carringer household; online database, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T625, Roll 132.

17. 1930 United States Federal Census, San Diego County, California, population schedule, San Diego City, enumeration district (ED) 116, Sheet 5A, Dwelling #142, Family #148, Lyle L. Carringer household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 July 2012); citing National Archives microfilm publication T626, Roll 192.

18. 1940 United States Census, San Diego County, California, population schedule, San Diego: E.D. 62-63A, Sheet 16-B, Dwelling #426, Lyle L. Carringer household; digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 April 2012), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T627, Roll 451.

19. "United States, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," Indexed database and digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), entry for Lyle L. Carringer, San Diego, Calif., born 2 November 1891.

20. 1950 United States Federal Census, California, San Diego County, San Diego city, ED 72-293, Sheet 14, Line 25, 2115 30th Street, Lyle L. Caringer household, National Archives (https://1950census.archives.gov/ : accessed 31 March 2022).

21. "California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997," online database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), Lyle L. Carringer death date: 5 November 1976, San Diego County, California.

22. San Diego [Calif.] Union, print edition (San Diego, Calif. : San Diego Union Publishing Company), 11 November 1976, Lyle L. Carringer obituary.

23. San Diego [Calif.] Evening Tribune, print edition (San Diego, Calif. : San Diego Union Publishing Company), issue dated 10 November 1976, page E-3, Lyle L. Carringer obituary.

24. Cypress View Mausoleum and Memorial Park (San Diego, California), Bronze Corridor, Niche 61, Lyle L. Carringer (1891-1976).

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