Elderkin Family History & Genealogy

Louisa, or �Lulu� as she was called by her husband and family,[i] lived a good and long life. She was the first daughter to seek her future in Montana, moving near her cousins in the late 1890s. Lulu married Robert Lee Setzer in 1900.[ii] Robert was a dry goods man in Butte, working for years as a wrapper at Hennessy�s, Butte�s largest department store.[iii] He also briefly tried his hand at real estate and insurance with his brother, Martin.[iv]

Lulu and Robert quickly started a family: Ruth (1901); Everett Cornelius (1902); Doris (1904); and Mary Elizabeth �Bessie� (1906).[v] Despite her own full life, Lulu didn�t forget about her family. Everett was born in Iowa,[vi] which suggests that Lulu may have returned to Cedar Falls for a time to help her parents. They also took family into their home. In 1908, her brother Silas and sister Belle were boarding with them in Butte.[vii]

Despite the strong ties to the community in Butte, Louisa and Robert moved their family to Los Angeles about 1926.[viii] The Montana mines were starting to give out, and many of the Elderkins had already moved on. Shortly thereafter, the Great Depression gripped the nation. Robert managed to stay employed, working as a clerk,[ix] an advertising agent,[x] and a bill distributor[xi] over the course of three years. Ruth married,[xii] but Doris and Mary Elizabeth stayed home and worked. Doris was a teacher and Mary Elizabeth a dressmaker.[xiii] Their cousin, David MacDuff Elderkin, remembers her dresses and stated that Mary became well-known in her craft.[xiv]

Louisa was the last of Mary and David Elderkin�s children to die, at the age of 89, in 1960.[xv] Her husband lived to be 93 years old, and died in 1957.[xvi]

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[i] 1900 U.S. cens., Butte City, Silver Bow County, MT, p. 3B, family 69.
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Polk�s Butte City Directory, Butte, Montana. (Helena, MT: R.L. Polk & Co, 1906, 1907, 1908 1912, 1913, 1914).
[iv] Polk�s Butte City Directory 1899, Butte, Montana. (Helena, MT: R.L. Polk & Co, 1899).
[v] Robert L. Setzer household, 1910 U.S. Census, Silver Bow County, Montana, population schedule, 4-Wd Butte, enumeration district 101, sheet 3A, dwelling 43, lines 9-14; National Archives micropublication T624, roll 166.
[vi] California Death Index 1940-1997, online at <http://www.ancestry.com>, printed out 26 January 2003.
[vii] Polk�s Butte City Directory 1908, Butte, Montana. (Helena, MT: R.L. Polk & Co, 1908).
[viii] Louisa Rose Setzer death certificate no. 7853 (1960), County of Los Angeles, Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, Los Angeles, California.
[ix] Los Angeles City Directory 1929, Los Angeles, California. (Los Angeles: L.A. City Directory Company, 1929).
[x] Los Angeles City Directory 1930, Los Angeles, California. (Los Angeles: L.A. City Directory Company, 1930).
[xi] Los Angeles City Directory 1931, Los Angeles, California. (Los Angeles: L.A. City Directory Company, 1931).
[xii] Carl W. Fischbach household, 1930 U.S. Census, Los Angeles County, California, population schedule, Los Angeles Assembly Dist. 72, enumeration district 334, sheet number 25A, lines 30-32; National Archives micropublication T626, roll 150.
[xiii] Los Angeles City Directory 1929, Los Angeles, California. (Los Angeles: L.A. City Directory Company, 1929).
[xiv] David MacDuff Elderkin interview, 2 March 2002, Naples, Florida, by Susan Elderkin.
[xv] Louisa Rose Setzer, County of Los Angeles death certificate no. 7853.
[xvi] California Death Index 1940-1997, online at <http://www.ancestry.com>, printed out 26 January 2003.