Elizabeth "Bessie" Applebach was born in 1880 in Lancaster, PA to Abraham and Elizabeth (Little) Applebach. She was the second known child. Her older brother was born in 1878 and was blind.
The first mention I found of Bessie (she appears to always have been known as this, even in official documents) was in the Lancaster newspaper on Dec. 24, 1889 (source: Chronicling America) in an article (sorry, I accidentally cut off the title) listing all the kids in school that were preforming in a Christmas production and that she was singing "All Contrary". She would have been 8 or 9 years old.
In the 1897 Lancaster Directory, Bessie is listed as living at 421 Concord and was a box paperer in occupation.
Bessie apparently was living elsewhere, or married William Dostman between 1897 and 1900 because she disappears out of the directories under the name Applebach. William and Bessie's one known child, Robert, was born in 1900 and died in 1904. According to the Mennonite Vital Records, Robert was the child of Wm. Dostman 1879-1919 and Bessie (1880- ). Robert's dates are listed there as July 31, 1900 to Feb. 28, 1904.
(Source of above photo: Find a Grave)
In the 1900 census, William and Bessie Dostman are listed as living on Gilbert Street. It says they married in 1900, and that she has 2 living children. My note here is that the census taker was at this house prior to the birth of Robert, because that would have made 3 living children, as she had 2 children prior to marrying William. However, her second child, Lester Speiss age 2, was living with William and Bessie. Her oldest child was living with her parents under the name of Violet Applebach.
In the 1910 census, William and Bessie live on Church Street. They have been married 10 years and have 2 living children - obviously Robert is dead, which leaves her 2 children from prior to marrying William. The census lists Bessie occupation as a "stripper" for Laborer Fait - in other words, she worked for one of the numerous Lancaster factories of this time as a tobacco stripper. William is a painter, and Violet is a "tipper" meaning she works in one of the umbrella factories in Lancaster. Lester is probably a student. Both Violet and Lester (Spiess) are listed with the last name of Dostman. However, Violet is listed as living with her grandparents as Violet Smith in the same census.
In the 1920 census, Bessie is listed as living with son Lester and his family:
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| Source: Ancestry |
In the 1930 census, Bessie is still listed as living with son Lester and his family:
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| Source: Ancestry |
There is some thought that Bessie may have been married to _______ Spiess and widowed shortly afterwards, leaving her pregnant with Lester or as an infant. Her gr-grand-daughter told me that Bessie was married, had Lester, and was widowed in a year's time.
Violet's story is unknown to me other than the few censuses and her death certificate. I believe she was illegitimate and at this point the father is unknown. However, apparently Wm. Dostman allowed her to use his last name, and maybe even had adopted her. Bessie would have been 14-15 years old when Violet was born.
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| Violet's death certificate 1930 from Ancestry |
According to the Lancaster Directory for 1933, 1935, and 1937 Bessie lived at 522 S. Plum, Lancaster.
In the 1950 Lancaster Directory, she is living at 8 Chester in Lancaster.
According to the 1955 Lancaster Directory, she was living at 407 S. Shippen St. in Lancaster.
This is the info I found on Ancestry for the SS Index:
