Census Sunday: Mac Killeen and Family

Mac Killeen and "Cousin Nell"

In 1940, my great-uncle Matthew George “Mac” Killeen was sticking with his pattern of moving at least every 10 years.  From his childhood home on Charleston Avenue in Portsmouth, Virginia, he moved to Newport News, Virginia where he was listed in the 1920 census with his wife and daughter, both named Alma.  In 1930 they were in Cradock, Norfolk County, Virginia.  In 1940 they were back in Portsmouth living at 1119 Washington Street, just a few blocks away from his sisters Lillie Killeen and Mae Killeen Holland.  He and Alma claimed they were living in the “Same Place” in 1935, which indicates that they were in the same city but not the current house, so evidently there are more addresses in Mac's repertoire.

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Mac, age 43, had completed three years of high school and was earning a steady living as a pipefitter for the shipyard.  He was fully employed throughout 1939, worked a 40-hour week in 1940, and made $2240, which equates to about $36,980 today.  His wife Alma, age 42, had finished four years of high school and like many women was a homemaker.  They were renting for $21 a month.

Just a 20-minute walk away at 1515 Lincoln Street was Mac and Alma’s daughter Alma Theresa Killeen Bergh (age 22) and her husband Alfred (age 27).  Alfred, an electric welder for the shipyard, had been fully employed throughout 1939 earning $2100 while Alma was a homemaker.  They were renting for $25 a month. I’m guessing they were married at least five years because both claim to have lived in Warwick County, Virginia in 1935 (today that area is part of the City of Newport News). 

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