Elizabeth Addie (Libby) SAFFEL

1913 -

• Name	Elizabeth Addie (Libby) SAFFEL
  Birth	1913	West Virginia
  Gender	Female
  Notes	Libby is included here because of her long-running (from the ‘40s through at least the late ‘60s) relationship with Harold. She and Harold were never married and may never have lived together but they exchanged many letters and pictures and Harold sent her quite a bit of money. Libby (Elizabeth) Saffel lived in Grafton, West Virginia and, in her later years, in Baltimore. Her address in 1965 was 232 Stonecroft Rd, Baltimore. Harold apparently met Libby when he worked for a drilling company headquartered in Grafton, W. Va. He was in Pennsylvania in 1939. Libby apparently never married or had any children. From cancelled checks Harold stored in the trunk, we see the following payments: May 4, 1940 $ 10 (Cleared Grafton May 11th) Dunlop Tire & Rubber June 1, 1940 $ 10 (Cleared Grafton June 10th) Dunlop Tire & Rubber March 30, 1943 $ 50 (Cleared Grafton July 6th) May 11, 1943 $ 25 (Cleared Grafton June 3rd) June 3, 1943 $ 10 (Cleared Grafton July 2nd) Wm. Archdeacon Co. August 14, 1943 $100 (Cleared Grafton August 24th) October 13, 1943 $100 (Cleared Grafton February 9, 1944) December 4, 1943 $ 10 (Cleared Grafton December 24, 1943) December 20, 1943 $ 10 (Cleared Grafton January 27th) Wm. Archdeacon Co. January 14, 1944 $ 10 (Cleared Grafton January 27th) Wm. Archdeacon Co. November 27, 1944 $ 10 (Cleared Grafton February 9, 1945) June 2, 1945 $ 50 (Cleared Grafton July 3rd) June 26, 1945 $ 50 (Cleared Grafton July 3rd) (Wm. Archdeacon Co. was a clothing store in Grafton.) The last three were from the time Harold was abroad in Great Britain, yet they cleared quickly, so they appear to have been made out by Harold before he left (the dates look like they were entered with a different hand, probably Naomi’s) and mailed from within the United States rather than from Great Britain. Naomi handled Harold’s checking account while he was away. All but one of the checks were clearly endorsed by “Elizabeth Saffel.” There were three letters from Elizabeth dated December 30, 1943, July 14, 1944, and February 22, 1946. In the first she says “Frances would keep Tiny if I get able to come to your place.” In that first letter, she also asks if Harold had made up his mind on when he would leave for Alaska. In the 1944 letter she says that she had been sick and was down to 97 lbs. In the last, she refers to a leg injury that Harold must have told her about and asks if he is still on crutches. (This must be the accident that Beth Lowell refers to.) She also mentions a coat that Harold apparently gave her. In none of these three letters does she refer to any children (other than “Tiny” which was probably a dog or cat). Nor does she thank him for the money in any of the letters. Instead, she describes incidents with her extended family, family news, and domestic events such as redecorating some of the rooms in her house. (Which was 1 Market Street, Grafton.) Libby’s exact domestic situation isn’t clear. She seems to be living with her parents and grandparents, and they seem to be named Saffel, but I can’t tell who owns the house. Harold received a letter dated September 5, 1944, from a friend in Grafton, who apparently worked for the company in Grafton that Harold did, that says “I learned you were in England from the little mistress out in the yard office.” Maybe that was Elizabeth. From the letters of the mid-60s we can learn a few things: 1) Roy E. Saffel, who was born in 1917 and died in New Mexico in 1999, was a relative of Elizabeth’s, probably her brother. This implies that Libby was unmarried and that Saffel is her family name. She mentions in one of her letters that she will be visiting Roy and wanted Harold to come with her. 2) Her uncle was Fred Roy Setler so her mother may have been a Setler. Apparently Libby’s mother was still alive in the mid-1960s. 3) She worked for the B&O railroad for a time when she was in Baltimore. 4) From pictures of her that were dated as having been taken in September of 1941, she was probably born in the early teens. This would make her 15-20 years younger than Harold. 5) From one of Harold’s calendars, we learn that Harold and Libby talked to each other on the phone occasionally at least as late as 1970. There is nothing in any of the letters or pictures to suggest that Libby had any children. We can infer from her letters in 1967 that Libby was a fairly heavy drinker by that time. From the 1910 census, we can find the Setler family of Knottsville, Taylor County: John W., 43, Addie M., 39, Pansy, 15, Fred Roy 12, Ruby (a son), 10, Phoebe, 7, Bessie, 5, and Ruth 2. Addie only had these six children so, from this, it would seem that Pansy M. Setler was probably Elizabeth Saffel’s mother. In the 1900 census, Pansy is called May A., born June, 1895. The SSDI has no record for a Pansy, May, or even Phoebe Saffel. In the 1920 census, the Lloyd Saffel family lives at 702 Ona Street in Grafton. Elizabeth is 6 years old. Lloyd is a machinist for a railroad shop. In his WWI draft registration, we learn that Lloyd Saffel was a machinist for the B&O railroad. Lloyd, b. 18 Mar 1893, died in Grafton in February of 1966 according to the SSDI. In the 1930 census, we find a Lloyd Saffel family living at 1 Market Street in Grafton. The wife is Pansy M., age 35, and the oldest child is Elizabeth A., 16. Her younger siblings are Roy, 12, Frances, 11, and Gertrude, 9. Libby used the 1 Market Street address as her return address in many of her letters to Harold. In the 1940 census, Elizabeth Saffel lives with her father, step-mother, and siblings at 1 Market Street in Grafton, West Virginia. The household consisted of Lloyd Saffel, 47, his (apparently) second wife, Cora, 32, his son Ray, 22, his daughters Frances, 21 (absent), and Elizabeth, 26, and (apparently) Cora’s daughter, Betty L Marteney, 10. Lloyd, Ray, Frances, and Elizabeth lived at this same house in 1935. Cora and Betty lived in Barbour County, West Virginia, in 1935. Lloyd was a machinist inspector for a railroad. No one else in the household was employed. Elizabeth was a high school graduate. Elaine says: “I remember that Uncle Harold had a big picture of Libby on his dresser at Grandma's....she was a nice looking lady. I always wondered why he didn't get married to her.” The SSDI has no record of the death of Elizabeth Saffel. This may mean Libby worked for a railroad, like her father. The U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 2, has Libby as Elizabeth A Saffel, b. 14 Oct 1913, living at 232 Stonecroft Rd in Baltimore between 1997 and 2004. This address is Libby’s return address in many of her later letters. Our Libby may be the Elizabeth A Watkins, b. 14 Oct 1913, who died in Wheeling, West Virginia, on 27 Mar 2003. Libby may have been the Elizabeth Saffel, Worthy Matron, who signed many obits for Eastern Star members in Baltimore. Libby was 17.5 years younger than Harold. Harold was only a year or so younger than Libby’s mother and he was 3 years younger than Libby’s father.
  Person ID	I19905	Don Carlson's Tree
  Last Modified	27 Apr 2022

  
  

  Family	Harold EVERSON,   b. 30 Apr 1896, Aitkin County, Minnesota d. 13 Apr 1976, Deerwood, Crow Wing County, Minnesota (Age 79 years)
  Family ID	F34	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	2 Dec 2012