Who Do You Think They Are?

Orvil & William Raney 1911 

Orvil and William Raney

This is a portrait of Orvil and William Raney taken in 1911.  I found it in a lot of postcards I bought at auction.

I located Orvil and William, the sons of Orvil W. and Anna D. Raney in the 1910 Census in Sharon, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  Orvil was age 4 and William age 0, which would make them around 5 and 1 in this picture.

Both parents and all four grandparents were born in Pennsylvania.  Mr. Raney was a public school teacher.  By the 1920 census, Jennie Douglass, Mr. Raney's mother-in-law and Anna's mother had joined the family.  Anna D. Raney was Anna Douglass before her marriage.  Mr. Raney is now a high school teacher.

By the 1930 census, Mrs. Douglass is no longer with the family.  Mr. Raney is still teaching school, Orvil is age 24 and William is 20.

In the 1940 census, Orvil is living with his wife, May and daughter Carol May, age 3, on South Oakland Avenue in Sharon.  He is employed as a timekeeper for a transportation company.  The name in this census is transcribed incorrectly as David.

According to her obituary, Mrs. May Gladys Raney, age 92, wife of the late Orvil Douglass Raney died Tuesday, July 16, 2010 at her residence in Aiken, South Carolina.  She was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, the daughter of William and Christine Cartwright.  She and her husband had lived in Sharon, Pennsylvania, Warren, Ohio and Aiken, South Carolina.  She was survived by her son William D. Raney of Orlando, Florida, her daughter, Carol Scott of Aiken, South Carolina, six grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. 

I would love to return this picture to any of Mr. Raney's children, grandchildren or great grandchildren, should they happen to see this blog.


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