| Story |
           Research leads us to believe that employees William Abrams and William Abraham are one and the same. The surname Abrams is of Jewish (Ashkenazic), Dutch, English, and German origin and is a patronymic or a reduced form of the father or ancestor name Abraham. The record for the name William Abraham is more complete. We will use this name while showing where the name Abrams appears.
William Abraham worked for TKWM as a laborer, finisher, extractor and soap maker from 1907 through at least 1920, with possible periods of unemployment.
William was born around 1855 in Germany and immigrated to the U.S. in 1880. In 1881, he married Louisa (Louise) Perwitz in Winona, Minnesota. By 1905, William, Louisa and their eight children lived in Wisconsin. Before moving to Oregon, their son Otto joined the family of Louise’s sister, Mrs. Caroline Perwitz Zimmerman, in Winona, MN. From then on, Otto used the surname Zimmerman and was known as Caroline’s son.
In 1907, before William and family moved to Oregon, William’s youngest son Herman passed away.  After the move, on 22 Jan 1908, 27-year-old son Gustav married 20-year-old Clara Zwicker, an employee of the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill. They had one child and divorced in 1913. On 3 Oct 1908, eighteen-year-old daughter Anna, a spooler at TKWM at the time, married Charles G Kingston, a weaver. By 1910, three of William’s daughters had married and his remaining sons had left the home.
Only daughter Lizzie remained at home with her parents.  The three lived together in Salem in a rented home at 595 S 27th. William worked at TKWM as a common laborer and by 1920, he was an extractor.  Lizzie still lived at home.
William’s daughter Lizzie Abraham died at age 33 in Salem on 14 May 1925 of tuberculosis at the Oregon State Institution for the Feeble-Minded. Soon after, William and Louisa moved to southern Washington to be near their son Gustav. William died on 21 Feb 1926 at age 70 in Centralia, WA. After his death, Louise lived with her son Gustav in Cowlitz County WA, until the family moved to San Pedro, CA where she died in Jan 1958. |
| Census Records |
1900  William Abraham, 45, born 1855 in Germany. Residence: Peck, Wisconsin. Immigrated 1880. Married HOH. Married in 1881. Years married, 19. Father and Mother born in Germany. Louisa, 40, wife. Gustav, 19, son (day laborer). William, 14, son (farm laborer). Minnie, 12, daughter. Bertha, 10, daughter. Emma, 9, daughter. Lizzie, 8, daughter. Herman, 2, son.
1905  Wisconsin State Census William Abraham, 50, born abt 1855 in Germany. Residence: Antigo, WI. Married HOH. Lizzie, 44, wife. Gustav, 23, son. Otto, 21, son. William, 19, son. Minnie, 18, daughter. Bertha, 15, daughter. Anna, 14, daughter. Lizzie, 10, daughter. Herman, 7, son.
1910 William Abraham, 53, born abt 1857 in Germany. Rents home at 595 S 27th Salem. Immigrated 1888. Married HOH. Mother and Father born in Germany. Woolen mill laborer. Naturalized. Years married: 28. William Abraham, 53, HOH. Louisa Abraham, 49, wife (washerwoman). Lizzie A. Abraham, 18, daughter.
1920  William Abraham, 64, born abt 1865 in Germany. Owns home at 495 S 17th St. Salem, OR. Immigration year 1880. Married HOH. Father and Mother born in Germany. Woolen Mill Extractor. Papers submitted for citizenship. William Abraham, 64, HOH. Louise Abraham, 59, wife. Louise Abraham, 27, daughter.
1930   Gus Abraham [son of William and Louise] 47, born in Minnesota. Married HOH. Father and Mother born in Germany. Residence: Rainbow, Cowlitz County, WA. Longshoreman. Gus Abraham, 47, HOH. Cressa, 36, wife. Marie, 13, daughter. Jeane, 10, daughter. Mamie, 7, daughter. Marcel, 4.5, daughter. Louise, 67, mother. |
| Salem City Directories |
1893 Â No Wm Abrams or Abraham
1896 Â W H Abrams, eng, Cottage Farm (OR State Hosp)
1905 Â No Wm Abrams or Abraham
1909-10 Â Wm Abrams, finisher, TKWM res 896 S 20th
1911 Â Wm Abraham, lab TKWM res 595 S 23d
1913  Wm Abraham (Louisa), soapmaker TKWM, res 595 S 22d. No Wm Abrams
1915  Wm Abraham (Louisa) finisher TKWM res 2112 Lee. Louisa Abrams rms at same address. No Wm Abrams
1917  Wm Abraham, soapmaker TKWM, no address. No Wm Abrams
1924 Â No Wm Abraham |
| Public Records |
1881 Minnesota Marriage Record. Wilhelm Abraham married Louisa Perwitz on 12 Dec 1881 in Winona, MN.
Minnesota Birth Records
-21 May 1884, to Wm and Louise Abraham, a son Otto Abraham in Winona, MN.
-(no date) to Wilhelm Abraham and Louise Perwitz, a daughter E Gertrude Marsch Abraham.
1908 Oregon Marriage Record. Daughter: Anna Abraham, 18, of Salem (born in Minnesota, a spooler) married Charles G Kingston, 21, of Salem (a weaver) on 3 Oct 1908.
1909 Minnesota Marriage Record. Daughter: Bertha Abraham married Herbert Parks on 23 Mar 1909 in Winona, Minnesota.
Aug 1914 OR Marriage Record. Son: Gustav Abraham 31 (second marriage) of Forest Grove, OR married Cressa Tennis 21 in late Aug 1914.
1926 Washington State Death Record. William F Abraham res 325 W Summa, Centralia, WA. B 13 Jull 1888 in Germany. F Charles Abraham. Mother’s name not known. Spouse: Louise Abraham. Died 19 Feb 1926 in Centralia, WA.
From Ancestry.com. Abrams Surname Meaning. Jewish (Ashkenazic), Dutch, English, and German: patronymic from a reduced form of the personal name Abraham. |
