It is believed that the Julia Ideson Building in Houston, Texas, part of their public library system, is haunted by a gentle ghost named Jacob Cramer and his German Shepherd dog Petey. It is also said that the ghost of Jacob can be heard playing a violin in the building. The question is, who was the REAL Jacob Cramer? Make no mistake about it, he was a real man who did live and work in the library. However, over the years the facts of his life have been lost or misreported. Hopefully this will help to set the record straight.
Jacob F. Cramer was born 6 March 1857. According to the informant for his death certificate, he was born in Maryland and they gave “Frank” as his middle name. However, the 1900, 1920 and 1930 Federal Census records all show that he was born in Ohio. Unfortunately, Ohio did not start officially recording births until 1867. I haven’t found any records to indicate that his middle name was “Frank,” “Franklin,” or “Francis,” and based on his Germanic ancestry I am more inclined to think that “Frederick” would be a more likely possibility. Jacob’s parentage has not yet been discovered, so if you enjoy helping to solve a mystery, I invite you to do so.
He married Christena B. Winegartner/Wingert/Wingart, on 17 October 1887 at Crawford County, Ohio. This Jacob was a farmer, and this fits with what we know of our Jacob’s interests in truck farming and horses. In 1887 he was on the tax rolls in Cooke County, Texas, where he owned land. However, he lived in Denison, Grayson County, and this is where he brought his bride to live.
In 1890 the Telegraph-Forum (Bucyrus, Ohio) dated 25 July 1890, Friday, Page 3, states that Jacob and wife Christina came back from Dennison, Texas to visit with her father, George Eberhart (alo spelled Eberhardt, Everhart, Everhardt). He was actually her step-father, who her mother Barbara married in 1870. Her mother appears to have been married at least three times, to a Fauser/Fouser, a Winegartner/Wingart/Wingert and to Eberhardt. The name of Christina’s father has not been determined, but might have been Wingarten/Wingart/Wingert. The news article states that Jacob was born and raised in Crawford County, Ohio. Jacob was employed as an engineer at this time with the M.K. & T. Railroad.
In the 1900 Census for Grayson, Texas Jacob is listed as “John.” The birth date of March 1857 matches our Jacob. In further research the local news mentions of his marriage calls him “John”, but his wife’s obituary will list him as “Jacob.”
On 24 September 1904 Jacob’s wife died from Typhoid Fever. Her obituary was printed in their hometown newspaper, the Telegraph-Forum (Bucyrus, Ohio) 27 Sep 1904, Tuesday, Page 8. She was buried at Brokensword Cemetery, in Ohio, in Row 13, Grave 266. Since she did not have an entry at Find-A-Grave I have created one and linked her to Jacob. Find-A-Grave for Christina.
We know from newspaper notices and the Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977, that Jacob had married again, this time to a woman named Della Franklin on 23 October 1905 at Grayson County, Texas. In the 1910 Federal census we see Della and her children from a previous marriage, but Jacob is not included. Jacob filed for an annulment of the marriage in 1912. Further digging shows that Della’s name at birth was Alma Adella “Della” Allen. She had been previously married to Edwin Porter Flagg, Jr. Where the “Franklin” surname came from is a mystery. She may have used it to hide her real maiden name, for whatever reason, unless the clerk misheard “Allen” for “Franklin.”
By 1911 Jacob was living in Houston, according to the City Directory, and in 1916 he placed two ads in the Houston Post newspaper. One was in regards to a truck farming share opportunity, and in the other he was looking to purchase a farm mare. In both ads he states that he can be reached at the library. This was most likely the Carnegie Library in Houston. By 1913 it is known that he worked there.
In the 1920 Federal Census Jacob is enumerated in Houston, Texas as a roomer in the home of Harry & Elsie Matoska. Jacob is employed as a laborer at a creamery. It is possible that he was working two jobs, at the library and the creamery. Jacob also states that he was born in Ohio, not in Maryland!
In 1926 the Julia Ideson Building opened as the city’s new central library, and Jacob moved into the basement apartment. He was also employed as the library janitor.
In the 1930 Federal Census for Houston Jacob is listed as living at the library, where he is employed as the janitor. He also worked as a handyman, security guard and gardener for the library. Again he states that he was born in Ohio.
Jacob died on 22 November 1936, but contrary to popular belief, he did not die in his basement apartment at the library. Jacob went into the Houston Memorial hospital on 20 November 1936, where he underwent a Urethral Sound surgery. In 1936 this would have required at least five to seven days of recovery in the hospital. He died there on 22 November at 10:00 pm. To learn more about the procedure Jacob endured, go to: See One, Do One, Modify One: Prostate Surgery in the 1930s.
By reading Jacob’s death certificate we learn that he suffered from Chronic Prostatitis. This was a serious and painful condition that if left untreated could lead to death. Sadly, the new surgical procedures for treating it in 1936 were also equally dangerous, and ended up causing fatalities. On Jacob’s death certificate we also see Pulmonary Hemorrhage listed. Negative pressure pulmonary hemorrhage is one possibility, which is associated with general anesthesia. It is also associated with post-surgery infection. Putting two and two together, it is easy to come to the conclusion that the surgery caused his death.
To put an end to misinformation, his death certificate clearly states that he died at Houston Memorial hospital. His body was sent to Hiawatha, Brown County, Kansas and he was buried at Powhattan Cemetery, Brown County, Kansas.
Jacob’s death certificate states that he was in Houston, Texas for 43 years. I think this is a mistake, and the informant, Mrs. John Widman, probably didn’t know that he had first been in Cooke and Grayson Counties by 1887. Jacob was also on the Grayson County tax lists in the very early 1890’s.
As for Jacob’s relationship to Mrs. Widman, that is a mystery still being worked out. She was not a child or grandchild, as Jacob had neither. It is most likely that she was a cousin or a niece. We cannot even say with certainty if “Jacob” was the actual first name of his father. The informant’s inability to provide even a first name for our Jacob’s mother tells me that the informant was probably related to him through his father’s side of the family.
Regarding Jacob being variously referred to as “Jacob” in some records and “John” in others, German naming customs of that era show us that it was not uncommon for someone to have three names, along with their surname. One name would have been a “spiritual” or Saint’s name given at baptism, and the other two would be the first and middle names chosen by the parents. People of German ancestry often fluctuated between which name they used as a first name. It wouldn’t have been uncommon for brothers to share the same Saint’s/spiritual name and first name. Someone named Jacob John Frederick could have a brother named Jacob John Willem.
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