Judson members (yet to be named) lived in South Minneapolis first on Harriet and then on Nicollet. For some reason, a woman, age 56 that year, began a daily journal and kept it up, each and every day of the calendar years 1940 and 1941. For another mysterious reason, her journals were donated to the Judson history shelves, but still they were not identified. An un-named author– mystery journals!
I could tell right away that “she” was married to a nice guy named Irving. I read my way through 1940 and began to identify the people she named in her daily entries. I knew that they visited often with Victor and Essie, with a younger person named Travis, etc. I kept notes as my puzzle evolved.
And then I cross-checked all these names with a church directory for the mid 1930s, which was as close as I could come. I plowed my way through the alphabet hunting for anyone named “Irving,” and I was losing hope but as I came to the “S” pages, ‘eureka’! There were Mr. and Mrs. Irving Stebbins living on Nicollet Avenue and next to it, Irving’s brother (as it turned out), Victor Stebbins and his wife Essie. I found them! It took one more step in accessing the Minneapolis census records (now that we knew their street address) and I identified Bessie Stebbins!
Irving is an amazing guy– he works with wood and enjoys making small items for function or fun, mostly function– like shelves, tables, toys.  In 1940, he refurbishes a highchair.  He can also repair cars and small machines, AND he cooks and bakes pies or cakes, and is active as a Boy Scout leader at Judson Church.  They drive a Ford and share it constantly.  They rent part of their home to another couple named “Humphrey,” and it’s possible they have rental property elsewhere in the neighborhood.  Irving is always available for handywork or repairs, and he’s called upon nearly every day by tenants or friends. Â
Bessie is good friends with her sister-in law, Essie, and they visit each other almost daily. They clean and sew for each other. She travels by streetcar downtown “to get a wave” which means to have her hair done. She is hard working and keeps a very clean house. She takes in ironing for others, for small amounts of pay. It’s very common for the local women to gather together over a crate of peaches or a bushel of tomatoes and can together, then split up the jars and each take a few home. They enjoy movies at the local theater. In 1940, they see: Blackmail, Gone with the Wind, Swiss Family Robinson, Castle on the Hudson, Virginia City, My Son My Son, The Lost Horizon, and Public Debt #1. Â
I’m struck by their generosity. I’m struck by the commitment they all have to Judson Church and its many events or committees, especially the women’s organization work (for Bessie) or the scouts (for Irving).
Our city research finally led me to Lakewood Cemetery where they are all buried with a beautiful STEBBINS headstone and ground markers for Bessie, Irving, Victor and Essie. Characters in her journal stories!
— Entry by Beth Waterhouse, summer 2026