Yesterday I spent several hours walking in the footsteps of CeCe Moore.

I’m helping my good friend M.J., whose mother Rosemary (1924-2001) was adopted as a baby in rural Minnesota.

M.J. and her siblings would like to know more about their biological grandparents. While DNA evidence points to three brothers who could be her grandfather, which one is it? So many DNA matches and so many different surnames! To assist, I created a family tree with 96 names (so far).

A surprising coincidence came to light. First a little background: M.J. and I met nearly 50 years ago while we were living in Aberdeen, South Dakota. In the 1980s, I moved to Chicago and later to Minneapolis/St Paul. In the 1990s, M.J. and her family returned to their native Iowa. We've remained close friends; she was ‘matron of honor’ at my wedding in 1991.

My husband Bill grew up in north Minneapolis. I certainly didn’t expect his family history to intersect with M.J.'s – but it did in a small way.

Back to yesterday's research: The ‘most-likely-grandfather-candidate’, whom I will call Grandpa X, married a woman who was not M.J.’s grandmother in 1926. The birth of this couple’s first child was announced in the April 27, 1927 edition of The Minneapolis Star and included the parents’ home address: 4207 Fremont Ave N.

A bell rang in my head. My mother-in-law, Violet “Vi” (1910-2001), frequently talked about growing up in a home on Fremont Ave in north Minneapolis.

When I reviewed the 1920 census, nine-year-old Vi's name appeared at the top of a new page, after the enumeration of her parents and older sister on the prior census page. Vi's parents owned their home at 4211 Fremont Ave N, which is next door to 4207.

The house at 4207 Fremont Ave N, apparently a duplex, was owned by Justin and Beda Nelson in 1920.

The 1930 census shows Justin and Beda Nelson still owning and occupying the home with their daughters. The renters at 4207 Fremont Ave N in 1930 were M.J.'s Grandpa X and his growing family!

By the late 1920s, tuberculosis and other health complications had required Bill’s maternal grandparents to be hospitalized. The exact date of their departure isn’t immediately available, but the 1930 census shows Vi (age 20) living with neighbors on another street. Her family home at 4211 Fremont Ave N was rented out.

After looking at my mother-in-law’s old diaries, it seems certain she would have met M.J.’s Grandpa X at some point. Vi’s diaries indicate she was a regular visitor at the “Nilson’s.” (The 1940 census shows Justin and Beda Nilson living at 4207 Fremont Ave N.) Vi was close to the same age as the Nilson daughters, Signe “Sig” and Mildred “Mil.”

Here are several (admittedly mundane) entries Vi made in her diary in early 1928:

Wed, Jan 11, 1928: “Springlike day…Met Ethel and bought purse. Ate downstairs. Not very busy at work. Over to Nilson’s. Signe was home.”

Fri, Feb10, 1928: “Stayed over to Nilson’s all nite. Mil & I wrote comic valentines. Lots of fun but sleepy.”

Wed, Feb 22, 1928: “Washington’s Birthday... Walked to Nilson’s. Stayed for supper. Signe came home. Had coffee. Sewed. Home early.”

Sun, Mar 18, 1928: “Slept till 9. Went to church. Over to Nilson’s for dinner. Sig & I took a walk..”

Sun, April 1, 1928: “April Fool’s Day. Wonderful. Got up 9:00. Helped clean up…Over to Nilson’s all aft. and eve. Mil sick in bed with cold.”

I didn’t expect my research as a wannabe CeCe Moore would lead me back to north Minneapolis, or that censuses and diaries could together tell a story.

A small world indeed.