Miss Carolyn (Carrie) Baron (nee Van Vliet)

Carolyn (Carrie) Van Vliet was hired as the head librarian at Pella’s Carneige-Viersen Library on 9 April 1906.[1] She was born on 31 July 1885 to Nicholas Van Vliet and Maggie Van Wilt.[2]

Van Vliet, who was educated by Alice Tyler in the summer of 1906,[3] served as the librarian until leaving her position on 1 August 1909.[4] While no marriage record exists, the 1910 census records Van Vliet, now Carrie Baron, as having married Bert S. Baron, originally of Michigan.[5] The Barons had two daughters, Mary and Marjorie.[6]

Carrie remained in Pella until at least 1963, when she was given a Social Security Number.[7] The final disbursement of her Social Security benefits was given in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky,[8] which was likely the place of her death. Carrie Baron died in September of 1979 and was buried in Oak Wood Cemetery in Pella.[9]

-Russell Buchanan

 

[1] Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Free Public Library, Pella, Iowa, 9 April 1906.

[2] Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

[3] HathiTrust, Third Report of the Iowa Library Commission, 1906, 14.

[4] Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Free Public Library, Pella, Iowa, 8 February 1909

[5] Year: 1910; Census Place: Lake Prairie, Marion, Iowa; Roll: T624_412; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0050; FHL microfilm: 1374425.

[6] Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012

[7] Number: 485-58-0370; Issue State: Iowa; Issue Date: 1963.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current