The little guy, my dad Pat, and his brother Chuck hanging out with great grandpa George Pepperney in 1952 or 53.
(Not So) Wordless Wednesday – Hanging with great grandpa
Author: joelowry1982
Tombstone Tuesday – Martin and Elizabeth Witt
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene…
In Mount Carmel Cemetery in Verona, Pennsylvania is the headstone of my third great grandparents, Martin and Elizabeth Kreher Witt. Martin was born in 1830 in Gernsheim, Gross-Gerau, Hessen, Germany and arrived in the United States when he was just two years old. His wife Elizabeth Kreher was born in Herman, Butler, Pennsylvania in 1840. Finding Herman took some doing as today it’s nothing more than the intersection of Herman Road and Bonniebrook Road. Aside from the volunteer fire department, a convenience store, cemetery and school, you wouldn’t think much of it. The Witt’s spent most of their lives in western Pennsylvania and their final years in Pittsburgh.
 |
| Mary Mathewson photo, from Find A Grave.com |
I can’t in the least take credit for this image. As I’ve mentioned before, the genealogy community is awesome in that sometimes total strangers offer something great that you couldn’t retrieve yourself. In this case, I posted a request on FindAGrave.com (yes, that’s a real site – with 107 MILLION grave records) for someone to post a photo of the headstone for Martin and Elizabeth. A few months later, Mary Mathewson posted this photo. A quick email exchange and we discovered we are researching the same ancestors and shared information and family photos. It’s this kind of sharing and collaboration that make genealogy so much fun!
Source:
Find A Grave, Inc. Find A Grave.com, digital images (http://www.findagrave.com: accessed 15 October 2013), photograph, gravestone for Martin (1830 – 1921) and Elizabeth (1840 – 1930) Witt, Verona, Allegheny, Pennsylvania.
Miltary Monday – The Pension Indexes of Jacob Bahle
My third great grandfather Jacob Bahle was a private in Company H, 6th Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery during the Civil War. Jacob was a garrison soldier, protecting the railroads around Washington, D.C. He saw no combat. Interestingly, when I first moved to Arlington, I lived just a few miles from where he spent 1864 and 1865.
Like many soldiers, he filed for a pension following the war. Each pensioner had a pension index card with a brief service history, the date the pension was issued, and the law under which it was awarded. These pension index cards indicate the date he applied for a pension and, following his death, the date that pension was assumed by his wife Rachel.
A trip the National Archives in the next few weeks should provide his complete pension record, with documents detailing his service, possible disability and perhaps additional family information. I can’t wait!
Top: “United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KDPL-TXW : accessed 22 Oct 2013), Jacob Bahle, 1892.
Center: United States Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K6WL-Q52 : accessed 22 Oct 2013), Jacob Bahle, 1907-1933.
Bottom: “United States Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K6WL-Q5R : accessed 22 Oct 2013), Jacob Bahle, 1907-1933.
Census Sunday – 1940 U.S. Census for Charles E. Lowry and Family
A 15-year old kid with his two parents. His mother doting over him, his father off to work each day. This was my grandfather and his parents in 1940. Charles James Lowry was a sophomore at Ursuline High School when Census Bureau employee Helen G Fouistell knocked on the door of 207 Thornton Avenue, on Youngstown’s North Side.
Carrying her oversized clipboard and a new Census sheet, she found my great grandmother Margaret home on Friday, April 5, 1940. My great grandfather Charles Edward was probably off at work, a analyst at Republic Steel. Steel still put bread on the table in Youngstown in 1940. Five of the 19 employed individuals that Helen interviewed for this census sheet worked in steel mills.
Relationship to Me:
Charles Edward Lowry (1899 – 1975)
father of:
Charles James Lowry (1924 – 2007)
father of:
Patrick Edward Lowry
father of:
Joseph Patrick Lowry
 |
| Click to enlarge. |
State: Ohio
County: Mahoning
City: Youngstown
Ward: 1
Block: 169
Sheet: 2B
Enumeration District: 96-14
Enumerated by: Helen G Fouistell, Enumerator
Address: 207 N Thornton Avenue (map)
Line 41 – 43
Household 31
Rented or Owned: Rented
Monthly Rent: $31
Does this household live on a farm? No
Lowry, Charles E, head, male, white, 39 years old, married. Has not attended school since March 1, 1939. Attended school through 12th grade. Born in Ohio. On April 1, 1935 lived in same place. Was at work for pay the week of March 24-30, 1940. Works 40 hours a week as an analyst in a steel mill. Worked 52 weeks in 1939. Earned $2,000 wages in 1939, with no wages from another source.
” Margaret M., wife, female, white, age 37, married. Has not attended school since March 1, 1939. Attended school through 12th grade. Born in Pennsylvania. On April 1, 1935 lived in same place (not a farm). Did not work or seek work for pay. Engaged in housework with no income from another source.
” , Charles J., son, male, white, age 15, single. Born in Ohio. On April 1, 1935 lived in same place. Has attended school since March 1, 1939. Completed school through H-1 (high school, 1 years). Has no income from a job.
Sources:
1940 U.S. Federal Census, Mahoning County, Youngstown, population schedule, Enumeration District 96-14, Sheet 2B, Dwelling 31,. Charles E Lowry; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 October 2013), citing National Archives microfilm publication Roll T627_3267.
Wordless Wednesday – Happy Birthday Grama!
Yesterday was my maternal grandmother Barb Viti’s 82nd birthday. We celebrated this past weekend with a great family dinner at Gervasi Vineyard in Canton, Ohio. This picture, though, was taken two year’s ago at her 80th birthday party where we had a large party at the Springfield Grille. Regardless of the setting, it’s clear to see that we like our wine…
Wordless Wednesday – Mom and Grandma
As indicated by the winter jacket and possible red bow on the door, this is a Christmastime photo of my mother Becky Lowry and her mother-in-law Jean Groucutt Lowry. This was taken around 1984-1985 in Jean’s living room on Mansell Drive in Youngstown. I’m pretty sure that is my winter coat on the bannister. I’ve got a photo of me wearing it around here somewhere.
That Dam Lowry!
The Lowry’s of Youngstown are a large clan. My grandparents Chuck and Jean Lowry are responsible for eleven children, 15 grandchildren, and ten great grandchildren! Add to that number spouses, stepchildren, and pets, and there’s even more Lowry’s!
That said, my grandfather was an only child, and my dad and his siblings know a bit about their great aunts and uncles, but not much. The Lowry’s never hosted large extended family gatherings like the Groucutt side of the family because there was not a large extended family to host!
I’ve been working hard to fill some of these gaps and along the way discovered a deceased Lowry cousin that current Lowry’s have never met but we should all be aware of his contribution to America. He shall now be referred to as:
That Dam Lowry!
 |
| He even looks like a Lowry! |
That Dam Lowry is Ralph Lowry. Ralph was born in Bevier, Missouri on April 18, 1889 to Edward and Sarah Lowry.
 |
| This chart shows Ralph’s relationship to the people on the right, which is my family line. Click image to enlarge. |
Edward, a coal miner, was in the process of making his way West while the rest of the family remained in Ohio and Pennsylvania. By 1900, Edward, Sarah, Ralph and his brother Edward Jr. were living in Ferry, Washington, which Ralph would call home through college. He attended the Washington State University, receiving a degree in 1917 in civil engineering.
For the next forty years, Ralph worked for the Bureau of Reclamation as an engineer. He was a construction engineer on the Gibson Dam project. This dam was built between 1926 and 1929 in western Montana to irrigate land in the Sun River Valley. His greatest accomplishments were to come, however, when he accepted a position as an engineer on the construction of the Hoover Dam.
In 1931, Ralph was appointed as a Field Engineer on the Hoover project. For the next five years he worked as one of a number of engineers before he was offered a promotion. Head engineer Walker Young was leaving the Hoover project and Ralph became the senior government engineer just as construction was wrapping up.
While the Hoover Dam is certainly the most well known of Ralph’s projects, he did not stop there. He served as an engineer on the Shasta Dam and Coulee Dam construction projects.
 |
| Ralph, third from the right, with members of the California Supreme Court and other state officials who are inspecting the Shasta Dam. Bureau of Land Management photo; CSU Chico Archives. |
 |
| Ralph Lowry, Construction Engineer for Reclamation, left, congratulates Frank Crowe, Superintendent for Pacific Constructors, Inc., right, on the placing of the first bucket of concrete in Shasta Dam. July 8, 1940. USBR photo and caption. |
Ralph retired in 1949 as the Assistant Chief Engineer for the Bureau of Reclamation and settled in Monterey, California. He died on August 18, 1973 in nearby Carmel, California. Eileen and I vacationed there this past summer and I wouldn’t let her leave without a stop at Ralph’s grave. He and his wife Gladys are buried in the columbarium at El Carmelo Cemetery.
Wordless Wednesday – A Pacelli Man
At some point in my four years at John Carroll University (2000 – 2004), I sat on the steps of Pacelli Hall and someone (I think my dad) took my picture. And, for all I know this is it’s counterpart, Dolan Hall. I have no idea what year this was or why it was taken, but I lived in Pacelli freshman year.
Clearly taken in the spring or fall, I’m rocking a black jacket that for several years doubled as a weak excuse of a winter coat, totally unsuitable for the harsh Cleveland winters. The Doc Marten’s on my feet were favorites and lasted from 1999 until just a few years ago.
Wordless Wednesday – Not the Group W Bench
These kids are not sitting on the Group W Bench. If you know the reference, raise your hand! The kid on the right is my dad, Pat Lowry. On the left is my uncle and godfather Charles Lowry. The photo was taken around 1960. I have no idea why they are wearing matching shirts. Do you? Leave a comment!
(Not So) Wordless Wednesday – Four Generations
 |
| Distributed online by ArcaMax. |
 |
| Click to enlarge. |
The ‘Four Generations’ photo is something special, perhaps because it is somewhat rare. A five generation photo is probably close to impossible, unless the oldest person is close to 100 years old and everyone had kids at a very young age. This photo is my grandfather Howard Witt, mother Becky Witt Lowry, great grandfather Francis Witt, and little me around April 1982. Great grandpa Witt lived another 10 years, so I have many memories of him.
lowry genealogy 