Author: joelowry1982

Tombstone Tuesday – Ralph Lowry (1889 – 1973)

joelowry1982 Cemetery, Lowry, Paternal
In the far northeast corner of the El Carmelo Cemetery in Pacific Grove, California is an older columbarium that contains the remains of Ralph Lowry and his wife Gladys.
Ralph is my first cousin, 3x removed; this makes him my great grandfather Charles’ first cousin. It’s doubtful that Ralph and Charles ever met. Ralph spent his entire life living on the West Coast, and after his father moved West through Missouri, Colorado, and Washington in the late 1870’s, he never went back (that I can determine).
During a recent vacation, we were staying just a few miles away from El Carmelo, and figuring it would be years before I got back, Eileen and I detoured. Even on vacation, genealogy isn’t far from my mind. 

Eileen insisted I pose for a picture. I agree that this is sort of weird.




You can see the headstone of Ralph’s mother previously featured here.

Census Sunday – 1940 Census of Francis and Helen Witt

joelowry1982 1940s, Census Sunday, Maternal, Witt
It’s hard not to think of our grandparents how we most often saw them – as grown adults, perhaps even elderly. I think of my great grandfather as a man in his 90’s, sitting in a chair in his house on Osborn Avenue and waving his cane at me. Documents such as census records make it easier to imagine them in a different time in their lives. In 1940, the Witt family lived at 24 Osborn Avenue, just north of Mahoning Avenue. When a census enumerator visited the house, my great grandfather Francis was 41 years old, and my grandfather Howard just a boy of 11.

Relationship to me:
Francis John Witt (1899 – 1992)
father of:
Howard David Witt (1929 – 2001)
father of:
Rebecca Ann Witt
mother of:
Joseph Patrick Lowry

State: Ohio
County: Mahoning
City: Youngstown

Ward: 4
Block: 506
Sheet: 12A
Enumeration District: 96-76
Enumerated by: Anne S Williams, Enumerator
Address: 24 N Osborn Ave (map)

Francis Witt, head, male, white, 41 years old, married, has not attended school since March 1, 1939, attended school through 8th 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 a business agent in a repair shop, worked 26 weeks in 1939. Earned $800 wages in 1939, with no wages from another source.

Helen         ” , wife, female, white, age 41, married, has not attended school since March 1, 1939, attended school through 8th grade, born in Ohio, on April 1, 1935 lived in same place (not a farm), did not work or seek work.
M. Governor    ” , son, male, white, age 20, single, born in Ohio, on April 1, 1935 lived in same place, has attended school since March 1, 1939, attended school through C-2 (College, 2 years), in school for 52 weeks; wages of $450. No job listed.
Francis        ” , son, male, white, age 19,  single, 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 seeking work. Duration of unemployment up to March 30, 1940—in weeks: 20 weeks. Otherwise works as an order clerk at a steel mill. In 1939, worked 12 for $300 in wages.
William        ” , son, male, white, age 17,  single, has attended school since March 1, 1939, attended school through 11th grade, born in Ohio, on April 1, 1935 lived in same place, did not work or seek work.
Fred             ” , son, male, white, age 15, single, has attended school since March 1, 1939, attended school through 8th grade, born in Ohio, on April 1, 1935 lived in same place, did not work or seek work.
Howard        ” , son, male, white, age 11, single, has attended school since March 1, 1939, attended school through 4th grade, born in Ohio, on April 1, 1935 lived in same place, did not work or seek work.
Helen K.       ” , daughter, female, white, age 6, single, has not attended school since March 1, 1939, born in Ohio, on April 1, 1935 lived in same place, did not work or seek work.
Sources:
1940 U.S. Federal Census, Mahoning County, Youngstown, population schedule, Enumeration District 96-76, Sheet 12A, Dwelling 229,. Francis Witt; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 July 2013), citing National Archives microfilm publication Roll T627_3270.

Petro, Diane. (Spring 2012). Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? The 1940 Census: Employment and Income. Prologue Magazine. Volume 44 (Issue 1). Retrieved from http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2012/spring/1940.html. Accessed 28 July 2013.

Friday’s Faces of the Past – Grandpap, Pap, Charles and Jr.

joelowry1982 Four Generations, Lowry, Paternal, Photo Friday
Four generations of Lowrys in Leetonia, Ohio.

This photo has recently soared to the top of my list of favorite photos. Four generations of Lowry men in one shot, with a history that dates back nearly 185 years.

The oldest Lowry, Michael ‘Grandpap’, was about 97 years old when this photo was taken on 12 February 1928. My dad tells me that he was blind and nearly deaf at this point. As he died in June 1928, he would not survive more than a few months after this photo. Incredibly, a man who spent his life as a coal miner lived long enough to be the oldest in a photo of four generations. Check out his moccasins!

My 2nd great grandfather Michael ‘Pap’ was 59 years old. Michael and Bridget Conley Lowry’s youngest son was born in August 1868 in Huntington, Pennsylvania. He died in 1949 in Mayhew Nursing Home in Columbiana County.

My great grandfather Charles Edward Lowry was born in September 1899. He died in 1975. The little man with the double-breasted peacoat is my grandfather Chuck. I never knew him as ‘Junior,’ but it’s been great to see more than a few pictures with that caption. My great-grandmother Margaret Pepperney Lowry was quite the photobug and was excellent at providing captions.

I have a lot of photos from the late 1920s that I’ve scanned and will be publishing over the next few weeks, but this one is the cream of the crop.

Source:
Michael Lowry Sr., Michael Lowry Jr., Charles E. Lowry, and Charles J. Lowry, photograph, taken in Leetonia, Ohio in February 1928; digital image, photocopy of original, scanned in 2013 by Joseph Lowry; privately held by Patrick Lowry, [address for private use], Poland, Ohio; Three men and a young boy on a porch; Provenance is Mary Pepperney Lowry to Charles Lowry to Mary McCaffrey to Patrick Lowry.

Summer Break

joelowry1982 Uncategorized

This blog is on a bit of a summer break. I’m back from a two week vacation but now the Pirates are in town against the Nationals and I’m attending a few of the games. I won’t be doing much with genealogy this week, although my vacation actually allowed me the opportunity to scan and take a number of photos. I will get some of those posted starting next week! Go Bucs!

Wordless Wednesday – 98-year old Michael ‘Grandpap’ Lowry

joelowry1982 Lowry, Paternal, Wordless Wednesday

I’m impatient and couldn’t wait to post this crappy photo of a photo. Taken in 1928 in Leetonia, Ohio, this is my 3rd great grandfather Michael “grandpap” Lowry. This is part of a series of photos involving his son Michael, grandson Charles and great grandson Charles. Grandpap was about 98 years old when this photo was taken. He didn’t survive the year. I’m scanning them all to a higher quality and will post the better version later.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tombstone Tuesday – Michael Schulmeister

joelowry1982 1930s, Maternal, Schulmeister
My 3rd great grandfather Michael Schulmeister was born in Russia about May 1856. Arriving in New York City with his wife Anna Maria (Mary) Kotterin Schulmeister on April 17 1886, they quickly set down roots in Topeka, Kansas where a large congregation of Volga Germans had settled. There they had at least five children, three girls and two boys. The oldest is my 2nd great grandmother Elizabeth Schulmeister Porubsky.
Photo from FindAGrave.com by Oz.
Michael died in 1937 in Topeka at age 81. He is buried in Mount Calvary Cemetery in Topeka.

Matrilineal Monday – Caroline Porubsky at Age 19

joelowry1982 Maternal, Porubsky
My great grandmother at age 19. This photo is stamped ‘Jan 20 1929’ while below is hand written ‘I was 19 years old’ ‘grand(sic?)’. 
I rarely scan the back of photos. Obviously, they are blank most of the time but I loved that this one included a very specific date. Imagine Caroline in her house at 1015 N Madison bundling up for the Topeka winter and heading to a photo studio. Perhaps this is a school photo? For a church directory? Maybe my grandmother has an answer…
Photo from a family collection.

Sunday’s Obituary – Sarah Lowry (1858 – 1915)

joelowry1982 Lowry, Obituary, Paternal

I have previously shown the tombstone of my 2nd great grand aunt Sarah Lowry. Thanks to a great service provided by the Washington State Library, I now have two obituaries for her, both from the Republic News Miner (still the paper of record in Republic). The first, a death notice, appeared on 5 Feb 1915, just two days after her death. While she was living in Spokane at the time, she spent much of her later life in Republic, Washington, a very small town 123 miles to the northwest.

Sarah and her husband Edward have been a tough nut for me to crack and continue to occupy a significant amount of my research time. One of their sons went on to do very great things for this country and I hope to feature him in the future. Sarah and Edward are the only Lowry’s who moved out of the Ohio area and to the West. I don’t know Sarah’s maiden name, where she was born, or who her parents are. I don’t know when or where Edward died, but believe he outlived Sarah. Interestingly, her obituary makes no mention of Edward so perhaps they were separated or divorced. So many questions, so little time. Fortunately, the blogosphere never runs out of ink!

(click to enlarge)
The second is a funeral announcement that appeared a week later, 12 Feb 1915. It’s not exactly clear but it appears that her funeral was held in Republic in the local Presbyterian church. Today, there’s only one Presbyterian church in Republic, on Keller Street. I’m not certain that was the church in question, and they don’t have a website.

(click to enlarge)
Also worth noting are the ‘Extra Fancy $2.50 Jonathans now $1.00 at The Palm Store.’ I have no idea what that means. If they are referring to apples, that is an incredibly expensive price in 1915.
Source:
Sarah Lowry obituary, Republic News Miner, Republic, Washington, February 5 and 12, 1915, page 1. Provided by the Ask a Librarian service of the Washington State Library (K. Smeenk, Reference Librarian). Received via email on 27 Jun 2013.

Wordless Wednesday – Cousins

joelowry1982 Lowry, Paternal, Wordless Wednesday
One of my favorite photos. All of the Lowry cousins on Thanksgiving 1998 (I think), save Lindy Jean and Jude, who were not yet born. This was probably the last time we were all together until our grandfather died in 2007. Between us, these young kids now have 10 kids of their own.
Top to bottom, left to right: 
Joe, JP, Mike, James, Caroline, Katie, Laura, Kelly, Jeannie, Jen, Colleen, Kaitlyn, Sara