Four Generations

Four Generations of Voitts

joelowry1982 1920s, Four Generations, Witt
martin_witt_1921_fourgensofvoitts_newspaperscom

Four generations are represented in this photograph. All are residents of Pittsburgh and, with the exception of the oldest member of the group, Martin Voitt, aged 90, all were born in Allegheny county.

Front row – Joseph C. Roolf, his son, Norman Joseph Roolf; Mrs. Mary Ostein, great-grandaughter; Mr. and Mrs. Martin Voitt, Mrs. Joseph C. Roolf, nee Voitt, and Dorothy Marie Voitt.

Back Row – Mr. and Mrs. John A. Roolf and Mr. and Mrs. John A. Voitt.

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I love multi-generational photos. I have an entire category of photos on the website showing four generations. In this case, the Witt family (apparently also known as the Voitt family), sat down for a photograph in early 1921 that found its way into the Pittsburgh Gazette Times, the predecessor to today’s Post-Gazette. This would likely be one of the last, if not last, photographs of the patriarch, Martin Witt. He would die in September of the same year.

Source:
“Four Generations of Voitt [Witt] Family,” The Pittsburgh Gazette Times, 4 April 1921, pg 4, col 2; digital image, (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 2 Dec 2016), Newspapers.com.

Four Generations Once Again

joelowry1982 2010s, Four Generations, Lowry, Maternal, Paternal, Witt
I love photos showing four generations of my family. There are quite a few collecting on the blog here, here, here, here, and here. This is another taken two weeks ago at the baptism of my son. My grandmother Barb Viti is holding her great grandson Brendan Lowry with my mom and me on either side. I will feature Brendan’s baptism in an upcoming blog post.

Click to enlarge

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday – Four Generations of Witts

joelowry1982 Four Generations, Maternal, Ostein, Roolf, Witt, Wordless Wednesday
This photo was provided to me by the spouse of a distant relative, specifically a great nephew of my 1st cousin, 3x removed. How’s that for some genealogical reach? This fantastic image was taken around 1920 and shows four generations of Witts.

 

Click to enlarge.

Seated L-R: Joseph C. Roolf, with son Norman Roolf, Mary K. Ostien, Martin Witt, Elizabeth Witt, Lenora C. Witt holding Dorothy (baby).
Standing Back Row L-R: John A. Roolf, Margaret M. Ostien Roolf, Johanna Thaner Witt and John A. Witt.

Martin  and Elizabeth Kreher Witt are my 3rd great grandparents. Their son John Albert Witt and his wife Johanna Thaner were featured elsewhere on the blog looking into John’s murder. Lenora Clara (alternatively, Clara Lenora) Witt is John’s daughter, married to Joseph Roolf. She is holding her daughter Dorothy while her husband stands with their other child Norman. Joseph Roolf’s parents John and Margaret Ostien Roolf are behind him, while his grandmother Mary Ostien sits next to him.
 

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday – Four Generations (Part 3)

joelowry1982 Four Generations, Lowry, Paternal, Pepperney, Wordless Wednesday

I’ve featured a number of photos on the blog that include four generations of relatives. This photo was taken between 1949 and 1962. I can’t be more precise right now because I’m not certain who the baby is, although I imagine this is in the later years of that range based on the suspected age of the individuals in the photo. In addition to an unknown aunt or uncle, the photo includes my grandfather Chuck Lowry, great great grandfather George Pepperney, and great grandmother Margaret Pepperney Lowry. I will need to check the original and see if there is any information written on the back.

Click to enlarge. Family photo.

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday – Four Generations – Again…

joelowry1982 1920s, Four Generations, Paternal, Pepperney, Wordless Wednesday
Family collection. Click to enlarge.
Taken around 1925, this is four generations of Pepperney’s. On the left is my 3rd great grandfather Frank Pepperney, Sr. (1847 – 1927). On the right, my great great grandfather George P. Pepperney (1871 – 1962). Seated is my great grandmother Mary Margaret Pepperney Lowry (1902 – 1980); she is holding my grandfather, Charles J. Lowry (1924 – 2007).

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday – Four Generations

joelowry1982 Four Generations, Witt, Wordless Wednesday
image
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.

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.

Treasure Chest Thursday: 1920 Census of James McSweeney

joelowry1982 Census Sunday, Document, Four Generations, Lowry, McSweeney, Paternal

Among my Christmas presents was a gift subscription to Ancestry.com, which I had survived without for the last year. Most of my online research had been done with Familysearch.org or GenealogyBank.com. Having an Ancestry.com subscription has greatly expanded my base of searchable records.

One of the first collections I searched was the 1920 census. It was picked mostly because I previously had limited access to it. I quickly discovered the census record for my great grand uncle Joseph C. McSweeney. On 26 January 1920, when visited by census enumerator Harry Burke, Joseph was living in Delaware County, Pennsylvania with his brother. This came as a bit of a shock as Joseph was born, raised, and had married just a few years prior in Leetonia, Ohio. He wasn’t living with his wife or son, Joseph Jr., but rather with his brother John and sister-in-law Mary. His listing as a widower quickly had me searching for more records.

Joseph was married to Anastasia Lowry and they had a son, Joseph, Jr. There marriage was short, as Anastasia died in 1919 at age 24 of a sarcoma of the hip, a very aggressive and poorly treatable condition for the time. After suffering for nine months, she succumbed to the disease on 13 February 1919 at Salem Hospital. She’s buried at Calvary Cemetery in Leetonia, Ohio.

Photo by Joe Lowry, May 2012.
Ana’s death explains the widower designation; when the census enumerator visited a year later, Joseph was a 25 year old widower with a son. In fact, the family of father and son had split up. Joseph moved to the industrial town of Chester, Pennsylvania to live with his brother and sister-in-law while Joseph, Jr. stayed in Leetonia to live with his grandparents and Ana’s brothers. 
Relationship to me:
Joseph McSweeney (1893 – 1963)
husband of:
Anastasia Lowry (1894 – 1919)
daughter of:
Michael Lowry (1868 – 1949)
father of:
Charles E. Lowry (1899 – 1975)
father of:
Charles J. Lowry (1924 – 2007)
father of:
Patrick E. Lowry
father of:
Joseph P. Lowry
State: Pennsylvania
County: Delaware
Enumeration District: 149
Sheet No.: 31
City/Township: Chester City
Ward: 11
Address: 1123 Keystone Road (map)
McSweeney, John D., head, home is Rented, male, white, 24 years old, married, is able to read and write, born in Ohio, father born in Ohio, mother born in Ohio, is able to speak English, blower at a furnace as a wage worker (hourly, instead of salaried).
”, Mary, wife, female, white, 24 years old, married, is able to read and write, born in Ohio, father born in Ohio, mother born in Ohio, is able to speak English, not employed.
”, Joseph C., brother, male, white, 27 years old, widower, is able to read and write, born in Ohio, father born in Ohio, mother born in Ohio, is able to speak English, chemist at a blast furnace as a wage worker (hourly, instead of salaried).
Joseph and Anastasia’s son Joseph Jr. was sent to live with his grandparent’s in Leetonia, Columbiana County, Ohio. Whether this was a short-term or long-term arrangement hasn’t revealed itself. What is known is that four generations of Lowry’s were now living in one household,  including three of my ancestors (in bold, below). Joseph Jr. is listed last on the census record.

State: Ohio
County: Columbiana
Enumeration District: 137
Sheet No.: 4B
City/Township: Salem Township, Leetonia Village
Address: 184
Lowry Jr., Michael, head, house Owned, Free without Mortgage, male, white, 49 years old, married, able to read and write, born in Pennsylvania, father born in Ireland (native tongue Irish), mother born in Ireland (native tongue Irish), is able to speak English. Trade or occupation listed as ‘none’.
”, Annie, wife, female, white, 50 years old, married, immigrated in 1873, Naturalized in 1877, able to read and write, born in Bavaria (Ger) (native tongue German), father born in Bavaria (native tongue German), mother born in German (native tongue German), is able to speak English. Trade or occupation listed as ‘none’.
”, Edward, son, male, white, 23 years old, single, able to read and write, born in Ohio, father born in Pennsylvania, mother born in Bavaria (Ger) (native tongue German), able to speak English, machinist in a machine shop.
”, Charles, son, male, white, 20 years old, single, has not attended school since Sept. 1, 1919, able to read and write, born in Ohio, father born in Pennsylvania, mother born in Bavaria (Ger) (native tongue German), able to speak English, chemist in a steel plant.
”, Raymond, son, male, white, 17 years old, single, has not attended school since Sept. 1, 1919, able to read and write, born in Ohio, father born in Pennsylvania, mother born in Bavaria (Ger) (native tongue German), able to speak English, apprentice in a machine shop.
”, Helen, daughter, female, white, 13 years old, single, has attended school since Sept. 1, 1919, able to read and write, born in Ohio, father born in Pennsylvania, mother born in Bavaria (Ger) (native tongue German), able to speak English, not employed.
”, Michael Sr., father, male, white, 89 years old, widowed, immigrated in 1849, Naturalized in 186*,  born in Ireland (native tongue Irish), father born in Ireland (native tongue Irish), mother born in Ireland (native tongue Irish), is able to speak English. Trade or occupation listed as ‘none’.
McSweeney, Jr., Joseph, grandson, male, white, 1 8/12 years old, single, born in Pennsylvania, father born in Ohio, mother born in Pennsylvania. Trade or occupation listed as ‘none’.
I don’t know what relationship father and son had after this or if they were yet to be reunited. A search of the 1930 and 1940 U.S. Census records is my next step. Stay tuned. There’s more to come!


Sources:
“Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8K4-8LN : accessed 27 Dec 2012), Anastasia Mcsweeney, 13 Feb 1919; citing Salem, Columbiana, Ohio, reference fn 8812; FHL microfilm 1984637.

“United States Census, 1920,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MFR5-3RF : accessed 27 Dec 2012), Joseph F Mcsweeney in household of John D Mcsweeney, , Delaware, Pennsylvania; citing enumeration district (ED) , sheet 31A, family 649, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1821561.

“United States Census, 1920,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MDLY-931 : accessed 26 Dec 2012), Joseph Mcsweeney in household of Michael Lowry, , Columbiana, Ohio; citing enumeration district (ED) , sheet 4B, family 83, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1821356.