It’s all well and good to say that Youngstown needs to demolish more houses, and it does. Its good policy in a shrinking city. It’s hard to recognize that these were once homes. In this case, 233 West Dennick Avenue, my childhood home, met it’s fate on Tuesday courtesy of a backhoe and a Federal grant.
(click on a photo to view slideshow with larger photos)
A Lowry family headstone from Calvary Cemetery in Leetonia, Ohio, with no dates or other markers associated with it. The back is blank, but I’d like to place bets on this being either Michael Lowry (1868 – 1949) and Anna Lottman (1869 – 1945) or Michael’s parents, Michael Lowry (1829 – 1928) and Bridget Conley (1825 – 1904). Nearby stones, including those for Anna Lottman Lowry’s parents, are dated starting around 1920 but do extend into the 1950’s. The groundskeeper told me that the cemetery records are reported to be in someone’s basement. Somewhere I have a cell phone number for the guy. I’ll need to dig that out eventually.
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.
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.
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| Photo by Joe Lowry, May 2012. |
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.
Merry Christmas to all of my family and friends who have visited this blog. I hope you have an amazing Christmas holiday and New Year!
A familiar Santa (I know him!) and a crying cousin.
Christmas 1983 at my grandparents house in Liberty Township, Ohio. I’m 21 months old being held by my dad and my sister Caroline is about 7 months old being held by my mom.
Christmas, probably in 1989, on Dennick Ave. Colleen appears to be about 14 months old, which makes this ’89. We’ve got a few more Christmas’s at this house before we moved to Bradley Lane.
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The early 1880’s were a rather prosperous time for the United States and for Ohio. The mining industry was booming, thanks to large deposits of iron ore and coal in Ohio. It was an era of Ohio supremacy, with Ohians Rutherford B. Hayes succeeded by James Garfield to the Presidency. It would make sense than that the Irish-born Michael Lowry and his family would settle where they could work, and Leetonia, Ohio was such a place.
Michael and his wife Bridget (Conley) had at least six children including daughters Bridget (b. 1847), Mary Lee (b. 1854), Anna (b. 1858) and Margaret (b. 1861) and two sons, Edward (b. 1855) and Michael (b. 1868). In 1880, just Michael was living at home with his parents.
Supervisor’s District: 8
Commentary:
Unlike later census’s, this doesn’t indicate who provided the information to the enumerator. It’s difficult to assess because while father and son are listed as coal miners, there are check marks near their names indicating that they were unemployed in the last year. That field is supposed to indicate how many months they’ve been unemployed, but the enumerator only put a check mark. So, they may not have been working and could have been home to answer the questions.
The census indicates an 1825 birth date for Bridget, which is consistent with my records. The 1824 year of birth indicated from this census record for Michael is different from the 1830 I obtained from his death certificate. This record indicates son Michael’s year of birth as being 1864, while his death certificate lists it as being 1868, which is what I put in my Ancestry.com Family Tree. I doubt a coal miner would be 12 years old, so 1864 is probably closer to his actual birth date.
Sources:
1880 U.S. census, Leetonia, Ohio, population schedule, Salem, enumeration district (ED) 58, sheet 32 (penned), dwelling 285, family 294, Micheal Lowry; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 Dec 2012); NARA microfilm Roll 1002
On 26 October 1979, around 7:30 a.m., heading south on Glenwood Avenue in Youngstown are a young couple en route to their jobs as teachers at Saint Charles School in Boardman. Approaching the intersection of Glenwood and Breaden Street, they notice smoke coming from the local grocery. With a fire station just blocks away, the husband speeds the car to report the alarm.
The men of Engine Company 13 quickly take down the run from this verbal report and scream down Glenwood to the scene. Only the scene can’t be found. “What’s the address that couple gave us?,” the men no doubt shout to each other. “Glenwood and Woodland” was the reply. For twenty minutes, firefighters searched the area of Glenwood and Woodland with no luck. They wouldn’t see the smoke pouring from the grocery at Breaden and Glenwood until it was called in by the shop’s owner, coming to open for the day.
Eighteen firefighters battled the blaze for thirty minutes before it was brought under control. An electrical short was determined as the cause.
The Vindicator article is quick to quote the fire chief, who in turn is quick to blame these unnamed do-gooders for reporting the wrong address. Or did they? My parents Pat and Becky Lowry, who were this unnamed couple, swear they correctly directed the firefighters. The fire chief fails to mention that his men traveled five blocks past the fire in their search. The Vindicator got two days out of the story, publishing a follow-up on October 30. My parents continued to work that morning, the unnamed fall guys for this accidental fire.
I am fortunate to have numerous records, photos and information regarding the military service of my grandfather, Charles J. Lowry. Chuck had a long career as a Federal employee, which included almost two years in the United States Army.
A scrap of paper was found among the documents from Chuck’s time in the service providing a timeline from the time of injury until he was provided definitive care. He was hit at 7:35 a.m. and stated he spent three hours in a ditch before he was picked up. Chuck had previously told me that he was lying in a ditch during that time, taking cover from German fire. By 3:30, he was removed to the 101st Evacuation Hospital, which operated in France in 1944. The ‘666th Air Strip’ was probably the 666th Medical Clearing Company, operating evacuation flights from Morlaix, France (about 36 miles from Brest) back to England. Once in England, Chuck was treated by the 128th General Army Hospital. He stated it was near Devizes, but the 128th was situated near Bishopstrow, about 20 miles away. It was a week from the time of his injury until he was able to have surgery that provided traction to his femur injury.
He was then transported to England for care and eventually to Billings Army Hospital at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis where he spent nearly a year in recovery of his wounds.
lowry genealogy 