Joseph Maus of Germany

Joseph Maus was born in 1829 in the city of Darmstadt, in the state of Hesse, Germany. Josephus Maus and his wife had their son, Joseph, christened at a local Roman Catholic Church on the 24th of January in 1830. Darmstadt is located on the western side of the Rhine River and was probably a lovely place of residence at this time. The photo above shows a market square, called Schossplatz, in front of the Ducal Palace in Darmstadt c. 1890.

Joseph lived in this city until the summer of 1853. At age 24, he decided to join other German families and friends who had emigrated to America. It's possible that a relative, already in Wisconsin, helped Joseph buy his new property in 1853 in Oshkosh, Winnebago, Wisconsin, his future location.

Joseph made his way to Port Havre in Holland to climb  aboard a ship headed for New York's Castlegarden, and landed there on 7 Aug 1853. I suppose Joseph made this trip with other German friends/family, as most emigrants did travel in groups. Whatever the case may be, Joseph set to work right away in his new city of Oshkosh, probably building his own home, as he was a carpenter.

About 1856, Joseph married Magdalena Haas and they enjoyed their life together as a couple. Then, daughter Anna Maus was born in 1857 and daughter, Louise E. Maus was born in 1859. The family lived on Winnebago Street in Oshkosh.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, many Wisconsin citizens were certain that the German immigrants would not want to become soldiers knowing full well that many German men left Germany to avoid war in Europe. But they were wrong. There were many, many German men who volunteered their service and Joseph was one of the first to join the ranks. He was mustered in at Madison, WI to Company F, the 12th Infantry as a Private. He was later transferred to Co. C in the 183rd Infantry.

I know that Joseph survived the war and that he was living at Washington and Fifth in Oshkosh in 1866. I recently found a death record of a Joseph Maus who died in Ohio c. 1878 but I have no proof that this was indeed our ancestor. I need more evidence to make a conclusive report. (As I mentioned about his daughters in an earlier story, they met and married their spouses in Crawford County, Ohio and died in Ohio. I also have proof that Magdalena, Joseph's wife, died in Ohio. So, it is probable that Joseph was in Ohio also, but I have not found enough evidence about him after 1866.)

Joseph Maus
Born:  1829 in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany
Married: c. 1856 to Magdalena Haas in Oshkosh, Winnebago, WI
Died: ? Unknown death and burial dates and places
Sources: Baptismal record from FamilySearch.org; Federal Census: 1860; Wisconsin State Census: 1855; Oshkosh City Directory: 1866; Military  Records from NARA; Death record from FamilySearch.org

Mary Ann Pensinger

What can I say about Mary Ann? Her life was too short, as happened to too many young married  women of the early centuries on this earth. She was born in 1835, in Franklin County, PA and had many siblings. At age 4, she and her family migrated to Zanesville, Muskinghum County, Ohio. At age 16, she married James Mackey in Washington, Morrow County, Ohio. She and James had six children. The last two died as infants, in 1863 and 1864. Then, Mary died three months later on the 7th of April 1864, age 29. What she seems to have experienced in those few years of her life mostly had to do with moving great distances, giving birth, and witnessing death at close hand.

Sources: Census: 1850; 1860. Marriage certificate; Galion, Ohio city directories; birth records of the Mackey children.
Mary Ann Pensinger Mackey
Born: 12 Mar 1835 in ,Franklin, PA
Married: 11 May 1851 in Washington, Morrow, OH
Died: 7 Apr 1864 in Galion, Crawford, OH

James Mackey of Welsh Run, Pennsylvania

James Mackey was born in Welsh Run, Pennsylvania in 1830. He and his siblings were baptized at the Presbyterian Church in their community in Montgomery Township of Franklin County.  But James lived here for only 8 years of his life. His mother died a few days before his eighth birthday, sad to say. 

James' father, William Mackey, and  other Welsh Run residents made plans to go west where new land was being discovered. There are stories about families who traveled by Conestoga wagons on the Zane Grey trail or by flat bottom boats on the Ohio River to Zanesville, Ohio and beyond. I haven't learned yet how James and his family traveled to Zanesville in 1839 but that's another project for my descendants to pursue.  

In October 1839, William, age 35, married a young woman of 18, Rosanna Pensinger, the daughter of one of his best friends from Welsh Run who also moved his family to Zanesville. William was an excellent carpenter and he was determined to train his two sons to be just as skilled as he was.  At first, I suppose, James, and his younger brother, David, needed to help their dad by fetching his tools or carrying nails and other supplies to where their  dad was working.  Eventually, these young lads were working by father William's side and creating good strong homes for the Zanesville residents.

Nevertheless, the Mackey and  Pensinger families moved on to Washington, Morrow County, Ohio sometime before 1850. Our subject, James Mackey, at age 21, and Mary Ann Pensinger, Rosanna's younger sister, married in the city of Washington in May 1851. James, William, and David worked hard as carpenters in Washington and the bordering city of Galion. They bought the Galion Lumber Company and this brought them further success. In the 1860 census they are listed as building contractors.

 James and Mary started their family of five children, but poor Mary died in 1864. For awhile, James, probably grieving, seemed to fall apart and got involved in the meat packing business in Galion. But, after he met and married Priscilla Jackson he got back to working as a carpenter again. They had seven children together. At age 70, James is working as a canvasser of sundries in the 1900 census. James apparently had a stroke and died on the 27th of Dec 1900 and was buried at the Fairview Cemetery in Galion.

Sources: Welsh Run Presbyterian Church Records; Census of 1830; 1840; 1850; 1860; 1870; 1880; 1900; Galion city directories; marriage certificate of James and Mary Mackey; Tax records of Welsh Run, PA; birth records of William and James Mackey's children

James Mackey
Born: 9 Apr 1830 in Welsh Run, Montgomery Twp., Franklin, PA
Married: 11 May 1851 in Washington, Morrow, OH
Died: 27 Dec 1900 in Galion, Crawford, OH

INTERLUDE THREE: OUR FOUR GENERATIONS

The blue bars are the Mackey branch of our tree. The mauve bars are the Phillips branch. We now have stories of all of these folks and will begin the fifth generation of great great grandparents next week.

EMMA MORRISON

Great grandmother, Sarah Emeline Morrison, preferred to be called Emma. She was born in 1855, on a farm, in Jackson Township, Crawford County, Ohio. She was the tenth and youngest child of her family of six brothers and three sisters. Her mother's parents lived on a farm nearby, too. 

She was only 17 when she married David Spitzer, and needed her father's signature and consent for the marriage to happen. Emma and David had eight children. Their first child was a worry to them because she had epilepsy and needed to be sent to an institution in Galiopolis, Ohio where people afflicted with this disease could be cared for and safely housed.

Emma was widowed  in 1896, when she was only 41 years old. She and her youngest children were living in Galion when David died. Some of her children were married and living in Akron, Ohio so Emma decided to join them there sometime around 1900. She found an office job on High Street in down town Akron and her young children found employment also.

The happiest part of Emma's story, for me, is that she visited her daughter, Alma Spitzer Mackey's family in New York City, when my dad was six years old, the year of 1914.  Dad had fond memories of her presence there and was pleased to share that story with me when I started to learn about our family history.

On the 19th of April, 1918, Emma died of lobar pneumonia, which may have started with her catching  the Spanish influenza (an epidemic that killed many Americans from 1917-1918). She is buried next to David at the Fairlawn Cemetery in Galion, Ohio.

Sarah Emeline Morrison
Born: 9 Jun 1855 Jackson Twp., Crawford, OH
Married: 5 Sep 1872 North Robinson, Crawford, OH
Died: 19 Apr 1918 Akron, Summit, OH
Buried: 23 Apr 1918 Fairview Cemetery, Galion, Crawford, OH

Sources: Census: 1860; 1870; 1880; 1900; 1910. Marriage certificate; "Ohio County Marriages, 1789-3013" of Alma Spitzer and Guy Mackey mentioning Emma Morrison, mother of Alma. FHL microfilm #388,686. Death certificate; Akron and Galion city directories-many years.

Sergeant David C. Spitzer, Confederate Soldier

David Spitzer was born in Rockingham County, Virginia in January 1845 in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley (see photo) among a group of people who had emigrated from the Rhine River Valley of Germany. There were several people with the surname of Spitzer living in a small town called Linville Creek in this valley, but I have not been able to link David to parents yet. Perhaps some day, when a descendant or other relative takes over my role as family historian, this gap in our family tree can be filled. I hope so. One of the major blocks in finding information in Virginia is that there were many Civil War battles in this state, causing the destruction of  numerous records of the early Virginia years. Shenandoah Valley was devastated during this war. Homes and barns were burned, crops were trampled on, orchards were destroyed, and animals were either eaten or driven away. So there wasn't any town left for David to return to after serving in Captain B.F. Price's Light Artillery 1861-1865.

I suspect that David may have had German relatives or friends in Crawford County, Ohio where he migrated to.  This is where David met his future wife, Sarah Morrison. Sarah had two brothers who were partners in a clothing store near where David had established a restaurant in the town of North Robinson.  That may be how Sarah and David became acquainted. They married in 1872.

 It's a special treat when a family historian finds words written by an ancestor. Below is an exerpt from David's  application for a patent in 1883:
"Be it known that I, DAVID C. SPITZER, a citizen of the United States, residing at North Robinson, in the county of Crawford and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Butter-Molds, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in butter-molds, and has for its object the construction and arrangement of a butter-mold in two sections that will admit the butter between said sections, properly mold and imprint the butter or other substance, and at the same time release the same without defacing or injuring it after the molding is completed."

(David must have thought it was important for his restaurant customers to have decorative butter.)

David and Sarah and their family of eight children moved to Galion, in Crawford County, about 1885.  I assume that the restaurant business wasn't as satisfactory as David would have liked, so  he was working as a carpenter at this time of his life. David died at age 50 of cancer and is buried at the Fairlawn Cemetery in Galion.

David C. Spitzer
Born: 03 Oct 1845 ,Rockingham, VA
Married: 05 Sep 1845 North Robinson, Crawford, OH
Died: 29 Jan 1896 Galion, Crawford, OH
Sources:www,fold3.com;U.S. Nat'l Archives military records; birth probate court record of daughter Spitzer, naming parents; 1880 census; Galion city directories, Crawford County marriage records and death records; Ohio County Marriage Records 1789-2013; Patent Application of 1883.

Ann Davis

Ann, who was born in Pennsylvania to Welsh parents, spent a lifetime of moving from place to place with her family of eight children. I can imagine how difficult it must have been for Ann to be constantly uprooted, having to start all over again at each new location. Also, she must have been heartbroken to lose two of her children soon after their births.

Evidence of Ann's pride and love for her family and community shows through in an article in the Cleveland "Plain Dealer" newspaper saying that the A. S. Phillips family donated money on 16 Nov 1896 to the Youngstown Baptist Church for the church to install stained glass windows. In my mind, I think that this may have been in memory of Ann's former husband, Rev. A. S. Phillips, who may have been a minister at this church in the 1880s.

Ann made one more move, in 1894, to be with her family in Cleveland, Ohio. All of her family were involved with the Burton, Beidler, and Phillips Coal Company in this big city. Her oldest son, John J. Phillips was the Vice President of the company. Her other three sons and two sons-in-law were managers of branch offices or held other important positions in the company  Most of the members of the family lived at 807 Doan St., in the suburb of Glenville, northeast Cleveland.

At age 67, Ann died and was buried at the Massillon City Cemetery, next to her husband, in Massillon, Ohio in January 1904.

Ann Davis
Born: Jun 1836 , , PA
Married: abt. 1857 Danville, Montor, PA
Died: 2 Jan 1904 Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio

Sources: Census of 1860; 1870; 1880; 1900, "Find a Grave"; Stark County death record; Clyde Phillips' Social Security Application; GenealogyBank.com mortuary article; GenealogyBank.com article of 16 Nov 1896, Phillips donation to church.

Reverend Azariah S. Phillips

The grave stone of Azariah and Ann Phillips,
Massillon City Cemetery in Massillon, Ohio


Azariah Phillips was born in southern Wales about the 26th of February in 1832. He was probably a coal miner in Wales because when he arrived in Danville, Montour, Pennsylvania in 1853, he worked with other Welsh immigrants, mining iron ore.  These miners sang while they walked to and from work and most of them lived in small homes close to their workplace.

When Azariah was 24, he signed his Declaration of Intent and Naturalization papers in Columbia, Pennsylvania, near Danville. Then a year later he married Ann Davis, of Danville, whose parents were both born in Wales. Their first child, John J. Phillips,was born in December 1858 in Danville. 

By 1861, Azariah and Ann had another son, James A. Phillips, who was  born in Barnesville, Schuykill, PA, another mining   town. Next, the Welsh folks  moved to North Springfield, Summit, Ohio. But this time, Azariah is listed in the census of 1870 as a Baptist minister, at age 38. Even though Azariah changed his occupation, he moved on to the next mining town in Trumbull County, OH with his friends and family. It was here that Azariah had his best success as a minister in a small town called Churchill. He was one of the best known ministers of Trumbull County and he was happy here.
His family had grown to four sons and two daughters: John, James, William, Clyde, Hannah, and Leah.

 Some time around 1890 his Welsh friends and family needed to move on to Stark County near Massillon, and it was here that Azariah died and was buried in the Massillon City Cemetery.

Rev. Azariah S. Phillips
Born: 26 Feb 1832 , , Wales
Married: abt. 1857 to Ann Davis

Died: 2 Aug 1891 Massillon, Stark, Ohio

Sources: Census: 1860; 1870; 1880. Declaration of Intent; Naturalization papers; Tax list of 1861; Find a Grave memorial

Interlude One-The Lives of My Folks

Now that my stories have covered the first three generations of my family tree, I will pause to make a few points. In each story I have purposely revealed what I considered the best feature of each of my fore parents. My dad wanted everyone to have some fun in life. Mom encouraged others to do what they could do best, as in the case of urging grandpa to pull taffy for special occasions. Guy shared his upholstery skills to keep the community's furniture and autos in shape through thick and thin. Alma's calming presence gave everyone a sense of peace. Clyde, the observer, was the chief tire inspector at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. And Ellet needed Cora's skills as an organizer, supervisor, and entertainer. Each individual is unique in what their particular goals and contributions are during their lifetimes. Notice that I won't be dwelling on war or death stories. Important to me is telling about the lives of my folks.

Interlude Two-A Look at the Mackey Tree and Surnames

First Generation:   Marjorie, Linda and Phillip Mackey (Me and my siblings)

Second Generation: Robert and Kathryn (Phillips) Mackey (Our parents)

Third Generation: Guy and Alma (Spitzer) Mackey (Robert's parents) and Clyde and Cora (Lewis) Phillips (Kathryn's parents)

Fourth Generation: Thomas and Anna (Maus) Mackey (Guy's parents); David and Emma (Morrison) Spitzer (Alma's parents); Azaria and Anna (Davis) Phillips (Clyde's parents); David and Mary (Wilderson) Lewis (Cora's parents)

The Mackey Tree's Surnames (Through the fourth generation)

Surname Ethnicity
Mackey            Scots-Irish
Phillips             Welsh
Spitzer              German
Lewis                British
Maus                 German
Morrison           Irish
Davis                Welsh
Wilderson         German

Anna Maus of Oshkosh, Wisconsin

Oshkosh, Winnebago, WI
Fortunately, here I am at age 84, writing about my great grandmother, Anna Maus (Mackey), who unfortunately died at age 38 of uterine cancer, the same disease that would have killed me at age 47. My doctors, in 1979, who found traces of cancer, ordered me to have a hysterectomy and saved my life. In 1894, women didn't have such help. Is it any wonder that family historians have trouble learning about female ancestors?

Anna was born in 1857 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin where her German-born parents settled in the 1850s. She and her younger sister, Louise, traveled to Crawford County, Ohio in the 1870s, married, and had children there.

I am grateful to Anna for giving birth to my grandfather, Guy Mackey, and his four lovely sisters. Here is my tribute of love and respect to you dear great grandma, Anna Maus.

Anna Maus
Born: 29 Jan 1857 Oshkosh, Winnebago, WI
Married: 22 Mar 1874 Galion, Crawford, OH
Died: 26 Nov 1894 Galion, Crawford, OH
Buried: Fairview Cemetery in Galion, Ohio
Sources: Census of 1860; 1870; 1880; Oshkosh and Galion city directories; death and marriage certificates; news articles and obituary in Galion Inquirer newspaper; birth records of Anna and Thomas Mackey's children.

Thomas Mackey of Galion, Ohio

The Big Four Depot
in Galion, Ohio

In 1852, Thomas Mackey was born in the busy city of Galion, Ohio, among a whole clan of Mackeys who settled there before 1850. Some of Thomas' relatives worked for the railroad either as a conductor, an engineer, a boiler maker, or as an employee at a rail road shop. Thomas' father worked in the center of town as a butcher at a meat packing business. Other businesses in town included grocery stores, millinery shops, lumber companies, saloons, clothing stores, shoe shops, and other family oriented businesses that served the residents of the area.

At age 10, Thomas' mother died, leaving six young children. James, the head of the family married a new wife to help him care for his young family. Thomas attended the local schools and evidently spent time watching his father at his work at the meat packing business because Thomas, too, became a butcher.

When Thomas met pretty Anna Maus, the new lady in town, he knew he found the woman for him. They married in 1874 at the Presbyterian Church with Rev. Elcock performing the ceremony. They moved to a nice house on Atwood Avenue not far from the center of town. They were a happy couple and Anna loved having a few of Thomas' siblings living with them. (When James remarried a third time, Thomas' younger brothers and sister liked being with their older brother better. Besides, Thomas and Anna were starting to have their own family now and it was nice to have some help around the house with the babies, the cooking, and housecleaning.) Thomas and Anna had one son and four daughters and I personally knew all of them but the last daughter, Anna. I can vouch for the fact that the Mackeys were always a tightly knit family. As I mentioned at the beginning of this story, these Mackeys were also closely associated with many other Mackeys who also lived in Galion!

Sad to say, however, Thomas was widowed in 1894:

Front page 30Nov1894,"Galion Inq"="Card of Thanks....In our deep grief and sorrow over the loss of our loved wife and mother, we do not forget the kind attention paid her during her long and painful illness by neighbors and friends, and our hearts overflow with gratitude toward them. We also feel grateful to all who ministered at the last sad rites, and whose floral gifts and kind words attested their love for our departed one and sympathy for us in our bereavement and desolation. To her kind pastor we also extend thanks for his comforting words, and to all our friends we feel duly grateful. Thos. Mackey and Family.

The article above does convey the love that Thomas and his family felt towards Anna Maus Mackey. 

Other sad things were happening in Galion to cause Thomas and his son's family to leave the area and to find a better life style. They all lived on West 90th Avenue in New York City. Thomas cleaned cars at Guy's Auto Top business on 45th Street.  

Thomas returned to Galion to be with his brother, John, about 1920. But when Guy bought a house in Akron, Thomas moved in with Guy and Alma until his death in 1934. Thomas asked to be buried in his home town of Galion, at the Fairview Cemetery. Many Galion Mackeys attended his funeral and my father was one of the pall bearers.

Thomas Mackey
Born: 09 Mar 1852
Married:22 Mar 1874
Died: 22 Sep 1934
Sources: Census 1860; 1870; 1880; 1900; 1910; 1920; 1930. Birth, marriage and death records; Galion, New York, and Akron city directories; Galion Public Library records.

Great Grandfather David Lewis

In mid May 2014, my son Robert and I took a train trip from Oregon to Ohio to visit our many relatives there. Our first destination was Cleveland, Ohio where we rented a car to give us the freedom we needed to see all the places we planned to visit. Since many of my ancestors lived in Cleveland in the early 1900s, we spent a few hours getting a sense of where these folks lived, in an east Cleveland section called Glenville. When we found Woodland Cemetery, we were pleased to find David Lewis' tombstone among other Civil War soldier's stones. This cemetery, though in a populous area, has the serenity of the similar kind of square in London, England. There were lovely purple spring violets blooming around his grave site, birds singing, and a few other pedestrians strolling along the walks in the square. Witnessing this meant a great deal to me. I felt touched to be this close to this great-grandfather I had never known.

Although David spent most of his life on the Lewis farm in Newport Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, he lived in the Glenville community from 1898 until his death in June 1903. That's why he is buried here but his wife and other members of his family are buried in Trumbull County, Ohio.

David was mustered into Company F of the 6th Regiment as a Private of the Ohio Veteran Calvary on 25 Dec 1863. He became a corporal before he was honorably discharged in 1865. His description: Light complexion, light blue eyes, and dark hair, at 6 feet in height. His wife, Mary Wilderson Lewis, wrote this caption on David's photograph in her scrapbook: "My Dear Husband". 

David Lewis
Born: Jul 1843 Newport, Trumbull, OH
Married: 24 Sep 1968 Warren, Trumbull, OH
Died: 30 Jun 1903 Cleveland, Cuyahoga, OH
Sources: Military Records from National Archives; Census:1900,1880,1870,1860,1850; Pension Petition;
Marriage records; Land records.

LITTLE GRANDMA

Great Grandma Mary Wilderson Lewis was called Little Grandma by her family because she was more slender and shorter than her daughter, Cora, who she lived with at the Phillips' house in Ellet. Little Grandma is the only great grandparent I knew personally until I was almost 16. She lived 98 years, starting her life in a log cabin in Newton Township, Trumbull County, Ohio. Adjoining her parents' farm was the farm of John Lewis. Their son, David, and my great grandma married after the Civil War in which David served from 1861 to 1865. David and Mary had three daughters and they all lived on the John Lewis farm until David wasn't able to be a farmer anymore. About 1898 the family moved to Cleveland where David could work for the railroad in a less physical position. Nevertheless, David's health worsened and he died of heart failure in the early 1900s.

About 1909, Mary Lewis joined her daughter Cora's family in moving to Ravenna in Portage County, Ohio for a few years. Then, they all decided to move to Akron where Cora's husband found work at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company c. 1912 or so. Mary also found employment as a companion for the wealthy widow, Mrs. J. Alexander Park, at her lovely mansion on West Market Street where Dave Towell's Cadillac business is located today and across the street from my nephew's business, "The Time Traveler". Mary and Mrs. Park became very close friends and Mary did enjoy the experience.

All of Mary's grandchildren appreciated having such an elderly woman to chat with. We all loved her dearly, seeing her rock in her special rocking chair, watching her work jigsaw puzzles with Cora on a regular basis, taking walks with her around the Phillips' yard, and sitting with her at church time. She was always pleasant, quiet, and trim in her neat dresses with a pretty pin at the neck. I am enclosing a newspaper clipping from the  Warren Tribune, from Warren, Ohio about her 98th birthday, where she was living with her oldest daughter the last few years of her life. 




Mary Ann Wilderson Lewis
Born: 28 Mar 1849 Newton, Trumbull, OH
Died: 07 Apr 1947 Warren, Trumbull, OH

Sources: Census: 1850,1860,1870,1880,1900,1910,1920,1930,1940; marriage certificate, death certificate, David Lewis' pension application, interviews with cousins and siblings and aunts and Great Aunt Emma Lewis Flory and best of all, Little Grandma's scrapbook.

The Life of the Party

Grandma Phillips was a popular lady in the Ellet community of Akron, Ohio. Here is a list of her talents that friends and family relied on:

Joke teller
Pianist
Singer
Harmonica player
Fortune teller
Dressmaker
President of Ellet School's PTA for several years
                     
She was a jolly woman who kept things moving along wherever she made an appearance. When I think of her, I picture her in a house dress of bold flower print preparing a big Thanksgiving dinner while chatting with her daughters and mother in the kitchen. I can also see her in a dark dress with pleated skirt and a pretty lace collar singing a hymn at her church, her mother on one side and me on her other side. Grandma, Great Grandma, and I would each 
enjoy a tiny tablet of sen-sen while seated in the church pew together. (My mother was seated in the choir loft because she was an alto in the choir.)  Yes, I depended on Grandma, too. She was a happy person to stick around with.

The photograph is probably Cora's wedding picture, age 27, on 16 April 1902...the sleeves look like big balloons, don't they?


Cora Mae Lewis
Spouse: Clyde B. Phillips
Born 24 Sep 1875 Newton, Trumbull, OH
Died 18 Feb 1942 Akron, Summit, OH
Sources: Census of 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920.1930, 1940. Death, cemetery
records, newspaper obituaries from Akron Beacon Journal and 
former church in central Akron, the Methodist Episcopalian Church, 
interviews with my mother, and my own vivid memories of Cora.

Clyde

Clyde Byron Phillips was aboard 
this quirky looking ship/enormous house boat at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The USS Vermont, as it appeared in the photo above taken in 1898, had a series of face lifts in its life as a military boat and afterwards. 

Both of my grandfathers served in the Spanish-American War. When Clyde and Guy would meet at my family's house, in the 1940s, I would hear "Hello there, Comrade, nice to see you." They would shake hands, laugh a little, maybe give a pat on the back and that would end the loud greeting. They were both born in 1875 and married their spouses in April 1902. But their personalities were not similar at all. So, they didn't have much to say to one another.

Clyde was quiet, stern, and private. He was reared by a strict father, a Baptist minister, who I suppose expected his children to tow the line, so to speak. At family gatherings, Clyde stayed in the background while everyone else was busy participating in the activities of the day.

But there was one thing that Clyde and my mother did together. They enjoyed making taffy for our family about once a year, usually around Christmastime. According to Mom, Clyde learned how to make it when he was a cook in the Navy in 1898. The first step included boiling the sugar and water until it began to make a ball in the pan. As soon as this happened, Clyde and Mom buttered their hands to prevent burns. Then, holding the hot, balled mass they immediately began to pull the mass into a long strand, grasping and folding it back and forth to one another, being careful  not to let it touch the floor of the kitchen. (In a way, this looked almost like dancing together.) When the strand began to glisten, this was the sign that the candy was almost ready. Then, snap!... the taffy had hardened. Quickly, Clyde and Mom placed the strand on buttered cooky sheets and broke it into smaller pieces. This sight of the two of them working together was a special treat...so was the taffy!!

Clyde Byron Phillips
Born: 01 Feb 1875 Youngstown, Mahoning, OH
Married: 16 Apr 1902 Glenville, Cuyahoga, OH
Died: 13 Mar 1950 Akron, Summit, OH
Sources: Census 1880, 1900,1910, 1920, 1930, 1940;
Soc. Sec. Application; Akron and Cleveland, OH city
directories; Honorable Discharge from the Navy 1898'
WW I Draft Registration; Marriage Record
Photo of USS Vermont from Wikipedia

ABOUT ALMA

Alma Sadie Spitzer, my father's mother, was a sweet lady with lovely copper-colored hair. My sister, Linda, inherited Alma's hair and I was given her name for my middle name. Alma was a serene, quiet woman who went about her house doing her duties without anyone noticing. She would appear at her grandchildren's important activities with a smile and little ado. She knew her grandchildren well and understood their needs and wishes, and secretly helped them reach their dreams.

GUY AND ALMA MACKEY'S 58TH ANNIVERSARY

We grand kids were allowed to go to Grandma's hall closet to get out a game of choice. I always chose the box of dominoes and spent many happy hours on Grandma's living room floor playing the game with her. The Shirley Temple doll she gave me for Christmas, when I was four, was the only doll I ever had. She also knew what books I would cherish: a book full of wildflowers and their descriptions and pictures and another book about the state of Ohio were my favorites. There was a map of Ohio in a pocket at the back of the Ohio book. Alma marked the city of Galion where she and Guy were born, met, and married. On the first page she wrote her signature. I  love the Ohio book... her markings and signature, I treasure. I believe that Grandma knew I would become the family historian, interested in where my forebears came from.

Alma Sadie Spitzer
Born:11 Feb 1883 Galion, Crawford, OH
Married: Guy Athol Mackey
Died: 25 Sep 1961 Miami, Dade, FL
Sources: Census 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940; Galion, New York city and Newburgh, NY city directories; birth, marriage, and death certificates; interviews with relatives; and my vivid memories of Alma.

QUITE A GUY

Thinking of my granpa, Guy Mackey, brings forth memories of the smells in his upholstery shop full of hanging chairs, springs,  and bolts of canvas and other materials dangling from the ceiling. Guy worked as an upholsterer all of his life starting at age 16 until his retirement in Miami, Florida. At first he was called a trimmer in the wagon shop in Galion, Ohio where canvas wagon tops were made. In his twenties, he was the foreman in the upholstery shop in the rail road yards. He and his fellow workers upholstered the seats for the passenger cars. In New York City and Newburgh, NY,, he and a partner were the proprietors of the Mackey-Wilson Auto Top Shop. At the peak of this successful business, they had 90 employees! Here they made canvas tops for the popular Ford cars of the early 1900s. During the Deep Depression, Guy and my dad repaired furniture in the shop behind Guy's house in Akron, Ohio. These were the years that folks had to make do with what they already had. They depended on Guy to keep their chairs and sofas in good condition.

Guy's grand kids loved to climb into the rumble seat of his little coupe. Then Guy would take us on a fun joy ride around town, loving the air blowing our hair around and the sense of freedom that it gave. My favorite memory of Grandpa though was the day that he took me to his backyard flower garden full of pansies along the stone-walled raised bed that encircled the yard. He made sure that I noticed how each flower had a unique smiling face...and I smiled back, dreaming of how I would someday have a garden just like Grandpa's.

Sources: Federal census for 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940; City directorie from New York City and Galion, Ohio, several years, my own memories, interviews with my father, obituary from a Miami, Florida newspaper ( unidentified paper), correspondence from my Mackey cousins.
Guy Athol Mackey
born 22 Apr 1875 Galion, Crawford, OH
married 23 Apr 1902 Galion, Crawford, OH
died 24 May 1963 Coral Gables, Dade, FL
Military: Age 23, private in 10 Ohio Infantry, Co. 1, in U.S. Spanish American War, a member of John J. Pershing Camp

SHE WAS A KICK!

Kathryn "Kick"  Phillips was born in June 1908 in Cleveland, Ohio where her dad was the manager of a branch office of the Burton, Beidler and Phillips Coal Company. The Phillips part of the company name was her dad's eldest brother who died the previous fall 1907. So, the coal company was falling apart. Therefore, the Phillips family was getting ready to make the move to Akron because rubber companies were hiring new workers.

In Akron, c. 1912, the Phillips family bought a large house on Buchtel Ave., a short walk from Buchtel College. They fixed it up into a boarding house for college students and night shift rubber workers. In other words, the students slept at the house at night; the workers used the beds during the day. (Lots of sheet changing had to happen.) Each of the Phillips family members had a specific job to do. My mom's job was to keep the bathroom clean and well stocked (when she was old enough to do this, of course). Mom and her sisters had the entire third floor for their sleeping quarters. They enjoyed that!

The evenings at the boarding  house were usually music time: Grandma or Mom's sister, Martha, at the piano while all other attendees sang Welsh or Stephen Foster tunes. Sometimes Grandma would accompany the songs with her harmonica, too. The three sisters often made treats for guests and family, such as, popcorn, ice cream, home made fudge, or cookies. Mom's diary is full of details about these pleasant events.

The diary also explains the kinds of activities that Mom participated in at school and during vacations. It seems as though she especially liked to go to the circus and movie theaters. As I mentioned in my dad's story, she and Bob also had fun at Summit Lake and the amusement park. Another plus, it was  an easy walk to Main Street, where all the department stores and movie theaters were, from their house.

This central location was really ideal for a number of years. But the rubber factories were causing a lot of pollution which in turn caused some health problems in the area. So, the Phillips family found cleaner air in the Ellet district where they bought a house behind the high school. Mom attended that school, her senior year, and met her very best girlfriend, Marjorie Snyder, there. I believe that this last year of school, in 1926, was Mom's favorite year, mostly because of Marjorie, my namesake.

Yes, Mom got involved with the rubber industry, too, just like most Akronites. She was a comptroller at the Goodrich Tire and Rubber Company for a few years.  She seemed to be proud of this job.
My first story, of my dad,  tells details of how they met, dated, and waited until age 21 to marry in 1929, the year of the stock market crash...not a great beginning! But, these two loved one another all their years together, from the first day they met until Dad died in 1991. Mom quit the Goodrich job to start her family. She devoted her time, efforts, and talents to keeping a good home for us five. She made many of our clothes, including my gorgeous recital and wedding dresses. We all loved her cooking which she learned from her mom. After her three kids were able to fend for themselves, she took a job at a florist's shop for a few years, learning how to create lovely arrangements and corsages. This was fun for her.. not interested in making money, just wanted to learn. Another job she liked, outside of the home, was working at the voting booths at election times.

Many people enjoyed my mom's silly sense of humor, which usually was poking fun at herself. Her life mostly centered around her husband and family and she lived an active and alert life to age 97! 

Kathryn Lewis Phillips

Born 1 Jun 1908 Cleveland, Cuyahoga, OH
Died 25 Jun 2005 Akron, Summit, OH

Sources: Birth, Death, and Marriage Records. Censuses 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940. Interviews with my mother, my own memories, and Kick's 1924 diary, scrapbooks, photo albums, and my baby book.

A WACKEY MACKEY

To poke fun at ourselves, we Mackeys liked to call ourselves the "Wackey Mackeys". Fun was the focus of Dad's life. He was an easy-going, happy man full of love for his family and friends. He enjoyed playing all kinds of games such as badminton, volley ball, even golf occasionally with some buddies from work. After we three kids finished our homework, Dad would go to the end of the dining room table and spread out the board game of the night.  "All right, everyone, time to play Monopoly! Come on, Mom. Put down your sewing. Clear your books off the table, Phill!" More than anything else, I think those games kept us five together, playing together...us Wackey Mackeys.

Dad was born in Manhattan in 1908 , where his dad had a business making canvas auto tops for the new Fords appearing in this most populous city of the United States. His family's apartment, on West 90th Ave., was close to Central Park where Guy bagged up a huge bunch of fall leaves when his three kids were little. He emptied the leaves onto their big front porch to let Helen, Tom and Bobby romp around in them to their hearts' content.

When Guy's business started to fail because of Ford's newer models sporting glass windows and enclosed bodies, not needing canvas tops any more, the family made a move to Newburgh, NY in 1915. This community was a bit less noisy with fewer people and Guy's business necessarily catered to the Newburgh folks who still needed auto tops and repairs for their older model T's.

Meanwhile, Tom needed to get his college education and made the move to Akron, Ohio to attend Buchtel College's fine chemistry classes, in preparation for his goal to be a pharmacist. In 1920, the rest of the Mackeys joined Tom there.  This is where Dad and Mom met! They said it was love at first sight at the youth dance at the Congregational Church. Sure, they were awfully young to fall in love, but they did. They had some very fun times together canoeing on Summit Lake, attending movies at the many movie theaters on Main Street, sledding, skating, tobogganning, and participating in the Central High School activities. You can bet they played board games, too!

 Mom's family moved to Ellet in 1926, to get away from the soot in Central Akron (rubber factory pollution), Dad felt completely lost. He rode the streetcar to Ellet as often as he could, only to find Mom with other guys. Naturally he was jealous and upset. He quit school and took off for Kansas City, Kansas to make some money. Before he left, he gave Mom a parrot, saying, "Take care of our baby (the parrot). I'll be back as soon as I have enough money for us to get married."

Well, Kansas City didn't do it for Dad. So, he came back and helped his dad at his upholstery business in a building behind the Mackey house. Dad eventually got a job at Goodyear in the pit, as they called it...a dirty, physically strenuous job for all the young, new employees to start at. When Kick and Bob turned 21 by September 1929 and didn't need parental signatures to marry, they got their marriage license. Their quiet marriage ceremony took place at the Phillips' residence.

Immediately they found a lot in Ellet to build their house on and started digging their basement. But 1929 was the year of the stock market crash that caused the Deep Depression!! The crash affected everyone's lives. Folks learned how to help one another, even though no one had money to spend on anything but essentials.  Bob and Kick stayed at the Phillips house occasionally, then the Mackey house, or other relatives' or friends' places until their house was all finished in late 1931. I was born in 1932 and lived in that sweet house for a month or two. Then, the house was taken over by the bank just like so many other houses of that decade.

By 1940, Dad was hired at General Tire and Rubber Co. and worked himself up to an office job as a tube and valve designer. In 1942, Dad could then afford to buy the Phillips house where we Mackeys lived until 1958.
 Dad made a big move up the ladder when, in 1947, Bridgeport Brass Co. hired him to be their Sales Engineer at their branch office in Akron, OH. He loved this position and travelled to many places in the U. S., selling his valves and helping companies use the valves efficiently. He especially liked having Mom along on those trips and the two of them had fun entertaining Dad's customers at dinner parties.

Dad retired in Fall 1973 and spent some time travelling to foreign countries with Mom and sometimes some of their Pinochle Club friends joined them. Yes, card games and board games were still a very important part of Dad's life. Perquackey became a favorite. He and Mom would have a special daily afternoon appointment  to play their game over a Manhattan or two...becoming "The Perquackey Mackeys".

Robert Lincoln Mackey .....Sources: Robert's birth, death and marriage certificates. Newspaper and city directory ads about Guy's businesses and Federal censuses: 1940, 1930, 1920, 1910, 1900. Also, many interviews with family members and family letters, photos, and a 1924 diary by Kathryn Phillips. 
Born: 5 Sep 1908 in New York, New York, NY
Married: 12 Sep 1929 to Kathryn Lewis Phillips ("Kick") in Akron, Summit, OH
Died: 14 Aug 1991 in Akron, Summit, OH
Children:
Marjorie, living 
Linda, living
Phillip, living

Introduction to Me and My Stories

My forebears have been traced back to a handful of northern European countries, including Germany, Holland, France and Britain. Many of my ancestors were pioneers, among the first to settle in New Amsterdam (now known as Manhattan, New York) and Germantown, Pennsylvania in the early 1600s.

This blog will feature stories that I write about my foreparents, beginning with my father and mother. Naturally, at first, these stories will appeal to my immediate family. But, I can imagine that as my family tree expands to hundreds of surnames and places, my audience may also grow. My goal is to share what I have learned and to gain this storage place for my gathered information. I will do my best to cite my sources though I am not a professional genealogist. I intend to focus my attention on the storytelling, though I am not a professional writer, either.

At this point, I should say that I am a retired music educator who became interested in my family history a few years before my retirement in June 1994. I had no idea how long it would take for me to learn how to discover my roots, let alone how involving it would be. It has been a revelation and a joy to keep on finding my heritage. Yes, I know now that the joy and the finding will continue forever.