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.