Grandfather found!

George H. Reynolds
circa 1940

I've been looking for my grandfather, George Henry Reynolds, since beginning this ancestral quest started ten plus years ago.  Recently, I was given a newspaper clipping of an obit that had some details about my grandfathers passing, from which I was able to extract a few hints. 

First, George was the second son to George H Reynolds and Elizabeth A Waters, of whom I have written about in earlier posts.  His date of birth is 27 April 1891.  It is said that he was born in Providence Rhode Island, but there is no records confirming this as of yet.  I did find his folks in Woburn Massachusetts where his sister Flossie was born in 1892.  At the turn of the century, George's father was no longer in the picture.  At this time, the family unit consisted of Elizabeth, James, George and Flossie and were now residing in Lowell Ma.   You can read more about Elizabeth Watters Reynolds; Waters or Watters. This seems to be starting point of the this Reynolds family in Lowell.  However, there are other Reynolds of similar first names living the area.  I wonder if there was a reason for the move to Lowell, either family or ethnicity. I was able to track the family forward to the year 1907, where Elizabeth is remarrying to a James McArdle of Lowell Ma.  And then again I found them in the 1910 census, where young George and Flossie are with their mother Elizabeth and step-father James in Lowell.  Then, in the winter of 1916, George gets married to Edith Ruby Heaney.  Edith is daughter of one William Heaney and Margaret Caldwell of Chelmsford Ma and Ireland.  This is George's second marriage according to the marriage certificate of 18 Nov 1916.  I have no record as of yet of George's first marriage, but I would think it would be in Lowell also, more research needed. Updated Aug 2012, read more about first marriage here; Hodge.  Well, shortly after my grandparent marriage, my uncle George came along.  Yes, another George!! Then in 1919 uncle E. Arthur and then my father William Caldwell in 1920.  I am sure you can figure out where my father got his name from... So, all the way up through to the 1930 the family is together, then George (my grandfather) is out of the picture.  Why,  I don't know, divorce I guess.  The three boys were were enumerated in the Ayer home for boys in Lowell on, 2 April 1930 as Wards of the state.  Then, but a few days later on the 8 of April 1930 they were enumerated again at home with their mother on Bleachery street in Lowell. 

So, what happen to George H Reynolds?  Up to this point, I found bits and pieces, some possible hits, but nothing to solidify his where abouts. Then a week ago or so, a cousin told be that he had moved to New York state and was working in a hospital.  Quite a change in careers, as George started or at least for awhile was a railroad man.  He worked for the Boston and Maine Railroad company at the time of his marriage to Edith.  Did he start there cause of his father?  Hmm, something to ponder!  Ok, back to the hospital job.  I had discovered a George years ago working in New York as an Orderly.  Is this him?  Then, the same cousin sent me an obit for George that she dug up in her files.  The obit didn't have a date or a newspaper name, but it did have a funeral home name, a city and state, and a cemetery name. I was had enough to start digging again for George.   All weekend I searched and searched the city records, but nothing except dead ends.  The cemetery didn't have a contact point like the Edson cemetery in Lowell, so I moved onto the funeral home.  This morning, after some simple digging for a Burnette Funeral Home of Middletown NY, I found a reference to a Applebee-McPhillips Funeral Home.  They had change their name from Burnette in the early 1960's.  I found a contact email address to which I sent a request for record and confirmation that it was the same funeral home.  I was told that it was and that the records back int he 30's 40's and 50's were sparse.  So, at this point I am waiting for something more from the funeral home.  But, in the meantime, I chatted with a few genealogy researcher from the Middletown area and we came up with the same obit that was earlier mention, plus another clipping from a different newspaper that reported the death of George.

I have three clippings below.  

Middletown Times Herald

 Thursday 17 Oct 1946

Middletown Times Herald

Friday, 18 Oct 1946

Middletown Times Herald

Friday, 18 Oct 1946

Funeral Announcement

There are no markers for George in the Hillside Cememtay according to the management office. The grave is located at Section 5, Single Grave 310 in the Hillside Cemetary, Middleotown NY.

Get photo of plot

More information updating record for George.  According to the above mentioned death, George passed away in Middletown New York.  The death accouncement suggests that George worked in the Middletown State Hospital, as an ordealy I assume. During this period of time (1940s) George was documented in WWII draft records for older men.  His listed his mailing address as Camp LaGuardia Chester NY and living in a shelter in Middletown NY.  His place of death was in a restaurant on Centre Street in Middletown NY called Long's Restaurant.  I should mention that Long's Restaurant no longer exists.

Camp LaGuardia was a woman's prison 1914-1934 called Camp Greycourt prior to NY purchasing the prison an thus renaming it in honor of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.

Get photo of camp

Remembering!

I don't know why! Or why now, but my thoughts are racing towards memories on my grandmother Edith Reynolds.  It has been a busy day here today as I finished off a major database move from one server to another.  Lots of updates, broken links, users not able to log in and now I am taking a break as the phones are quiet... This is when my grandmother came to mind and I don't know why!  I didn't know her very well at all.  I did meet her in the spring of 1968 when she came to visit us in Arkansas.  I don't recall her voice, her appearance or her eyes, it was such a short visit there just wasn't time.  I do remember that she could recite the alphabet backward faster that I could forward.  She taught me to spell Mississippi with humpback, dotted and crooked letters.  She tricked me into a game of  "Who could count to one hundred" the fastest!  She said start and off I started counting as fast as a 12 year old could.. 1,2,3...21,22,23.  But! But, she wasn't counting yet... I got to 90 and she rang out 10, 10, double 10, 45, 15. And then declared that she won...  Sitting there confused, she had me add up the numbers... we laughed!  She was with us for three or fours days before she passed away. She had seen me as a baby and a boy, as we traveled with the military to an oversea duty station and back.  She, however had not met my youngest sister to this point, who was now about 6 years old. Grandma made sure that she was able to see us all again and then left.  The only other memory I have of my grandmother Edith R. Reynolds is, she loved the song Old Rugged Cross, which was played at her Wake.  We laid my grandmother to earth in the Edson Cemetery in Lowell Massachusetts. One of these days I will revisit my grandmother and tell her that I love her.