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THE
WAGNER, BLILEY & DOWD FAMILIES
OF ERIE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
1860–1960
By Norma Jean Venable, Morgantown, West Virginia
REVISED: January 5, 2017
|
December 2013
The following story is the product of a decade of research, discovery and analysis. It is a story of three families of Erie Country, Pennsylvania--The Blileys, Wagners, and Dowds. These families represent four generations of ancestors, all of whom I am proud to be related.
In 2003, Chuck Bliley, proprietor of this Web site, and I meet through his Web site and I discovered I had a like-minded cousin who was interested in family history. We shared many stories and resources and developed a close friendship.
One of the first things we shared were scans of over ten photo albums we discovered at a family reunion in Lima, NY in 2003. My husband Wally borrowed them to scan and created over one thousand files for these albums. These were one of the first resources we shared with Chuck.
In 2010, Chuck prepared and published these albums on his Web site, but felt it lacked sufficient insight to the two principal creators---my grandfather Sam Wagner and great aunt, Inez Wagner. Chuck asked me to prepare a short profile of these people to add to the album page. I agreed to provide him with something.
Unbeknownst to him, I had already started work on a family history years earlier, but it remained a “work in progress” for many years. I sent Chuck my rough draft material and told him he could excise what he wanted about Sam and Inez for the album site. He refused, claiming my draft was too good to only use for a profile of just two family members, and he offered to publish all of it whenever I was “done working on it.”
That time has come. No, it is not as polished as I would like, but it is sufficiently good to share with other family members both known and unknown. So, here it is—all 10,000 words of it. It is not short, but it is not a simple story to tell. These were interesting people with complex lives and significant life accomplishments.
Thanks to Chuck, the project is virtually done and I can move on to other family history stories and discoveries. I hope you enjoy what you find.
With deep gratitude to my ancestors and to the support of my husband, Wally, and to Chuck, for helping me bring this work to completion.
Sincerely,
Norma Jean Venable
SPECIAL NOTE: A larger version of the photos on this page can be viewed by clicking on them. Some are large files; all will open in a new window.
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| I. WAGNER FAMILY SETTLES IN ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA—1806 |
Abraham Wagner (1780–1849) immigrated to Erie in
1806. Abraham, also listed as Abram, came from Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
(Abraham’s father was Jost Wagner, born 1722 in Germany and he married Anna
Maria Phillips, born about 1726.) Abraham married Susanna Brown
(1787–1833). Their son was Samuel Brown Wagner. “Nelson’s Biographical
and Historical Reference Book of Erie County” lists Abraham Wagner and S. B.
Wagner as early Erie pioneers.
For historical context, settlement in Erie began in 1794
with the arrival of Mr. Colt, the land agent, and the Dobbins and Hamot
Families. By 1798, the Reed families were building lake boats that provided
transportation for many immigrant families coming to America.
Samuel Brown Wagner was born in Mill Creek Township,
Pennsylvania. According to the “Erie Gazette” for March 7, 1844, Samuel married
Hannah Leland (1819–1864) of McKean, Pennsylvania on February 29, 1844.
Reverend Gifford married them. The Lelands trace their ancestors back to the
Mayflower and John and Priscilla Alden. Hannah Leland Wagner died October 6
1884, aged 45.
Samuel Brown Wagner,
C1890
Samuel Brown Wagner of Wesleyville is listed in several
directories as a farmer, once with an assessed valuation of $14,200. He was not
a poor man and a photo of his home shows a substantial building. Samuel Brown
Wagner owned a farm of 98 acres on 38th Street, which in those days was outside
of Erie and rural, and also owned a home with 24 acres on the Buffalo Road. If
they were driving to Erie the Blileys living on the Station Road would have
gone by the Buffalo Road, and thus would have probably known the Wagners and
since both families had come from Germany may have been friends.
One of Samuel and Hannah Wagner’s sons was Charles Otis
Wagner, (who married Agnes Bliley). Samuel and Hannah’s other children: Cassius
S. Wagner, Abram L. Wagner, Myron L. Wagner, Harriet E. Wagner, Joseph A.
Wagner, and Marian Wagner Cook. Myron (1835–1906) and Cash
(1842–1906) were the only relatives listed in family records. Cash Wagner
was Mill Creek township assessor and also township road commissioner. His
obituary lists him as a well-to-do progressive farmer. Myron Wagner, at the
time of his death at age 61, was living on the East Buffalo Road. Abraham
Wagner, and Samuel Brown Wagner and his wife Hanna are buried in the Erie
Cemetery, Section P.
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The Bliley family, including parents Andrew, age 47, and
his wife Catherine Eich Bliley, age 40, and their children Charles, age 12,
Barbara, age 10, Maria, age 8, and Andrew, age 4, immigrated from Krozingen,
Germany to America in 1834. They sailed on the ship Charlemagne, a small ship
by today’s standards at 124 feet long. The Blileys arrived in America, went
through immigration at New York City, traveled up the Hudson River, took a
canal boat on the Erie Canal, and a steam boat on Lake Erie to Erie,
Pennsylvania. Then the family put their worldly goods in a lumbering cart drawn
by oxen, and after 2 days and only 7 miles over rutted, muddy roads reached
their new home in what was then the wilderness of Harbor Creek only a few miles
from Erie. Catherine Eich Bliley’s ailing husband Andrew soon died, and the
family was left leaving Catherine and her young family to make a living from
their farm. Other German families were in the neighborhood, and probably helped
the Bliley family. Then young Charles, and Andrew (who started working on the
Reed vessels at age 11) found jobs in the Great Lakes maritime trade and helped
support the family back home. Later in their lives, Charles became a successful
farmer and Andrew was a prominent merchant and builder and a co-founder of the
Erie Historical society.
Charles Bliley Farm,
Station Road, Harbor Creek, PA C1907
Just one mile
south of the village of Wesleyville.
Charles Bliley married Mary Jane Mead in 1847 and of their
15 children 10 survived to adulthood: Alex, David, Wilfred, Frank, Rose,
Josephine, Barb, Ellen (always called Nellie) and Ross. Letters written in the
1880’s by Nellie, Rose, Barb, and Agnes survive, giving details of daily life
concerning Blileys and Wagners. Information on the Bliley family can be found
on Charles A. Bliley’s website: www.Bliley.net.
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The Bliley family and the Wagner family were brought
together by the marriage of Charles and Mary Jane Mead Bliley’s daughter Agnes
Bliley to Charles Otis Wagner:
Charles
“Charlie” Otis Wagner Mary
Agnes “Aggie” Bliley
Agnes Bliley (1857–1931) married Charles Otis Wagner
(1856–1891) Reference: The Cheney books: Marriage and Genealogy Series at
Erie County Historical Society list the marriage: “Wagner-Bliley: Married
December 31, 1879, C.O. Wagner of East Mill Creek and Miss Agnes Bliley of
Harborcreek, by Father Casey.” The marriage is also listed in the paper Erie Morning Dispatch, Jan 14, 1880.
The Wagner family, including Charles Otis and his father
Samuel Brown Wagner, were neighbors of the Charles Bliley family. Their family
farms were within walking distance of each other. Charlie and Agnes may have
known each other a long time.
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In the 12 years of their marriage, Charles and Agnes had
four children:
- Inez Charlotte Wagner, B:
October 18, 1880, D: Dec. 21, 1937
- George Garfield Wagner, B:
Nov. 25, 1881, D: 1896, (Appendicitis)
- Samuel Clare Wagner, B:
Aug. 21, 1886, D: Sept. 1964
- Mary Jane Wagner, B: 1889,
D: 1889.
Inez (L), George (R), and Samuel
Clare Wagner (F), April 1889
Note: Much of
the following tidbits of information were derived from letters written by Mary
Agnes’ sisters, especially Rose and Nellie, during the 1880’s. These provide
details about Ag, Charlie, and their children Inez, George, and Sam.)
1880–1886: Charles Otis Wagner and Mary Agnes Bliley
Wagner (referred to in the Bliley family letters as “Charlie” and “Ag”) lived
at Charlie’s farm (it is not known if Charlie owned or rented this land) on
East Mill Creek, one mile south and three miles west of Erie. There is a family
Bible inscribed: “Mr. And Mrs. CO Wagner,
East Mill Creek Township, Pennsylvania, 1880”. Charlie was a farmer,
although he had other business interests including farm management for a
neighbor, and later operating a restaurant and saloon business, and hotel
management.
1881: Charlie was considering going into the dairy
business with his brother Cash (Cassius) Wagner. Also in 1881, the Erie City
Directory lists Mrs. Charles O. Wagner as boarding with her uncle Andrew Blila
at his home in Erie. At that time, Inez was a year old and Ag may have been
living in Erie awaiting the birth of her second child George Garfield, born in
November. In Dec. 1881, Nellie wrote that Ag and the new baby George were doing
fine.
1882: In October, Nellie, still living with her parents on
the Station Road farm, wrote that Ag and Charlie had left Inez and George at
the farm where the two children often spent a week at a time. In December,
Nellie wrote that Wilfred Bliley, Ag’s younger brother, was working for Charlie
at $16 a month cutting wood, although Wilfred went home to the Bliley farm on
weekends.
1883: In February, Wilfred was still chopping wood for
Charlie and was also cutting ice with Charlie. (Presumably on Presque Isle Bay;
ice was needed for icehouses at this time since there were no modern
refrigerators.)
1884, Feb. 26: Charlie’s father Samuel Brown Wagner was in poor
health.
1884: In April, Nellie wrote that Ag’s sister Rose, who lived at
the Station Road farm, was staying with Ag and Charlie, until Ag could hire a
girl. Charlie and Ag had a sizable farm, and Ag may have provided boarding for
the workers hired to help on the farm. This would explain Ag’s need of a girl
to help with work. Nellie also wrote that Inez (age 4) was with her, on the
Bliley farm, and they were training a rebellious four-year old Inez to mind.
1885: In May, Bliley letters indicate that Charlie and Ag were
living at Lake Side farm, near Erie, and that Charlie was managing the 253-acre
Lake Side Stock and Dairy Farm for the Tracy family.
The Tracys were a well-to-do Erie banking and railroad family.
Ag’s sister, Nellie (who was a dressmaker), wrote from Lake Side that she was
there sewing clothes for Inez and George, who wouldn’t sit still for fittings,
and that Ag was just putting the children to bed, and Charlie had to call the
veterinarian Dr. Bell for Bay Billy, a sick horse. Nellie also reported that
Charles Bliley, her father, was on jury duty at Erie, and came to spend the
night at Lake Side.
1886, January: The snow was so deep, it took Charlie four hours
to drive his horse and buggy to Erie from Wesleyville—a distance at the
most of five miles.
1886, January: Charlie and Ag were members of a Wesleyville
lodge, and took out life insurance, $700 and $2,700 respectively. Also in this
month Inez (age 6) and George were sick with a stomach disorder. They
recovered, and later Inez was described as cute, and talked all the time.
Also in January, Rose wrote that
Charlie had a new “cutter”—a two-passenger snow sleigh. Charlie liked to
drive a fast horse, and Charlie, whose photographs show a very handsome man,
was probably a man about town with his good looks, fast horses, fashionable
cutter, and many business interests. Unfortunately, Charlie seems to have
driven a horse too fast, and it sickened and died.
By the end of January, Wilfred (Ag’s
brother), was drawing or cutting ice for Charlie, and “drawing shingles”
(making roof shingles). By May, Inez and George were again staying at the
Bliley farm on the Station Road in Wesleyville, while Charlie and Ag were
building a house addition probably to their Mill Creek farm. Their second son,
Samuel Clare Wagner, was born in August, and Ag’s sister Rose Bliley went to
Mill Creek help her sister Agnes.
At that time in 1886, Ag’s brother
Frank Anderson Bliley was working on his teaching degree at the Pennsylvania
Normal School in Edinboro, Pennsylvania and there were discussions by letter
about Charlie driving “Mother” (Mary Jane Bliley) to Edinboro—a distance
of almost 30 miles one-way.
Letter from Charlie Wagner to his brother-in-law Frank Bliley
There were also discussions by
Charles Bliley with Charlie Wagner and Charlie’s brother, Myron, who were
connected with the local school board (Harbor Creek), about support in securing
Frank a teaching job at one of their local schools. A letter exists written by
Charlie referring to Frank not getting a teaching position and Charlie was
disappointed. A May letter mentions that Charlie still had 40 acres to plow.
Later in the year 1886, Charlie Wagner ceased farming and moved
to Erie. It is not known why Charlie abandoned farming. Farm prices may have
been too low for him to make a living. Some of the Bliley letters also suggest
Charlie was not an efficient farmer. Rose wrote that Charlie’s three years of
managing Lake Side Farm had been “wasted”. Another letter expresses the Bliley
family’s shock and disapproval of Charlie going into the restaurant business,
and that he would have to work very late at night. Rose wrote that Charlie had
to borrow money to go into business, but if the business prospered, the money
could be paid back in a year.
1886–1887: Charlie and his partner, Louis S. Schumacher
(who may have managed the Inn at Harbor Creek), established a restaurant and
saloon business at 931 State Street—a central Erie location. The Erie
City Directories for 1887, 1888, and 1889 list the business under the business
section called “eating houses” in the second ward. The business is listed as
“Schumacher and Wagner”. The family
has an old shoeshine box, about a foot high, that was supposedly used in
Charlie’s restaurant and saloon.
This same location was also where Andrew Blila, (brother of
Charles A. Bliley) had his grocery store and provisioning business. An October
1886 letter says Uncle Andrew was expanding his store, possibly to accommodate
a new business. A letter from Rose Bliley indicated that Uncle Andrew planned
to close his store in March 1, 1887. It is possible that Uncle Andrew had
remodeled his store and sold or leased his store to Charlie and Louis upon his
retirement. At any rate, Uncle Andrew, who had been in business since the
1850’s, retired in 1887 and the Erie Directory listed him as, “gentleman”.
Louis Schumacher is listed in the Erie City Directory as living at 931 State
Street (As of 2012 this building is still standing.)
Two-story building used by Andrew Blila for his grocery business
and later, for Schumacher and Wagner’s Saloon and Restaurant.
1887: Charlie and Ag were living on Holland Street, Erie
between 10th and 11th.
1888: In August, Ag and Charlie were living at 122 East
6th Street, Erie. Ag’s sister Nellie was there all summer. In one letter,
Nellie wrote that she was alone with Clare, (Samuel Clare Wagner was called
“Clare” as a child) while Ag and Charlie had gone out. Rose and Inez (age 8)
were at a picnic.
For whatever reasons Charlie and Louis did not continue in the
restaurant business, although a letter from Rose on July 3, 1887 indicated that
the business was successful. There are no Erie City Directory listings for the
business after 1889.
1889: On September 30, Ag wrote to her brother Frank
Bliley, that Charlie was in Duluth, Minnesota and that while there he
contracted typhoid fever and could not receive any care in the hotel he was
managing. Charlie was therefore taken to a hospital. Ag was very worried, and
even worse, Charlie was not getting many of the letters she wrote, although
Charlie had written that he thought he was getting better.
1891: Death of Charles Otis Wagner: April 13, 1891
Charlie did return to Erie, and it is
believed he managed the Inn at Harbor Creek. There are no details on his life
until his untimely death at age 35 on April 13 at Harbor Creek. At the time of
his death, his children, Inez was 11, George was 10, and Sam only 5. Charles
Otis Wagner is buried in Erie Cemetery, on West 19th Street, in Section “P”.
Cemetery records indicate he was born in East Mill Creek, and the cause of
death was gastritis or gravel, and his last residence was Harbor Creek.
Gastritis is inflammation of the stomach lining and this could be anything from
ulcers to cancer.
Charles Otis Wagner
Headstone, Erie Cemetery
1892: The Erie City Directory lists “Wagner, Agnes, Mrs., widow, home 231 Short St.”. The Short Street
house still stands. The three-bedroom single-story house is a block from a
bluff that overlooks Erie’s Presque Isle Bay. Agnes probably lived there until
her parents Charles and Mary Jane Bliley finished rebuilding their home in
Wesleyville. (See next section for details.)
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| V. MARY AGNES WAGNER AND CHILDREN LIVE WITH AGNES’ PARENTS: CHARLES AND MARY JANE BLILEY, 1892–1907 |
Agnes’ parents, Charles and Mary
Jane Bliley, retired from their farm on Colt Station road, and sold it to their
son Wilfred Bliley in 1891. In 1892, they built their retirement home on South
Street near Wesleyville, then a rural suburb west of Erie close to the Buffalo
Road, and near Four Mile Creek. Agnes moved in with her parents Charles and
Mary Jane Bliley and here Inez, George and Sam spent much of their youth.
From Sam and Inez Wagner
Album
George Garfield Wagner was living in the Wesleyville South
Street home when he died. What is known of George is contained in a letter
dated July 28, 1889, from Agnes’s sister Barbara Bliley Lambing who lived in
Corry, Pennsylvania. On this date, Charles Otis was alive and Agnes had just
had her 4th child, a daughter named Mary who did not survive. George, who was
nine at the time, was temporarily staying with his Aunt Barbara in Corry,
Pennsylvania.
To quote from Barb’s letter: “Well Agg how are you getting along, I hope you and baby are well. Did
you receive the little socks I sent her. Take good care of yourself. I thought
perhaps you would like to hear about George. I will write you a few lines. He
is staying with me at present. All of the Elliotts have gone to Oil City; be
gone until some time during the week. When George first came here to stay, he
did not like it as well as with the Elliot's. He said I had no parlor or nice
things to look at, but I fixed that up all right by telling him we would go
down right after supper and get a watermelon although I did not let him have
any last night. But I think he went down cellar and looked at it—ten
times. He says all boys like watermelon. I gave him free access to the cookie
crock. So he and I are getting along just splendid. When he woke up this
morning, the first thing he said was “Aunt Barb I am having a better time at
your house than I expected.”
“He thinks Charles' (Barb’s
son) velocipede (an early bicycle) is the neatest thing—rides it all the
time. He has told me more about the baby sister. Says he named her Manny.
George keeps me laughing all the time and I think he is a splendid boy. He went
to Sunday school today with Mabel Alexander. He will have to have a new pair of
shoes while here. I thought I would get material and make him two night dresses
for winter.”
And this is the snapshot—about all that is known of
him—of nine-year-old George Garfield Wagner, and the role of a velocipede
(a bicycle), a melon, and night dresses in a boy’s tragically short life.
Charles and Mary Jane Bliley and their daughter Agnes and
her children Inez, George, and Sam continued to live in the home in
Wesleyville. During this time there were many changes. Inez attended high
school in Erie from 1894 to 1899, and she boarded with her Aunt Rose Bliley
Curtis in Erie. After high school, Inez continued to reside in Erie with Rose
until about 1909. Charles Bliley died in 1906 and made provision in his will
for his wife Mary Jane and for his widowed daughter Agnes. This provision may
have involved leaving them lifetime use of the Wesleyville house.
Inez, Mary Agnes and Samuel Wagner, C1907
Sam left for college in 1907, Mary Jane Bliley died in
1913, and Agnes Wagner in 1931. However, while Agnes was living, the house was
still busy. Ag’s grandson remembers being taken to the house in the 1920’s to
be babysat. Her grandson remembers Agnes as full of energy, and despite her
small frame, could outwork everybody else, but she didn’t eat right. In this
time period, the house was fitted with a commode, and the nearby Methodist
Church was built. The house was still standing at the turn of the 21st Century, but in poor condition.
Despite these changes, Sam Wagner, who was keenly
interested in photography from a very early age, took many photos of the Bliley
and Wagner families at their many get-togethers at the Wesleyville home. Photos
exist of Mary Jane and Charles Bliley, Uncle Andrew Blila, and the Bliley
children, and their children. There are also many photos from around Erie. Inez
also took photos, and she put together photo albums of the pictures she and Sam
took. Inez labeled the photos with names, dates, and locations in beautiful
script, and gave photo albums, often with identical photos, to family members.
Many of these albums yet exist, giving a glimpse into their daily lives and
identifying family members. [Albums are available on www.Bliley.net]
Mary Jane Bliley also kept a farm journal and daybook from
about 1888 to 1907. This book is filled with newspaper clippings, obituaries,
and notes on her social life—all over the top of the books original
contents of a ledger for her egg and butter business back on the farm.
[Available on www.Bliley.net]
Sam and Inez were close as brother and sister. But, Inez
was six years older than Sam, and was starting on a career as an artist in
Erie, while Sam was beginning school at Erie High. Sam’s handwritten records
say he graduated from Erie High School in downtown, Erie, about five miles
away. A trolley service existed into Erie at the time.
Sam and Inez, due to age differences and the need to pursue
a career and support themselves financially after their father’s death,
followed different career paths and lived in different cities. Their lives are
outlined in the sections that follow.
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| VI. INEZ CHARLOTTE WAGNER—Oct. 10, 1880–Dec. 21, 1937 |
Note: Letters
from Bliley family are the source for the following material on the early life
of Inez Wagner at her parent’s Mill Creek Farm, and the Bliley Farm on Station
Road, and other details on her youth.
1880–1889: Childhood and Early Youth—Inez lived with
her parents, Charles Otis and Agnes Bliley Wagner, in East Mill Creek and at
Erie, but the Bliley letters from her aunts Rose and Nellie indicate that from
the late 1880’s, Inez visited her grandparents Charles and Mary Jane Bliley at
the Bliley farm on the Colt Station Road in Wesleyville. Inez spent much time with
her grandparents, and also with her mother Agnes’s Aunts Rose and Nellie.
1881, December 15: Rose Bliley wrote that Inez had the croup and
had not been expected to live, but that she was all right now.
1883, February 9: Rose wrote that Inez had been staying on the
Bliley farm all week.
1884, April 17: Nellie wrote that Rose had gone to Ag’s home to
help her out because her hired girl had gone.
1884, June 12: Inez was again at the farm, and Nellie wrote that
Inez was crying in her sleep. Nellie added, “Yesterday I told her to pick up a lounge pillow on the floor and she
said, ‘you pick it up. There is a bone in my back.’” From a young age, Inez
had strong opinions.
1884, Sept 17: Nellie wrote that Inez was at the farm, and “we now have her trained—we make her
mind.”
1885, March 24: Nellie wrote that mother, Mary Jane Bliley, just
took Inez back to Ag’s.
1885, May 4: Nellie wrote from Lake Side Farm, near Erie, that
she was staying with Charlie and Ag sewing clothes for Inez and George, and how
hard it was to pin patterns on squirming children. Nellie also wrote that she
went in the buggy with Charlie to Miles Grove [p/o Lake City], to Fairview, and
to Girard, all in the western part of Erie County, Pennsylvania. This is a
round-trip distance of approximately 20 miles.
1885, May 27: Rose wrote that her brother Wilfred was going to
stop at Charlie’s and bring Inez to the Bliley farm for a week.
1886, April 19: Rose wrote that Inez was again staying at the
farm, and that she Rose has just sent six-year-old Inez to the Wesleyville
School. Rose wrote that Inez was eager to leave for school, and left right
after breakfast. At this time, Charlie and Ag were building an addition to
their house and thus sent Inez to the Bliley farm. An addition was needed, as
their second son Sam Wagner was born that August.
1886, May: Rose wrote that Inez is at the farm, and she is
currently up the road with her grandparents Charles and Mary Jane Bliley.
1886, August: Inez’s brother Samuel Clare Wagner was born.
1886, Sept. 10: Nellie wrote that Inez was in school, near
Charlie’s farm.
1894–95: Villa Maria Academy: Unlike Sam, who went to Erie
High School, built in 1866, Inez attended Villa Maria Academy in Erie from 1894
to 1895. The academy, just two years earlier, was a private all-girls school
established and operated by the Sisters of Saint Joseph.
Villa Maria Academy, C 1890s
One of her schoolbooks was: “Bible History, Remarkable
Events of the Old and New Testament”, a Catholic Publication copyright 1894.
This book has her signature in ink, as follows: “Inez C. Wagner, Villa Maria
Acad., Erie, Penna, Dec. 15, 1894”. Her handwritten notes in pencil on the
second page read: “Began Bible History Dec. 15, 1894. Began Little Catechism February
19, 1895”. Her penciled notes on the book’s end-papers list: Father Casey, also
Rector of Saint Peters, died Feb 9, 1894. Buried Feb 13, 1894. A Father Casey
is listed as marrying Inez’s parents, Charles Otis and Mary Agnes Bliley
Wagner. Inez also listed the names of Sister Maria Joseph and Sister
Bernadette.
While attending school, Inez did not live with her
parents in Wesleyville. From 1894 and throughout all of the years Inez lived in
Erie, she boarded with her aunt Rose Bliley Curtis (Agnes’ sister) and husband
Silas Curtis. Erie Street Directories list Inez as boarding with Rose and Silas
Curtis.
Inez Wagner, 1897, Age
17
Inez attended Villa Maria when she was 14 and 15.
Yearbooks from Villa Maria don’t go back as far as 1895 leaving no reference to
Inez. However, Villa Maria, described in Nelson’s Biography, was a “splendid
edifice”. It was bounded by Eighth, Ninth, Plum and Liberty Streets. Completed
in 1891, the grounds were a gift from Father Casey, the priest who married
Inez’s parents Agnes and Charlie Wagner. The building is an apartment complex
in 2012. Why Inez went to Villa Maria is unknown. Inez was raised in a family
of practicing Catholics, however, her religious affiliation is unknown,
however, attending Villa Maria offered the best education available to a woman
in the 1880's, although she would have paid tuition.
1888–1889: These dates are the first Erie City Directory
listings for Inez, who was aged 18 and 19 on those dates. Inez was listed as a
student for both years and attended The Erie High School.
1896–1899: The High School (Erie High School)
A letter to Ag written by her sister
Barbara Bliley Lambing of Corry, Pennsylvania mentioned that Inez was boarding
with Rose and that Inez was attending “The
High School”. The High School—as it is listed in Nelson’s
Biographical Dictionary—was established in 1866, and was located at 7th
and Holland Streets.
Inez is known in the family for her oil and watercolor
paintings, interior design, and renderings of architectural drawings and
blueprints. She boarded with aunt Rose at the 149 West 20th Street address
(Built: 1882) for the 12 years she studied and worked in Erie. In 1906, her
uncle Frank Anderson Bliley boarded there also. Rose Bliley Curtis and her
husband Silas may have owned this house. Rose died in 1909, about the time Inez
left Erie.
After her high school years it is not known where or what
Inez studied. However, her nephew, born in Erie in 1920, had childhood memories
of Inez and indicated that Inez trained as an architect. Perhaps Inez
apprenticed in an architect's office. Perhaps she studied at a local art
school.
1904–05: The Erie City Directory lists Inez as, Water
Color Artist, (this is the first listing of her an artist), with a business
address of “25 S Park” Row adjacent to the city squares.
1904: Photos from family albums show Inez outside,
sketching.
A photo dated winter, 1904, is listed,
“The Bohemians!” Sketching are: Inez Wagner, Minnie Zessinger, Mrs. Carlotta
Moser, and Ruth Weidler. Another photo of the ladies is listed as “The Bohemian
Art Club.”
1904: Inez took drawing lessons with Mrs. George Moser.
Lessons were held in the old Erie Academy after it was converted to a Home
Talent Art School, under the auspices of Mrs. Geo. B. Moser.
1906: The Erie City Directory lists Inez as, Artist, 406
Downing Building. The Downing Building, a professional office building, was
located on the southwest corner of Peach and West 9th Streets. The Downing
Building was where Inez’s uncle attorney Frank Anderson Bliley had his law
office from 1892–1901. Inez and her uncle Frank worked in the same
building. The Downing Building no longer stands in 2012.
1906: Inez wrote in her photo album: These pictures were
taken during my “summer vacation” at Rockwood, Pennsylvania, June 24 to July
5th, 1906, while visiting my cousin Ms. Henry McConnell. Rockwood is near Oil
City, Pennsylvania.
In 1907 a photo shows that Inez visited Waldemeer Park, at the
neck of 12-mile peninsula named “Presque Isle”. Waldemeer was, and still is a
very popular local and regional amusement park. The photo shows a beach scene.
1907: August: Inez visited the Sawdey Farm, near Albion,
Pa.
Note: In the summer of 1907, Sam Wagner had left
Wesleyville and was attending Lehigh University at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
1908: The Erie City Directory lists Inez as, “Artist”,
working for the C.P. Cody. The business section of the same Directory lists: C.
Paxton Cody, Architect, 406-407 Downing Building. This reference is taken from
the Erie County Historical Society, The C. Paxton Cody Architectural
Collection: Charles Paxton Cody was a significant regional architect who
produced residential homes in Erie, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland from
1893–1936.
What Inez probably produced for the architectural firm
was watercolor renderings of homes, and possibly drawing and lettering on
tracings for blueprints.
A photo of Inez for June, 1907, shows her working in
the office of C. Paxton Cody, Architect. Another photo shows “The Office Force”:
Frank Shucks, Inez Wagner, Winifred Suesser.
Inez Wagner, Architect’s
Office, Downing Building, June 1907
1908: A photo lists “Erie Academy Studios, Mrs. George
Moser, Mar 12, 1908.” Inez is posed as if decorating a ceramic pot.
Inez Wagner (R), 1908,
Painting a Portrait of Mrs. Moser
1908, Aug. 6: Inez Wagner and cousin Gertrude Bliley visited
Chautauqua Lake and saw a passenger boat sink; they took pictures.
At this time in her life, photos show Inez riding a
bike, driving a horse and buggy, and sprawled on the roof of a house.
The 1910 Erie City Directory has no listing for Inez
and it is probable Inez left Erie. (Aunt Rose died in 1909.)
[At this point it is necessary to rely on census data,
a few photos, and her nephew’s memories to trace Inez’s life. ]
1909: Inez Leaves Erie for New Castle, Pennsylvania and
Akron, Ohio; resides there between 1909 to about 1917.
There is a photo of Inez listed as: New Castle, Pa,
1910. Inez was dressed in a professional looking outfit with a long coat.
Another address for Inez is 345 Park St, Akron, Ohio,
1910. An August 27, 1910 photo shows Inez, Sam, and their mother Agnes.
From the 1910 Census for Akron, Ohio, 20 April, 1910:
Inez Wagner was boarding at 69 Straw Alley. Inez was listed as 25 years old
[actually 30], and was an art designer, of wall paper and other media. She was
boarding with Monty L. Gounley, a 30-year-old salesman, and his wife Resa L.,
35 years old; they had been married for 10 years. The Gounleys were renting the
house and this was a blue-collar neighborhood; residents’ occupations included
rubber worker, steel worker, teamster, sales lady, and two physicians.
About 1917, Inez’s brother Sam Wagner and his wife Ada and
their children returned from living in Saint Charles, Missouri. Sam was
returning to Erie, where he had accepted a job with Burke Electric. Sam and his
family made the trip back east by train, and stopped on the way to see Inez in
Willoughby. There is a photo showing Sam and Ada and their children standing in
front of Inez’s house. The occasion must have been a family reunion, as there
are several photos of Sam, his mother Agnes, and Agnes’s siblings. One photo is
labeled, “The home of Inez Wagner and Ann
Smith, Willoughby, Ohio, Sept. 23, 1917”.
From the 1920 Census for Cleveland, Ohio January 3, 1920:
The listing is: 10510 Euclid Avenue, Willoughby, Ohio: Smith, Ann B., head of
household, 35 years old, born New Jersey, parents born New Jersey. Ann was an
advertising manager, dry goods, and received wages. Her boarder was Inez C.
Wagner, 38, designer, contract work, and “O.A.” (self-employed.)
By this time Inez was well established enough to be
self-employed doing a variety of contract work. Ann Smith as an advertising
manager may have helped Inez secure contracts. The neighborhood they lived in
was more affluent than the Akron Ohio address. The Euclid Ave address was a
good neighborhood; others in 22 houses on the street included two professors,
teachers, an oil company president, an auditor, physician, and dentist. In
2012, 10510 Euclid Avenue is now part of the Cleveland Clinic hospital campus
at the intersection of Euclid Avenue/Route 20 and Stokes Boulevard.
Sometime after they moved to Erie and probably in the
1920’s, the Sam Wagner family again visited Inez in Willoughby. Sam’s son,
Robert “Bob”, said he was only a boy, but he remembered the visit. He described
Inez as a handsome and gentle woman who was a very talented multi-media artist.
Bob said that Inez was creative, and her family ostracized her for being
creative and that she “didn’t fit the mold”. Who in the family ostracized Inez
is unclear. It certainly was not her grandmother Mary Jane Bliley, who put
together a book of newspaper clippings and information for Inez. Bob also said
Inez lived with a maiden lady, now identified as Ann B. Smith.
What Bob Wagner really remembered about his visit to
Wagner-Smith home was playing in the barn, and sliding down stacks of hay.
There is a photo of Inez, dressed in bloomers, standing on a ladder propped
against the barn.
The last photo in the family files of Inez is dated January
1932, taken at Willoughby, Ohio.
Inez died from cancer in 1937. Sam Wagner paid her medical
bills. Inez’s gravestone is in the Erie Cemetery, West 19th Street, Section
“P”. She is near her father Charles Otis Wagner, her grandfather, Samuel Brown
Wagner, her brother George, and her mother Mary Agnes Bliley Wagner.
Inez was a remarkable woman. In an age when women did not
even have the right to vote, Inez had the resolution to leave home at an early
age, secure an education, and pursue a career at a time when women were
generally expected to follow domestic pursuits. The few paintings she left show
her to have been a gifted artist.
Inez Wagner, January
1932, Willoughby, Ohio
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Sam Wagner was born in Millcreek Township. After the death
of his father Charles Otis in 1891, Sam, his sister and brother George, along
with his mother Agnes moved in with Agnes’ parents Charles and Mary Jane Bliley
at their home on South Street in the village of Wesleyville. Sam spent his
youth in Wesleyville from about 1892 to the summer of 1907, from the age of 6
until 21. Many photos exist from this time, taken by both Sam and Inez that
depict daily activities of Sam’s youth: Sam standing on his head with Inez’s
caption “Six Ages of a Boy”. Other photos show Sam cleaning out the barn, and his
grandmother Mary Jane feeding the chickens. The South Street home was still the
scene of rural America with the Bliley and Wagner families engaged in some
farming activities, and the family apparently kept a horse and buggy, as there
are photos of Inez driving a horse and buggy.
 |
Sam
Doing Chores at the Bliley Retirement Home
on South Street, Wesleyville, PA |
Mary Jane Bliley, Sam’s grandmother, kept a journal with
newspaper clippings including an entry which reads: “Sam Wagner raised a juvenile Republican banner at his mother’s residence
Thursday and displayed a McKinley and Hobart banner. While the juvenile
celebration was going on several citizens came out to witness the proceedings.
Sammy wanted a speech made appropriate to the occasion and Mrs Knapp walked to
the crowd in an interesting and patriotic way. Mr. Charles Bliley, grandfather
of the youthful Republican and a life-long Democrat, was a quiet spectator of
the proceedings. A neighbor jocosely remarked that “he expected to see Mr.
Bliley getting into the Republican band wagon this fall.”
Note: McKinley and Hobart were campaigning for the
Presidency in 1896, which sets the date for this article. Sam was age 10 at the
time. The name of the newspaper is not cited.
Wilbur Lambing, the son of Barbara Bliley Lambing and Sam’s
Bliley cousin, recollected in an audio record recording for a 1947 Erie family
reunion, that he remembered that he and Sam used to climb out on the roof and
from a near-by fruit tree swipe peaches: of course forbidden fruit. And how
good those pilfered juicy peaches tasted!
Sam graduated from Erie High School, and according the school’s Yearbook “The High School Annual”, graduated with the class of 1906. According to the 1907 Yearbook, Sam took additional college preparatory work at the school through 1907.
Sam lived in Wesleyville until age 21, indicating he did
not leave for the college at customary age of 18. He may have had to work to
get money for school. During this time, both he and Inez took many photos.
In May of 1906, there is a picture of Sam as a motorman for
the Erie Rapid Transit Trolley Line. The Erie Trolley photos date from 1906 to
July 1907. Sam then left to attend Lehigh University in Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania.
Samuel Wagner, Motorman,
North East Trolley Line, Erie, Pennsylvania, 1905
There is an August 8, 1907 photo of Sam at his dorm at
Lehigh University. He was in the preparatory school taking a required summer
class at the university. Other photos Sam took include: December 7—dorm
room, showing a calculus quiz, with a listing of Wagner and Cespedes as
roommates in a row house at 66 Church Street, Bethlehem, and the Sigma Nu
House, the Engineering Fraternity. Sam was a member of Sigma Nu until his death
in 1964. He joined in May, 1908.
Sam attended Lehigh until
graduation in 1910 at the age of 23. He majored in electrical engineering. His
son, Bob, remembers driving Sam to his 50th reunion in 1960.
After graduation from Lehigh Sam enrolled at Pratt
Institute in Brooklyn, New York—the same institution that his younger
cousin, Frank D. Bliley, would attend for electrical engineering 18 years
later. (An Erie obituary from the Erie Morning News, Sept 22 1964, lists Sam as
a graduate of Lehigh University and Pratt Institute.)
After graduation, Sam was employed by the B and O Railroad
from June 1910 to January 1912, and for the Union Electric Company of Missouri
from January 1912 to late 1913. His work on substations involved the
installation of high voltage electric wires in Missouri, (this information is
based on Sam’s handwritten notes). Later, he worked for Burke Electric in Erie,
PA in the 1920’s, and subsequently, Master Electric in Rochester, New York. The
consistency of his work areas indicates his put his education to good use. Sam
was highly educated for the times, as fewer than five-percent of Americans
graduated from college in this period.
Marriage to
Ada Dowd—1911 
About Ada Dowd
Prior to her marriage, Sam’s future wife Ada Dowd lived with her
Dowd family, consisting of her parents John and Alice Northrop Dowd, and Ada’s
sister Ora. They had been living in Philadelphia for at least a year, since
U.S. Census records for Philadelphia for 1910 list: Ada Dowd, milliner (hats),
her sister Ora, musician, and parents John E. Dowd, electrician, and AliceDowd, dressmaker, as living
on 46 North Millick Street. The Dowds were all employed and renting their
house.
Just prior to her marriage, Ada was employed in millinery retail at
Kresge’s on 925 South Market Street, Philadelphia from December 1910 to January
13, 1911. A letter of recommendation from Kresge’s with her working dates is in
the family files. Ada was also a member of West Hope Presbyterian Church, 4050
Aspen Street as of February 1911. The Dowd family was Presbyterian. Sam’s
family and his grandparents’, the Blileys, were Catholic. Sam was probably
raised Catholic, and converted when he married Ada.
Ada Dowd (Undated)
Sam Wagner and Ada Dowd May Have Met In Erie
Family photos indicate that Sam and Ada Dowd, and Ada’s
father John Dowd, were friends from the time Sam entered Lehigh University,
Bethlehem, PA in 1907. The Dowd family lived in the nearby town of Cementon.
Family tradition suggests Sam and Ada met while Sam was in Lehigh. Perhaps they
did. However, Sam had lived near Erie from 1886 to 1907. U.S. Census records
indicate that the John Dowd family, including his daughter Ada, was living in
Erie in 1900. Sam and his future father-in-law, John Dowd, shared common
interests in photography, electric motors, and, incidentally, both had been
trolley motormen. Sam worked for a trolley line in Erie and John on a line in
Binghamton, New York. Sam and John may have known each other in Erie because of
their shared interests, and Sam may have met Ada before he entered Lehigh
University.
Sam and Ada Frolicking
at Lehigh University
After their 1911 marriage in New Jersey, Sam and Ada Wagner moved to Webster Groves, Missouri, where their first child, Don, was born. The family then moved to Saint Charles, Missouri, where Jean, Richard “Dick” and Lois were born. Sam worked for the Union Electric Light and Power Company as a construction supervisor, probably at the Saint Charles substation. Sam took many photos at this time, many associated with his work as his photos show high power transmission lines. There is a photo of the Wagners in Saint Charles at 221 Houston Street.
Ada Dowd Wagner, 1912, in St. Louis Missouri (Sam Wagner photo).
About 1919, or earlier, the Wagners moved to Erie,
Pennsylvania, and lived in a house at 3122 Holland Street, in Erie’s south
central area.
Sam’s Employment
In Erie, Sam found employment with Burke Electric Company,
a company that repaired electric motors and generators, and sold arc-welding
equipment. (A picture of Burke Electric is located in: “Erie: A Guide to the
City and County.”) In the early 1920’s, Burke Electric, a sizable facility, was
located on West 12th at the corner of Cranberry Street and served as
their corporate headquarters and principal manufacturing facility. Burke
Electric was listed as having offices in major cities from Kansas City to New
York City. Sam served as a salesman for the company as indicated in an Erie
City Directory of the day.
Wagner Life in Erie
Life for the Wagner family in Erie in 1925 would have been
bustling with six children ranging in age from 5 to 12 years old. One of Sam’s
sons remembers staying in the car while Sam went into the Burke office. The
same son remembered being sent to Sam’s mother, Agnes, while the rest of the
family went shopping to give Ada a rest from the demands of raising a large
family.
About 1921, Ada’s father John Dowd came to live with the
Wagners. John Dowd’s wife, Alice Northrop, had died—or at least
disappeared from the family and census records between 1910 and 1920. Alice was
listed in the 1910 Census in Philadelphia, with the Dowd family, but the 1920
census lists John Dowd as living in a hotel near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania,
working as an electrical engineer in a cement mill.
By 1921, John Dowd had moved to Erie, and Erie directories
show him as living with the Wagners. The Wagners changed addresses frequently.
From 1922 to 1924 they lived at 1908 West 11th. From 1924 to 1927,
they lived in a government house on West 11th. In 1927, they lived
at 423 Vermont, in 1928 at 513 West 28th, and in 1929 at 1311 West 10th.
Why they moved so often is not clear. However the family was a large one with
Sam and Ada Wagner, their six children and Ada’s father John Dowd.
Ada Dowd Wagner and
Father, John Dowd (C1930’s)
Cottage on Lake Erie
The Wagner family spent summers at a cottage, or possibly
different cottages. One was located two miles north of Northeast, Pennsylvania,
and 10 minutes from the lake. One of the Wagner children remembers a stony
beach, and a water pump, and how hard it was for a little boy to carry even a
half-bucket of water. Sam also built a tennis court with a clay base for the
children. Ada cooked on a kerosene stove, and the children remember the
fragrances associated with kerosene cooking. The older children got into
trouble by helping themselves to the neighbors’ tomatoes, and by breaking into
a fishing house. Near one of the cottages, there was a pulp mill or
wood-cutting plant on the shore, and the lake was consequently full of wood and
pulp.
In August of 1929, the Wagner family moved to Rochester,
New York. John Dowd stayed in Erie for while and moved in with the Wagners
about 1931.
The Wagner family drove to Rochester in a 1927 big, boxy
Oldsmobile, or possibly a Buick, which they called “a turnip”. Son Bob said in
2000 the family slept in the car for some unknown reason, perhaps to avoid
paying for a hotel upon their arrival. The Wagner’s first Rochester address may
have been on Richard Street in the south central part of the city. They then
moved to Harvard Street.
A serious fire in the Harvard Street home almost killed two
family members when Alice rushed in to save Bob from the wrath of the fire. The
Wagners moved out of that home to a nearby house while theirs was repaired.
Although the 1930’s economic depression was still underway,
Sam Wagner was employed as a District Sales Manager for the Master Electric
Company headquartered in Dayton, Ohio. The Rochester office was located in the
Case Building on Saint Paul Boulevard. Sam had an excellent job; life was good
for the Wagner family. A series of late 1930’s and early 1940’s photos show the
older children, now young adults, sailing on the Genesee River, ice skating,
and enjoying a swim in Lake Ontario. The family took advantage of Rochester’s
many recreational opportunities. In the 1940’s, several of the Wagners were now
working at Eastman Kodak, “the place to work” in Rochester at the time. They
included: Don (technical area), Lois (clerical), and Alice (Clerical).
|
|
Sam and Ada Wagner,
C1936 |
Ada Dowd Wagner, C 1940 |
In the late 1930’s or very early 40’s, the Wagners moved to
their home at 310 Castlebar Road in the southeast part of the city.
Sam
and Ada Wagner Home, 311 Castlebar Road, Rochester, NY
This was a very nice home, and here Sam had his darkroom
where he could develop and print photographs as he had since his childhood. He
was still keenly interested in photography, and took film into his darkroom,
developed the photographs, and hung them up to dry on a line over the dining
room table. The cellar had unusual furniture—a Murphy bed and other
amenities—as his father-in-law, John Dowd lived in the remodeled
basement. By this time all three sons were in the military during World War II,
and two of the daughters were married.
Part of Sam’s Darkroom at the
Castlebar House
In the early 1950’s, all the children had married and left
home, and Ada wanted a smaller house, so the Wagners moved to a smaller Cap Cod
house at 43 Brockley Road, in the Irondequoit suburb of Rochester. Ada died
there in 1955; she had been in ill health for a number of years.
Sam went to live with his son, Robert (“Bob”), who had
built a home on Park Road in the Powder Mill Park area of Pittsford, NY
southeast of Rochester. Sam also had a darkroom in this home. Later, Bob later
got a job near Philadelphia and moved his family there. Sam then moved in with
his daughter, Lois Wagner, back into Rochester.
Sam, now in his mid-sixties and retired, was still very
active in the Rochester community, and worked at the Brighton Presbyterian Church
on East Avenue near Winton Road. He had lunch every day at the Brighton Chamber
of Commerce. He was a Mason who achieved all 32 degrees, a member the Rochester
Engineering Society, and the Damascus Shrine Temple.
Ada and Sam Wagner,
C1946
Samuel “Sam” Clare Wagner died in 1964, a man loved and
respected by his children and grandchildren, and many Bliley relations and the
Rochester community.
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The Dowd family emigrated from England to America in 1639,
and settled in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1880. The Norton family married into the
Dowd family; Elon Norton served in the American Revolution.
Preface: Ada Dowd’s handwritten notes say her father’s
middle name was “Elon”; it is also a family name. Ada wrote down her ancestry,
tracing it back to Elon Norton; some family information in this chapter is
based on Ada’s notes and extensive handwritten records of her ancestor’s names.
Ada was eligible for, and joined, the DAR (Daughters of the American
Revolution) based on Elon Norton’s service.
John Elon Dowd, C1895?
John Elon Dowd (October 2,
1865?/68?–1950) was, according to his daughter Ada’s handwritten notes,
born in Chautauqua County, New York. Census records state he was born in
Kansas. However, by 1880, the Dowd family, including 11-year-old John, lived on
Peach Street in Erie, Pennsylvania. The Federal Census lists John Dowd’s father
William Dowd and his wife Julia, and three children: Edwin, John, and Ada. By
1881, the Erie City Directory listed Mrs. Rhoda Dowd (1812 or 1815–1904)
as also living on Peach Street. Rhoda Dowd was Rhoda Norton Dowd, Benjamin
Dowd’s widow and her son was William Dowd, John Dowd’s father.
Only one event is known about
John’s early life. When he was a little boy, he pulled a pot of boiling liquid
from the stove and spilled it on his himself; as a consequence, lost vision in
his left eye. He wore an eye patch all his life and is recognized easily in
family photos by his eye patch, or frosted left eyeglass lens.
By 1887, John E. Dowd (20) is
listed in the Erie Directory as a photographer—which might explain his
later connection with Sam Wagner, who was also an amateur photographer. Later
directory entries for John, list him as an electrician, a vocation he pursued
throughout his life.
Sometime around 1888, John Dowd
went to Binghamton, New York. The family is certain of this, because there is a
photo of him as a motorman on a Binghamton Trolley on the downtown Asylum Line.
A check of the Binghamton Street Directory for 1890 lists a John Dowd,
electrician, living at 40 Griswold Street in downtown Binghamton. 1890 is the
only year he is listed as living in Binghamton.
John Dowd (L) on the
Washington Street & State Asylum,
R.R. Co. Trolley Line, Binghamton, NY, C1890
A check of reference material
in the Binghamton Library suggested why John was working on the trolley. The
publication “Trolleys of the Triple
Cities” indicated that the Park and Asylum Lines were electrified in 1890.
Given John’s electrical expertise, it is possible John went to Binghamton for
this technical work on the Binghamton trolleys as the electrification began in
1888 as an upgrade to the older horse-drawn cars.
During this time John had married Alice Northrop, a
dressmaker, possibly in 1888. He may have met her in Binghamton. A check of the
street directories for Binghamton shows many Northrops, while in the Erie
Directories Northrop is a very uncommon name. To confuse matters, The Erie City
Directory of 1888 lists Alice Northrop, dressmaker, as boarding in Erie in a
location near Edwin Dowd, John’s brother. How John Dowd and Alice Northrop met
is not known. Family photos of the couple exist. Alice was a very attractive
woman. What we do know for certain is, their first child, Ada Mary Dowd, was
born in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1889.
Alice Marvin Northrop Dowd was born in German Township,
Chenango County, New York, 20 miles north of Binghamton. (The Northrop name is
alternately spelled “Northrup”, and “Northrupt”.) Alice’s father was Willie
Julius Northrop, who, in in 1865, married Laura Ulyssa Eggleston
(1842–1905) in German, New York. Willie Northrop’s parents were Oliver
Northrop and Clarissa Marvin (1828–??)
An 1892 entry in the Erie (PA) City Directory, lists John
E. Dowd as an “electrician”. There is no mention of Alice or the family.
However, the 1900 U.S. Federal Census for Erie lists: John E. Dowd, born Kansas
1868, electrician; wife Alice, born 1869 in New York; daughters Ada M. born in
1888, at school; Ora L. born March 1891 a school student in Pennsylvania; Rhoda
W., born 1894, also a school student.
John and Alice Northrop Dowd – C1888 (Tintype)
In June of 1900, the Dowds were living in Erie at 919 W. 18th Street. John Dowd’s background included photography, and electric motors. This
background matched Sam Wagner’s interests. The two men may have met and known
each other. At this time, Ada was 11, Ora was 9, and Rhoda was 5. Photos of Ada
and Ora as babies are in the family collection; an Erie professional
photographer took the photos.
Alice, Ada, John and
Ora Dowd – 1908 (L/R)
The next census record for the Dowd family comes from the
1910 Philadelphia Census, where on April 19 the Dowds were living at 46 Millick
Street, Philadelphia, PA. Household members included: John E. Dowd, 42,
electrical engineer, working as electrical contractor; wife Alice, 42, working
as a dressmaker; a self-employed daughter, Ada, aged 20, working in millinery
at Kresge’s; daughter, Ora, 19, employed as musician in a theater.
By 1911, Sam Wagner had graduated from Lehigh University
and was employed with the B and O Railroad and was preparing to marry Ada Dowd.
Possibly the Dowds were living in Philadelphia so they could be near to Sam
Wagner. Sam and Ada were married in 1911 in New Jersey. Sam and Ada moved to
Missouri, and began their life together.
In the US Census for 1920, John Dowd is listed as 51 years, boarding at a hotel in Nazareth, Pennsylvania near Allentown, and employed as electrical engineer at a cement mill. In May 1912, Alice Northrop Dowd died in Philadelphia following surgery from an infection.
John’s daughter Ada and her husband Sam Wagner moved back
to Erie with their family about 1919, and John Dowd moved in with them about
1920. John lived with the Wagners throughout the years the Wagners lived in
Erie.
The Wagners moved to Rochester, New York in 1929, and John
stayed in Erie for about a year, working as an electrician for the Watson
Company, a paper manufacturer. John appears to have lost everything he had
during the 1929 stock market crash, according to his grandson.
About 1930, John moved to Rochester and lived with the
Wagner family first on Harvard Street and later followed them to their new home
on Castlebar Road. John was well known to his great grandchildren, who
affectionately called him “Grampse”.
He was a quiet and gentle man. He worked at a local church in Rochester. He
died in 1950 and was buried in the cemetery behind the Brighton Church, at the
highest spot in the cemetery.
Child 1: Ora Dowd Henderson (B: 1891–D: 1980)
Ora was a professional musician, and listed as such in
Philadelphia’s 1910 U.S. Census. Ora married Harry Henderson (B: C1883) and
they moved to Huntington, New York, on Long Island, where she spent the rest of
her life.
About 1925, Ora and Harry were living at 58 W 83rd Street in Huntington. Harry was about 47, and was an automobile salesman. Ora
kept in touch with the family and in a 1969 letter written from 174 Vineyard
Road in Huntington, New York, she encouraged her niece to pursue a career in
music.
Child 2: Ada Dowd Wagner (B: 1889 – D: 1955)
Ada may have been named in honor of John’s sister by the same
name. Ada grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania. By about 1907, when Sam Wagner began
attending Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the Dowd family had
moved to Cementon, Pennsylvania in Whitehall Township, near Bethlehem. There
are family photos showing John Dowd with a motorbike, and a picture of his
house—a large edifice on a hill.
1907 photos show Sam and Ada frolicking at Lehigh
fraternity parties and rowing on the Lehigh River. Ada is an attractive and
fun-loving girl. Later photos show her when she was a milliner, modeling
fashionable hats probably in Philadelphia where the Dowd family lived in 1910.
After Ada’s marriage to Sam Wagner and their early married life in Missouri,
she returned with Sam to Erie where she began to get busy raising a large
family.
Later they moved to Rochester, New York, where their
children grew up and naturally left home for lives of their own. One of her
daughters said Ada enjoyed entertaining in their elegant home. Throughout the
1940’s, and until her death in 1955, Ada was in increasingly poor health.
Child 3: Rhoda Dowd (B: 1894 – D: C1906)
Rhoda was perhaps named for her great grandmother, Rhoda
Norton Dowd who lived until 1904. There is no mention of young Rhoda Dowd in
the 1910 census. Sometime between the 1900 and 1910 census, she died. A later
letter from Sam Wagner to a Cleveland destination inquired about locating a
death certificate for Rhoda about 1906, but it wasn’t found. It would appear
that Rhoda died in the Cleveland vicinity.
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John Dowd’s father was William E. Dowd (1843–1896)
and he married Julia M. Tanner (1845–1906) about 1865. Tanner may not be
her last name and it could be Wheeler; the records are inconsistent.) William
Dowd’s father was Benjamin Dowd, carpenter, living in Chester, New York; he
married Rhoda Norton (C1812–1904). Elon Norton’s parents were Eli Norton
(1785–1848) who married Thirzah Jane Jones (1787–1823) in 1805. Eli
Norton’s parents were Martha Page (B: 1758), and Elon Norton (1758–1850).
A note on the rear of a picture of his gravestone indicates that Elon Norton
was born in Connecticut and served in the Revolutionary War from 1777 to June
1782. He was in the Battle of Lake Champlain, New York with Major General
Benedict Arnold.
William and Julia are buried in the Erie Cemetery, Erie,
Pennsylvania. Records there indicate that William died of poison and Julia of
gangrene of the foot (diabetes?). On their gravestones are carved elaborate
symbols for the Union Veteran Legion. This was an elite group of veterans who
had served a minimum of two years or were wounded during the American Civil
War. William served honorably in the Civil War, and Julia was in the UVL’s
Ladies Auxiliary.
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|
William E. Dowd Headstone,
Erie Cemetery, Erie, PA |
Julia M. Dowd Headstone,
Erie Cemetery, Erie, PA |
William Dowd’s brothers included two dentists: Dr. John
Chester Dowd, 1852–1931, and Dr. Franklin Dowd, 1847–1923. Their
sister was Thirzah Dowd, 1834–1915. They were children of Benjamin and
Rhoda Norton Dowd.
The 1880 US Federal Census for Erie, Pennsylvania
(No Dowds are listed in the Erie City Directory prior to 1880)
Occupants
of 532 Peach Street, Erie, Pennsylvania:
· Dowd, William: Head of
household, age 37, carpenter, born NY, parents born VT and N.Y.
· Julia: Wife, age 35, born
about 1845–46 in Pennsylvania; Edwin, son, age 14, born 1865–66, at
school, born N.Y.
· John: Son, age 11, born 1868
or 69, at school, born Kansas.
· Ada: Daughter, age 7, born
1873–74, Pennsylvania.
Atkinson Erie City Directories (AECD) In the late
1800’s—
Indicate that one or more generations were often living in the same household.
1881: Mrs. Rhoda Dowd (Born 1812 or
1815–1904,): Widow, (she married Benjamin Dowd) boarding at 1806 Peach
Street. Her son, William Dowd, had his home at 1806 Peach. This is the first
and only AECD listing for Rhoda Dowd. It is probably the Norton-Dowd ancestor
Rhoda Norton Dowd who lived for almost a century.
1882–1883: Edwin B. Dowd:
Machinist, boards southwest corner 10th and Plum; and William E. Dowd, laborer,
home southwest corner 10th and Plum Streets.
1884: Edwin B. Dowd: Machinist,
(William’s son) and William E. Dowd, stereoptician exhibitor, both living at
southwest corner 10th and Plum Streets as a boarder. No John Dowd listed.
1887: John E. Dowd: Photographer, and
Edwin B. Dowd, dental student, (brothers) both boarding at 207 West 4th Street
at the home of their father William E. Dowd, also 207 West 4th Street. No Julia
Dowd is listed. John is about 20 years old. Note: He is listed as a
photographer. This is probably my great grandfather John Dowd.
1888: William E. Dowd, (served in the
Civil War): Mail carrier, home rear 17 West 7th Street, (William’s son Edwin
and William’s wife Julia are not listed), and John Dowd, painter, boards rear
17 West 7th Street. This is father and son. (At this time, Charlie
Wagner operated his restaurant on State Street.)
1891: William E. Dowd: Mail carrier,
home 8 West 5 th, and Ada T. Dowd, (his daughter), boards 8 West 5th Street.
John E. Dowd: Photographer, home, 1808 Peach Street, 2nd floor.
Edwin B. Dowd, (John’s brother): Carpenter, home 525 West 18th Street, second floor.
1892: Ada T. Dowd: Dressmaker, boards
158 West Third Street, (William’s daughter,) and William E. Dowd, at the same
address.
1892: John Dowd: Electrician, boards
1140 West 12th Street. This is the first listing of John as an
electrician. He remains such through the 1920’s.
William Dowd’s father was Benjamin Dowd, a carpenter and
joiner. He was born December 1808 in Vermont. He died 1879 in Harmony, New
York. He was married to Rhoda Norton, 1812 (or 1815) to 1904. The Erie City
Directory for 1881 lists Mrs. Rhoda Dowd, widow, as boarding in Erie at 1806
Peach Street. Also listed as his home, 1806 Peach Street, is William Dowd, her
son.
Benjamin’s Dowd’s parents were Zina (??) Dowd and Sally
Hamlin. Zina Doud’s parents were Peleg Doud 1733–1806 and Merab Ward,
1735–??. Rhoda Norton’s parents were Eli Norton, 1785–1848, and
Thirzah Jane Jones, 1787–1823. Thirzah’s father was David Jones. Eli’s
father was Elon Norton. Elon, a carpenter, was in the American Revolution. He
married Martha Page.
Henry Doude, (an older spelling of Dowd), the Doude
ancestor, was on board a ship bound for America in May 1639. When the ship was
10 days out of Bedfordshire, England, he and others signed the Guilford
Covenant. This information is in the family records.
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AUTHORS OF LETTERS REFERENCED IN THIS HISTORY
The content of this
history would not be possible if Frank Anderson Bliley had not collected and
saved so many items that would become part of his extensive family archives. We
believe he had a sense of history and was very proud of his family. Below are
photos of some of the writers of some of the letters found in 2010 in the
family archives in Boulder, Colorado.
Mary Agnes Bliley Wagner,
C1916 Barbara Bliley Lambing, C1908
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Rosanna Jane Bliley, 1885, Age 25
Daughter of Charles and
Mary Jane Bliley |
Ellen “Nellie”
Lousina Bliley
Circa 1880s |
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Sea
Chest of Charles A. Bliley (C1850s) and its contents of letters, documents
and photos. (Boulder, Colorado 2010)
The depository for many of the letters
referenced within this document. |
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RESOURCES
This work may not be a scholarly work, but every effort has
been made to make it as accurate as possible through careful research.
Sources include:
- Photograph albums by Sam and
Inez Wagner
- Material and editing services
from Charles A. Bliley
- Written and verbal
communications from living family members
- Atkinson’s Erie City
Directories and other references from the Erie Library and Erie Historical
Society
- Binghamton, New York city
directories and reference material in the Binghamton City Library
- United States Census Records
- Letters and documents in the
Wagner-Bliley-Dowd family collection (Below)
- Death Certificates
MEET THE AUTHOR
Norma Kennedy Venable
and husband, Wallace Venable, C2004
Norma Venable has been a myriad of things over her
lifetime, both professionally and personally. Norma has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Toledo. She married Wallace Starr Venable in 1962 in Ithaca, NY. She is an avid
bird watcher, environmentalist, general nature lover, and family historian. She
has collaborated with her husband of 51 years, Wallace “Wally” Venable on
several projects.
Norma enjoyed a career as author and lecturer with West
Virginia University (WVU) and wrote many publications on West Virginia’s birds,
wildlife and plants, and cultural history. Norma is retired from WVU.
Wally and Norma enjoy seeing the sights (and adding to
them) and have traveled in Central America, Mexico, Great Britain, Spain,
France, Holland, Austria, and Greece. They owned a canal boat in England for
many years and now owned a sailboat in Erie, Pennsylvania.
While this project was the dream of Norma. She is the
principal author with Wally has working hard at assisting in the research,
development early drafts and scanning thousands of family photos of which a
mere handful appear in this work.
Norma and Wally have lived in Morgantown, West Virginia
since 1964.
Charles A. Bliley, of Rochester, New York, contributed to
this project by providing content editing, layout and refinement of photo
resources for the printed/PDF version, and the Web page version that resides on
his family history Web site www.Bliley.net.
Thank you Chuck.
And, a special thanks to all of my ancestors who have
enriched the lives of those of us who are now their descendents. They were
good, industrious and creative people, which make us proud to be a part of this
family today.
I welcome your comments and corrections. If perhaps, you
can make a contribution to my research, I would be pleased to hear from you.
Feel free to contact me through my husband, Wally’s, e-mail (Wallace.Venable@mail.WVU.edu) or
though Charles Bliley, host of www.Bliley.net,
at K3NAU@AOL.com.
Sincerely,
Norma Kennedy Venable
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STORY IN PDF VERISONS
A PDF version of this story is available for download on this site that is suitable for duplex/two-sided printing. There is little difference in image quality between the two. It is recommended to download the low-resolution file and see if it suits your needs.
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Children washing at Charles and
Mary Jane Bliley’s
retirement home on South Street, Wesleyville, PA.
Photo by Sam Wagner. Circa 1900
This site and associated
images are Copyright 2014, by Charles A. Bliley, Webster, NY,
U.S.A.
Permission granted
for use in personal genealogy work and non-profit distribution with copyright and source credit.
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