My grandmother was born in Brooklyn in 1893. Died in 1993. I believe her mother dies in childbirth with her next child. Her mother's name was Ethel Chidgy. Her father worked on the docks. They called him Eddie the mate. He fell between two boats and drowned when he was older. My Grandmother told me she remembered the ships returning from the War in Cuba in 1898 filled with wounded soldiers. She had two brothers Ernest the eldest worked for the telephone company in Albany. He had three daughters that I do not think I met. I only saw him once. My Grandmother always talked about him with great pride and her first son, my uncle was named Ernest.

Her other brother Bill was a guard at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. His wife's name was Marie. She talked very loud but she was a very loving and giving person. I do not think they had any children. We would go to see them and they always sent us Christmas presents when we were young. One time when visiting I ask if I could see his gun and he showed it to me in front of the whole family. The story was he had suffered from alcoholism and all of a sudden he stopped and never took another drink. The story also is that he was very, very tough. All three of them were tough but Bill was exceptionally tough. He had the right job. No one would get by or over him. They were all small in size. My grandmother was 4' 11" and less that 100 pounds.

When my grandmother was six or so the three children were sent to Newburgh, NY to live with their father's strict English Grandmother. Her father was worried about the boys growing up in Brooklyn and wanted to send them to the country. The house is still there. This experience for my Grandmother was not something she ever talked about in a positive way. DM 12/1/07