Monday, February 25, 2008

Sarah "Sadie" Munroe

This very nice studio portrait taken by Palace Studios on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City of Sarah Munroe was miss-identified by me for some time as being of Sarah's older sister Mary Elizabeth. Sarah, known by her relatives as Sadie or Aunt Sadie, was the seventh child of Martin and Bridgett Munroe and the fourth child born in America. Sarah was born on July 15th 1884 in Wilmington, Delaware. Married Charles Geffken* and moved to Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. She died around 1970.

Sheila Sweirczeski [nee Cummings] writes, "You can see Sadie as an older woman in the photos I sent a few days ago...with her husband, dogs, and again as a much older lady, but still with a dog beside her."

Kathy Hayes [nee Cummings] writes, "I also loved the picture of the group with Aunt Sadie. I never met her, but I remember her last name was Gefken or something close to that. I believe she, Aunt Sadie lived with my grandparents, Catherine (Kate) and John Collins when they were first married. I guess your granddad had married and Sadie had nowhere else to go."

John A. Munroe writes in "Tales of My Father", "The youngest child, Marty, apparently died before his mother, which means that only three Munroes were left at home with their father. Michael (my father) and his sisters Kate and Sadie. Kate soon married John Collins, a steady railroad worker, and moved to her own home on the west side of Wilmington. Sadie remained as the housekeeper, and my father increasingly the man of the house, as his father’s physical condition and age forced him to a minor role as a watchman at Lobdell’s."

John A. Munroe continues in "Tales of My Father" "My grandfather, Martin Munroe, died in 1910, possibly of a heart attack, in my father’s arms. My father took consolation in having been there, for he obviously loved his father. (The bill for Martin’s funeral in Cathedral Cemetery was dated 1910; the undertaker was J. Fox.). . . "

". . .Martin died in his home in South Wilmington, but that home now was abandoned. His two children remaining there, my father and Sadie, his youngest sister, moved in with Katie, her husband John Collins, and their two young children, John and Catherine. Before leaving the old house, my father’s zeal led him to an action that distressed me whenever I heard about it. Dad gathered and burned all of his father’s papers, including his passport, his naturalization papers, and letters from Ireland. . ."

". . .Living with the Collins family, Dad [Michael J. Munroe] was able to wash indoors for the first time in his life. So he told me. . ."

John A. Munroe writes in "Munroes of Galway and Delaware", "Only my father and his youngest sister, Sarah, were now left with their father in the house on Heald Street, where he lived until his death in November 1910. From at least 1906, however, the oldest of Martin’s children, Mary, was living only two doors from her father, at 200 South Heald Street. She and her husband Reuben Brown had previously lived in Newark, where most of their children were born. . ."






I remember my father and others often referring to Grandfather's
sister Sadie. She was the last to marry and the last woman to leave her parents home. It must have been sad for my grandfather when she moved so far away. But they stayed in touch. Granddad regularly wrote to his sister. I remember him writing at the dining room table. My grandfather was always read the newspaper and a magazine like, "Modern Maturity." however, writing was an uncommon task. I remember him using a lined paper guide beneath the paper on which he was writing. They also did travel as can be seen in this last photo taken~ 1950wen traveling to the home of Emma and Willis Munroe in Akron, Ohio. [in group photo Sadie is at the lower left]

*I think that Sarah Munroe's married name was spelled Geffken but it might be Goffken. I don't know either the date of her marriage or the exact date of her death. I also know nothing of her husband Charles. They had no children so it will take some careful research to complete her story.

1 comment:

Harmony Teacher said...

Emma and Willis Monroe resided in Beaver Falls, PA (a short jaunt north of Pittsburgh, PA in Beaver County). Apparently, the Willis Monroe Family (Willis, Emma, Margaret Ruth, Robert, and Marian) met up with Uncle Mike Munroe and Aunt Sadie when the relatives from Delaware were visiting Sadie in Ohio.