[79]
GARRETT COWLS was born in Camden on August 1, 1850 to William and Mary Cowls. His father was a railroad worker. Garret Cowls was too young to see action during the Civil War, but served with the United States Army during the Indian Wars. He apparently returned to the Army during the Spanish-American War as well.
Garrett Cowls was known in his time as the father of baseball in Camden. He appear as a player in a Philadelphai box score in 1865. In 1868 he organized and pitched on a team which played its games on grounds at South 2nd and Line Streets. He would remain involved with the game most of the rest of his life, and managed a team which played at that location for many years.
Garrett Cowls married Margaret Duff. At least four children were born, Elmer, Frederick, Harry, and Laura. Shortly after the 1868 baseball season, the family went west. Garret Cowls enlisted in the Armey and served from 1870 to 1874. Frederick Cowls was born in Ohio in December of 1879. The family was living in Columbus when the Census was taken in 1880, Garrett Cowls then working as a waiter. The Cowls returned to Camden by shortly thereafter.
By 1887 the Cowls family was living at 215 Line Street. Garrett Cowls was working as an engineer. Two more children had been born in the intervening years, Harry around 1882 and Laura in 1885. By 1890 they had moved to 420 South 2nd Street. Garrett Cowls and family had moved to 314 Birch Street in North Camden by the time the Census was enumerated in 1900.
In 1905 Laura Cowls married vaudeville performer Joseph P. Hamilton. Their daughter, Kathryn "Kay" Hamilton also went into show business. Kay Hamilton worked on vaudeville, movies, and on Broadway, appearing with Eddie Dowling and George Jessel.
The family, which in 1910 included the Hamiltons and their children, lived at 326 Cooper Street in Camden. Dr. Daniel Strock, who owned the property, lived in a separate apartment in the same building. Garrett Cowls was then working as a stationary engineer.
Garrett Cowls was still alive when the census was taken in April of 1930. He and son Harry were living with Joseph and Laura Cowls Hamilton at 501 Haddon Avenue in Camden. The Hamiltons later moved to Atlantic City. Garrett and Harry Cowls were living at 416 Taylor Avenue in the summer of 1930.
Garrett Cowls passed away on September 30, 1930. He is buried at Bethel Cemetery in Pennsauken NJ, in Section D, grave 252.
Garrett Cowls great-grandson, James McEvoy, served as a member of the Camden Fire Department from 1969 to 1982.
Source: http://dvrbs.com/people/CamdenPeople-GarrettCowls.htm
_Patrick DESMOND ____
| (.... - 1878)
_Jeremiah DESMOND ___|
| (1827 - ....) |
| |_Mary HORGAN ________
|
|
|--Julia DESMOND
| (1895 - 1984)
| _____________________
| |
|_Catherine CASEY ____|
|
|_____________________
_Denis Joseph KENNEDY _+
| (1816 - 1905) m 1856
_John Patrick KENNEDY _|
| (1859 - 1950) |
| |_Ellen O'KEEFE ________
| (1828 - 1915) m 1856
|
|--Marie KENNEDY
| (1900 - ....)
| _______________________
| |
|_Mary ALTMAN __________|
(1869 - 1916) |
|_______________________
_Denis Joseph KENNEDY _+
| (1816 - 1905) m 1856
_Michael Joseph KENNEDY _|
| (1856 - 1925) |
| |_Ellen O'KEEFE ________
| (1828 - 1915) m 1856
|
|--Mary Claire KENNEDY
| (1887 - 1920)
| _______________________
| |
|_Mary Ellen HOGAN _______|
(1866 - 1920) |
|_______________________
_____________________
|
_Philip LEONARD _____|
| |
| |_____________________
|
|
|--Philip T. LEONARD
|
| _Jerry DESMOND ______+
| |
|_Hannah DESMOND _____|
|
|_Ellen RILEY ________
________________________
|
_John Robert MCGONEGAL ___|
| m 1942 |
| |________________________
|
|
|--Elizabeth MCGONEGAL
| (1959 - ....)
| _John Jeremiah DESMOND _+
| | (1886 - 1958)
|_Margaret (Peig) DESMOND _|
(1919 - ....) m 1942 |
|_Mary A. TWOMEY ________
(1884 - 1968)
_Patrick MCMULLEN _____+
| (1850 - 1886)
_William MCMULLEN ___|
| (1882 - 1938) m 1904|
| |_Mary Ellen MCCARTNEY _
| (1855 - 1891)
|
|--Elsie Marie MCMULLEN
| (1906 - 1982)
| _Joseph HAMILTON ______+
| | (1851 - 1899) m 1873
|_Laura Mae HAMILTON _|
(1886 - 1918) m 1904|
|_Sara Anne REILLY _____+
(1859 - 1919) m 1873
[51]
Residence: 1910 - 1001 Manhattan Ave., Brooklyn, New York
Residence: 1 June 1915 - New York, Kings, New York, United States
Residence: 1920 - Philadelphia Ward 33, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Residence: 1930 - 6010 Keystone St. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Residence: 1 Apr 1940 - 179 Chestnut St, Bensalem, Bucks, Pennsylvania, United States.
Marriage: 7 Apr 1924 - Manhattan, New York, USA
Harry Meyer (1903–1980)
Marriage: 8 Jul 1944 - Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware, USA
Warner Thompson Johnson (1896–1978)
Elsie McMullen Meyer, was a tough twenty year old from the Bronx Borough of New York City. Elsie moved to Philly after her own mother came down with T.B. during the Great War. Elsie married Harry Meyer at seventeen years of age. Elsie McMullen was only nine years old when her mother came down with Tuberculosis. The McMullen's were living in a large tenement house in the Bronx Borough of New York City during the Great War. Elsie's mother, Laura May, had been hospitalized at a hospital near the east river. Elsie was the second of four children born to Bill and Laura May McMullen. Elsie was with her mother when she died on October 10th, 1918 and saw her casket sitting on the street each day she walked to school. Since the flu epidemic was in full swing, along with a serious burial space shortage, coffins often lined the streets with victims of the epidemic. Laura Mae's body was finally put to rest several weeks after her death in her mother's family plot. Elsie started to stutter badly after her mother's death, but the school Nuns broke her of it by having her recite poetry every night. Elsie graduated from Catholic School in the 8th grade, moving directly into the workforce to help her family. Her stepmother had two new babies and Elsie was expected to help support her new brother and sister. Elsie's older sister, Gertrude, was already working at a local Box plant and got her sister a job there. Elsie and her sister Gertrude found a coldwater flat of their own to start their lives on their own.