Uncle Larry O'Sullivan of Loughane Part 2

Uncle Mike O'Sullivan told me that Uncle Larry, being the oldest son, returned to Sneem when their parents and sister Bridget were ill. I know nothing about this poor young Bridget except for this battered memorial card that Ma had. She died 24 November 1926 – she was only 17. This was 3 years after Uncle Larry had left Loughane.  Notice that the memorial card was made in the USA - I wonder if her brothers had it made.

If you are a fan of Downton Abbey, you will remember Lady Sybil dying of the Spanish Flu.

The website - http://www.flu.gov/pandemic/history/index.html - gives us some information:
"Illness from the 1918 flu pandemic, also known as the Spanish flu, came on quickly. Some people felt fine in the morning but died by nightfall. People who caught the Spanish Flu but did not die from it often died from complications caused by bacteria, such as pneumonia.

During the 1918 pandemic:

• Approximately 20% to 40% of the worldwide population became ill
• An estimated 50 million people died
• Nearly 675,000 people died in the United States

Unlike earlier pandemics and seasonal flu outbreaks, the 1918 pandemic flu saw high mortality rates among healthy adults. In fact, the illness and mortality rates were highest among adults 20 to 50 years old. The reasons for this remain unknown."

There was another outbreak of the flu in 1926 - it was a milder form. I heard that Bridget died of the flu - I think it was either Larry or Hannah that told me.

Michael "John L" O’Sullivan wanted Uncle Larry, his oldest son,  to stay in Loughane and take over the farm, but, according to Uncle Mike, Larry would not stay. He left without saying good-bye and returned to New Jersey. He then sent Uncle Mike, the youngest son, back to Loughane. I suppose the following manifest for 23 October 1927 is when Uncle Larry was returning to New Jersey. This is almost a year after his sister Bridget died. I wonder if he had made it home before she died?  He is 27 and still single; he continues to work as a laborer.


His visa # 130 is issued in Cobh on 20 October 1927 – 3 days before the S. S. Andania sails for New York. Did he go to Cobh and apply for a visa? If so, did he wait in Cobh to get a ticket on a ship to America, or did he already have a ticket and went to Cobh a couple of days early to get a visa?

Larry reads, writes and speaks English. He is still a citizen of the Irish Free State. He paid his own passage and has $50 – that was a lot of money even in those days. He was in the U.S. previously from October 1923 to April 1927. So he was not at home when his sister died in November 1926 - he went home about 5 months afterwards and stayed about 6 months. I suppose his father or mother wrote telling him that he was needed at home.

Larry is a resident returning to 219 Prescott Place in Plainfield, New Jersey. He intends to stay permanently in the U.S. and become an American citizen. He still has that fresh complexion, dark hair, and brown eyes. This time Larry is not going steerage - he is a second class cabin passenger. The S. S. Andania docked in New York on Halloween – 31 October 1927.

The S.S. Andania was the second ship of this name built for the Cunard Line. The first ship made her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to Quebec and Montreal. She was requisitioned to transport troops in WWI. She carried the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers to Suvla Bay for the battle of Gallipolli which was a British failure with high British casualties. She later sunk in 1918 after being torpedoed by a German submarine.

The second Andania was built in 1922 by Hawthorn, Leslie & Co. Ltd. at Hepburn-on-Tyne, England. She could carry more than 1700 passengers and required 270 crew members. She was requisitioned in 1939 as an armed merchant ship. She was  torpedoed by the Germans in June 1940 near Iceland and sunk.

There is a gap from the time Uncle Larry returns to 219 Prescott Place in 1927 to a listing in the 1929 Plainfield Directory when Larry is working as a chauffeur and resides at the rear of 1127 Watchung Avenue. So where was he when he first arrived? And when did he learn to drive? 

The 1930 United States Census tells us that Laurence O'Sullivan is still living in the house on Watchung Avenue - he is listed as a lodger. He is 30 years old and is not married. He reads and writes. He and his parents were born in the Irish Free State. He emigrated in 1924 and is a naturalized citizen. Larry is working as a chauffeur for a private house.

The owner of this house is 63 year old widow Mary Ginna. 35 year old servant Mary Lowrey is also living here - she is a waitress for a private house.  So is this the private home?

The map below shows Watchung avenue - look toward the left - there is a large area with a lot of white just above the middle of the map. That is showing the Isaac Brown estate and Harriet Myers et al. Above the right upper corner of this white space are two Ginna homes in 1906 - they seem to have  lot of land attached to them. Daniel Ginna is at 1127 on the right - the address where Larry lives, and Mrs Stephen Ginna is at 1107 Watchung Avenue on the left.

Stephen and Daniel Ginna worked at Ginna and Company at 53 Beach Street in New York - they produced cans - Stephen is also listed as the vice president at 284 Pearl Street, New York - they both have homes in Plainfield in 1897.

I found the following information on the Plainfield Garden Club website. 

http://andyswebtools.com/cgi-bin/p/awtp-pa.cgi?d=plainfield-garden-club&type=4491 tells us the following.

Plainfield City of Homes

1127 Watchung Avenue, Plainfield Horse chestnuts, Aesculus hippocastanum, make a spectacular display of huge, white flowers at this time of year. The large horse chestnut pictured in flower above is on the front lawn at 1127 Watchung Avenue. from 2008 Gregory Palermo's Plainfield Tree Blog

From Plainfield, New Jersey's History & Architecture by John Grady and Dorothe Pollard Culling photographs for approbriate illustrations is the most enjoyable part of preparing a book like this. It can also leave one in a quandry. Does a particular dwelling qualify as a farm house or a town house? In the case of the Ginna residence, the choice could go either way. The house was erected for Daniel Ginna in 1902 on part of the property once the site of the circa 1862 Stephen Ginna "farm." The tract was once part of Cedar Brook Farm before the plantation was divided into residential lots. Across the street stand the stone pillars marking the lane to Senator Martine's homestead, just a block away. Daniel Ginna did not need to provide credentials as a country squire. He already owned Woodbrook Farms, a large dairy operation in the Oak Tree section of Raritan Township.now Edison. The home erected on Watchung Avenue was not farmland per se, but its link to horticulture was undeniable. The earliest photograph extant of the Ginna mansion, pre-1910, seems to show greenhouses west of the residence. Despite a lack of any other visual or verbal confirmation of that fact, Ginna was widely known as a grower of championship chrysanthemums. A greenhouse for his prized plants would not have been beyond the realm of possibility. In 1910, the Ginnas built an extension to the west front, later attaching a pillared, screened conservatory to its facade. A 1926 photography displays the new construction. Courtesy of Courier News – Bridgewater, New Jersey In 1948, the Monday Afternoon Club purchased the mansion and, between 1949 and 1961, removed the open-air conservatory and altered the west wing to provide auditorium facilities. So it appears in a recent photograph and so it stands today, after conversion back into a family residence (2008) The history of this gracious home has come full circle.

From Plainfield, New Jersey's History & Architecture by John Grady and Dorothe Pollard A Courier News article once headlined "Carlton Mews" as "Plainfield's most elegant hayloft." No one would ever argue the point. The carriage house of the Ginna estate was converted by the Lare family between 1921 - 1924 and beautifully renovated by Lucy and Raymond Rose in 1961. Many original features including the G-for-Ginna weathervane and tiles unearthed from a three-hundred-foot rose arbor along Carlton Avenue were preserved and recycled. Throughout the Roses' tenure, Carlton Mews contributed its incomparable charm to the city's many charitable functions through architectural tours, a designer show house, and summer garden parties. That tradition continues today in a setting of floral abundance. Our camera catches a view rarely seen in present-day Plainfield – the entrance to an old, brick-walled stable yard. Preserved by the Roses to provided a dining terrace outside the kitchen door, its narrow dimensions originally helped steady the horses during daily grooming sessions. 1905 American Homes & Gardens 1905 American Homes & Gardens 1905 American Homes & Gardens 1905 American Homes & Gardens 1905 American Homes & Gardens 1905 American Homes & Gardens 1905 American Homes & Gardens November 1905 American Homes and Gardens page 315 The House of Daniel F. Ginna, Esq. Plainfield, New Jersey The house built for Daniel F. Ginna, Esq., at Plainfield, N.J., is designed and carried out in a simple type of the New England Colonial Architecture of the Georgian period and its tall, stately columns and portico at the front form the principal characteristic of this particular style. The entire outside is covered with clapboards and painted white. The roof, covered with metal, is painted red. The blinds are painted green. The red brick which is used for the underpinning is also used in the chimneys, and both are laid in red mortar. The front of the home is supplanted by a grassed terrace, and the building has a very pleasing setting among a clump of pines and poplars. The house has been designed and planned, in every sense of the word, as a home; the arrangement of the rooms shows this conclusively, for they are large and commodious, and yet perfectly simple and dignified in their treatment and form. The family and private piazza at the side of the house is so designed and located as to afford ample shelter from the sun, and at the same time be swept by the prevailing breezes. At the other side of the house, and as a necessary adjunct, is the porte-cochere, while at the front there is a portico and entrance to the main hall. This hall forms a very interesting entree to the entire general scheme, for, upon entering, a vista is obtained of all the principal rooms of the first floor. It is of considerable length, and in order to break its elongated effect massive beams have been placed in the ceiling at certain distances apart, and the whole supported on Colonial columns and pilasters, forming a colonaded effect. The typical Colonial staircase built in at the end of the hall, and rising from either side to a broad platform, is the principal feature of the hall. The risers, treads and balusters, over the newel posts, which formed of a cluster of balusters. Underneath the landing there is an open fireplace, built with pressed brick facings, tiled hearth and mantel-shelf. To the right of the entrance is the reception-room, which is treated in the Empire style, pink, green and white in color, the walls being paneled in silk. The library is treated with white enamel paint, and the walls are covered with a soft green texture. The fireplace has a green tile facing and hearth, and a mantel. The billiard-room, which is placed beyond the library, is trimmed with cypress, and is treated with stain in the forest-green effect. it has an open fireplace, built of field stone, with facings of the same, and summounted by a massive stone shelf. The den at the rear of the library is finished in a Flemish brown, and it has a lavatory and an open fireplace. The dining room is placed on the opposite side of the house, is treated in white, while the walls are covered with Japanese leather. This room is oval in form, and it makes a very attractive apartment. The fireplace has tiled facings and hearth and mantel. The butler's pantry is fitted with dressers, drawers, cupboards, sink, etc. The kitchen is fitted with a pantry, which is quite unusual for the modern house, and contains the ice-box, which has an outside entrance. The kitchen has an open fireplace, pot closet, sink and counter, and is fitted with all the best modern conveniences. The second floor throughout is trimmed with pine and treated with white enamel paint, while doors are finished in mahogany. This floor contains a large, open hall, the front of which is devoted to a sitting-room and five bedrooms with large closets, and three bathrooms, the latter having tiled floors and wainscoting, and porcelain fixtures and exposed nickel plated plumbing. There is also on this floor a linen closet of large dimensions, well fitted with shelves and drawers, and a cedar closet. The third floor contains the servant quarters and bath and trunk rooms. A cemented cellar contains the laundry, the heating apparatus, fuel rooms, cold storage, etc. Messrs. Tracy & Swartwout, architects, 244 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y.

I found it fascinating reading about this family and the house where Uncle Larry worked! I wish I could find this kind of information for my other relatives! I also read that the house was used in 1990 in the movie Basket Case 2.

The 1935 Plainfield Directory below shows that Larry is still chauffeuring on Watchung Avenue.

Mrs. Katherine Ginna returned to 1127 Watchung Avenue from  trips to Europe in September 1934,  March 1936, August 1937. She was very active it seems from the minutes of the Plainfield Garden Club. I am thinking of Uncle Larry driving her to all her engagements throughout Plainfield and perhaps beyond!

1938 shows 2 changes - Larry is now married - he and Mary are named in the listing - and he has moved to 1219 Putnam Avenue - he is still a chauffeur.

Larry and Mary Ambrose O'Sullivan

1940 shows even more changes. Larry has changed jobs and has moved again. The Plainfield directory lists "Lawrence (Mary A) assembler h 705 Kensington av apt B."

The 1940 U.S. Census of Plainfield City's Ward Two was taken on April 8 by Richard Goodrich. The O'Sullivans were the 8th family visited. They are renting an apartment at 701 Kensington Avenue. Mary told the census taker that they are paying $43 a month rent. She said that Larry is 40 years old while she is 30. They both finished high school. Mary reports that they lived in the same place on April 1, 1935. This is interesting since the 1938 directory listed them living at 1219 Putnam Avenue!

Mary states that Larry was born in Ireland and is a naturalized citizen; she was born in New Jersey. She reports Larry works 40 hours weekly as an assembler at Int. Motors - I wonder if that would be International Motors?

I am puzzled why Larry would go to work in an assembly plant when Mrs. Ginna is still living on Watchung Avenue until at least 1944.

Uncle Larry and his grandson in 1978.

So this is all I know about Uncle Larry. As we discussed much earlier in the introduction to this blog, I saw him in Sneem in 1978 for his niece Eileen O'Sullivan's wedding.  I know that Larry and Mary had 2 daughters – Mollie and Anne.  I've met each of them a couple of times.

Kate and Pat O'Sullivan (Uncle Mike's son) with Uncle Larry, me, and Dick Boland (nephew of Uncle Larry's wife) at Eileen O'Sullivan's wedding in 1978.

Lena Nash O'Sullivan - Uncle Mike's wife, Uncle Larry, me, Eileen Murphy, Dick, and Uncle Mike at Sacre Coeur Cafe in Sneem in 1978.