The American Dream

 We know from family lore that John Keohane moved his family to Belmont to save money to buy a house. I don't know if he continued driving the trolley from Harvard Square to Watertown Square or if he was given a new route. My mother had happy memories of living in Belmont. Eventually the time came when John Keohane and Ma were ready to buy a house - I don't know if John Keohane picked it out himself or if it was a joint decision. But they they found a house in Arlington Heights at the top of Park Avenue Extension - #104. I don't know if they had friends in Arlington or how they decided on Park Ave. There is a car barn in Arlington Heights. Perhaps John Keohane was driving a trolley from Harvard Square to Arlington Heights and got to know the area. I suppose we will never know. 104 Park Ave was at the top of a hill - there was a school across the street but there were also woods - it was much less developed than today. I think Arlington Heights had shops so Ma could walk down the hill to do shopping.

The red icon below shows 104 Park Avenue Extension - it goes down the hill, crosses Lowell Street, then comes to Massachusetts Avenue where the trolley passed on its way to Arlington Heights Station. Park Avenue continues cross Mass Ave. You can see Paul Revere road at the bottom - Aunt Hannah Keohane and uncle Stephen DeCourcey will live there later - on the end near Walgreen's - it used to be an A&P when I stayed with them. 

I like this picture because it shows the side of the house - it is on the corner Park Ave Ext and Morris Street.

I was searching around on the Middlesex South Registry of Deeds website to see when the Keohanes bought the house, but the online records only go back as far as 1994. But I did find out that the house was built about 1926 - so it was new when the Keohanes moved in!! That must have been a nice change from Belmont for Ma.

My mother and Hannie used to talk about their father having a car. My mother remembered riding in a rumble seat of a car. Hannie said she remembered Ma sitting in the back seat of a car with her arms in front of the kids so they wouldn't fall out. She said there were sides that had to be hooked to the car. The car was open - there was a see through piece that John Keohane attached to the car - to block the wind perhaps? I'm not sure when John Keohane bought the car - it was a Ford. By the 1920s Henry Ford had invented his assembly line so cars were more affordable to working families. Maybe after the trips to St. Elizabeth's for Hannie's and Peggy's births, Ma decided a car was more important than a new house!! We know that my grandfather had a car at least in Arlington.

Below is a picture of a 1926 Ford Roadster with a rumble seat - if 2 adults fit in it, I suppose a couple of kids could easily fit.

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/179374/216321.html?1307657351

Below is a picture of what a rumble seat looks like.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1097333

I took this picture years ago during one of our tours of Watertown, Belmont and Arlington. 

My mother talked about the Keohanes having a radio - they would put it in the window, and neighbors would come to listen to news about Al Smith running against Herbert Hoover. Al Smith was the first Catholic to run for president. I'm sure the Irish were very interested in the election. Unfortunately, Herbert Hoover was elected - Al Smith was subjected to some anti-Catholic prejudice.

My mother or Hannie told me that my grandfather and Ma also listened to Father Charles Coughlin - the radio priest! Apparently, at first Father Coughlin preached sermons and advocated for the poor. Later he was a supporter of Franklin Delano Roosevelt for President - later Coughlin turned against FDR. His shows later became anti-semitic, and he was eventually ordered off the radio by Catholic Hierarchy.

The Keohanes had reached the American Dream - my grandfather had a good job, they were able to buy a car, a house, and a radio. 

John Keohane could take the trolley or bus home from work and walk up the hill. My mother and Hannie both remember Jim taking an umbrella to met his father on a rainy day. A policeman was directing traffic in the intersection. Jim was standing waiting for his father, but the policeman thought he was trying to cross the street and motioned him to cross. Jim went to cross the street and was hit by a car. He was taken to Symmes Hospital in Arlington.

The above picture must have been taken shortly after the Keohanes moved to Park Ave. Peggy is the baby in the carriage - she was born in Belmont.  Hannie is on the left holding a baby doll, John Keohane is sitting on the steps, Jim is standing, and my mother is sitting on the stairs behind Peggy.

Hannie on the steps of the school across the street where Jim went. She is in he same outfit as the picture above. I cropped the picture for a closer look - the original is below.

I'm not sure if this is Hannie and Peggy or my mother and Hannah sitting on the same school steps. 

Jim in a nice suit.

Hannie remembers asking Jim if he had a happy memory about their father. Jim said he was with friends across Park Ave. at the school. John Keohane called him over to the car. Jim said he was so happy and proud - his father looked handsome in his uniform, and he had a car. Jim went running happily over to his father who slapped him for not doing something that his father had told him to do. I guess that was more a bittersweet memory, donít you think?

Hannie and Jim sitting on the grass - my mother behind Hannie - Peggy playing with Jim.

John Keohane with Peggy in the sweater and Hannie. I love his hat!

John Keohane holding Peggy - looks like my mother is in the back.

My mother in front, Ned Shea holding Peggy with Hannie on his shoulders. Dan Gimley - the boyfriend who dumped Aunt Nellie to marry someone he got pregnant - is behind my mother. She thought he was wearing John Keohane's hat. Look at Ma looking out the window.

The unedited version is below.

Dan Gimlett holding Peggy and my mother/Ellen - Jim in back playing with the hat.

Aunt Nellie with Hannie, Peggy, and my mother - Jim in the back.

Mrs. Carpenter who lived next door with Peggy, and I think it is Mrs. Carpenter's dog.

Hannie said that one day Ma was out of matches and sent Hannie to the neighbor - Mrs. Carpenter - to borrow some. Hannie brought the matches home but kept a couple. Hannie was small at this time - she was born in 1924, and this was before the 1930 census. There was a wooded area past the school. Hannie and a little playmate went to the woods and started lighting the matches. The woods caught fire. Hannie's memory of her father is her hiding under her bed and her father's arms reaching under the bed to pull her out. 

Not sure where this porch is but the kids seem to like the dog - Jim, Peggy and I think it is Hannie.

I know there were old pictures of the family at Revere Beach - John Keohane was in the old fashioned bathing suit. But those pictures have gone AWOL. I would love to include them in this narrative. I wonder if the Keohanes drove to Revere Beach or took the bus?

My mother said John Keohane used to make home brew in Arlington also. He had a garden in the back of the house. Mae Keohane came to stay with them in Arlington sometime after her mother died. (Do you remember her father was Tom Keohane - John Keohane's brother?)  My mother and Hannie both remember Mae taking the Sunday newspaper before anyone could read it - she would sit on the part she wasn't reading and read the funnies. The others were dying to get the paper, but Mae took her time. Hannie said Ma thought it was because Mae had nothing of her own - no mother, no home - she was sent from one relative or family friend to the next. 

Life must have been happy in those times for the Keohanes. Remember where Ma and John Keohane came from. Ma left Loughane - that rocky farm with the stern step-father. John Keohane worked and saved to buy a house for his family before he emigrated. They left their families not knowing if they would see them again. They came to Massachusetts and found work. Remember that there were still anti-Irish feelings when they arrived in Boston. They married, had a family, bought a house, bought a car. Their house was a meeting place for their single Irish friends and relatives. Life was good.