This month marks the 110th anniversary of the birth of my Aunt Susie. Born Elizabeth Naomi Jane, she was the first child of Charles and Lucy Brown, and her maternal grandmother helped to deliver her on September 19 in Davidson Township, Sullivan County, PA. She was known to most as Susie, although some called her Lizzie. Susie grew up in the Sullivan County area until she was about 6 years of age, and she likely knew something of her grandparents.
Around 1913 the family was living in Aurora NY, presumably moving there for employment opportunities. Her father who had been a woodsman was a farm laborer in Aurora in 1915; he moved the family to Indiana County PA in 1918 when he went to work in the mines. They lived in several locations, before renting a house near the county home by 1930 and then finally buying a house in 1947 on North 11th street in the town of Indiana.
Susie lived in this house 30 years. My brother and sister remember watching her walk down the block to work at the Greiner’s Baker; she worked there a number of years. My sister recalls Aunt Susie taking her to the bakery a couple of times and showing her around; after the tour my sister got a cupcake that was being iced. When the bakery closed around 1960, Susie then went to work in the laundry of the Indiana Hospital, until she retired.
It was the house on North 11th street where I remember going to see Susie and her two sisters. Our family would visit several times a year, and this house served as a central location for the family to gather. Of course that might have been in part due to Susie, who was in many ways the heart and center of the family. She corresponded with her cousins, aunts and uncles who lived in Indiana, central PA and NY. She would visit relatives for vacations, which kept her up on what family members were doing. One summer she even stayed with my family for a week.
Most of my memories of my Aunt Susie are rather fuzzy. She died before I was out of school and before my interest in genealogy began. When I did begin researching the family, and I asked a question about certain relatives, I would often get the response, “If Susie were here, she could have told you.” She must have had a wealth of family knowledge. I’m sure she would have been a kindred spirit with me in researching the family.
Her good hearted nature and smile are things people remember most about her. Susie enjoyed life and was generous and kind. When my siblings and I were little she gave us presents at Christmas time, as I imagine she did for her other nieces and nephews. Instead of being stuck in the rigid gender roles of the time, she might give a nephew a doll, or a niece a truck, much to the chagrin of my father. My sister remembers getting a cap gun one year and a toy rifle another. I have memories of playing with a tea set that came from her.
Maybe it was just a bit of her ornery nature. Not in the typical sense of the word, but ornery in the way my family uses it: mischievous, kidding in a jokingly sly way, like with a wink, a nod and a smile. She might tell a joke, slightly off-color, or even a bit racy by some people’s standards that would bring a chuckle or perhaps a small groan at the punch line. She would buy novelty gifts and give them to her siblings. My sister recalled playing with a little boy statue that when filled with water would pee and a hula girl that danced—trinkets from Susie.
Susie was an avid crocheter making many items, such as toilet paper covers, pot holders and blankets that she would give as gifts. Her afghans were great lap blankets and tri-colored; she would use pink, white and blue for baby blanket gifts. She also made little crocheted dogs, like poodles, for me and my siblings. I remember as a child playing with the three dogs and I named each for the color she used to make them, Brownie, Blackie, and Bluey. At one time she tried to teach me to crochet and as I was having a hard time, she showed me how to finger crochet, which is basically making a chain of the first row. Inspired by her, I eventually learned how to crochet and can at least make a simple scarf.
One vivid memory I have is visiting Aunt Susie when she was ill with cancer. I was only a teenager and she was in bed, weak and in declining health. Everyone had left me alone in the room with her. I later realized that my dad and aunts were having a difficult time dealing with the fact their eldest sister was dying. I showed Susie some photos I had taken and made some small talk about things I was doing. I was very aware that she was not well and felt self-conscious about what to say. Yet I didn’t want to leave her alone; she seemed appreciative to have company—most likely spending many hours lying in bed alone with her thoughts—so I stayed. I did my best to keep the conversation going, and to keep her mind entertained. But looking back I wish I could recall what she had said. My interest in genealogy had not piqued, and now how I wish I had asked the many questions I typically ask, like “What was it like growing up?”, “What can you tell me about your grandparents, your parents, aunts, and uncles?” That might have soothed her the most, to talk about her life and memories. And what stories I could have heard that now are spoken no more, forever silent and lost to the times.
Relatively Speaking Blog 