Kathleen Marguerite Crow 1900

First member in Edwin S. and Kathleen M. (Thomas) Crow family.

Kathleen Marguerite Crow

b. 18 Nov. 1900      d. Nov. 3 1995      bp. Albany, NY bb. Husband    
m. 18 Jun. 1919 to Clarence V. Coogan son of Clarence and Ellen (Shepard) Coogan

When Clarence died, Kathleen moved to Kingston, NY to be near her two sons. While still living in Elmsford she fell in her apartment and injured her back. She was unable to work again. After moving to Kingston, a chiropractor (McKinnon) promised her he would have her working again in six months. He was true to his word and she rejoined the work force as a food service person for the Kingston Hospital. She worked at the hospital for fifteen years and retired at the age of 82, only because of a change in the hospital work age policy.   At 83 she fell and broke her hip. After that she resided in the Ulster County Infirmary until her death, thirteen years later.

Words of Kathleen Crow as related to her son:

"I remember the flu epidemic of 1917. I was seventeen at the time and was working at a cigar factory in lower Albany. My father was a switchman for the trolley system on State and Pearl streets. His job was to set the tracks to send trolleys to various parts of Albany.
At work I began to feel very weak and sick. I decided to walk from the factory to where my father was working. The snow was piled head high on either side of the walk with just enough room for one person. Passing another person was difficult. It seemed like hours and miles to walk those few blocks. Everyone on the street, including my father, wore a white cloth over their face to ward off the flu germs. My father wore a greatcoat that reached to his ankles, a fur hat with ear muffs and heavy overshoes." He said, "I can't leave now Kathleen, go home and go to bed. I'll be home as soon as I can."

"The trolley conductors would not allow anyone with a cough or persons who did not look well to ride, so, I walked home. The entire family came down with the flu; Mom, Charles, Adna, and Grace. My father managed to stay healthy and nursed us all through the dreaded period, a feat he attributed to Old Crow whiskey. He was never a drinking person, but, he allotted himself a prescribed amount per day.

I remember when my mother was finally able to sit up. My father made her comfortable in an easy chair by the front window. Her first question was, "Ed, why are all those boxes stacked in front of the houses?   My father said, "My God, I forgot about them."  My mother then realized they were caskets and fainted into a relapse.

The deaths were so numerous the funeral directors could not handle the volume. Caskets were stacked as many as four high at some doors. The ash man helped to take them away with the horse and wagon, *

* (Wood and coal were the heating fuels of that era.)

GO TO the next page

RETURN to the table of contents

RETURN to the home page