cawley's in america

Edward had to “sneak away” to come to the United States. He stopped at the blacksmith to say goodbye to his brother Charlie. He said he was going to Queenstown (now Cobh, pronounced Cove), which is where the ships departed. We are not quite sure what “sneak away” means because we did hear stories that people would leave quietly to avoid   the sadness accompanying it. A picture of the ship Oceanic that Edward took to America can be seen on ellisisland.org as well as the passenger manifest   with basic information – destination and contact at destination, amount of   cash ($10), literacy, health and general description.

Apparently, Edward and his older brother, John, were very close because Margaret Freeman tells the store that Edward, her rather, upon catching the girls arguing would say something like, “Oh if only you would get along like I did with my brother John.”

Edward was a boyhood friend in Ireland with Tom Gibbons, who with Delia, his wife, had children: Margaret, Patricia, Eileen, Jean, Tom, William and John. Have not been able to reconcile that Tom   Gibbons’ oldest child is the same age as Edward’s youngest.

The 1901 Census shows his age as 18, which is incorrect. (See discussion under Margaret #1.)

When Edward first came to the United   States, he lived with his stepsister Bridget Barrett (Aunt Bea) on East 98th Street in Cleveland. One of his early jobs was as a gravedigger at Calvary   Cemetery. He walked there to save the two cents carfare.

Much of his working life he worked for the Premier Vacuum Cleaner Co., where he set up and operated automatic screw machines. The plant was located near Euclid Avenue near Ivanhoe Road. He generally took streetcars to work rather than drive. I believe the plant was acquired by General Electric while he was working there.