FOREWORD:

This document was written by William A. Conway (b. April 16, 1910, Newark, NJ - d. March 31,
2006, Summit, NJ) during the early 1990s. It was compiled and edited by Kevin Cullen (the
authors grandson) over a period of weeks in late 2007 with the help of Gina LeDuc, a
researcher/editor residing on the coast of Maine. This version encapsulates a variety of different
draft memory documents that Mr. Conway had written at the urging of his daughter Mary
Conway (at the time Mary was working on a history paper at the University of Michigan; not
coincidentally, that paper focused on the Conway genealogy). While it was never finalized due to
computer problems, it is hoped that this version reflects what his paper would have looked like had
it been finalized (with additional detail or supporting documentation footnoted for reference).
Future updates may be possible if readers have any additional details to share about his life or the
lives of his ancestors or descendants. Corrections, additions or updates may be forwarded to: Kevin
Cullen (kevincullen67@gmail.com).

Past Remembered: William Conways Life and Family Memories

Now that I have acquired a bit of computer IQ some of my kids have urged me to put into my disk the
things that I can remember about my family and events past. I am aware that memories can be wiped out
in an instant by that Great Operator above, just as I wiped out the first five pages of this kind of stuff by
one key stroke. So, I will try.

My family came from two branches: McKeon and Conway. Both branches came here from Ireland. I will
try to recall facts and memories of the two branches as well as I can and maybe some data on the twigs.

The McKeon Family

Here, as in most of that which follows, I begin with memory.

In the old country (Ireland), three bachelor brothers, in need of someone to run their home, hired a
Spanish runaway as their housekeeper: Thomasina. The oldest brother decided to save the wages paid to
her, so he married her. They had four children; their first child, Michael McKeon, who was my
grandfather. Michael was born in Ireland. The remaining children where: Matthew McKeon, Mary
McKeon Burke, and another sister whose first name is unknown. What is known about her is that she
married into the Caton family. All the McKeon siblings left Ireland and came out to settle in Newark,
New Jersey.

My grandfather, Michael, married Mary Meskill. They were married on April 12, 1880 at Saint Columba
Catholic Church in Newark, New Jersey. 1 Mary was a first generation 2 Irish girl from Morristown. She
and her sister, Margaret, or "Aunt Maggie," worked in a Newark Law office. Both women had "an
excellent hand" which is to say beautiful penmanship; a necessity in copying legal documents. No
typewriters way back then!

Throughout my childhood we visited my grandmothers home town, Morristown, several times. We most
often traveled to Morristown by train: DL&W. At that time, it was possible to take the Morris County
traction cars all the way out to Morristown and beyond to Dover. The Morris County traction cars were
distinguished from the Public Service Company cars both by their size and color: they were large green
cars as opposed to the Public Service Companys yellow cars.

1
A review of the marriage record located on www.Familysearch.org indicates that Marys name was shown as Mary Maskell age
24 with parents being Daniel Maskell (not Meskill) and Margaret (ODonnell) Maskell. Michael McKeons parents were listed
as John Mckeon and Catherine Devine.
2
William Conways notes state second generation. Considering Marys parents immigrated, this would make Mary first
generation if she was born within the United States after her parents immigrated.
 Past Remembered: William Conways Life and Family Memories

My great grandfather, Daniel Meskill, Marys father, also came here from Ireland. He made the journey
to this country bringing with him only his eldest son, Thomas. My great grandfathers objective was to,
with help from Thomas; earn enough money to pay the passage from Ireland to this country for his wife,
Margaret ODonnell, and their remaining four children 3.

My great grandfather earned the necessary fare by establishing a dirt moving business. He made enough
money hauling fill used in the development of the palatial country estates being built in the area to send
for his entire family. They all sailed on a packet ship; it must indeed have been a rough crossing as three
of the children did not complete the journey. In the McKeon house the expression "God bless you and
save you from the dangers of the sea" was in common use, particularly when one was about to leave the
house. I can now understand why.

Thomas Meskill, my grandmothers brother, continued to operate their fathers dirt moving business
through out his life. The business was operated from the barns in back of his home. Tom had five
children: Thomas, Daniel, Julia, Eleanor, and Elizabeth (Lizzie). 4

What I know of Thomas Meskills five children is as follows: Thomas was a United States mailman,
Daniel was killed in France during WW 1, Julia never married, Eleanor became a school teacher and also
never married, Lizzie married a drunk; she and he husband had two boys. Lizzie worked as a telephone
operator in Whippany, New Jersey.

My grandparents, Michael and Mary McKeon, lived on 136 Wakeman Avenue, Newark, New Jersey.
Together, they had two children. Their first child, Daniel, was born in about 1882. Daniel grew up to play
first base for a baseball team in the Lackawanna League. He was killed in 1908 in Chatham, New Jersey
by a batted ground ball that hit a stone in the field and took an odd bounce. The ball struck his jaw in such
a way as to fracture his skull. He was pronounced dead on arrival.

Michael and Marys second child was my mother, Julia McKeon. She was born on January 6 th, 1885.5
While growing up, she and my father, William Aloysius Conway, lived within a block of one another and
went to the same parish events. They married on June 10th, 1909 at St. Michaels Church. I was born April
16th, 1910 at our home on 460 Summer Avenue, Newark, New Jersey. I recall two Doctors being referred
to in connection with that event: Dr. Hawks and Dr. Whitenack.

Dr. Hawks opened his practice in Newark after he returned from the Spanish American War; his office
was opposite St. Patricks Church. It was he who set my fathers leg which was broken when a pile of
lumber fell over on him. He also made a house call on a Sunday morning to put clips in a deep cut I
sustained through the eye brow over my right eye. Dr Hawks was on the staff of Newarks Presbyterian
Hospital; his son and grandson still practice medicine.

Eventually, our family moved from my birth place on 460 Summer Avenue, Newark New Jersey into the
first floor flat on 138 Wakeman Avenue. The move occurred sometime around 1913 or 1914. In about
1914, my mother lost an infant son, Daniel, about two weeks after his birth. His was not born at home, but

3
The 1880 Census confirms Daniel and Margaret Meskill residing in Morristown, NJ with two children Thomas Meskill (age 24)
and Margaret Meskill (age 19). Another daughter, Mary, had married by then; no record of the fourth child has been found at the
time of this writing.

4
William Conways notes did not mention Thomas wife; a review of 1900 census data shows Thomas Meskill (45, born 1855),
Eleanor Meskill (39, born 1861), Julia A Meskill (15, born 1885), Mary E Meskill (13, born 1887) Daniel Meskill (11, born
1889), Thomas H Meskill (7, born 1893) Eleanor B Meskill (3, born 1897)

5
This researcher surmises she was born in Morristown, but William Conways notes did not indicate place of birth.
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 Past Remembered: William Conways Life and Family Memories

instead, at Saint James Hospital in Newark. On July 8 th, 1918 my sister, Mary, was born. Around 1922,
our family moved from Newark, NJ to Bayonne, NJ and then in 1938, we moved the Short Hills, NJ.

A coal fired steam system supplied the heat to our Newark home on 138 Wakeman Avenue. Cleaning out
the ashes became my job by 1916 when I was six years old. My father took the big ash barrels out to the
curb once a week. Blocks of lake ice were delivered weekly in the winter and three times a week during
the summer. Window screens and awnings were our summer air conditioning. The awnings were kept
down on the sunny side of the house while the windows were kept open. The screens filtered out the flies
and bugs.

Deliveries of all kinds were made directly to the home: milk by the quart in glass bottles, ice, coal, news
papers, mail, groceries, and department store purchases. Vegetables were sold by hucksters directly from
open wagons.

We finally got a telephone; the exchange was "branch brook. Automobiles were just becoming common;
I even had a ride in one.

I recall, before I was old enough to attend school, the children and teachers living south of us passing by
our home each day. I was very young and possessed both an alphabet book, printed on washable cloth,
and an interest in attending the Nursery Street School. One day I took my book in hand and went off to
school. A full half hour later I was escorted back home by one of the teachers; thus my early education
was brought to an abrupt halt.

When I was finally old enough for school I went to St. Michaels located on Bellville Avenue just south of
Fourth. It was about a mile from home to school. Every day we came home for lunch thus we logged four
miles each.

The block on the west side of Bellville Avenue between Fourth and Kearney was the site for all pick up
baseball games. An old wooden low picket fence ran along the Bellville Avenue side. It was over hung by
what we knew as an Indian apple tree. The tree bore a fruit which contained a non-eatable nut. The
branches were protected by long hard thorns; we were certain those thorns were the same kind used in
Christs crown of thorns. Needless to say, the Sisters of Charity nuns agreed and concluded this was a
holy tree; the fruit made a wonderful missal to throw at the beer wagons.

Fires were a big event and happened frequently in Newark. A big protestant church on Bellville Avenue,
just north of Fourth, caught fire one day. The kids were glad that it was not St. Michaels and more than
happy that it was a protestant church.

Fire engines were still drawn by horses; Dad and I often walked down to the hook and ladder company on
Washington Avenue. The horses were stabled in stalls at the back of the fire house. When an alarm was
rung a bell sounded, the stall doors opened, and the horses galloped to their appointed places under the
harnesses rigged from the rafters. The driver mounted his seat while the other men strapped the harness
to the horse. All this took less than three minutes. Dont get in the way, was an important lesson. We
had a picture of three horse heads at home and my father told me that the animals were the three from the
fire house: Tom, Dick, and Harry. I suppose that is how I became a story teller.

There was also a three story horse stable on Fourth Avenue just east of Bellville Avenue. One Saturday
night, around 1915, it, too, caught fire and was gutted. What a stink when we went to Mass on Sunday
morning.

Father Felix O'Neil was the pastor at St. Michaels Church. While pastor, he had a three car garage added
to the rectory. Plus he added a second floor with rooms for the house keeping staff. A fresh air fanatic,

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 Past Remembered: William Conways Life and Family Memories

Father ONeil had a third floor added designed to allow for all sides of the addition to be open, yet
screened. Accessible from the third floor of the rectory, the addition was used as his year round bedroom 6.

Newark was a growing city. Many of the old buildings were being demolished to make room for new
buildings. This, Father O'Neil considered a gift from heaven as the demolition created numerous
opportunities to buy brown sandstone and marble.

There were many emigrant Italians living in the parish and Father O'Neil had learned that many of them
had been stone and marble workers in the old country, so he put them to work installing marble in the
church. To this day there is not a wall left without its marble wainscot. The brown sandstone was piled
into a wall ten feet, by eight feet, and two-hundred feet long. I never knew just what Father O'Neils plans
were for that stone.

My grandparents, Mike and Mary McKeon, lived next door to us at 136 Wakeman Avenue. Aunt Maggie
had moved in with them, years earlier, to help my grandmother overcome the trauma of Dans untimely
death. In 1912 Maggie decided to stay on with my grandparents and she bought the then vacant lot at 138
Wakeman Avenue. She built a two family house on the lot as an investment.

Living next to the McKeons was great for me because my grandfather, being retired from the Public
Service Company, became my baby sitter. I remember him taking me for walks frequently. On one
occasion, we were stopped by people who tried to decide if I was leading a poor old man around or if a
poor old man was leading a little lost boy. Mike was quite angry at the stupid people.

Before my grandfather had retired and taken the charge as my babysitting duties, he had worked driving a
team of horses for the Public Service Company. His team of horses, in concert with several other teams,
supplied the motive power for the street cars prior to the advent of the electric trolley car. The Public
Service Company held the franchise for this horse generated power. My grandfather worked out of the
North Newark barns located at the south west corner of Belleville Avenue: now Broadway and Arlington
Avenues. Proximity to the barns was the reason why my grandparents bought the house at 136 Wakeman
Avenue.

I cant remember my grandparents finances being a big thing at the time, but now, looking back, I do
believe they did play some part. My grandparents lived only on my grandfathers salary from the Public
Service Company, yet they managed to own 136 Wakeman Avenue outright. My grandmother, Mary, had
at one time worked. She and her sister, Maggie, must have had some savings because Maggie was able to
build and own 138 Wakeman without any debt, still manage to maintain a bank account, and hold a small
mortgage on a house in Bernardsville. That house was owned by an Italian who, at one time, had worked
for Tom Meskill, Maggie's brother. Perhaps Mary had put her savings into 136 Wakeman, or their brother,
Tom, may have helped both my grandmother and Aunt Maggie.

After my grandfather retired, the Public Service Company paid him a pension. In order to collect his
pension, my grandfather had to appear personally at the End of the Line Barns in Nutley, New Jersey. The
Public Service Company required this personal appearance to be sure that the pensioner was still alive.
This was a monthly event in which, weather permitting, I was allowed to participate. My grandfather and
I would walk down to Gishes Saloon on Bellville Avenue and wait there until a group of, perhaps ten
former drivers, or pensioners, as they were familiarly referred to, arrived. We, of course, had a beer
while waiting for the latecomers. Mine was in a very small stein, which I had to hide by resting it on the
under table shelf. After wiping the suds off the collected mustaches we boarded an electric trolley for the
trip to the Big Barn. Just as my grandfather had been replaced by the advent of electricity, so too had
the horses; both my grandfather and his team were retired.
6
For additional information about Father ONeil, please see the history section of the St. Michaels parish website
(http://www.saintmichaelparish.com/History.htm).
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 Past Remembered: William Conways Life and Family Memories

My and my grandfathers outings by street car were numerous: to buy shoes for my grandfather at
Cowards on Fulton Street in New York City, to Palisades Park in Cliffside Park, to Seidler Beach, to a
restaurant on Raritan Bay near Lawrence Harbor. On one such trip I saw the North German Lloyd liner,
"SS Leviathan", docked at her pier in Hoboken.

During the summer months, excursions by train to Asbury Park were a daily event. The excursions were
so heavily traveled every local organization ran their own. I recall the Knights of Columbus, Clark Thread
Mills, Westinghouse, and Masonic Lodges using as many as five to ten car trains a day. The trip was
cheap, but hot and dusty and slow. Frequent beer was served. The trains catered to the travelers time
schedule: if a train started before a travelers return, then the next train would pick him up.

In later years, I learned that the Hoboken barges, towed by tugs, served the same purpose as the car trains;
they too catered to the summer travelers visiting Asbury Park. Smaller tug boats would follow along the
barges to fish anyone out of the Hudson River who may have fallen or been thrown overboard.

Though I spent much time with my grandfather, Michael McKeon, I know very few details of his own
brothers and sisters lives. But, of this I do know; my grandfather had a rogue of a brother, Matthew
McKeon. Poor Matt had an unfortunate fatal fondness for the bottle, a fondness touching every corner of
his life. Because of this, Matthew was the character in an often told story of my grandfathers wake.

Matt came for the wake and stayed for the whole three days. When it was time to take my grandfather to
his final Mass, Matt was too drunk to be allowed on any of the horse drawn coaches. My Dad persuaded
Matt to go to the toilet. The toilet had been recently moved into the house from the far backyard outhouse.
Lacking electric lights, a candle lit the way. After Matt had relieved himself, my Dad blew out the candle
so as to confuse poor Matt. My father then led Matt to the coal bin and latched the door. Not to be too
unkind to my grandfathers brother, Dad arranged to have someone release the latch permitting Matthews
escape from the coal bin at about noon. Matthew was gone when we finally came back home from the
grave yard. He never came to visit again.

Sadly, the bottle led to Matts ultimate demise. He had a bottle with him when the West Orange Police
found him frozen to death behind a billboard. This unfortunate event occurred in 1928. 7 No one in his
immediate family cared to lay Matt to rest, so my Mother and Father buried him. None of his children
showed for the Mass.

Besides this infamous brother, my grandfather had two sisters: Mary and another sister whose first name
is unknown.

My grandfathers sister, Mary, wed into the Burke family8. Her husband, like my grandfather, drove the
street cars. Mary and her husband made their home in East Orange, New Jersey before the railroad tracks
were elevated. There they raised three children. Their two daughters, Mary and Nellie (most likely a
nickname for her real name, Eleanor), were sales ladies in the "Lining Store." Their only son, Willie,
worked for the United States Mail Service. Their eldest daughter, Mary, married a fellow named Loomis
late in life. Nelly never married.

My grandfathers other sister, whose first name is unknown, married into the Caton family. Her husband,
too, was a driver for the Public Service Company. The family lived in Caldwell, New Jersey on

7
Date of death needs to be verified as William Conway supplied two different dates (1928 and 1914).
8
A record of a wedding between Mary McKeon and Charles Burke was found and listed to have occurred on March 5, 1878 at
Saint Columba-Catholic, Newark, Essex, New Jersey. The parents of Mary McKeon Burke were listed as John McKeon and
Catherine Devine. Charles Burkes age on the date of the wedding was listed as 27.

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 Past Remembered: William Conways Life and Family Memories

Bloomfield Avenue between the town and the loop. This spot was known as the turn around point on the
Caldwell trolley line located near the end of the Bloomfield Avenue trolley line. The Catons had three
children. Two of their children were girls; both girls were seamstresses at Hanes in Newark.

In 1918 my father changed jobs. This was a major event in my life because it led to me meeting my future
wife, Peggy.

Frank Ferguson, a former New Jersey bank examiner, recruited Dad to take over as manager of the
Bayonne Branch of the Union Trust Company of New Jersey. Mr. Ferguson had been put into the Union
Trust Company to repair the damage caused by its former President: Frank Ludlow. Its branch in Bayonne
was the former City Bank of Bayonne. This branch came close to shutting down, but it was rescued from
closing by the Union Trust. The Bayonne branch had been managed by a Mr. Van Order. Dad fired him.

Prior to moving to Bayonne in 1922, my father commuted to Bayonne from Newark by train: Central
Railroad of New Jersey. His daily commute commenced at Elizabeth Port, changing to a New York
bound train stopping at 22nd Street, thence a short walk to the Union Trust Company of New Jersey at
Broadway and 22nd Street.

My father wore a tie pin. Tie pins were the fashion then. While dressing one morning, the tie pin slipped
out of his hand and fell behind the radiator. The tie pin continued its journey down through a small hole to
eventually come to rest in an inaccessible space between two floor beams; it is still there.

Dad bought an Oakland Touring car in 1919, and garaged it on Lincoln Avenue. I don't remember
cranking the engine so it must have had a self starter, but we did have to keep it warm during winter. We
kept the engine warm by throwing blankets over the hood; the freezing cold air was too dumb to go under
the car and come up from the open spaces below.

I went to Horace Mann School: Mr. Agnew was principal. Later, I attended Saint Peters in Jersey City and
finally to Pingry in Elizabeth. My sister, Mary, started school at Saint Aloysius in Jersey City. My Dad
drove her to school each day, for the trip home: bus. My father arranged with a business contact, Bill
Higgins, to have Bills daughter, Margaret, escort Mary to the bus each day. In turn Margaret got a ride to
Saint Aloysius each morning. Sometimes I would ride along if Dad had to drive down to the main office
of the bank located on 75 Montgomery Street. This is how I met Peggy; my childhood sweetheart and
future wife.

My folks bought their first house on 16 Avenue B when we moved to Bayonne 1922. The home was
purchased from people named Edwards. Mr. Edwards worked for Standard Oil; he had been transferred to
Louisville, Kentucky.

The Conway Family

The Conways came here from Ireland to escape the Irish potato famine landing in Keyport, New Jersey
sometime in 1851.9 According to the Griffiths Valuation of Ireland (1848) there was a Maurice Conway
who lived in the townland of Coolcullen located in the parish of "Mothell" (Ossory diocese) the the
county of Kilkenny in Ireland. According to google maps, Coolcullen appears to be about a 20 minute
drive from the "Goresbridge" location on the River Barrow that is the supposedly where he and/or his
wife Ellen grew up in the early to mid-1800's. Once here, they took a tenancy on a farm in Mattawan. The
family consisted of my great grandfather, Maurice Conway, and my great grandmother, Ellen Welsh
Conway. Additionally, there were several children some of which were born in Ireland. The names of the
children are very vague, but I do remember visiting some of them.
9
Famine Immigrants-Lists Of Irish Immigrants at Port of New York: 1846-1851. Vol VII. April, 1851 December, 1851, ed.
I.A. Glazier, M. Tepper, (Baltimore, MD, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1986).
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 Past Remembered: William Conways Life and Family Memories

My great grandparents, Maurice and Ellen rest today at St. Josephs graveyard located in Keyport, New
Jersey.10 Their grave stones can be found in Section 0, plots 137&140(Conway/Cavanaugh). The grave
stone indicates Maurice lived from 1815-1882 and Ellen, known to me as Little Grandma, lived from
1825-1916.

The stone also lists three sons buried there: Charles, James, and William. My great grandparents had eight
children all together: John, Margaret, Elizabeth, William, James, Mary, Joseph, and Charles. 11 I know
much more about Williams life than the others. As for the other Conway children, I must rely on
memory. Joseph P. Conway (born 1860) was a New York City policeman 12. He may have been the eldest,
because he had acquired the skill of breaking horses to the saddle. I always thought that skill had come
over with him from the Old Country. He used his skill for breaking the two-hundred horses which were
brought in annually from the west to be trained as remounts for the mounted force. His family was quite
large. They lived in the Bronx some place near a brewery. Of this I am sure because, on the one occasion,
I remember visiting on a very hot summer Sunday afternoon. We traveled there by trolley, Hudson tubes,
and subway. The weather being very hot, the kids of the family took me down to the brewery to enjoy the
cooling effects of the water aerating tower. It really was cold.

Another Conway son was also a policeman serving for the Plainfield, New Jersey force. Like his brother,
he also had a large family. Dad and I visited there, at least once, when Peg attended Holy Trinity High
School located in Westfield, New Jersey. A grand son of this family was in Peggys class; his home was in
Scotch Plains, New Jersey.

William Conway was a carpenter working in the Philadelphia area. He was involved in the labor
movement and was killed in an accident at a Philadelphia construction site. At the time of his death, he
was engaged to Catherine Murphy nicked name Kate. It is speculated that William met, and became
engaged to, Kate through his sister, Elizabeth. Williams sister was working as a domestic in New York.
Kate also had a sister, Maggie, working in New York as a domestic during the same time period. As
Elizabeth and Maggie were in domestic service for prominent New Yorkers it seems logical the two may
have known and been friendly with one another; possibly introducing William and Kate. Another possible
connection may have occurred through Joseph P. Conway who was making his home in the Bronx while
serving on the Bronx police force. This chapter remains open.

Elizabeth married into the Cavanaugh family and her name appears on the family head stone at St.
Josephs cemetery. The story goes that Elizabeth married young; only fourteen or fifteen years of age.
Her husband was eighteen. Elizabeths husband had some type of mishap and died shortly after the
marriage. Left to fend for herself, Elizabeth became a "lady maid" to a Mrs. Major, the wife of J.P.
Morgans business partner in association with the Morgan Guarantee Trust Company. The Majors lived in
New York City and Englewood, New Jersey. Elizabeth earned a good pension from her employment with
the Majors; she rented a home in Englewood where she lived to be 100 years old. She shared her home,
and life, with Little Grandma, after Maurice's death.

Charles Conway was another brother; his history remains to be told. We know that he is marked on the
Conway/Cavanaugh stone at Saint Josephs Cemetery in Keyport, New Jersey: see Section 0, plot 137 and
140.13
10
This information was taken from The Family Tree; The Conways, by Mary E. Conway. Different dates were also cited in
other draft documents (1848/1849).
11
Taken from The Family Tree; The Conways, by Mary E. Conway
12
Identity, occupation and location confirmed via a review of 1900 census data. The household names include Joseph P Conway
(39), Catherina Conway (38), Morris Conway (14), Loureto Conway (11), Alaca Conway (9), Lincent Conway (4), Marie
Conway (3), Millard Conway (3).
13
The Family Tree; the Conways, by Mary E. Conway, indicates the family plot is located in St. Josephs Cemetery in Keyport,
New Jersey.
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 Past Remembered: William Conways Life and Family Memories

James Conway, yet another brother, is listed on the head stone with his Father and Mother; his story also
remains to be told.

Margaret Conway (1845-1901), married a John Mulhall (1837-1907). 14 She and her husband, John are
buried in St. Josephs Cemetery. There is not much known about the Mulhall offspring. I recall meeting a
Mulhall daughter in Jersey City around 1916 or 17. She married a man who was president of a railroad; I
think his name was Loomis.

John W. Conway, my grandfather, was born in Mattawan, 15 New Jersey and was older than his brother
William. He became a printer and finally a linotype foreman for the Daily Advertiser in Newark which
is no longer in publication.16 John was twice married. His first wife was Mary A. King, who died around
1883 or 1884 leaving him a widower with four children: Eleanor (Nellie), Elizabeth (Lizzie), Mary
(Mamie) and Joseph. John was also well-known for his gardening skills, maintaining a large backyard
garden at his future residence (383 Summer Ave), where he grew grapes and the largest turnip my father
had ever seen.

My grandfathers first child by his first wife was a daughter, Mary (Aunt Mamie). She was a secretary for
the Edison Company at the West Orange Plant

The couples second daughter was Eleanor (Nellie) who married into the Donnelly family. Her husband
was a hatter who worked in the felt hat industry in Orange Valley, New Jersey. Together, they had four
children: Edward, Robert, Eleanor, and Gertrude. They also had a big black dog named Bounce; though
the two dogs looked nothing alike, the Donnelly family dog was the source of our dog, Bounce's, name.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) was the couples third daughter. Lizzie married Eugene Mulvaney. She and Eugene
were politically appointed to manage the poor house on Clifton Avenue. They lived on Clifton just north
of Park Avenue. Together they had six children17.

Joseph was the couples youngest child; he died in early adulthood while working for a Newark
newspaper. He was killed when a roll of news print fell from a tray as it was being unloaded. Joseph left
a wife, Alice McLaughlin,18 and two children: Mary and Joseph. 19 Once grown, Mary wed Edward
Long20. The couple lived on Summer Avenue in Newark, New Jersey two blocks north of May Street just

14
A plot map of 1872 found in the library at Matawan shows that a Mrs. J. Mulhall lived in a house near Matawan Creek.
The Red Bank Register Obituary dated August 7, 1907: John Mulhall of Matawan died of stomach trouble on Tuesday of
last week. He was 64 years old and had been in failing heath about a year. He was born in Ireland and came to this
country 45 years ago. He obtained employment on a farm as soon as he reached America and in a few years had saved
enough to buy a small farm. He bought more land from time to time and at his death owned a large place. He has held a
number of township offices and was a road supervisor when he died. His wife died a few years ago. He leaves six children.
15
The Family Tree; The Conways, by Mary E. Conway, indicates John was born in Ireland approximately in 1844.
16
The Newark City Directory of 1886 is quoted to show a J.J. Conway, Foreman resides at Jane Street. It is assumed this to be
the home John Conway shared with his first wife and four children. A subsequent review of Newarks marriage records indicate
that Johns first wife was Mary A. King.
17
The 1920 Census listed the following members of the Mulvaney household living in Newark Ward 8, Essex, New Jersey:
Eugene J Mulvaney, 49 (estimated DOB: 1871); Elizabeth Mulvaney, 44, (estimated DOB: 1876); Mary Mulvaney, 17
(estimated DOB: 1903); Elizabeth Mulvaney, 15 (estimated DOB: 1905); Eugene J Mulvaney, 12 (estimated DOB: 1908); Wm
Mulvaney, 8 (estimated DOB: 1912); Katherine Mulvaney, 5 (estimated DOB: 1915), John Mulvaney, 3 (estimated DOB: 1917)
18
Last name provided in e-mail sent from Kathy DAntonio to Kevin Cullen.
19
Name correction provided in e-mail sent from Kathy DAntonio to Kevin Cullen.
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 Past Remembered: William Conways Life and Family Memories

north of the funeral parlor where Aunt Maggie Meskill was waked. The couple later moved to Nutley in
the late 1940s. Joe lived in Newark with his wife Kitty. They had no children.

Philip was Lizzie and Eugenes first child. In 1917 Phil tried to enlist in the Canadian Air Force. He was
too young, but did succeed later in enlisting into the United States Air Force. He crashed and died in
England while training. He is buried at St Michaels Cemetery. He was laid to rest in a military funeral;
his casket lashed on a gun carriage pulled by four horses. Philips funeral may have been the first at St.
Mikes of the WW 1 causalities.

Mary was Lizzie and Eugenes second child; she was married to John Imgrund. Mary Mulvaney and John
Imgrund had five children and lived in Newark but later moved to Quincy Place in West Orange.
Their children are Jean Imgrund Milone,Mary Lou Imgrund Hart (my mother), William Imgrund,John
Imgrund,and Robert Imgrund. 21

Elizabeth (Betsy) was the third child. Betsy married Jack Farrell who covered the Trenton news and was
later City Editor of the Newark Evening News.

Eugene (Gene) was the fourth, was nick-named "Mo Jo." Despite a serious infection in the bone of his
right arm during childhood, he went to Georgetown and became a dentist. His wife was a possibly a
Fisell. Her younger sister was in Kathys class at St. Elizabeths.

William (Billy), my age, the next to youngest child, joined the Benedictines went out to Latrobe,
Pennsylvania. He developed TB and died before final vows.

Lizzie and Eugenes youngest child was John who originated the nickname we all use for Santa Chon.
Last time I saw him he was applying for admission to Delbarton.

There is an old picture taken in the backyard of 383 Summer Avenue. The picture is an image of me, my
father William Conway, my grandfather John Conway, and his mother, my great grand mother, Ellen
Conway who we knew as "Little Grandma". 22 She died about 1916, and is buried in the family plot in
Keyport.23 She and the mourners made the trip to Mattawan by train: CCRR of New Jersey.

Philip Mulvaney, Lizzies oldest boy, was on the train making the journey to Little Grandmas final
Mass. My father told me Phil was much impressed with the Cavanaugh 24 lady who also made the trip.
She had married a railroad official and was loaded with diamonds: a girls best friend.

My grandfathers second wife was my grandmother, Catherine Murphy; Williams one time fiance. My
grandfather and Kate had only one child; my father, William A. Conway. My father as born on June 10,
1886 at my grandparents home on James Street in Newark, New Jersey. He was named after his Uncle
Willie, the Carpenter.

20
Based on the following email from Kathy Dantonio (Joseph's daughter, Mary Elizabeth Conway, married Edward Long, not
John Imgrund. I am their youngest child. my Uncle Joe lived in Newark with his wife Kitty. They had no children. .

21
Based on an email from Shaun Hart Amberg, a family member of the Imgrund family. Mary and John had 5
children, Jean, Mary Louise, William, John and Robert. Jean married Bob Milone and had 5 children(8 grand
chlidren), Mary Lou married George Hart and Had 8 children (18 grandchildren), Bill had 4 children ( 8
grandchildren), John had 4 children ( 8 grandchildren), Bob had 2 children.
22
The Family Tree: The Conways, by Mary E. Conway indicate this particular Conway was named Ellen, not Mary as reported
in William Conways notes (this is corroborated by the headstone at. St. Joseph's Cemetery).
23
The Family Tree: The Conways, by Mary E. Conway indicate Ellen passed in 1916 and is buried in St. Josephs Cemetery
in Keyport, New Jersey.
24
This may have been Elizabeth Conway Cavanaugh
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 Past Remembered: William Conways Life and Family Memories

Kate (Murphy) Conway and her sister, Aunt Maggie Murphy, had some accumulated money. Maggie had
been a house keeper for a retired Civil War General; possible General McClellan who organized the Army
of the Potomac. Maggie owned a house in Lakewood, New Jersey and went back to the old country
(Ireland) every year.

Kate, after she married my grandfather, John, bought the house at 383 Summer Ave in Newark, and built
the flats next door (385 Summer Avenue) a three-story, six-family dwelling which supplemented the
family income; both of which she prudently put in her sole name. John predeceased her. After my
grandfathers death on April 9, 192325 some of his children sought an accounting of his estate; there was
none as Kate held all her property in her own name and Dad was her sole child. 26 My grandmother lived
on for another two years. After her death on August 1, 1925 27, the house passed under New Jersey
inheritance law to my father, William A. Conway.

Aunt Mamie (Mary Francis Conway) continued to live on at 383 Summer Avenue. Her sister-in-law, Alice
Conway, and her two children, Mary and Joseph also moved into the house. Alices husband, Joseph had
been killed while on the job in Newark by a paper roll that fell from a tray. Alice kept the house while the
others worked. Mamie commuted by trolley car to the Edison company in West Orange, New Jersey until
she retired about 1930. Elizabeth (Lizzie), Eleanor (Nellie) and Joseph Conway grew up at 383 Summer
Avenue and lived there until they married.

Aunt Mamie was a traveler and made several trips to Ireland. She would have been a prolific source of
information because she visited the area in which Maurice and Ellen, known as Little Grandma by this
time, had lived. This source unfortunately died with her on February 18, 1958.

Up until 1939, my father owned 383 Summer Avenue, but did not make his home there: we and my father
lived in Short Hills, New Jersey. After my fathers death on April 8, 1939, it became necessary to
liquidate his estate to pay his debtors leading to the sale of 383 Summer Avenue. Having no other place to
live, Aunt Mamie then went to live with her sister Lizzie Mulvaney. Upon the breakup of the Mulvaney
household, Aunt Mamie lived with the Sisters of the Poor in Newark, New Jersey until her death.

HIGGINS FAMILY

I married Margaret Higgins, or Peggy, as she was commonly known, in 1935 at St. Henrys Church in
Bayonne, NJ. Peggys father was William F. Higgins and her mother was Ellen C. OConnor. Peggys
parents married in about 1904.

William Higgins lost his father young in life. Despite this, Bill prospered and built a house for his mother
at 810 Avenue A, Newark, New Jersey. Bill also owned the corner lot which he left vacant. On the east
end of the lot he built a one family house in which he and his wife, Ellen lived. Peggy and perhaps Ruth
were born there.

Ellens mother, Peggys grandmother, became very ill. The O'Connor family still had several children at
home Gertrude, Charlie, and Ray. Mr. OConnor, being blind, was not able to care for his wife or the
remaining children, as well as run a big house. Apparently Mr. OConnor made a deal with his daughter,
Ellen; if she and her husband were to move into 761 Avenue, assume all the household duties, care for
25
Date of Death is indicated from records found at Holy Sepluchre Cemetery in East Orange, New Jersey whereas the date of
death was indicated at April 9, 1923. Holy Sepulchre Cemetery records show five (5) graves (ALL SAINTS PATH, Lot 22,
Graves 1-5) purchased by J.W. Conway on February 2, 1873. Grv#1 Jos. F. Conway, Alice Conway, Mary F. Conway 2-18-1958;
Grv#2 Ann Eliz. A. King (This is what was written in the plot book), Alice Josephine Conway; Grv #3 John and Thomas
Conway; Grv #4 Mary A. Conway; Grv #5 John Conway 4-1923; Anna Conway, Catherine Conway 8-2-1925
26
The Newark City Directory of 1890 backs up the family chronology. It lists John J. Conway as head of household at the 383
Summer Avenue home.
27
Date from The Family Tree: The Conways, by Mary E. Conway.
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 Past Remembered: William Conways Life and Family Memories

Mrs. OConnor and the three remaining O'Connor children, then he would give Ellen and William title to
his house. They did. He did. And so the Higgins family acquired 761 Avenue.

With all the work that she had assumed, Ellen must have been a very busy person. All this may account
for Kay, Angela, and Helen going away to boarding school at Mount Saint Marys in Plainfield. Some of
the OConnor children namely Mae, Ray, and Charlie, married making enough room for Kay, Angela, and
Helen to come home. Then Peggy, Ruth, and Mary went off to the Ursuline nuns at Middletown in
Orange County, New York where a cousin of Ellens was the Superior at the Ursuline convent school.
Also, the girls had an Aunt living in Plainfield; Margaret. It was Margaret who suggested Saint Marys as
a school for the Higgins children. Peggy was named after Margaret and was willed $1000.00.

Aunt Ruth was Pegs next younger sister by about a year and a half. She and Peg went to the Ursuline
school together; they were quite close.

Ellen had very little time to do much more than care for other people. I remember meeting her on the
Tubes taking Dick and Bobbie to New York for a shopping trip. Ellen was a bit dour and had strong
opinions on people and things such as FDR, the New Deal, and Father Coughlin who gave Sunday night
sermons on the radio from the Shrine of the Little Flower Royal Oak, Michigan.

Bill Higgins, Peggys father and Ellens husband, owned quite a bit of real estate; he was convinced of a
constantly increasing market value for the property in which he owned. He believed that the values
increased faster than taxes could accrue. He was wrong. When the bubble burst he was badly pinched
financially.

Red Higgins28 was foreman of trimmers on the Jersey Central Railroad coal docks out on the Hook. The
Railroad carried coal from mines in Eastern Pennsylvania to dock side at Bayonne. From there the coal
was loaded into the holds of costal coal boats and moved to the Boston area by tugs. Reds job was to see
that the coal was stowed, evenly behind wooden bulkheads, to prevent shifting of loose coal during
passage. He developed "black lung" and died at an early age. He and his wife, Catherine had seven
children: John, Richard, Joseph, Rose, Fanny,?????, 29 and Margaret.

1. John was a plumber and father of: Cathleen H. Crummy, Ciel H. Madaras, May H. Powers, Richard.

2. Richard advanced to chief petty officer in the U.S. Navy.

3. Joseph went off to Texas to work in the oil fields. It was reported that he had married a school teacher,
but this is not a certainty.

4. Rose married Mike OBrien. They had no children.

5. Fanny married George Keenan. They had two children: Virginia and George.

7. Not legible.

8. Margaret married Timothy Driscoll. They lived in Plainfield. My wife, Peggy, was named after this
particular aunt.

OConnor Family

28
The notes did not give enough information to determine how Red Higgins was related to the Higgins family.
29
This name was not legible
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 Past Remembered: William Conways Life and Family Memories

Peggys mother Ellen descended from the OConnor family. Lawrence OConnor, Ellens father and
Peggys grandfather, came back from a gold rush with a poke. He married and had seven children with
his wife. He bought a saloon in the northeast corner of Rector and Greenwich, New York City. Over time,
he lost his sight to glaucoma and sold the bar. He bought a big house in Bayonne where he and his family
lived until they died.

1. John married and lived on Staten Island working at a city job. He had one child.

2. Charles married Anna: number of children unknown

3. Peter married Agnes: number of children unknown.

4. Ellen O'Connor married William Higgins; they had ten children.

5. Margaret married into the Mullins family and had three children.

6. Raymond married Florence; they had one child. Ray gained renown for flying a B25 under a Railroad
bridge crossing the Mississippi over St. Louis, Missouri. This occurred while flying on his way to
England during WW2. Ray was reduced to Warrant Officer as a result.

7. Gertrude never married.

The following is an outline of Ellen and William Higgins children; my wife Peggys siblings:

1. Kay married Ray Vizzetti. They had two children: Barney and Mary Angela. Ray came from Hoboken.
He was a High School friend of Ed Higginss and Ed often played silly jokes on Ray. Rays father,
Bernard, came from Italy. His family was builders of sea front villas. Rays mother was Louisa Barrone.
Ray was one of six children: Albert, Charles, Alice, Florence Boon, Edna Campi, and Ray.

2. Angela married Edmund Hourigan. Eds father was a Hoboken plumber his mother a Burke. He had a
brother, Vincent, who died of some brain infection and a sister, Rita Houseman Otto. When Ed finished
Columbia Law he partnership with his Uncle Willie Burke: Burke, Sheridan, and Hourigan. The firm had
a lock on the legal work of the Commonwealth Trust Company.

Angela and Ed had four children: Maureen Hauk, Eddie, Peggy Meaney, and Mary Huff.

3. Helen married Jim MacIsaac. Jims father was a salesman. His mother may have come from Fall River,
Massachusetts. Helen and Jim lived in Montclair, New Jersey. They had five children: Jim, Ellen, Peter,
Rosemary, and David.

4. Lawrence died in infancy.

5. Margaret married me, William Conway. Together we had seven children: Bill, Kathy, Angela, Robby,
Margaret, Mary, and John.

6. Ruth married Jim Seerey. Jims family came from Chatham, New York. He lived with his mother and
aunt in Manhattan and attended Fordham. Joe Flesey was in his class. Ruth and Jim had two children:
Jimmy and Tommy.

7. Bill married Marion West. Bill and Marion met in Florida while on vacation. Marions dad, Dr. James
West, was National Director of the Boy Scouts; he was also a good friend of J. Edger Hoovers, then

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 Past Remembered: William Conways Life and Family Memories

director of the FBI. Hoover, at the request of Dr. West, appointed Bill to the FBI. Bill participated in
several important cases while in the FBI.

Bill and Marion had two children: Bill and Bob.30

8. Mary married Joe O'Sullivan. Joe was an attorney. He landed a job with the New York Federal Home
Loan Bank based on his experience both in building and loans. He held this job with the New York
Federal Home Loan Bank until a heart condition rendered him disabled.

Mary and Joe had three children: Sharon Gilbert, Kathy McTague and Joe O'Sullivan Jr.

9. Richard 31 (Dick) married June Ellis. They had two children: Ricky and Brad.

10. Barbara married Mark Dalton. They had five children: Mark, Richard (Dick), Timmy, Peggy, Mary,
and lastly, Ann.

Family Friends

Joe and Kitty McClern Kearny were life long family friends. They had one daughter, Irene. Joe was a
partner in a bread bakery: Kearny and Elsdon. Joe built up a small fleet of deliver and sales wagons
making the enterprise attractive enough to be bought out by one of the expanding bakeries. Joe became a
sales man for Fleischmanns Yeast, moved to Baltimore, and covered sales for Fleischmanns Yeast in the
Southern states by car.

In 1916 we, jointly with the Kearnys, rented a house at 410 Newark Avenue on Bradley Beach. That was
the year of the Black Tom explosion in New York Harbor. It jolted our little wooden shack 32.

The sea bathing beaches were enclosed in steel chain nets. There was a real shark scare. Although I never
saw it happen, people were attacked33. Offshore, net fishermen frequently had their nets torn by the
sharks; they actually caught sharks in their nets. The sharks were over ten feet long. I saw them.

30
The names for the children in this family are listed inconsistently. In another listing William Conway names the couples
children as Jim, Helen, and Bob.
31
New York Times obituary (August 6, 1980); Richard T. Higgins Is Dead at 59; Headed Builders Group in Jersey Richard T.
Higgins, former president of the Builders Association of Northern New Jersey, died Monday of a heart attack at his home in
Saddle River, N.J. He was 59 years old. A lawyer who became active in real estate and building after World War II, Mr. Higgins
built more than 1,500 single-family residences, at first in partnership with Charles Beir and then for his own concern, the Higgins
Construction Company. His developments won national builder association awards. Mr. Higgins was born in Bayonne, N.J., and
graduated from William and Mary College and its Law School. During World War II, Mr. Higgins served in the Pacific with the
Navy as captain of a minesweeper. He is survived by his wife, the former June Ellis; two sons, Richard E. and Bradford Robert; a
brother, William T., and six sisters, Katharine Visetti, Mary Angela Hourigan, Margaret Conway, Helen MacIsaac, Mary
O'Sullivan and Barbara Dalton.

32
Black Tom Explosion (1916): The Black Tom explosion of July 30, 1916 in Jersey City, New Jersey was an act of sabotage on
American ammunition supplies by German agents to prevent the materials from being used by the Allies in World War I. Now a
section of Liberty State Park (along Morris Pesin road including the park office and Flag Plaza), Black Tom was originally a
small island in New York Harbor not far from Liberty Island. Between 1860 and 1880, Black Tom was connected to the mainland
by a causeway and rail lines terminating at a freight facility with docks. At 2:08 a.m. the first and biggest of the explosions took
place. The explosion was the equivalent of an earthquake measuring between 5.0 and 5.5 on the Richter Scale * and was felt as
far away as Philadelphia. Windows broke as far as 25 miles (40 km) away, including thousands in lower Manhattan.
33
The Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 were a series of shark attacks along the coast of New Jersey between July 1 and July
12, 1916, in which four people were killed and one injured. Since 1916, scholars have debated which shark species was
responsible and whether one animal was involved. The attacks occurred during a deadly summer heat wave and polio epidemic in
the northeastern United States that drove thousands of people to the seaside resorts of the Jersey Shore. Local and national
reaction to the attacks involved a wave of panic that led to shark hunts to protect simmer and the economies of New Jersey's
seaside communities. Certain resort towns ultimately enclosed their public beaches with steel nets to protect swimmers.
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 Past Remembered: William Conways Life and Family Memories

One summer vacation was spent in the Pocono Mountains. We stayed at the Ontwood 34; a resort near
Swiftwater. Every one had to be in bed by nine oclock in the evening because the management shut off
the gasoline driven electric generator.

Later we vacationed in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Here my Dad hurt his hip trying to
slide into 2nd base while playing for the35 Luke and Mae Murphy came up for a few days.

We spent another vacation in Asbury Park at a hotel on Sixtieth Avenue; it was here we met two young
seminarians. One seminarian was from Hoboken: Brother Finnerty. After his ordination, now Father
Finnerty, served at Saint Rose of Lima Church in Newark. The Mulvaney boys were his servers at one
point. Father Finnerty was the Pastor in Elizabeth George Keenan and Mickie McCalley were married.

Our friend Kitty Kearny had two sisters. One of her sisters married a man by the name of Elsdon. For a
time they lived on a dairy farm in Union. Her husband sold out of the dairy farm and bought an apple
orchard in Red Hook, New York: it wasn't a gold mine and they eventually lost it.

Kittys other sister; Jenny McGuire married Frank, a relatively prosperous road construction contractor.
Frank specialized in red brick pavement; very good for horses but too slippery for cars. Consequently,
Frank ran into financial difficulties and unfortunately died before he could recover from the dollar
difficulty. He left two children, Frankie and Mary.

Frankie had a friend, Wilbert Lambert, who lived in the first floor flat on 138 Wakeman Avenue. Poop,
as he was fondly nick-named, resided at 138 Wakeman Avenue with his widowed father, and aunt and
uncle.

Not much is know about Mary, except that she may have possibly dated Rod Keller at one time.

Mother and Dad had other friends as well. Mothers was friendly with the girls she had worked with in a
calendar factory up on Summer Avenue: Lilly Huntley Smith. 36 Dad was also friendly with the men with
whom he worked: Luke Murphy, Ed Reilly, Charlie Murray, Lu Disinger.

34
The Ontwood resort lodge burned in 1961.
35
Sentence is incomplete in original document.
36
Names were difficult to read
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 Past Remembered: William Conways Life and Family Memories

MORE THOUGHTS
A long time has past since I added to this chronology: possibly four or five months. I've decided to
continue by adding bits and pieces.

About 1924 I had a period of ill health, perhaps rheumatic fever. I lost considerable weight and time from
school. In order to regain both the weight I had lost and my strength, I was sent up to the Poconos and
stayed at the Pocohasset House; a hotel run by the Hanlins from Scranton. I was there for about five
months. I managed to gain back the thirty pounds I had lost thanks to Mrs. Hanlin who saw to it I was
stuffed at each meal. I walked many miles each day and usually got a free trip back to town from the
Lackawanna Railroad Right of Way maintenance gang whom I'd meet along the railroad tracks. I would
wave the gang down and ride their gas powered hand car back to Mt. Pocono. The Station Master at Mt.
Pocono was a Mr. Bly: no relation to the famous Nellie.

The State of Pennsylvania Highway Department was conducting a survey for a new alignment of the road
that followed Marshalls Creek up the valley from Stroudsburg to Pocono Summit. The works also
roomed at the Pocohasset House and often took me out to the job site. The road is now complete and I
have driven over it.

BANKS
In one way or another, banks played a major roll in our lives. Right out of Barringer High School in
Newark, my Dad went to work for the Bank of Commerce in New York City where he met Luke Murphy.

In 1904 or 1905, a J. Henry Bacheller organized a Bank to serve for the Ironbound Trust Company. My
Dad left New York and started to work at this newly formed bank on the day the bank opened. A bank
building was erected at the junction of Market and Ferry Streets. A branch was later opened at 210 Ferry
Street; Dad was the first manager. The area was largely a German enclave. Dad knew a little German as it
had met his foreign language requirement at Barringer High School; this made contact with the local
businessmen easier.

Dads associates at the bank, mainly Frank Ferguson and the banks attorney John Mulford Enright,
developed money making ideas for themselves through ownership of the banks shares; mergers and
consolidations were the vehicle. They organized, or acquired: the Jackson Trust Company, Pavonia Bank,
Merchants Trust Company, Journal Square National Bank. Dad acquired bank stocks by borrowing funds
from the equity in shares he had bought for cash. This, and ventures of similar nature, in the stock market
eventually broke him financially.

Frank Ferguson had loaned some stock to Dad which he had pledged as collateral for a loan at the Fidelity
Bank. After Dad died my sister, Mary, and I took enough money out of the life insurance proceeds to pay
off the loan. We turned the collateral over to Ferguson who then gave us ownership to the 400 shares of
HCNB which he had held registered in Dads name. Mary sold hers, I held on.

We had a summer house at Avon, New Jersey. A Rutgers professor widow held a $4,000.00 mortgage
against the home.

After moving from Newark to Bayonne in 1922, in 1938, we joined the flight, from what I don't know, 37
and bought a home at 33 Grosvenor Rd in Short Hills, New Jersey where my mother and father died
respectively in December 193738 and in the April of 1939. The mortgage for that property was twenty-two
thousand dollars. Percy Cruder arranged the transaction through the Woodruff family.
37
Short Hills is a well known upscale planned community for senior executives and controlling stockholders. The flight
William Conway refers to may have been a social exodus from the ethnic inner city neighborhoods.
38
Dates are inaccurate in A Family Tree: The Conways, by Mary E. Conway.
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 Past Remembered: William Conways Life and Family Memories

At the time of his death, Dad was a Vice President of the Hudson County National Bank. After he died in
1939 both the professor and the Woodruffs were lucky to get out whole. The Professor's widow took the
deed to the Avon property in lieu of the four thousand dollar mortgage. The Woodruffs received cash as
we were able to sell 33 Grosvenor Road for about sixty thousand dollars. I recently saw it sold for
$1,700,000.

Just before he died, Dad had been appointed Trustee for the benefit of the Management Participation
Certificate39 Holders of the Mechanics Trust Company of Bayonne. My father was granted this position
by the influence of John Milton. After my fathers death, Milton arranged with the Vice Chancellor to
have me appointed successor Trustee. I collected fees of over $30,000.00. That plus the proceeds of the
life insurance, gave me enough capital to buy the home located on 9 Iris Road in Summit 40, New Jersey. I
had enough funds remaining to purchase more HCNB shares.

As part of the restructuring of banks after the 1933 bank holiday, the M&M Trust Company was forced
into merger with Commonwealth Trust Company. I came up with the idea to merge the banks. HCNB
offered a share for share exchange for the 75% of Commonwealth Trust Company shares and cancellation
of 25% of the shares held by UH Security Company. It was an ideal arrangement because HCNB share
holders would then control about 83% of the surviving bank.

I also established an open bid on the offered side of the market for any shares of Commonwealth Trust
that were offered for sale. My bidding caused much grief to Ed Hourigan and Billie Burke as they had
been buying the offered shares at very low prices and did not like any one to interrupt their operation.

The retirement of shares and my accumulations of offered shares proved to be very profitable. When we
bought 18 Chandler Road41, I sold some of my Commonwealth stock to Russ Adams for enough to pay
cash and fix our new house to our satisfaction. I profited enough on that sale to also pay the capital gains
tax generated because of the sale. I even had enough cash left to accumulate more shares of HCNB as
they became available.

Remaining Information from Notes42

Richard (Dick) and June Ellis met in Chicago while Dick was in DCS at Great Lakes Naval School they
married after Dick was commissioned and assigned to small boat school at Sabine Pass Texas. Here Dick
met Mark Dalton43, who married Barbara after the War.

Barbara and Mark Dalton met as above; Bobbie was a WAVE during WW2, served in San Diego. Mark
was on the Law Review at Harvard. Marks classmates seemed to get shore jobs in Washington, but Mark
wanted to go to sea. He did; all the way to Normandy Beach. He went ashore to collect data for his
commander who stayed on board.

39
Difficult to read: not sure this name is accurate.
40
As of December 2007, the commercial website zillow.com provided a $914 thousand estimated value on 9 Iris Road.
41
As of December 2007, the commercial website zillow.com provided a $2.3 million estimated value on 18 Chandler Road.
42
This remaining information was difficult to determine where in the chronology to place. In order to provide the Conway family
options on where this information may fit in, this researcher left these notes separate from the completed chronology.
43
Dalton, Mark John (c.1915-2004) also known as Mark Dalton Born in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Mass. Married
1949 to Barbara Higgins. Democrat. Lawyer; law clerk to U.S. Judge John C. Mahoney, 1941-42; served in the U.S. Navy during
World War II; his intelligence report from Utah Beach, Normandy, paved the way for the D-Day invasion; candidate in primary
for U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, 1954; aide to President John F. Kennedy. Died, of colon cancer, in South Woodstock,
Woodstock, Windsor County, Vt., May 2, 2004. Interment at Highland Cemetery, Dover, Mass.
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