My great aunt Gene was my mother's, mother's sister. She was the oldest of seven children born to Glenn Pressey Clinger and Elmina Marsh Clinger. The family lived in the Erie, Pennsylvania area. Gene Clinger had been a twin, but one baby died in the womb. Aunt Gene wrote a series of 'chapters' about her and her family growing up in the 1920's and 30's organized by the addresses where they lived. For posterity, I am providing them here. They are edited for flow and clarity.
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Raul Roberts, my grandmother's nephew, used his truck and moved us from 2943 Cochran Street in Erie to 403 Wyllis Street in Oil City. [The house is still there but I cannot get a good screenshot from google maps as a huge tree blocks the home.] I had finished 4th grade in Mrs. Sitters room at Glenwood Scholl and would have moved onto Miss McLaughlin's 5th grade there. I must have known we were moving before school was out for the summer.
My grandfather had a grocery store in Oil City at 102 State Street. (Screen grab of google maps below)
And the map with both the home on Wyllis and the store marked.
The store had been a China store on one side and a grocery store on the other. The store had been in operation for forty years. First in 1900 my great grandfather George Daniel Clinger and a man named Scranton were in partnership. The store had been at 112 West Frist Street. I have a small commemorative vase showing the raising of the Masonic Temple across the street. The store was moved around the corner to State Street. It was 1931 and my father had five children and no job when we moved to Oil City. He was one of the first to lose their home in Erie. My father was to manage the store as my grandfather had contracted "shaking" palsy, or as it is known today, Parkinson Disease. He was not able to run the store so my father ran it though 1936 with the help of Aunt Ethel and Mae McVeagh.
The summer of 1931 when we moved, Dougie, as we called him, as well as the rest of us had whopping cough that summer. Dougie turned blue one day when we were taking a walk in the woods above 403 Wyllis Street. My mother turned his head down because he couldn't breath. He did manage to get his breath and his is over 63 years of age today. [I think Gene wrote this in the mid 1990's] I remember the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped when we lived in this house for I had gotten the morning Derrick off the front porch and read about it in the headlines.
One evening after supper father was going after milk. He was inside the car when a man whom dad said he didn't know, jumped on the running board and asked where Glenn Clinger lived. Dad pointed at Shriver's house next door, and drove off. He was gone for 10 days to where I di not know. But he left mother and five children to face the music. At five am, as soon as it was light I took a note down to my Aunt Ethel's at 951 West 1st Street that said "Glen did not come home last night." What did we do but move in with her the next 10 days until he finally returned and we were able to return to our own home.
Mother asked Carolyn and I to wash and dry the dishes one night, so we did. We kept washing and drying the same dishes until mother finally noticed what we were doing and stopped us. I also remember my brother Ted having a scab above his elbow with a red streak going up his arm. Mother removed the scab, and out came pus which of course meant infection. It was night and I think he soaked his arm and the next day mother took him to see Dr. Magee.
I was in 5th grade with Bill Shaffer, my cousin and I was not enjoying the Oil City school but Bill was nice to me and I went on. When I came home from school at night I'd find mother crying. She was homesick for her friend in Erie. She has been raised in Erie and had been uprooted from her friends and family.
I can't remember anything about Corky on Wyllis Street. I can't even find any pictures of him there. He was a passive child and didn't have much to say. He was about 3 or 4 then. I have a picture of my grandmother, Ted and Cork so she must have come down sometime.
Dad was an organizer and Carolyn had a friend in school by the name of Evelyn Bowles. My dad had her parents come up and mother, father, and Mr. and Mrs. Bowles played "500" for the evening. I don't know if they brought their children but they had four, Harry, Audine, Evelyn and Jesse. They became fast friends and remained that way until passing away.
I remember what the house looked like. There was a reception hall and the stairs when up on the right side of the hall. From the hall back was the kitchen. It was in the kitchen that mother was washing Teddy's arm and I noticed the scab on his elbow. the upstairs is rather dim to me. I remember a front bedroom where Carolyn and I slept but i had to have three bedrooms and bath up there. I aws ten years old but can't remember anything else about the upstairs.
I had my first sick headache here. I remember it was a Sunday afternoon. I spent the day in bed and dad came up to see me.
This is dated
3/24/1995
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