Harry E. Elston

Harry E. Elston was born in Birmingham, England in 1861, and came to America when he was twenty-one. He married Sara Eads and lived in Nashville, Tenn., and New Albany, Indiana. Harry worked as superintendent of the street-car works in Niles, Ohio, until his retirement. He died in 1947.

Florence married John Rose. They had three sons, Robert, Harry, and Jackie.

Florence’s twin brother, Lawrence, married Mary (Mamie) McGary. They had one daughter, Mildred. We were close to Aunt Mamie and Uncle Larry. Aunt Mamie often stayed with the three of us when we were young and our parents were away. Uncle Larry was a carpenter, & for a Labor Day parade had built a log cabin.

After the parade, he and our dad arranged to have it set up in the back yard of our home on Bentley Avenue in Niles, Ohio. We had years of enjoyment in and around that log cabin and killed many an Indian and all the bad guys.

Pearl married Ralph Barker they had a son, Harry, and a daughter, Marilyn. Later, as grown children, we did enjoy a relationship with Aunt Pearl and their children.

Gladys married Harry Amy. They had two sons, Robert and Ralph, and a daughter, Sally.

Margie married Bud Hawker. They had a son, Bud and a daughter, Marie.

Harry E. Elston married Ruth Elizabeth McKinney. They had two sons, Harry E. Elston, Jr., and William Lawrence, and a daughter, Marguerite Ruth.

Harry E. Elston, Jr.

Harry married Ruth Sheppard in Columbus, Ohio, while he was serving his surgical residency at Doctors Hospital. On a visit to Niles, Ohio, they were in an auto accident. It was 1947 and just six weeks after the birth of their son, Harry E. Elston III. Ruth was killed. Harry Jr. was severely injured, as was baby Harry III.

Harry Jr. refused to believe that Ruth was dead and they took him by ambulance to the funeral home and he said goodbye to her.

Harry III was raised by his grandparents, Harry and Ruth Elston. Harry Jr. remarried in 1952 to Jane O.
Kohlmorgan. They had three sons, Timothy, Gary, and Mike, and a daughter, Susan. Some years later, Jane and Harry were divorced. About 1984 (that is a guesstimate)

He retired as head of surgery at Shenango Valley Osteopathic Hospital. He bought a Cape Dory sailboat and moved to Fort Myers Beach, Florida. His sister, Mickey, and her husband, Joe, were then living on Sanibel Island.

Unfortunately, Harry had multiple hip surgeries and was never physically able to fulfill all of
his sailing dreams and remained primarily an armchair sailor. He kept his boat, SeekHer, in prime
condition, it was his pride and joy. Harry died on January 29, 1992. His ashes were dispersed from his
boat into the Gulf of Mexico by his children.

Harry III and his wife, Michelle, and their three daughters, Katie, Jessica, and Ashley.
Susan and her husband, Rob, and children Angela and Joe.
Tim and Donna live in California.
Mike and Judy and their children, Andy, Amanda, Aaron, and Abigail live in Casper, Wyoming.
Gary and his wife, Hilma, live in Newton Falls, Ohio.

Willliam L. Elston

Bill married Lenna Grace (Penny) Shurtliff in 1954. They had three sons, William, Jeffry, David, and a
daughter Robin. Bill first practiced in Rock Creek, and Cortland, Ohio. He left general practice to take a residency in orthopedic surgery in Dayton, Ohio at grand view hospital he returned to warren and practiced until retirement as chief of orthopedics at warren general hospital bill and penny were divorced some years later. Bill married Marilyn Fisher Otstot in 1983, and became stepfather to three more fine sons, Kenny, Eric, and Mark.

Bill and Marilyn now live in Leesburg, Florida. Bill’s son Bill and his wife Parry and their children,
Kimberly and William;

Jeffry and his children, Jeff and Lindsey; and Robin live in the Warren, Ohio, areas

David and Liz with their daughters, Ashley and Alexandra, live in Phoenix, Arizona.

Marguerite R. Ward

Marguerite (nicknamed Mickey in college) was married in 1952 to Robert E. Bloom. They had one son, Robert Elston Bloom. She and Bob were divorced in 1976. Marguerite taught elementary and high school in Champion, Ohio, and high School in Howland.

She married Eugene C. Ward in 1979. They now live in Fort Myers, Florida.

Bob lives in Champion, Ohio, with his wife Debbie and daughter Amanda, and son, Mike, who has made Bob a grandfather.

Joe’s son, Bill , and his wife, Jjean, live in Cortland, Ohio. They have two married sons, Will and Rob. Will and his wife Janet have a daughter, Elyse, and a son, Ethan Robin. Rob and his wife Mary have a daughter, Sarah, and a son, Travis. They have a married daughter, Becky.

Becky and her husband, Rich, have a son, Christopher, and a daughter, Stephanie.

Joe’s daughter, sally cook, lives in Shalimar, Florida. She had three sons. Bill and his wife Nancy live with their two daughters, Kim and Kelly in Stow, Ohio.

Chris and his wife live in Florida, and Bob lives at home.

Harvey S. McKinney

Harvey McKinney was born in 1879, and was a native of Portsmouth, Ohio, but lived since childhood in Iowa. He married Anna S. Greene in 1899 and they spent their life in Wapello, Iowa. Harvey was the supervising Engineer at the Port Louisa pumping plant located on the Mississippi River.

He was a wonderful grandfather~ as was our grandmother. Harry, Bill, and Marguerite spent many wonderful weeks in their younger years on the levee. Both boys learned to swim there. Marguerite was a sissy and did not learn how to swim. There was an outhouse and Marguerite was afraid of it because of critters that might be living down deep in those holes.

Grandma was a wonderful cook and always made special things to eat for her Ohio grandchildren. They treated us with much love and affection which was readily returned.

Our father would drive all night and day from Niles, Ohio, to Wapello, Iowa and leave mother and us.
He would have a brief rest, drive back to Ohio, and then return for us some weeks later. We all have so many wonderful memories of those days. Our aunts, uncles, and cousins gave us much love.

Lee married Dee and it was a marriage of short duration. He married Irene and they had four children and all resided in Chicago. While in Iowa, lee was a mortician and furniture salesman. When he moved to Chicago, he became a insurance salesman. He began to drink too much and ended up as a cab driver.

Lee was always good to us. He was in World War II and was a part of the Normandy invasion. He enlisted and was certainly one of the oldest to fight. He and his wife died in Chicago.

Dow married Mabel and they had two daughters, Helen and Jackie. Uncle Dow and Aunt Mabel were favorites and that was a difficult choice, as we loved them all. Helen’s husband died and she lives in Surprise, Arizona.

Jackie’s husband died recently and she lives in Wapello near her sons.

Dow and Mabel lived on a farm and he worked as an electrical engineer at the Wapello Electric Plant, and with a partner, built auto batteries.

Both Dow and Mabel died in Wapello. All of us were always welcomed into their home with much love.

Robert married Helen. They had two daughters, Karen and Julie, arid a son, Dave. Helen divorced Robert after he attempted to shoot her while he was intoxicated. He went to prison. When he was released, he spent some time with his sister, Marguerite, in Phoenix, but he could not stay away from the booze, which was the one condition his sister required. He moved to Keokuic, Iowa, where he died.

Raymond married Wilma. They had a son, dean, who died at a very young age, and a daughter, Diane.
Raymond was a great financial success as a farmer. The entire family worked long and hard hours. They both died in Iowa.

Marguerite married Sharon Pease, also, from Wapello. As he was a musician, and a very successful one, they spent many years in Chicago where he had a piano studio and he composed music and wrote a monthly column for Downbeat Magazine. When his health failed, they moved to Phoenix where Sharon died ten years later. Marguerite continued to live there until her nephew, Bill Elston, brought her to a nursing home in Niles, Ohio. He looked after her needs and interests and saw that she had loving care until she died. His wife Marilyn shared in that care.

There was always such excitement when aunt marguerite and/or Uncle Sharon came to visit. They were such fun and always brought great and unusual gifts to us. She came to stay with the three of us whenever she was needed. She told the best ghost stories. We loved her very much.

Ruth Elizabeth McKinney married Harry Edward Elston. They met in Des Moines, Iowa, where Ruth was a nursing student, and Harry was a student at DesMoines Still College of Osteopathy. (by the way I have framed his first contract with the College which acknowledges he paid one hundred and fifty dollars for a year’s tuition. He promises to obey all rites mid avow intoxicating beverages.)

Ruth said she knew she wanted to marry him when they first met. They did marry and returned to Niles, Ohio, shortly after the birth of their first son, Harry Jr. when Harry’s mother became ill.

He practiced in Niles for 53 years. They had three children, Harry E. Elston, Jr., William Lawrence Elston, and Marguerite Ruth. Harry died in 1982 and Ruth died in 1988. In their final years, they were watched over with love and care by their son, Bill.

There are several stories which concern the children of the Elstons and McKinneys. Both are documented in an official book which has been temporarily misplaced, so I have no specific dates.

One concerns Daniel McKinney, gunsmith, captured by Indians during the Revolutionary War. They wanted him to make guns for them, but he made them faulty so they would not fire. As the story goes, the chief told him if he would make one good gun, they would free him. He did make one that would fire several times. He escaped with the daughter of the chief. That is where the Indian blood comes to us. It is said, also, that because of the faulty rifles, George Washington’s life was spared.

Lorenzo Dow McKinney had his funeral preached before he died so that he would know what his friends had to say about him.

The end

There are many missing names and dates in this bit of history, but those who could correct them are gone. I would like the new generation to know just a little about their ancestors.

This is the best I can do.

The Harry Elston with whom this story began was a family where there was little love or affection among the siblings.

There was a great deal of down right meanness and jealousy. We were never close with our grandfather, even though at many times of his life, he lived with us. He was a grumpy old grandfather and had little interest in us. Our grandmother had died when I was a baby. Our Uncle Lawrence and Aunt Mamie were loved. Later in life, our Aunt Pearl and Aunt Gladys were a part of our life.

If was so different on the McKinney branch of the family. We were always made to feel special by our grandparents and all of our aunts, uncles, and cousins.

I would like to say that brothers and sisters can be very different from one another, and usually are, but they are still siblings, and I hope that any of you that read this will always remember that. The three of us remembered our father’s family and vowed that we not be like that. We were not. Although each of us was different, when there was trouble, we could always count on one another. We all had problems - large and small - but we were there when needed. I hope that each of you will remember that what I want most is that you will never wait until it is too late to reconcile any differences that might come up in your own family.

Uncle Bill and Aunt Mickey are the last of the immediate family. There isn’t anyone to remember names and history. Much is missing in what I have written, but it is all that I know and with the help of my brother (whose memory is better than mine) we hope that you will add to this. We love all of you and hope that your lives will be filled with love, hope, and that you will all reach whatever goals you have set for yourselves.

As a postscript, I would like to tell all of you that this computer is responsible for all of these words of wisdom! Ha! Ha! It has been such fun and I hope that each of you will add your own history to what is written above. Do it now while there are still people in your families that can give you dates, names, and their own memories.

Aunt Mickey

Aunt Mickey Age 29

Siblings Bill, Mickey and Harry

Mickey, Bill and Marilyn