Small Town to Automotive Executive

 

Oscar Lee Arnold  1888-1956

I ran across some interesting information, I know, I say that a lot!  But I was looking at some census hints in my tree and saw one for Oscar Lee Arnold which led me to other hints about him.

Oscar was born on Sep 19, 1888 in Bedford, PA, the oldest child of Harry Spang Arnold (a carpenter) and Martha Lee.  One census states that Oscar completed the 8^th grade, but by 1910, he was working as a bookkeeper in an office in Pittsburgh.  He was listed as single, but later, on Jun 30, 1910 in Wilkinsburg, he married Lila Moore of Johnstown.  Oscar and Lila had three daughters all born in Pittsburgh.  Oscar’s WW1 draft registration from 1917 shows him living in Houston, Texas and employed as a manager for Ford Motor Company and he was claiming an exemption from military service stating his dependent family and job in the industrial area.  He must have been granted that exemption or not drafted at all because there is no record of him having served. Ford’s Houston assembly plant operated from 1914 – 1932. It did produce war materials from 1917-1918 including boats, trucks and cannons and was developing armor technologies for equipment and men.  Oscar must have been transferred and was working as a Manager for the Ford company while living at 53 N. Fremont Ave in the Bellevue neighborhood of Pittsburgh according to the 1920 census.  Ford had an assembly plant in Pittsburgh from 1915 – 1932. It was located at Baum Blvd & Morewood Ave.  By 1930, the family had moved to Detroit and Oscar has risen to Vice President of a truck division. They lived at 19180 Canterbury Rd, an affluent neighborhood in Detroit, as the house they lived in had a value of $40,000 at that time (selling for over $500,000 in 2022) and they also list a house servant as living with them.  In 1940, the census shows that the family moved once again, (minus the older daughter Helen who had gotten married in 1933) to Chicago where Oscar is listed as a Sales Manager for an automobile company, possible General Motors.  Oscar’s 1942  WW2 Draft Registration card shows him as working for the Nash-Kelvinator Corp in Detroit at age 51. During World War 2, this company manufactured many different things needed for the war effort, from helicopters to propellors to  binoculars.  His youngest daughter, Marion, married an Army officer in 1943 and by 1950, Oscar had retired from the Nash automobile company and lived in the Biltmore Forest neighborhood of Asheville, North Carolina.  After 7 years of retirement, Oscar passes away from a cerebral hemorrhage on Apr 24, 1956 in Asheville.  Oscar’s middle child, Marie, lived with her parents her entire life and lived with her mother  after Oscar’s death until her own passing in 1972.  Lila, her mother passed in 1974 still living on Busbee Rd where they had retired to in 1949. 

 I found Oscar interesting because he was said to be a personal friend of Henry Ford.  Remember, the Ford company was still young, founded in 1903, when Oscar began working there.  So did Oscar meet Henry Ford somehow in Pittsburgh or maybe on a business trip to Detroit or after he began working in Detroit?   That would be interesting to know.  Imagine the conversations!  According to various news articles about Oscar’s death, he worked for the Ford Company in Pittsburgh and Detroit. Then later at General Motors and finally retired as president of the Nash Motor Company in 1949.  All of this with an 8^th grade education.  I did find one article in a Bedford newspaper that listed an Oscar Arnold on the Honor Roll in the Bedford Schools in 1901.  Oscar would have been 13.   I wonder what possible further education he may have had to be able to work as a bookkeeper in 1910?  Maybe self-taught?  Or a business school course?  Obviously, self-made and driven to succeed.

Our relationship to Oscar is that his grandfather, Henry Wertz Arnold, was my 3^rd great grandfather making us 1^st cousins 3 times removed. Not all that distant if you consider that Oscar was Ralph Arnold’s (our great grandfather) 1^st cousin. 

In writing this, which was originally going to just be a short paragraph about a cousin who knew Henry Ford, I came up with more and more questions about the things I was finding out.  I won’t put it all in here, but if anyone is interested in the Nash Company, as I became, here are a few links. I never knew most of this. 

http://www.usautoindustryworldwartwo.com/nash-kelvinator.htm

https://carshowsafari.com/from-cars-to-planes-and-back-again-part-five/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash_Motors

 

 

Honor Roll under Second Intermediate

World War 1 Draft Registration Card

World War 2 Draft Registration Card

  Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved. 

 

Lots of Backyard Visitors

 I've always had an interest in nature.  This interest has pointed me to raising Monarch butterflies, planting some native plants in my yard and feeding the backyard birds to name a few of my activities.  I have to share what happened today.  

When I got up this morning, pre-dawn, I spied 4 Whitetail deer lying down in our backyard just resting.  I'm glad they feel safe enough to do so in my yard.  

Later, within 10 minutes of filling the feeder on my deck, many, many birds showed up.  It is a mild but cloudy day that may have contributed to all of the activity.  I began to notice that there were more than the usual customers arriving.  

First, the 4 Eastern Bluebirds that came yesterday, showed up again.  They are not frequent visitors to my yard, but have been seen the last few years, maybe once a year.  Then I noticed a Mockingbird. I have seen them in other parts of my neighborhood but never at my feeders.  Later, a Flicker came to the suet feeder. They are around but do not appear very often.  A Pileated Woodpecker appeared at the edge of our woods.  Lastly, the local Sharp Shinned Hawk flew in and scared everyone away.  This all happened over the space of about an hour and a half.  Some only made one appearance and others were back and forth all morning.  A special day of bird watching for me.  All I need now is for the local turkey flock to come by!

And, of course, the resident squirrels made their appearances.  We have the Gray, Fox and Red Ground Squirrels.  The chipmunks are not out and about yet.  

Here is a list of the 19 different birds that I  observed today.

Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

Goldfinch, both male and female

House Finch, both male and female

Cardinal, both male and female

Blue Jay

Junco

Carolina Wren

Mourning Dove

Starling

Mockingbird

Eastern Bluebird

White Breasted Nuthatch

Red Belly Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker, both male and female

Pileated Woodpecker

Flicker

Sharp Shinned Hawk

Some photos from today

 Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved. 

Some Valentine's Day History

 While you are out buying those valentine cards for those special someones, think of Esther Howland.  Who is she? you might ask.  Well, Esther was born in 1828 in Worchester, Massachusetts.  And as the story goes, after graduating from Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1847 at age 19, Esther received a valentine card from a friend.  In those days most valentine cards were imported from England and were very elaborate and expensive.  Esther felt that she could make a better one and less expensive at the same time.  Her father owned a book and stationery store and she convinced him to order supplies for her to make her vison a reality.  She also would import fancy laces, ribbons and specialized papers to create her cards.  Eventually she added silk and lithographs to her designs.  

Esther's brother was a salesman for his family's book store and took samples of Esther's cards on a sales trip. He returned with $5000 worth of orders.  Esther was hoping for $200.  She immediately setup an assembly line of local women workers to put her designs together to fulfill these orders.  She called her now business, the New England Valentine Company.  

In 1866, Esther injured a knee but managed to run her business from her wheelchair for the next 15 years.  In 1870, she was incorporated but still operated the business in her home.  In 1879, she finally moved the business to a factory.  And by 1880, her company was earning over $100,000 in profits yearly.  About 2.5 million in todays dollars.  One year later, she sold the business to an associate and retired.  Esther died in 1904 and sadly never married.  Esther is credited with commercializing the greeting card industry in America into what it is today.  Her cards are sought after by collectors.  

In looking at Esther's ancestry, I saw one coincidence in that her great great grandfather, John Howland, died ON Valentines Day in 1738, 90 years before Esther's birth.  Esther could also proudly claim that her 4th great grandfather, another John Howland and his wife Elizabeth Tilley, both arrived in America on the Mayflower.  My Heacock family can claim cousinship to Elizabeth Tilley as my 3rd cousin 11 times removed, therefore making Esther Howland my 9th cousin 5 times removed.  

So let's remember Esther this year as we give and receive Valentines and other cards and thank her for her contribution to the industry that has helped keep all of us in touch with loved ones far & near.  

Esther Howland 1828 - 1904

& 

Some of her Valentines

                       

               

The Howland Home, Summer St, Worchester, Massachusetts

 Sioux City Journal, Apr 7, 1908

Esther Howland obituary - Boston Globe, Mar 16, 1904

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther_Howland

https://www.mtholyoke.edu/directory/alum/esther-howland

http://www.victoriantreasury.com/howland.htm

https://amazingwomeninhistory.com/esther-howland-american-valentine/

www.newspapers.com

 Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved. 

Cornish surprise

 I ran across the article link below today in a Facebook group that I recently joined. As I read through it, I recognized two surnames that are in my family, French & Toms. So, naturally, I had to look into them. I did not find them related to the French & Toms families who are my ancestors, but I did find another name farther back that was, John Boscawen. John is my 14th great grandfather, born in 1438 in Cornwall, England and William French's (of the article) 9th great grandfather. John Boscawen's son Hugh is my ancestor and his daughter Christiana is William French's ancestor. William French therefore becomes my 10th cousin 5 times removed. The Boscawen family is also from Cornwall, England.

The Boscawen connection to me is Marie Boscowen who married Peter Coffin (my 12th great grandparents and the ancestors of my Coffins who came to Nantucket). Marie is the granddaughter of the above John Boscawen. Marie Boscowen-Coffin's tomb has this brass plate attached and is located in St Michael's in Penkevil, Cornwall. She died in 1622 at age 77.

Anyway, I found it an interesting article to give us a sense of what alot of our Cornish ancestors may have experienced in those times. And you never know what may pop up in front of you.

https://cornishbirdblog.com/davidstow-moor-a-haunted-landscape/

 Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved.