Lena Mertie (O'Neill) Bowen (1879 - 1973)

Born 9 Aug 1879 in Noble, Ohio, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Joseph Bowen — married 26 Sep 1914 in Cambridge, Guernsey, Ohio, United States

Descendants

Died 12 Aug 1973 at age 94 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States

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Biography

Lena was born in 1879. She passed away in 1973.

Biography'

The Lena O’Neill Story

Lena Mertie O’Neill, the second daughter of Thomas and Kate O’Neill, was born on the Glady Run farm on August 9, 1879. A tall, gangly redhead, Lena spent the next 30 years living with her parents in Summerfield. Finally, deciding to make some changes in her life, she moved to Cambridge, OH, and found a position as a seamstress in a shop. She worked there for the next several years. Sometime early in 1913, she met a Welsh immigrant named Joseph Bowen and began dating, or whatever the term was pre-WW1. Joseph, who was a widower with two young sons, soon was important enough to Lena to accompany her to Summerfield to meet the coffin of her brother Kyle in August, 1913, when Kyle was returned to his birthplace for burial. Lena and Joseph were married in Cambridge on September 26, 1914, and set up housekeeping there, where Lena became the stepmother to the two boys. Joseph’s oldest son, Daniel, had died in March of that year, at the age of 17. Lena gave birth to their first child, Lynette, on April 1, 1915, a short seven months after their wedding. They welcomed a second daughter, Margaret Kathryn, on July 1, 1918, and a third daughter, Sara Lee, on March 28, 1920. Sara Lee only lived until the age of three, dying of diphtheria on November 7, 1923. Sara Lee is buried in Northwood Cemetery in Cambridge, in the same lot as Joseph’s first wife Caroline and his son Daniel. Joseph had been a steel worker for several years and a fervid supporter of workers’ rights. In the early-1920’s he became a union organizer and held a similar position for the next several years. Both Albert and Paul Bowen, Joseph’s sons, entered the military during World War One, Paul in the Army and Albert in the Navy. Neither returned to their father’s home after the war. In the mid-1920’s the family moved to Follansbee, WV, and Joseph continued his union activities. In the early 1930’s, Joseph, Lena, and the girls moved to Wellsburg, WV, where Joseph and Lena lived until Joseph died. Their oldest daughter Lynette graduated from Follansbee High School in 1933 and married Casper Miller Rider of Pennsylvania on July 17, 1937. The Riders became the parents of two daughters, Kathleen and Elizabeth. The Bowens’ second daughter Margaret graduated from Follansbee High School in 1936 and married Peter Darrah, Jr., of Brooke County, on May 9, 1938. They became the parents of a son, Ronald Lee, and a daughter, Nancy Jo. Joseph, age 72 and retired by 1946, evidently was forced by economic pressures to return to the workforce. He took a job as a toll collector on the Ohio River bridge at Steubenville, OH, and worked there until the grandchildren left. Joseph and Lena continued to live in Wellsburg until November 15, 1961, when Joseph died at the age of 87. He was buried in Brooke Cemetery in Wellsburg. Lena, age 82 by this time, tried to maintain a household in Wellsburg, but was unable to do so for very long. She reluctantly moved to Cleveland, OH, to live with her daughter Margaret, by now married to Eugene Bianconi. Lena Mertie O’Neill Bowen, the last survivor of Thomas and Kate’s children. died in Cleveland on August 12, 1973, at the age of 94. She is buried in West Park Cemetery in Cleveland, mourned by her children and grandchildren.

Sources

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Sources

1. ↑ Death Certificate, Lena M. Bowen, OH Dept. of Health, Reg. No. 6282, Columbus, OH, 1973

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