|
Harry did not leave much of a trail, but thanks to a few scraps of information
on the Internet, and the generous assistance of Chris Bell-Puckett of the Cincinnati Historical Society, this is what
I found.
William Harry McShane was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 25,
1889. His parents were Peter and Sarah. In about 1904, Peter remarried, to a woman named Mary Anna, and Harry is living with
them in 1910 at 134 Broadway, Cincinnati, according to the census. He had one known sibling, Ella, who was born of the same
parents in 1888.
In the Cincinnati city directories, from 1912 to 1917, Harry's occupation is listed as "switchman" for the
railroad. So despite his injuries and disability, he was employed as early as four years after the accident. His
father died of "paralysis" (possibly polio) on June 23, 1918, at about the age of 62. In the 1920 census, Harry
is living with his stepmother at 212 Broadway, and his occupation is now listed as "flagman," obviously still for the railroad.
A year later (December 14, 1921), his stepmother Mary Anna died of breast cancer, at age 58. Harry
shows up in the 1930 census living in Dayton, Ohio, where he is a boarder, and works as a "watchman" for the railroad.
|
| 1942 World War Two draft registration. |
According to his 1942 draft registration, Harry was living at the YMCA in Hamilton,
Ohio, which is about 25 miles north of Cincinnati (or possibly living in Hamilton County, where Cincinnati is located). This
is the only record which indicates that his middle name may have been Henry, not Harry. He is a watchman for the Pennsylvania
Railroad. In the Cincinnati directories, he was living at the 7th Avenue Hotel in 1964,
and at the Fort Washington Hotel in Cincinnati from 1970 to 1975. At that time, both hotels had long passed their days of
relative luxury, and served as substandard housing for mostly low-income single people.
He died of unknown causes on May 29, 1975, just one month short of his 86th birthday. It appears
that his only survivor was his sister Ella, who died two years later. She was divorced and had no apparent survivors.
|
