Smiley Family History
By Joann Cosgrove
February 15, 2003
The earliest record I can confirm for our Smiley ancestors is the family of William Smiley. He was born around 1832. I based his age on the information given in the 1860 census. He stated he was 28 and the census was taken on June 15th. He stated he was a blacksmith. His wife was listed as Emma, age 25 and his children were William age 5, Joseph C. aged 4 and Harry age 2. Living with them was Andrew Marsh 28 years of age with the notation that Andrew was a Printer but he had lost both his arms. I have made a guess that he is Emma’s brother but I have no documentation to prove that fact. According to the Philadelphia City directory William lived on Innes and Allen Street for most of the 1860’s. Innes Street is now known as Sarah Street and is in Kensington close to Penn Treaty Park in Philadelphia. According to the census everyone in the family was born in Pennsylvania. William continues to be listed in the City Directory until 1889 which is the last year a William who is a Blacksmith is listed.
In the 1870 census William and Emma’s son, Joseph C. Smiley was listed as living in the St. John’s Orphanage. This Orphanage is located right next to Old Cathedral Cemetery at 49th and Wyalusing St. in Phila. According to the City Directory William the father was still living so I imagine that Emma the mother had died or left the family. Joseph C. Smiley was a Hatter and he married Fannie Master on March 16, 1877. She was born in a place called Sandy Run Pennsylvania.
William and Emma’s son, Joseph C Smiley was our direct ancestor. Joseph C. Smiley married Fannie Master on the 16th of March 1877. His age was 21 and Fannie’s age was 18 at the time of their marriage. According to the City Directory he lived at 807 Almond Street in 1877. The ceremony was conducted by the Reverend John S. James McConnell. On the marriage license, the minister’s address was 1421 Otis Street and he was listed as a Methodist Episcopal Minister. Otis street was later renamed Susquehanna Avenue. Joseph C. Smiley then is listed as living at 1318,1348, and1352 East Montgomery St. from 1881 through 1885. Then he is listed as living at 2614 East Dauphin Street 1887 through 1889. He is always listed as a Hatter by occupation. Joseph C. Smiley and Fannie had three children William J. b. 2 Jan 1878, Joseph C. Jr. b. May 1880 and Elmer b. Aug 1892. Our ancestor was Joseph and Fannie’s son, William J. Smiley. Fannie Smiley died April 10, 1918 and Joseph C. Smiley married Mary Scaife. His second wife Mary died Dec 1924. Joseph C. died 8 July 1928 at the Jewish Hospital. Joseph and both his wives are buried at East Cedar Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. There are no headstones but buried in the same plot are his son Joseph C. Smiley Jr. and another Joseph C Smiley presumably Joseph C. Jr’s son.
The city of Philadelphia was a huge manufacturing center and the Stetson Hat factory was one of the largest businesses. Both Joseph C. Smiley and his son William J. worked as Hatters and family stories say that they worked at the Stetson Hat company. This excerpt is from the book "Still Philadelphia a Photographic History" by Miller, Vogel and Davis.
"Stetson. The name conjures up the golden age of the American frontier. But the hat that covered cowboys and rustlers, good guys and bad guys alike, was as much an institution on the streets of Kensington as it was on cattle drives and in Dodge City saloons. John B. Stetson began making hats in Philadelphia in 1865. Eventually his plant at 4th and Montgomery Ave. grew to twenty-five buildings on nine acres with over 5,000 workers.
This is a picture taken in 1910 of men blocking hats in the factory
The firm was one of the biggest employers in the city, and the largest hat maker in the world. Stetson was more than a place to work. It was practically a company town. John Stetson, who died in 1906, was intensely paternalistic, involving himself in many aspects of his employees lives. He maintained a hospital and organized a building and loan society that encouraged home ownership by employees in the neighborhood. Celebrations and community observances took place in the company auditorium. The 1910 Christmas assembly is pictured here
Stetson made it a point to welcome workers into his office. Workers apparently reciprocated, treating the company as a way of life, but they could not keep their company going. The Great Depression of the 1930’s and the changes in men’s fashions ultimately crippled Stetson. Vacant North Philadelphia lots are all that remain of the city’s connection with the hat that won the West.
William J. Smiley married Caroline Koehler 17 July 1897. Caroline Koehler was born 23 Feb 1877 and died June 28, 1905 of myoendocarditis. At the time of her death she left 3 little girls. Florence b. 1897, Laura b. 1899 and Edna b. 1902. Family stories relate that the little girls were sent to live in an Orphanage called the Home for the Friendless until their father William remarried. William’s second wife was Anna Schmidt and the girls returned to the family home when he remarried. Our direct ancestor was William’s daughter Laura. This is a picture of Laura taken when she was about 12 years of age
Laura Smiley married Joseph J Cosgrove. Joseph Cosgrove was born May 26, 1897 the son of William Cosgrove and Elizabeth Cavanaugh. Laura’s father was unhappy that Laura married so young and there was little contact between them after her marriage. Laura and Joseph had 10 children together. Their children were
Laura died in 1985 and Joseph Cosgrove died in 1946. Laura and Joseph separated and Laura remarried a Walter Condon after Joseph’s death. Walter and Laura had a daughter Joan Condon who married George Brown a Philadelphia Policeman.
Our ancestor was Harry Cosgrove b. 24 March 1921 died 15 Oct 2000. He married Eleanor Callahan on 28 June 1941 in St. Gregory’s RC Church. Eleanor was the daughter of Thomas Joseph Callahan and Nora Hogan. Eleanor was born May 7 1921 and died 24 March 1984. Harry served in the US Army Coastal Artillery at Hampton Roads VA during WW2. After the war he worked as a warehouseman in the paper industry. Harry and Eleanor lived in West Philadelphia for most of their lives. They lived at 1671 N 53rd Street until around 1946 and then moved to 5274 Jefferson St. In 1963 the family moved to 5249 Berks Street where they lived until moving to Ardmore around 1970/71. They lived at 2228 Bryn Mawr Ave. They had 5 children
Eleanor was diagnosed with cancer of the kidney in 1973/74 and later developed cancer of the lungs in 1983. She died in 1984. She and Harry are both buried at St. Peter and Paul’s Cemetery, Springfield, Delaware County PA.