“She left a teamster driver husband and 6 children”

Point Breeze, South Philadelphia

My paternal grandmother, Jenny or Jennie Gailey Wilson of 2142 Ellsworth St. in Philadelphia, died during the Influenza epidemic of 1918.

She left a teamster driver husband and 6 children: a 1 year old girl, a 7 year old boy, 3 more boys and another girl…all who survived. My grandfather, Harper Wilson, remarried fairly soon. His 2 nd wife, Nellie, was a widow with 2 daughters. The family eventually settled in Westmont, New Jersey. My father was the 7 year old. He grew up disliking (hating) his step-mother, but became very close to his step-sisters. His step-mother apparently fit the architype of a step-mother-sending children to bed without dinner, etc. However, the kids rigged up ropes to get food to the one/s being disciplined. Nellie must have known about the food delivery, but never stopped it. My father dropped out of school after 8 th grade and went to work to help support the family. His father, Harper Wilson, died before my parents married. I met Nelllie once, maybe twice, when I was 4-5 years old, even though she lived only about a mile away…. When he introduced me to her, my father had me call her Mrs. Wilson. A long-lasting side-effect of the Flu Epidemic?

Contributed by Nancy W. Donohue, Granddaughter of Jennie Gailey Wilson