POSS John Anthony

John married NEME Edna Jenevieve on 08 Sep 1951 in Cranford, Union Co., NJ. Edna was born on 28 Jun 1914; died on 21 Sep 1997. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

On the eastern edge of the Allegheny Plateau, near the Appalachian
Highlands in the State of Pennsylvania is the County of Cambria.
Fifteen miles due north of the County seat, Ebensburg, is the village
of Carrolltown, center of a farming community. On a farm, about a
mile and a half from town lived Charles and Regina Abt Poss. Here, on
September 30, 1864, was born a son, Anthony. There were other
children in the family, four girls and a boy. From what we can
gather, they were all older than Anthony. His brother's name was
Charles, and his sisters were, Lizzie (Mrs. Fred Hufnagel), Mary
(Mrs. Len Farnbaugh), Catherine (Mrs. Fred Farnbaugh) and Lena, who
never married. Charles and Regina, Anthony's parents, were
Pennsylvania Dutch and they lived on the farm with their children
until 1870, when they moved into Carrolltown, where Charles plied his
trade as a stonecutter. Some two years after leaving the farm, when
Anthony was eight years old, his father died. The year before, 1871,
Lizzie and Mary had left the family home and moved to Beaver Falls,
Minnesota. Not long after Charles' death, Anthony's mother, Regina,
married a man by the name of Hiller. In 1873, the other two girls,
Catherine and Lena, followed Lizzie and Mary to Beaver Falls. Anthony
and Charles continued to live with their mother and stepfather until
1874, when they and their parents left Carolltown to join the girls
in Beaver Falls.
As Anthony was nearly ten years old when the family left
Pennsylvania, he had already started to school. He continued his
education in Beaver Falls and also attended school in Bird Island for
two years. After leaving school, Anthony began working in the
hardware store of Conklin and Clark in Bird Island, remaining there
until he was twenty years old. He then moved on to Long Prairie to
work for Richard Handy in his hardware and tin shop. After four
years, when he was twenty-four, he decided to go to St. Paul to take
a short business course and work in the manufacture of tin. He
remained in St. Paul for almost a year, and in 1888 moved to Morton
and began working for Keefe, Heing and McClure. Anthony was an
ambitious young man who had saved his money, and so in September of
the following year, 1889, he bought out the hardware store of J. M.
Johnson in Franklin, and changed the store's name to Poss Hardware.
In 1895 he took his brother-in-law, Charles Freeman in as a partner,
and this parnership lasted until 1915 when it was dissolved by mutual
consent. Poss Hardware is now owned and operated by Anthony's oldest
son, Harold, and it is one of the oldest active businesses in
Franklin.
While Anthony, or as he was affectionately known to his many friends,
Tony, worked in Morton during the year 1888, he met a young lady,
Mary Ann Brown, who was waiting table at the Railroad Hotel. Mary Ann
wanted to open a millinery Store, and no doubt it was Anthony, who
persuaded her to come to Franklin and open a store in the rear room
of Poss Hardware. Just when Mary Ann came to Franklin is not know,
but it is a fact that Anthony and Mary Ann were married in 1894.
Mary Ann Brown was born on July 5, 1865 in Tinwich (or as it is also
spelled, Tingwick) Province of Quebec, Canada. Tingwick is about
seventy-five miles south and west of the city of Quebec and eighty
miles north and east of Montreal. Arthabaska County in which Tingwick
is situated was the center of an area devoted almost exclusively to
farming. From the Prologue, we know that Mary Ann was the eldest
daughter and the second child of James Brown and Mary Anne Goggin,
and that the family migrated from Canada and finally settled on a
farm near Birch Cooley in Norfolk Township, Minnesota.
Anthony and mary Ann spent their entire lives in Franklin and the
following children were born to them; Irene, Harold, Edward,
Genevieve, Mary, John and Dorothy. All the children are still living
except Edward who was called to his reward on September 15, 1958.
After a long and happy life, Anthony died on november 12, 1951 at the
age of eighty-seven, and eight years later at the age of ninety-four,
his wife, Mary Ann joined him.

Written by Thomas J. Shay February, 1963

In 1909 the firm of Poss and Freeman rented out their vacuum cleaner
by the day - the easy way to clean the house without taking up the
carpets.

The firm of Poss and Freeman, one of the oldest firms in Franklin,
dissolved partnership in January 1915. Poss took over the hardware
and farm implement business and Freeman took the furniture and lumber
part of the business. The men were in partnership for 19 years.

In 1916 Anthony Poss installed a gas pump in front of his store.

In March 1917, A.J. Olin, Anthony Poss and A.S. Erickson went to
Washington D.C. to witness the inauguration of President Woodrow
Wilson.

Poss Hardware celebrated forty years of business in Franklin in 1931.
They held gigantic sales of merchandise, and the entire town joined
in the celebration held in the village hall.

Died:
Burial: November 14, 1951 in St. Patrick's Old Birch Cooley, Renville
Co., MN.

Anthony married BROWN Mary Ann "Moll" on 10 Sep 1894 in Henryville Twp, Renville Co., MN. Mary (daughter of (Jr) James Brown and GOGGIN Mary Anne) was born on 05 Jul 1865 in Tingwick, Arthabasha County, Quebec, Canada; died on 03 Mar 1959 in Franklin, Renville Co., MN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

On the eastern edge of the Allegheny Plateau, near the Appalachian
Highlands in the State of Pennsylvania is the County of Cambria.
Fifteen miles due north of the County seat, Ebensburg, is the village
of Carrolltown, center of a farming community. On a farm, about a
mile and a half from town lived Charles and Regina Abt Poss. Here, on
September 30, 1864, was born a son, Anthony. There were other
children in the family, four girls and a boy. From what we can
gather, they were all older than Anthony. His brother's name was
Charles, and his sisters were, Lizzie (Mrs. Fred Hufnagel), Mary
(Mrs. Len Farnbaugh), Catherine (Mrs. Fred Farnbaugh) and Lena, who
never married. Charles and Regina, Anthony's parents, were
Pennsylvania Dutch and they lived on the farm with their children
until 1870, when they moved into Carrolltown, where Charles plied his
trade as a stonecutter. Some two years after leaving the farm, when
Anthony was eight years old, his father died. The year before, 1871,
Lizzie and Mary had left the family home and moved to Beaver Falls,
Minnesota. Not long after Charles' death, Anthony's mother, Regina,
married a man by the name of Hiller. In 1873, the other two girls,
Catherine and Lena, followed Lizzie and Mary to Beaver Falls. Anthony
and Charles continued to live with their mother and stepfather until
1874, when they and their parents left Carolltown to join the girls
in Beaver Falls.
As Anthony was nearly ten years old when the family left
Pennsylvania, he had already started to school. He continued his
education in Beaver Falls and also attended school in Bird Island for
two years. After leaving school, Anthony began working in the
hardware store of Conklin and Clark in Bird Island, remaining there
until he was twenty years old. He then moved on to Long Prairie to
work for Richard Handy in his hardware and tin shop. After four
years, when he was twenty-four, he decided to go to St. Paul to take
a short business course and work in the manufacture of tin. He
remained in St. Paul for almost a year, and in 1888 moved to Morton
and began working for Keefe, Heing and McClure. Anthony was an
ambitious young man who had saved his money, and so in September of
the following year, 1889, he bought out the hardware store of J. M.
Johnson in Franklin, and changed the store's name to Poss Hardware.
In 1895 he took his brother-in-law, Charles Freeman in as a partner,
and this parnership lasted until 1915 when it was dissolved by mutual
consent. Poss Hardware is now owned and operated by Anthony's oldest
son, Harold, and it is one of the oldest active businesses in
Franklin.
While Anthony, or as he was affectionately known to his many friends,
Tony, worked in Morton during the year 1888, he met a young lady,
Mary Ann Brown, who was waiting table at the Railroad Hotel. Mary Ann
wanted to open a millinery Store, and no doubt it was Anthony, who
persuaded her to come to Franklin and open a store in the rear room
of Poss Hardware. Just when Mary Ann came to Franklin is not know,
but it is a fact that Anthony and Mary Ann were married in 1894.
Mary Ann Brown was born on July 5, 1865 in Tinwich (or as it is also
spelled, Tingwick) Province of Quebec, Canada. Tingwick is about
seventy-five miles south and west of the city of Quebec and eighty
miles north and east of Montreal. Arthabaska County in which Tingwick
is situated was the center of an area devoted almost exclusively to
farming. From the Prologue, we know that Mary Ann was the eldest
daughter and the second child of James Brown and Mary Anne Goggin,
and that the family migrated from Canada and finally settled on a
farm near Birch Cooley in Norfolk Township, Minnesota.
Anthony and mary Ann spent their entire lives in Franklin and the
following children were born to them; Irene, Harold, Edward,
Genevieve, Mary, John and Dorothy. All the children are still living
except Edward who was called to his reward on September 15, 1958.
After a long and happy life, Anthony died on november 12, 1951 at the
age of eighty-seven, and eight years later at the age of ninety-four,
his wife, Mary Ann joined him.

Written by Thomas J. Shay February, 1963

Died:
Burial March 6, 1959 in St. Patrick's Old Birch Cooley, Renville Co.,
MN.

Charles married ABT Regina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

James, Mary Anne, and their children James, Mary Ann, and Edmund
moved to St. Peter, Minnesota in 1868. From there they journeyed by
ox team to Norfolk Township near Birch Cooley in 1869. There James
took up farming, and there the following children were born; David,
Katherine, Ellen, Edward, Patrick and Sarah.

James Brown II died in 1881 when he was run over by a train in Birch
Cooley. The obituaries say that he got drunk and passed out on the
tracks and the train ran over his legs, amputating both of them.

Died:
Burial in St. Patrick's New Birch Cooley, Renville, MN.
James died in a railroad accident.

James married GOGGIN Mary Anne on 04 Nov 1861 in Tingwick, Arthabasha County, Quebec, Canada. Mary (daughter of GOGGIN Edmund and HODNETT Mary Ann) was born on 17 Aug 1843 in Shipton, Quebec, Canada; died on 18 Oct 1920 in Franklin, Renville Co., MN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Moved to Birch Cooley, Renville, MN in 1868

Died:
Burial October 20, 1920 in St. Patrick's New Birch cooley, Renville,
MN.

Notes:

Possibly born in Waterford

I have no other info on James Sr. and Catherine but believe they came
as part of the Peter Robinson settlers who were sponsored by the
British government. There were two groups that came to Canada,
originally to the area near Peterborough, Ontario. One group came in
1823 as part of the Peter Robinson immigrants and I believe James
Brown Sr. was one of them. He ended up in Tingwick, Arthabaska, QC.
The second group came in 1825 and I believe Catherine Buckley was
part of that group. I have no proof of this but do have the passenger
lists and there were a James and a Catherine that would have been of
the right age to have been married in1834.
Bill Grimes

Birth:
BET ABT 1803 AND 1810

James married BUCKLEY Catherine about 1831 in St. Patice de Tingwick, Quebec, Canada. Catherine (daughter of BUCKLEY Jacques (James) and MCMAHON Mary) was born in 1812 in County Cork?, Ireland; died on 28 Oct 1837 in St. Michell de Sherbrooke, QC Canada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Catherine was part of the 1825 Peter Robinson immigrants.

Notes:

In Ireland, the year 1810 was not in itself unusual. Things were
neither good nor bad. People went about their work as usual. There
were marriages, births and deaths. Some of the more hardy and
adventerous souls, migrated to America, to them the 'Land of Plenty'.
But to the members of the Brown family, this was, indeed, a most
important year, because it was then that a son was born to the Goggin
Family of County Cork. His name was Edwin, or as he was sometimes
called, Ned, and he is the most remote ancestor about whom we have
any knowledge. About his early life we know nothing. We do know that
he married a lass named Mary Hudnut (also spelled Hodnett) in the
city of Cork. Not long after their marriage, the great potato famine
struck Ireland, and Edwin, his wife Mary and possibly his first
child, David, left Ireland by sailing vessel for America.
Mary's brother, Richard Hudnut, sailed for America at the same time,
but in another vessel. As sailing vessels had to depend on the wind,
they always made for the nearest port. Mary's ship was blown into the
mouth of the St. Laurence River, while that of her brother came into
the harbor at New York. According to our informant, Angela Borne,
Richard became a successful businessman in New York and was probably
the founder of the famous cosmetic company that bears his name. The
only other information concerning this branch of the family, is that
he had an adopted daughter, Virginia, who was one of the many wives
of Rudolph Valentino, movie actor of the 1920's.
Meanwhile, Mary and Edwin settled on a farm in or about Tinwich,
Arthabasha County in the province of Quebec. There, more children
were born, at least five that we have record of, but there may have
been more. In addition to David, who was born in Ireland, there was
Ned, Katie, Anna, Mary Anne, and Joanna. In the year 1890 at the age
of 60, Edwin's wife, Mary died. Her husband followed her soon after
at the age of 80. Both were probably buried in the old church yard
near Tinwich. Edwin, in his later years, became senile, and his only
activity was saying the rosary. A few days before he died, he plucked
off each bead of the rosary while saying it and dropped them on the
floor. He never asked for his rosary again.
While it seems safe to assume that most of Edwin and Mary's children
married, we have records on only two of them. Katie was married to a
man by the name of Mullens, and they had two children, Katie and
Mary. Beyond this we have no information. Mary Anne married James
Brown, and it is with these progenitors that we are concerned in this
family tree. James, Mary Anne's husband, was also born in Canada.
While living in Canada, three children were born to them; James, Mary
Ann and Edmund. When James was six, Mary Ann three and her brother
Edmund, one, the family left Canada. It was in the year, 1868 that
they arrived in St. Peter, Minnesota, From there they journeyed by ox
team to Norfolk Township near Birch Cooley. There James took up
farming, and there the following children were born; David,
Katherine, Ellen, Edward, Patrick and Sarah.

Written by Thomas J. Shay February, 1963

Edmund married HODNETT Mary Ann about 1836 in Schull, County Cork, Ireland. Mary was born in 1817 in Schull, Cork, Ireland; died in 1890 in Tingwick, Arthabasha County, Quebec, Canada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

In Ireland, the year 1810 was not in itself unusual. Things were
neither good nor bad. People went about their work as usual. There
were marriages, births and deaths. Some of the more hardy and
adventerous souls, migrated to America, to them the 'Land of Plenty'.
But to the members of the Brown family, this was, indeed, a most
important year, because it was then that a son was born to the Goggin
Family of County Cork. His name was Edwin, or as he was sometimes
called, Ned, and he is the most remote ancestor about whom we have
any knowledge. About his early life we know nothing. We do know that
he married a lass named Mary Hudnut (also spelled Hodnett) in the
city of Cork. Not long after their marriage, the great potato famine
struck Ireland, and Edwin, his wife Mary and possibly his first
child, David, left Ireland by sailing vessel for America.
Mary's brother, Richard Hudnut, sailed for America at the same time,
but in another vessel. As sailing vessels had to depend on the wind,
they always made for the nearest port. Mary's ship was blown into the
mouth of the St. Laurence River, while that of her brother came into
the harbor at New York. According to our informant, Angela Borne,
Richard became a successful businessman in New York and was probably
the founder of the famous cosmetic company that bears his name. The
only other information concerning this branch of the family, is that
he had an adopted daughter, Virginia, who was one of the many wives
of Rudolph Valentino, movie actor of the 1920's.
Meanwhile, Mary and Edwin settled on a farm in or about Tinwich,
Arthabasha County in the province of Quebec. There, more children
were born, at least five that we have record of, but there may have
been more. In addition to David, who was born in Ireland, there was
Ned, Katie, Anna, Mary Anne, and Joanna. In the year 1890 at the age
of 60, Edwin's wife, Mary died. Her husband followed her soon after
at the age of 80. Both were probably buried in the old church yard
near Tinwich. Edwin, in his later years, became senile, and his only
activity was saying the rosary. A few days before he died, he plucked
off each bead of the rosary while saying it and dropped them on the
floor. He never asked for his rosary again.
While it seems safe to assume that most of Edwin and Mary's children
married, we have records on only two of them. Katie was married to a
man by the name of Mullens, and they had two children, Katie and
Mary. Beyond this we have no information. Mary Anne married James
Brown, and it is with these progenitors that we are concerned in this
family tree. James, Mary Anne's husband, was also born in Canada.
While living in Canada, three children were born to them; James, Mary
Ann and Edmund. When James was six, Mary Ann three and her brother
Edmund, one, the family left Canada. It was in the year, 1868 that
they arrived in St. Peter, Minnesota, From there they journeyed by ox
team to Norfolk Township near Birch Cooley. There James took up
farming, and there the following children were born; David,
Katherine, Ellen, Edward, Patrick and Sarah.

Written by Thomas J. Shay February, 1963