52 Ancestors Challenge Week 18: "Social" - Family in the Freeport Fire Department

I am not much of a joiner, that is to say that I don't belong to a lot of clubs or organizations. The few organizations I do belong to I do so just in name really. For the most part, I pay my dues for the benefit of receiving whatever publications the organization provides its members or to have access to some database or discounted service. In short, I'm not one looking to lead. I do enjoy attending a conference or two though. Such events provide opportunities to be social.

I don't find many records for my ancestors being active in clubs or organization either except my paternal grandmother's parents, Charles Henry (March 26, 1896 - June 14, 1949) and Anna Marie Sauer-Henry (July 19, 1899 - May 8, 1986) who were leaders in their Rabbit Club and Goat Club. I wrote about the goats a few times in my blog. 

But then there is my paternal grandfather's dad, Abram "Abe" Earle (January 13, 1891 - November 18, 1973), who, along with his brother-in-laws, was active the the Freeport (NY) Fire Department.

Amongst the family treasures that have been bestowed to me overtime, there are photos that once belonged to Abe and his wife, my great grandma, Ethel Mae Losee-Earle (February 14, 1896 - May 27, 1960), that show some organizational gatherings. Some of the photos show Ethel's brothers and Abe in their fire department dress uniforms gathered around the company's trucks.

This image was included in an Images of America book about Freeport, New York. It was written by Cynthia J. Krieg, who is affiliated with Freeport Historical Society, and Regina G. Feeney, a librarian at Freeport Memorial Library.  My grandfather's maternal uncle, Luman Losee (June 26, 1894 - January 13, 1954) is in the front row #4 from the right. I think her brothers, Fredrick Losee (About 1903 - May 5, 1926) and Forest Losee (August 11, 1897 - February 2, 1945) are also in this image but I can't pick them out. My grandpa knew his Uncle Forest but my father didn't; Forest died very young. Uncle Fred died even younger. He died in an accident, he fell off a roof. Again, though I suspect all 3 brothers, Luman, Fred, and Forest Losee are in this picture below.

For those of you unfamiliar with the series, Images of America, published by Arcadia Publishing, they are kind of like photo albums of a specific community. Each image is captioned though, however, there isn't a lot of text to these books. These aren't heavy history books. They're really kind of fun. They're a great way to introduce novices and young people to the history of their community. There might be one about your community, if not, think about creating one. I understand Arcadia is very easy to work with. 

There is also another book in which the above photo appears; An Illustrated History of the Freeport Fire Department, 1893-2008 by Miguel Bermudez and Donald Giordano published in 2008. I am not acknowledged in the book, nor is credit given to my family's photo collection but I did give digital images to one of the authors of all the Freeport Fire Department photos in my family's possession and they appear on pages 111 - 113. Including this one below of what my grandmother calls a ragamuffin parade. The image horrifies me as it shows several member in black face; a truly racist imagery. 

In the Illustrated History, this image is captioned identifying Luman as the drum major and Forest as the tuba player as well as my great grandpa, Abe, as the clarinet player, kneeling # 3 from the right. Now I can pick Abe out based on other photos I have seen of him. I know his son, Allen, played clarinet, as did I in school. However, I didn't know Abe played clarinet as well. I believe the clarinet that belonged to his some, Allen Earle (March 17, 1916 - November 8, 1956), is still in the possession of my Uncle Thomas, now if that clarinet was also Abe's clarinet, pictured above, I have no idea. Anyway - - horrifying image, right?

These parades were an annual occurrence in many communities in the New York metropolitan area. Typically they were held around Halloween and featured children in their costumes, but obviously, this wasn't just a children's activity and I do not know when it took place because the photo is not labeled but it has to be after April 30, 1923 when the Russell Park section of Roosevelt, Long Island, New York was annexed into the town of Freeport. I can tell from the band's drum.

There were ragamuffin parades and then there was also Ragamuffin Day, which was something else entirely that my grandmother has told me about. Begun around 1870, Ragamuffin Day was once part of Thanksgiving celebrations which my grandmother recounted participating in to me on several occasions. Much like Halloween, it involved children going door-to-door dressed as beggars seeking candy and playing tricks on non-complaint homeowners; soaping windows, ringing doorbells and running away, and similar shenanigans. Grandma said that she and her siblings didn't just beg for candy but preformed little skits, sang songs, or did some dance for the neighbors who provided them with sugary treats or change.

The racist image of the ragamuffin parade in Freeport disturbs me, but it also reminds me a little bit of a much less scornful social practice that still takes place in Newfoundland, where my great grandpa Abe was born. There they have Mummers.

 

Creepy as all get out Mummers go mummering or mumming. It is a Christmas-time, house-visiting tradition in which groups of friends or family member dress in disguise and visit neighbors. If welcomed in, the mummers often do an informal performance followed by the homeowner having to correctly guess the mummers' identities. Once identified, the mummers remove their disguises and spend some time eating and drinking with the hosts before traveling on as an even bigger group to the next house.

One thing about that Russell Park section of Roosevelt/Freeport, that is where my family lived long before Lillian Russell for whom the section was named. Lillian Russell, an incredibly well-known actress of her time, lived in the area. She was born Helen Louise Leonard and the Illustrated History states Leonard Avenue in Freeport was named after her. I beg to differ. I am certain Leonard Ave is named after the man who originally owned the property, that would be my 4th great grandfather, Leonard Losee (January 21, 1817 - November 21, 1886). Let me show you.

Here is a map from 1914. The green box represents the original size of the property owned by my Losee family. The red box indicates the last bit of Losee Family property sold to local developer and politician, Albin Johnson, in 1912. The street highlighted in yellow shows Luman Street. Luman? Sound familiar? It no longer bears his name but prior to WWI and the family's sale of their property, the map shows the first 1500 feet of the western end of Independence Ave was called Luman Street after my grandpa's uncle. The blue boxes show two homes owned by Losee family members on Stevens Street, once known as Losee Place. The northern blue box was owned by F. Losee, could have been Forest Losee but might have been Frederick, and the lower blue box was owned by Georgianna Losee (July 19, 1866 - November 29, 1935), the sister of my great-great grandfather, John M. Losee Jr. (August 17, 1841 - February 10, 1918). 

Street naming business aside, all these aforementioned social practices give me a sense that my great grandparents generation, often referred to as the Lost Generation (those born from 1883 to 1900 who came of age during World War I and the Roaring Twenties), were involved in their communities and socialized with their neighbors in a way that I have not experienced in my lifetime. Sure I belonged to Girl Scouts as a kid and sold cookies door-to-door. I marched with the Junior High and High School bands on Memorial Day playing my own clarinet too, but I don't think I experience "community" quite like they did. And, honestly, I'm a bit jealous that I don't have that sort of natural inclination to be part of my community.