Thomas F Terry

Thomas Francis Terry was born September 14, 1878 in Kent Village, Portage County, Ohio.  His parents, Patrick Terry and Margaret (O'Sullivan) Terry, were of Irish origin, thus Thomas was a first-generation American.
He grew up in Kent Village, where his mother Maggie was a midwife and his father Patrick worked for the railroad.  Thomas was the oldest son in a family of eight children, three girls and five boys.  He worked as a skilled machinist.

On April 29, 1901, Thomas F Terry was married to Georgia Obney, the ceremony being performed by Rev Ambrose Graham, the Roman Catholic priest in Kent Village.   Thomas was 22 years old, and Georgia was only 15, she would not turn 16 until August.  Georgia had been living with her aunt MaryAnn Smith, on Dodge Street in Kent, next-door to the Terry family.  And MaryAnn's daughter/Georgia's first cousin was married to Thomas Terry's first cousin, Daniel McGue.

The marriage lasted long enough to produce one child, a daughter, Helen Terry.

Thomas Terry, Helen Terry and Anna Lynskey Terry

Georgia left and later re-married, as did Thomas.  Thomas married his second wife, Anna Lynskey, in 1911.  He was age 32, she was 19.  They went on to have Margaret Terry, Thomas Francis Terry Jr, Alice Terry and Gerald Terry.
As for his daughter Helen, she was raised by Thomas Terry's parents, Patrick and Maggie, and his sisters, Margaret and Mary.  Helen had a happy childhood and dearly loved her aunts.  She named her first child 'Margaret Patricia', to honor her grandparents.

Thomas moved his family to New York for a time, then returned to Ohio, living in Warren, Ohio.  He died there in 1958.  He was my great-grandfather.  And he never came to visit or even meet any of his four grandchildren by his daughter Helen.
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