My mother, Rita Mary O’Donnell Fries’ Autobiography
Please note: Any information I added was placed in parenthesis.
Mother ( Margaret Mary Coleman O’Donnell) was introduced to
Dad by his cousin, Elizabeth O’Connell, who was a schoolteacher also. Mother knew Dad ( TJ O’Donnell) many years
before their marriage. She wrote a postcard to Dad in 1909 when he was working at Binghamton State Hospital
(stating that she hoped to see him at the Fair). ( Margaret sent another postcard
to TJ in Valhalla, New York c/o B.W.S. Police. The card reads “I am spending a
pleasant (?) day at the dentist’s. Sincerely Margaret” I cannot make out the
exact date on the postcard but TJ worked as a Patrolman ( shield No. 125) on
the Aqueduct at the Board of Water Supply (B.W.S.) City of New York from
November 1909 until July 1915 therefore it was sometime within those dates. (I also found a postcard that possibly appears
to be in TJ’s handwriting addressed to Miss Margaret Brown Haversink Ave,
Highland, New Jersey, dated June 12, 1912 which says “ I am up at the Works
with nothing to do will remember “.
They were not married until the 19th of January
1916 ( St. Patrick’s Church in Middletown Center ). The day after they married
they left for the city where they lived the rest of their married life. The reception was held at her mother’s (
Hannah Byrne Coleman ) house in
Middletown Center, Pa. I’ve been told
their first home was in the Bronx.
Before I was born they moved to 50 Howard Ave, (Brooklyn) the place of
my birth.
In the first days of their marriage Dad was in the Real
Estate business with a partner ( I do not remember ever hearing this before). I
also heard he was a bar tender at one time.
TJ was in the NYPD Class of May 4, 1916 which I found interesting
because he married my grandmother, Margaret on January 19, 1916 meaning that he
waited to marry her until he was a member of the NYPD. There is also a postcard dated March 10, 1916
addressed to Mr. and Mrs. J. O’Donnell at 957 Teller Ave New York City so I can
only assume this was where they first lived together after their January 1916
wedding ). Mother was a country school teacher for eleven years before her
marriage. After her marriage she never
worked outside the home, although we five children arriving within the first
five years of her marriage, were the beneficiaries of her expertise. She had a repertoire of poems that she was
able to recite for us, and we were a spellbound audience. I was the eldest of the five. The rest arriving in rapid succession – my three
sisters followed by our only brother, Joe.
( Margie came along a little later because she was born after Joe and
was the youngest. )
As
young children we were especially fond of the Little Toy Dog by Eugene Field, the story of a little boy who died
in his sleep and his loyal toy friends remained faithful to him waiting for his
return. ( Sounds like a story that the
Irish would like, doesn’t it?) My younger siblings were always in tears before
Mother finished her recitation. Another
poem we all loved began with these words, “ When little Bessie Grey was a young,
a dear good child was she.” This poem was the story of a little girl who died
because of a fall from a hay loft. (
Gotta love those Irish stories!) We were never able to find a copy of this one.
Some of our other favorites were Kentucky
Belle, Lasca and Rudyard Kipling’s Gunga Din. 
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