This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: K_Clabough Surnames: Mack, Hardy Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.kansas.counties.wyandotte/1649/mb.ashx Message Board Post: My Grandma Alice had six brothers, only one of which made it to adulthood. His name was George Earl Mack. Forever diplomatic, Alice wrote about George in the kindest possible way, but as I read between the lines, I can see the guy was a real jerk. Mean, bordering on cruel, George was constantly picking at people. And he drank - a lot. Now, that's not really all that surprising for a man whose father, Henry, came to the United States from Ireland, but where the alcohol seemed to mellow Henry, it only served to fuel George's internal bitter fires. Like others in his "station in life," George was a laborer. After working for a time delivering milk for Myers Sanitary Milk Company (slogan: "It's safe") in the Armourdale district of Kansas City, KS, he found himself a job at the Kaw Boiler Works Company. Built in 1911 by Fred Palmer and associates, the boiler works was just one of many industries that employed men with strong backs. But any job with a steady paycheck was considered a good one in spite of the labor involved during the Great Depression. George married a woman named Catherine Cecile Hardy and the lived on Barnett Avenue, KCK. (On the 1920 census, their house number is 603 and in 1930 it is 511). At this time, I don't know much about her except her parents were from Ireland. I also know that she and George had four children. The younger two, a set of twins named Edward Aloysius and Catherine Teresa, died within five days of one another from infant cholera in 1928 at the age of two. (Somewhere around here, I have their obits.) The only other thing I know about Catherine is that she died of "heart disease" at the age of 36 in 1931. The family rumor is she drank herself to death grieving over her babies, which I guess in essence would be heart disease. She had two older children, George "Bud" Jr., and Margaret. George Jr. would die as a young man, his death ruled a suicide despite the fact that the gun he supposedly shot himself with was standing in a corner on the other side of the room. George Sr. later remarried a woman named Ann(e). I know even less about her than I do about Catherine. I have a photo of George and his fellow employees of the Kaw Boiler Works Company taken somewhere after 1911. I'm shooting for somewhere around 1920ish, but have no way of justifying that guess except it would have been just after he married Catherine. I don't know the names of any of the other employees, but their silent faces speak volumes of a time and place from long ago. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.