Russell Grant Wylie, Sr., 1896-1949
RUSSELL GRANT WYLIE, SR. was born 19 September 1896
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to parents Ulysses Grant Wylie and Laura
Virginia (Gibson) Wylie,[1]
and died on 10 August 1949.[2] He married Mary Beatrice Hawkins on 3 March
1915 at the 18th St Methodist Episcopal Church,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when he was 18 years old – it was the first
marriage for both of them.[3]
Russell grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, living with his parents and brother, on Durfor Street, then on Wolf Street, in the South Philadelphia area.[4] He attended school through 8th grade.[5] At the time of his marriage in 1915, he listed his occupation as “proof reader,”[6] probably at the F. Wallis Armstrong company that he listed as his employer on his World War I Selective Service Registration.[7] Later, he worked for the Thomas M Royal & Co., in various positions of increasing responsibility, including work in the engraving department, manager of operations, then general sales manager. He started at this cellophane wrapper and paper products company just after the stock market crash of 1929, and continued working there for 20 years.[8]
In 1927, Russell moved his family to the
Philadelphia suburbs, to a twin home in Norwood, Delaware County, Pennsylvania,
and they purchased a 1925 Hudson car.[9] By 1928, “the family moved into a large Dutch
Colonial home with four bedrooms in Clifton Heights. [They] purchased the home for $15,000, which
was a considerable amount of money.”[10] By 1930, due to the market crash of 1929,
they had to vacate their dream home and move to a rented property on Beech
Avenue in Aldan, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.[11] Russell worked hard to support his family
during the depression, and committed to getting his dream home back
someday. By 1940, he had succeeded.[12]
In September 1918, Russell completed his
World War I Selective Service Registration and was described as medium height,
medium build, brown eyes, with dark brown hair, and an enlarged knuckle on one
finger of the left hand.[13] The April 1942 World War II Selective Service
Registration was even more descriptive, showing him at 5' 5½”, 160 pounds, gray
eyes, brown hair, and a ruddy complexion.[14] He was not drafted into service for either
War.
Russell, or Poppy as he was known by his
grandchildren, was a sweet man. His
granddaughter Laura Eleanor (Oldham) Andrews remembers this about him:
“Poppy traveled a lot. He died of cancer when I was 7 - he was a big
smoker of Lucky Strike cigarettes!! He
loved baseball and I remember sitting with him watching games on a little black
and white TV, with antenna, whenever they were on. I really wanted to watch Howdy Doody but he
was sick so it was nice sitting with him.”[15]
Russell was diagnosed with lymphosarcoma in 1949 and only given six weeks to live at time of diagnosis. He was treated with mustard gas, and his daughter Laura remembered the “frightening sight of seeing her father gasp for air in an oxygen tent at the time of his death.”[16] Mustard gas was used as a treatment for lung cancer because doctors had discovered that it decreased the white blood cell count – an early chemotherapy option. Trials of using mustard gas in this way started in 1942.[17]
Russell died at Hahnemann Hospital,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 10 August 1949; per his death certficate, the
doctor had been treating him for just over two months.[18] His final address was 40 Oak Avenue, Primos,
Pennsylvania – the Dutch Colonial dream home.
He is interred at the Fernwood Cemetery Mausoleum, Yeadon, Delaware
County, Pennsylvania, next to his wife.[19]
[1].
City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
Return of Birth, Sept 1896, attended by Dr. J. G. Henrchelroth, M.D., line 2,
Russell Grant Wylie; Family History Library microfilm 2231153, "Births in
1896 attended by Ida E. Gaston-Leo N. Gortman;" FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89VK-S9MR-B
: viewed 22 April 2021), image 445. See
also, Philadelphia
County, Pennsylvania, Affidavit of Applicant for Marriage License, file no.
324636 (1915), for Russell Wylie ad Mamie Hawkins; Family History Library Film
004287435; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6LFQ-77L : viewed 13 December
2020), images 1853-1860.
[2]. Pennsylvania
Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate no. 74674
(1949), Russell Wylie; Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission,
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; image; Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/5164/images/42410_1521003238_0953-02786 : viewed 24 November 2020), image 2786.
[4]. 1900 U.S. census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
population schedule, Philadelphia, ward 39, enumeration district (ED) 1007,
sheet 1B, dwelling 30, family 30, Grant Wylie; image, Ancestry
(https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4115221_00340 : viewed 8 November
2020), image 2. 1910 U.S. census,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Philadelphia, ward 26,
enumeration district (ED) 0598, sheet 7B, dwelling 158, family 160, Grant
Wylie; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/4449315_00425 : viewed 8 November
2020), image 14.
[5]. 1940 U.S.
census, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Upper Darby,
enumeration district (ED) 23-227, sheet 3B, dwelling 56, Russell Wylie; image, Ancestry
(https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2442/images/M-T0627-03498-00584 : viewed 20 November 2020), image 6.
[7]. "United
States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1918," image, Ancestry
(https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6482/images/005270443_04936 : viewed 13 December 2020), image 527,
card for Russell Grant Wylie, serial no. 156, Local Draft Board 41,
Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.
[8]. Copy of
newspaper article on Russell G. Wylie’s life, provided by family member;
unknown newspaper or publication date.
Also, Karen L. Hartley,
"Life History Paper," based on interview of Laura Anna (Wylie)
Oldham, 24 June 2004, supplied by author to Dawn Vanderwolf on 4 March 2021,
p.4-5.
[11]. 1930 U.S.
census, Russell G. Wylie; image. Also, Hartley, Laura Anna (Wylie) Oldham interview, p.4.
[12]. 1940 U.S. census, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Upper Darby, enumeration district (ED) 23-227, sheet 3B, dwelling 56, Russell Wylie; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2442/images/M-T0627-03498-00584 : viewed 20 November 2020), image 6.
[14]. "United States World War II Draft
Registration Cards, 1942," image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1002/images/PA-2281866-0634 : viewed 13 December 2020), image 634,
card for Russell Grant Wylie, serial no. 1795, Local Draft Board 7, Washington
County, Pennsylvania.
[15]. Laura Eleanor
(Oldham) Andrews interview by author, 29 July 2020, document in author’s
files. Laura is the oldest child of
William John Oldham Jr and Laura Anna (Wylie) Oldham, and granddaughter of
Russell Grant Wylie.
[17]. Natalia Godoy,
“The Birth of Cancer Chemotherapy: Accident and Research,” Pan American
Health Organization website (https://www3.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content=&view=article=&id=9583=&Itemid=1959=&lang=en#:~:text=The%20clinical%20trial%20involved%20a,the%20effects%20were%20not%20permanent : viewed 19 May 2022).
[19]. Fernwood
Cemetery Company (Yeadon, Pennsylvania), Deed No. A-885 to Mary B. Wylie, for
crypt No. 77 in Section L Mausoleum Building; registered in book 1, page 97
(copy of original held by family). See photos section for picture of mausoleum marker.
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