Claude Vincent McGowan was born in Britt, Iowa on July 5, 1901, the son of James Peter McGowan and Ella Agnes (Molloy) McGowan, both natives of Wisconsin and of Irish heritage. In 1906, his family moved to a farm two miles north of McCool Junction, Nebraska. Several of Claude's father's siblings had previously relocated to York County in the 1800s from their home in Wisconsin.
Although little is known of Claude's childhood, like many boys of that era, he may have been slightly mischievous. He attended country school near McCool Junction, and years later told that after he had "taken the rap" for a fellow student's misconduct, his teacher decided to discipline Claude with a yardstick to his back side. After two rounds with the stick, and Claude twice telling the teacher "it didn't hurt", the third time he stuck his foot up to soften the blow, only to break the yardstick. Young Claude was then expelled from school briefly. Apparently to prevent his parents from finding out, Claude hid under a bridge instead of breaking the news of his expulsion to his parents. Claude enjoyed swimming in the Big Blue River as a youngster and also played basketball on the McCool Junction team. At some point, he earned the nickname "Toad", and later graduated from McCool Junction High School in 1919.
Following graduation, Claude lived with his parents and helped his Dad on the farm. He then landed a position with the U.S. Postal Service as a rural mail carrier in about 1920. He would continue to help out his Dad even after starting his postal job.
He married Marie Bertha Gerlits at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in York, Nebraska on January 5, 1927. She was born at York on January 8, 1906, the daughter of Arthur John Gerlits and Mary Honerine (Deprez) Gerlits.
Claude was a rural mail carrier at McCool Junction, where three daughters, Betty, Helen and Barbara, were born to him and Marie. They bought a house in McCool Junction, the value of which was listed as $2,000 in the 1930 census. Claude then moved his family to the oil-boom town of Pampa, Texas on December 27, 1934, after accepting a position there as a postal clerk dispatcher in the new Pampa post office, earning about $150 a month. Marie was employed at the Montgomery Ward store in Pampa and the family resided at 1022 E. Francis Avenue.
While living in Texas, the family was forced to endure the famed dust storms and the depression, including the massive dust storm of April 14, 1935, the worst storm of the dust bowl era. It is historically known as "Black Sunday" and "The Great Dust Storm." At one point, Claude had a serious bout of dust pneumonia and was admitted to Worley Hospital in Pampa, where his condition was listed as critical. His mother and sister, Sis Chambers, were summoned in York and made a trip to Pampa due to the seriousness of Claude's illness.
While living in Pampa, the three McGowan girls all came down with scarlet fever, prompting health officials to come out to the McGowan home to put up a quarantine sign on their house. The doctor gave Claude some white lab jackets to wear in the house to visit his daughters and was told to sleep in the garage. However, the doctor told Claude that the sleeping in the garage was just for the neighbor's sake and that after dark he could head into the house to sleep.
Due to Claude's bout with dust pneumonia, the family moved back to Nebraska on March 27, 1938, with Claude taking a position as a postal clerk in the post office at Kearney, Nebraska. He had to wait for an opening for a rural route, which came about two or three years later. When the family first moved to Kearney, they resided at 1122 W. 22nd Street. They didn't live there long, before buying a home at 2724 1st Avenue. The purchased house was valued at $3,500 in the 1940 census, which also showed that Claude had earned $2,100 in the prior year of 1939.
When World War II broke out, Claude talked Marie into letting him enlist, since he had always wanted to join the service but was too young during the first world war. In the winter of 1942, Claude and Marie took the train to Omaha for Claude's physical as he had been accepted for officer's training. He was quite disappointed to learn he did not pass the eye exam. His next big disappointment was being considered for a job as a postal inspector only to find out he was a little too old for what they wanted.
The McGowan family lived in seven different houses in Kearney, before moving into a small house at 105 East 29th Street, in the spring of 1950. They rented that house, then following Claude's death, Marie purchased the house in early 1964 for $9,000. She resided there the rest of her life. Following her death, the house was sold in early 1995 for $49,999.
Only one trip was taken back to Pampa--in 1947, with Bobbie the only daughter going along. Before ever moving to Pampa, Claude and Marie had driven to Baltimore, Maryland in January 1934 to visit Claude's brother Francis and Marie's sister Celestine and their family. Marie's father, Art Gerlits, went with them. Claude's mother, Ella McGowan, stayed with the McGowan girls in McCool Junction. Other trips were to Colorado in 1942 to visit Marie's uncle Al Gerlits and his family, and to California in 1945 to visit Claude's sister and brother-in-law Cecilia "Sis" and Glenn Chambers and family in Bellflower, then to another of Marie's uncles, Val Gerlits and his wife Dolly in the Mohave Desert town of Twentynine Palms, California. Uncle Val was employed at one time as a bodyguard for the famous Howard Hughes.
Claude spent over 21 years as a postal employee at Kearney, at one point was named president of the postal clerks there, and was earning about $500 a month before retiring in December 1959, as he was out of sick leave and vacation. He enjoyed playing the fiddle and visiting with family and friends. He always said he hoped to live 20 more years to see his grandkids grown up, but didn't make it. Claude died in Kearney on December 24, 1959, due to pneumonia and possible other causes, including colon cancer.
Claude was buried in the Kearney Cemetery.
Although little is known of Claude's childhood, like many boys of that era, he may have been slightly mischievous. He attended country school near McCool Junction, and years later told that after he had "taken the rap" for a fellow student's misconduct, his teacher decided to discipline Claude with a yardstick to his back side. After two rounds with the stick, and Claude twice telling the teacher "it didn't hurt", the third time he stuck his foot up to soften the blow, only to break the yardstick. Young Claude was then expelled from school briefly. Apparently to prevent his parents from finding out, Claude hid under a bridge instead of breaking the news of his expulsion to his parents. Claude enjoyed swimming in the Big Blue River as a youngster and also played basketball on the McCool Junction team. At some point, he earned the nickname "Toad", and later graduated from McCool Junction High School in 1919.
Following graduation, Claude lived with his parents and helped his Dad on the farm. He then landed a position with the U.S. Postal Service as a rural mail carrier in about 1920. He would continue to help out his Dad even after starting his postal job.
He married Marie Bertha Gerlits at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in York, Nebraska on January 5, 1927. She was born at York on January 8, 1906, the daughter of Arthur John Gerlits and Mary Honerine (Deprez) Gerlits.
Claude was a rural mail carrier at McCool Junction, where three daughters, Betty, Helen and Barbara, were born to him and Marie. They bought a house in McCool Junction, the value of which was listed as $2,000 in the 1930 census. Claude then moved his family to the oil-boom town of Pampa, Texas on December 27, 1934, after accepting a position there as a postal clerk dispatcher in the new Pampa post office, earning about $150 a month. Marie was employed at the Montgomery Ward store in Pampa and the family resided at 1022 E. Francis Avenue.
While living in Texas, the family was forced to endure the famed dust storms and the depression, including the massive dust storm of April 14, 1935, the worst storm of the dust bowl era. It is historically known as "Black Sunday" and "The Great Dust Storm." At one point, Claude had a serious bout of dust pneumonia and was admitted to Worley Hospital in Pampa, where his condition was listed as critical. His mother and sister, Sis Chambers, were summoned in York and made a trip to Pampa due to the seriousness of Claude's illness.
While living in Pampa, the three McGowan girls all came down with scarlet fever, prompting health officials to come out to the McGowan home to put up a quarantine sign on their house. The doctor gave Claude some white lab jackets to wear in the house to visit his daughters and was told to sleep in the garage. However, the doctor told Claude that the sleeping in the garage was just for the neighbor's sake and that after dark he could head into the house to sleep.
Due to Claude's bout with dust pneumonia, the family moved back to Nebraska on March 27, 1938, with Claude taking a position as a postal clerk in the post office at Kearney, Nebraska. He had to wait for an opening for a rural route, which came about two or three years later. When the family first moved to Kearney, they resided at 1122 W. 22nd Street. They didn't live there long, before buying a home at 2724 1st Avenue. The purchased house was valued at $3,500 in the 1940 census, which also showed that Claude had earned $2,100 in the prior year of 1939.
When World War II broke out, Claude talked Marie into letting him enlist, since he had always wanted to join the service but was too young during the first world war. In the winter of 1942, Claude and Marie took the train to Omaha for Claude's physical as he had been accepted for officer's training. He was quite disappointed to learn he did not pass the eye exam. His next big disappointment was being considered for a job as a postal inspector only to find out he was a little too old for what they wanted.
The McGowan family lived in seven different houses in Kearney, before moving into a small house at 105 East 29th Street, in the spring of 1950. They rented that house, then following Claude's death, Marie purchased the house in early 1964 for $9,000. She resided there the rest of her life. Following her death, the house was sold in early 1995 for $49,999.
Only one trip was taken back to Pampa--in 1947, with Bobbie the only daughter going along. Before ever moving to Pampa, Claude and Marie had driven to Baltimore, Maryland in January 1934 to visit Claude's brother Francis and Marie's sister Celestine and their family. Marie's father, Art Gerlits, went with them. Claude's mother, Ella McGowan, stayed with the McGowan girls in McCool Junction. Other trips were to Colorado in 1942 to visit Marie's uncle Al Gerlits and his family, and to California in 1945 to visit Claude's sister and brother-in-law Cecilia "Sis" and Glenn Chambers and family in Bellflower, then to another of Marie's uncles, Val Gerlits and his wife Dolly in the Mohave Desert town of Twentynine Palms, California. Uncle Val was employed at one time as a bodyguard for the famous Howard Hughes.
Claude spent over 21 years as a postal employee at Kearney, at one point was named president of the postal clerks there, and was earning about $500 a month before retiring in December 1959, as he was out of sick leave and vacation. He enjoyed playing the fiddle and visiting with family and friends. He always said he hoped to live 20 more years to see his grandkids grown up, but didn't make it. Claude died in Kearney on December 24, 1959, due to pneumonia and possible other causes, including colon cancer.
Claude was buried in the Kearney Cemetery.
Claude Vincent McGowan was born in Britt, Iowa on July 5, 1901, the son of James Peter McGowan and Ella Agnes (Molloy) McGowan, both natives of Wisconsin and of Irish heritage. In 1906, his family moved to a farm two miles north of McCool Junction, Nebraska. Several of Claude's father's siblings had previously relocated to York County in the 1800s from their home in Wisconsin.
Although little is known of Claude's childhood, like many boys of that era, he may have been slightly mischievous. He attended country school near McCool Junction, and years later told that after he had "taken the rap" for a fellow student's misconduct, his teacher decided to discipline Claude with a yardstick to his back side. After two rounds with the stick, and Claude twice telling the teacher "it didn't hurt", the third time he stuck his foot up to soften the blow, only to break the yardstick. Young Claude was then expelled from school briefly. Apparently to prevent his parents from finding out, Claude hid under a bridge instead of breaking the news of his expulsion to his parents. Claude enjoyed swimming in the Big Blue River as a youngster and also played basketball on the McCool Junction team. At some point, he earned the nickname "Toad", and later graduated from McCool Junction High School in 1919.
Following graduation, Claude lived with his parents and helped his Dad on the farm. He then landed a position with the U.S. Postal Service as a rural mail carrier in about 1920. He would continue to help out his Dad even after starting his postal job.
He married Marie Bertha Gerlits at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in York, Nebraska on January 5, 1927. She was born at York on January 8, 1906, the daughter of Arthur John Gerlits and Mary Honerine (Deprez) Gerlits.
Claude was a rural mail carrier at McCool Junction, where three daughters, Betty, Helen and Barbara, were born to him and Marie. They bought a house in McCool Junction, the value of which was listed as $2,000 in the 1930 census. Claude then moved his family to the oil-boom town of Pampa, Texas on December 27, 1934, after accepting a position there as a postal clerk dispatcher in the new Pampa post office, earning about $150 a month. Marie was employed at the Montgomery Ward store in Pampa and the family resided at 1022 E. Francis Avenue.
While living in Texas, the family was forced to endure the famed dust storms and the depression, including the massive dust storm of April 14, 1935, the worst storm of the dust bowl era. It is historically known as "Black Sunday" and "The Great Dust Storm." At one point, Claude had a serious bout of dust pneumonia and was admitted to Worley Hospital in Pampa, where his condition was listed as critical. His mother and sister, Sis Chambers, were summoned in York and made a trip to Pampa due to the seriousness of Claude's illness.
While living in Pampa, the three McGowan girls all came down with scarlet fever, prompting health officials to come out to the McGowan home to put up a quarantine sign on their house. The doctor gave Claude some white lab jackets to wear in the house to visit his daughters and was told to sleep in the garage. However, the doctor told Claude that the sleeping in the garage was just for the neighbor's sake and that after dark he could head into the house to sleep.
Due to Claude's bout with dust pneumonia, the family moved back to Nebraska on March 27, 1938, with Claude taking a position as a postal clerk in the post office at Kearney, Nebraska. He had to wait for an opening for a rural route, which came about two or three years later. When the family first moved to Kearney, they resided at 1122 W. 22nd Street. They didn't live there long, before buying a home at 2724 1st Avenue. The purchased house was valued at $3,500 in the 1940 census, which also showed that Claude had earned $2,100 in the prior year of 1939.
When World War II broke out, Claude talked Marie into letting him enlist, since he had always wanted to join the service but was too young during the first world war. In the winter of 1942, Claude and Marie took the train to Omaha for Claude's physical as he had been accepted for officer's training. He was quite disappointed to learn he did not pass the eye exam. His next big disappointment was being considered for a job as a postal inspector only to find out he was a little too old for what they wanted.
The McGowan family lived in seven different houses in Kearney, before moving into a small house at 105 East 29th Street, in the spring of 1950. They rented that house, then following Claude's death, Marie purchased the house in early 1964 for $9,000. She resided there the rest of her life. Following her death, the house was sold in early 1995 for $49,999.
Only one trip was taken back to Pampa--in 1947, with Bobbie the only daughter going along. Before ever moving to Pampa, Claude and Marie had driven to Baltimore, Maryland in January 1934 to visit Claude's brother Francis and Marie's sister Celestine and their family. Marie's father, Art Gerlits, went with them. Claude's mother, Ella McGowan, stayed with the McGowan girls in McCool Junction. Other trips were to Colorado in 1942 to visit Marie's uncle Al Gerlits and his family, and to California in 1945 to visit Claude's sister and brother-in-law Cecilia "Sis" and Glenn Chambers and family in Bellflower, then to another of Marie's uncles, Val Gerlits and his wife Dolly in the Mohave Desert town of Twentynine Palms, California. Uncle Val was employed at one time as a bodyguard for the famous Howard Hughes.
Claude spent over 21 years as a postal employee at Kearney, at one point was named president of the postal clerks there, and was earning about $500 a month before retiring in December 1959, as he was out of sick leave and vacation. He enjoyed playing the fiddle and visiting with family and friends. He always said he hoped to live 20 more years to see his grandkids grown up, but didn't make it. Claude died in Kearney on December 24, 1959, due to pneumonia and possible other causes, including colon cancer.
Claude was buried in the Kearney Cemetery.
Although little is known of Claude's childhood, like many boys of that era, he may have been slightly mischievous. He attended country school near McCool Junction, and years later told that after he had "taken the rap" for a fellow student's misconduct, his teacher decided to discipline Claude with a yardstick to his back side. After two rounds with the stick, and Claude twice telling the teacher "it didn't hurt", the third time he stuck his foot up to soften the blow, only to break the yardstick. Young Claude was then expelled from school briefly. Apparently to prevent his parents from finding out, Claude hid under a bridge instead of breaking the news of his expulsion to his parents. Claude enjoyed swimming in the Big Blue River as a youngster and also played basketball on the McCool Junction team. At some point, he earned the nickname "Toad", and later graduated from McCool Junction High School in 1919.
Following graduation, Claude lived with his parents and helped his Dad on the farm. He then landed a position with the U.S. Postal Service as a rural mail carrier in about 1920. He would continue to help out his Dad even after starting his postal job.
He married Marie Bertha Gerlits at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in York, Nebraska on January 5, 1927. She was born at York on January 8, 1906, the daughter of Arthur John Gerlits and Mary Honerine (Deprez) Gerlits.
Claude was a rural mail carrier at McCool Junction, where three daughters, Betty, Helen and Barbara, were born to him and Marie. They bought a house in McCool Junction, the value of which was listed as $2,000 in the 1930 census. Claude then moved his family to the oil-boom town of Pampa, Texas on December 27, 1934, after accepting a position there as a postal clerk dispatcher in the new Pampa post office, earning about $150 a month. Marie was employed at the Montgomery Ward store in Pampa and the family resided at 1022 E. Francis Avenue.
While living in Texas, the family was forced to endure the famed dust storms and the depression, including the massive dust storm of April 14, 1935, the worst storm of the dust bowl era. It is historically known as "Black Sunday" and "The Great Dust Storm." At one point, Claude had a serious bout of dust pneumonia and was admitted to Worley Hospital in Pampa, where his condition was listed as critical. His mother and sister, Sis Chambers, were summoned in York and made a trip to Pampa due to the seriousness of Claude's illness.
While living in Pampa, the three McGowan girls all came down with scarlet fever, prompting health officials to come out to the McGowan home to put up a quarantine sign on their house. The doctor gave Claude some white lab jackets to wear in the house to visit his daughters and was told to sleep in the garage. However, the doctor told Claude that the sleeping in the garage was just for the neighbor's sake and that after dark he could head into the house to sleep.
Due to Claude's bout with dust pneumonia, the family moved back to Nebraska on March 27, 1938, with Claude taking a position as a postal clerk in the post office at Kearney, Nebraska. He had to wait for an opening for a rural route, which came about two or three years later. When the family first moved to Kearney, they resided at 1122 W. 22nd Street. They didn't live there long, before buying a home at 2724 1st Avenue. The purchased house was valued at $3,500 in the 1940 census, which also showed that Claude had earned $2,100 in the prior year of 1939.
When World War II broke out, Claude talked Marie into letting him enlist, since he had always wanted to join the service but was too young during the first world war. In the winter of 1942, Claude and Marie took the train to Omaha for Claude's physical as he had been accepted for officer's training. He was quite disappointed to learn he did not pass the eye exam. His next big disappointment was being considered for a job as a postal inspector only to find out he was a little too old for what they wanted.
The McGowan family lived in seven different houses in Kearney, before moving into a small house at 105 East 29th Street, in the spring of 1950. They rented that house, then following Claude's death, Marie purchased the house in early 1964 for $9,000. She resided there the rest of her life. Following her death, the house was sold in early 1995 for $49,999.
Only one trip was taken back to Pampa--in 1947, with Bobbie the only daughter going along. Before ever moving to Pampa, Claude and Marie had driven to Baltimore, Maryland in January 1934 to visit Claude's brother Francis and Marie's sister Celestine and their family. Marie's father, Art Gerlits, went with them. Claude's mother, Ella McGowan, stayed with the McGowan girls in McCool Junction. Other trips were to Colorado in 1942 to visit Marie's uncle Al Gerlits and his family, and to California in 1945 to visit Claude's sister and brother-in-law Cecilia "Sis" and Glenn Chambers and family in Bellflower, then to another of Marie's uncles, Val Gerlits and his wife Dolly in the Mohave Desert town of Twentynine Palms, California. Uncle Val was employed at one time as a bodyguard for the famous Howard Hughes.
Claude spent over 21 years as a postal employee at Kearney, at one point was named president of the postal clerks there, and was earning about $500 a month before retiring in December 1959, as he was out of sick leave and vacation. He enjoyed playing the fiddle and visiting with family and friends. He always said he hoped to live 20 more years to see his grandkids grown up, but didn't make it. Claude died in Kearney on December 24, 1959, due to pneumonia and possible other causes, including colon cancer.
Claude was buried in the Kearney Cemetery.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
