Revie, Riley, Rheimer
My Grandparents and Great Grandparents
UK and USA
My Father’s Side
My father’s parents died too young. His mother, Ethel Rhimer Kelly died when she
was only 52. So I didn’t know her at
all. My grandfather, Lawrence J. Kelly,
died when I was four or five. Maybe he
was 65 or 70 but he wasn’t much older than that. He had throat cancer.
I don’t know anything about my Dad’s grandparents. He never
mentioned them that I remember. I do know that there was a family tradition on
naming the first and second born sons.
The first son was named after the grandfather and the second son was
named after the father. So my grandfather was the oldest and he was named Lawrence. He named my oldest uncle John and his second son Lawrence. My Uncle John named his oldest son Lawrence and his second son is John. My cousins didn’t have enough sons to continue
this tradition.
My father’s maternal grandmother used to feed immigrants
from Ireland as they moved to Pottstown or Pottsville in PA. My uncle told me there was a parade for her
down the main street when she died.
That’s all I know about them.
My Mother’s Side
My mother’s parents were immigrants. My grandmother, Ida Riley Revie, came from
Leeds, England and my grandfather, John Revie, came from Glasgow,
Scotland. Both of them migrated to Rhode
Island where they meet.
When I went to Ellis Island, I found my grandfather’s
brothers. Two of them came over in different years. I didn’t find him (John Revie) nor any of his
sisters. I am not sure how many siblings
he had. Sometimes he told us he had 7
and other times there were 9 of them and maybe as many as 11. I just don’t know. There was a David, George, Elizabeth, and a
Mary. I know there were others but it
appears as if they came in dribs and drabs and may have lost contact with each
other in the process.
Shortly after my grandfather came over, he enlisted in the
Army and fought in WWI. He told us that
he hadn’t seen his brother in years but one day, he runs into his brother in
Paris.
Ida Riley Revie, my mother’s mother, came over with her
entire family. I don’t know what year
they came over. There was a brother who
died but I don’t know if he died in England or in Rhode Island. I asked my great aunt about him once. “He was a sickly boy”, is the only response
she gave me.
My mother may have mentioned her father’s parents but I
don’t recall anything about them. But
Ida’s mother died shortly after I was born.
She, Florie Riley, spent a lot of time with my mother. John Riley was Ida’s father. I don’t know anything about him but I have
seen pictures of him. The photo I have shows two very old people. They look to be in their 90’s. But when I do the math, I think Florie had to
be no older that 75 when she died. I
don’t know how long she was a widow.
Maybe people just looked older back then.
Extended Families
I have only one fleeting memory of my father’s dad. I have no concept of his wife, my
grandmother. But I saw my mother’s parents almost every day of my life. I saw my aunts and uncles on a regular basis. I spent lots of time with my cousins. My siblings and I spend lots of time together. So do my nieces and nephews. They also spend time with their grandparents
and aunts and uncles. But my parents don’t
have that same history.
I always thought that it must have been so exciting to
migrate to a new country. But it never
occurred to me that families left people behind, sort of like a living death.
or bkmemoirs.wordpress.com
