William F. Dougherty & Sons

The photo at right is of 1009 Arch Street circa 1960. Don't you love the fins on the cars? The sign says: Dougherty's Kitchen Equipment and Supplies. *

William F. Dougherty was born December 11, 1850 in Philadelphia to Mary McCrory and Charles Joseph Dougherty. In the 1870 US census Charles lists his occupation as sheet metal worker and William is apprenticed to a tin smith. William is listed in the 1875 Philadelphia City Directory living at 808 Buttonwood Street and with an occupation of "stoves". In 1877 at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, William married Mary Ann Fitzgerald and in the ensuing years they had eight children: Charles, Alice, William, Thomas, Joseph, John, Anna Mary and Edward.

At the time of his death in 1920, William F. Dougherty's (my gggrandfather) obituary states that he was in the business of manufacturing cooking equipment for 55 years and the business was located at 925 Arch Street. Over the years it was located at 158 North 9th Street, 925 Arch Street and 1009 Arch Street.

I have an undated list of installations (which states the business started in 1852!) with such notable institutions as US Public Service Hospitals in Walla Walla, WA, Fort Bernard, NM, Rutland, MA and Prescott, AZ, Atlanta Terminal, Atlanta, GA, Hotel Rittenhouse, Philadelphia, PA, Hotel Charlestown, Charlestown, SC, Sing Sing Prison, NY, Campbell Soup, Camden, NJ, Bucknell University, and the Pine Valley Golf Club, Pine Valley, NJ.

Thanks to EBAY and other internet cites I have been able to purchase several pieces of Dougherty china. The restaurant china was actually made by Shenango China, New Castle, PA and is stamped "made for William F. Dougherty & Sons, Philadelphia, PA". I also have a brass stovepipe label with "W.F. Dougherty & Sons 1009 Arch Street Phila."

*PHOTO CREDIT
http://www.phillyhistory.org This link give you marvelous access to the Philadelphia Photo Archive: The Philadelphia Department of Records has over 2 million photographs dating back to the late nineteenth century. Among these photographs are stunning pictures of ships arriving at dock, horse-drawn carriages on cobble streets, and the Eastern State Penitentiary, America’s most historic prison. The PhillyHistory.org website is a GIS application that allows the public to search for historic photographs based on location. Users can locate photographs within a certain neighborhood, within a radius of an address, near a particular intersection, or by a place name like City Hall. In addition, users can search for photographs during certain years and they can search the descriptions of photographs by keyword. Also available on the PhillyHistory.org website is a weekly updated historical blog and digital access to the Department of Records’ Historic Streets Index and Historical Photo Database. Users can make scan requests and purchase photos.

A good quote

Ellen Goodman of the Boston Globe wrote: "This packrat has learned that what the next generation will value most is not what we owned, but the the evidence of who we were and the tales of how we loved. In the end, it's the family stories that are worth the storage." To that I would add the pictures!

1907 Koehler Gustave death certificate

1910 US Census Koehler Marie Reiss

1900 US Census Koehler Gustif Marie

The Gustave and Marie Reiss Koehler Family

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Kathryn Neary Koehler 1893-1977--->

probably with Fred 1918-1984

Frederick Koehler 1898-1984

The earliest evidence of Koehler's in the US is the citizenship petition of Gustif Koehler. He petitioned to become a citizen of the United States on September 3, 1888 in Philadelphia, PA (spelling was Kaylor) and was naturalized in June 11, 189_ the last digit was never filled in. He resided at 3522 Warren Street in Philadelphia and his sponsor was a John J. Steck of 3614 Lancaster Avenue Philadelphia. Address matches the one listed on his death certificate, so we can assume that this is he.

There is no listing for Gustif in the 1890 Philadelphia City directory , a primary source for Philadelphia occupants since the 1890 US Census was lost to a fire. I checked under Kahler, Kaylor, Kohler, and Koehler (62 listed) which is odd, because in the 1900 US Census the family is living at 3522 Warren Street.

In the 1900 census, Gustif is the head of the household, a cabinet maker and lists his birthday as May, 1858. He states that he came to the US in 1881 from Germany and that both his parents were born in Germany. Mary (Marie Reiss) lists her birthday as March, 1857 and emigration date as1881. She and Gustif have been married seven years and the Philadelphia City License Bureau lists their marriage registration in 1893 as #58407. Marie also lists both parents as German born. Marie states that she has birthed 4 children, two of whom are living, Herman born April, 1896 and Frederick born September, 1897.

A search of the Philadelphia City Death certificates returns an Emelia H. Koehler, 7 months, died March 26, 1896 of convulsions and an Arthur T. Koehler, 22 months, died March 31, 1896 of pneumonia. Parents Gus Koehler and Mary Koehler, residence Warren Street. Both children were buried in Greenmount Cemetery in Philadelphia. A third child, Gustav Leopold Koehler 5-1/2 months died July 7, 1901 of fever and is also buried at Greenmount.

Gustave Koehler, 49 years old, died on September 2, 1907 of pulmonary tuberculosis. His obituary, which appeared in the Philadelphia Public Ledger and the Philadelphia Inquirer read as follows

Gustave KOEHLER, aged 49 years. Relatives and friends, also Equity Lodge No 591, F and A M; Keystone Chapter, No 175 R A M. Universal Council, No 19, Asso of Equity Pennsylvania R R Relief Association, are invited to attend the funeral on Thursday, at 2 P M, from his late residence, 3522 Warren st Interment at Greenmount Cemetery.

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A search of city Directories for the family lists the following:
1906: Gustave Koehler, cabinetmkr, h. 3522 Warren
1907-1913: no listings
1914: Marie Kohler, widow, h. 3522 Warren
1915: Marie Kohler, widow Gustav, h. 3522 Warren
1916: Marie Kohler, widow Gustav, h. 3522 Warren
1917: Marie Kohler, widow Gustav, h. 3522 Warren
1918: Marie Kohler, widow Gustav, h. 3522 Warren
1921: Fredk Kohler, h. 250 S Ithan
1922: Fredk Kohler, machst, h. 250 S Ithan

In the 1910 US Census, Marie, a widow is living with Herman and Frederick on Warren Street and lists her occupation as a chambermaid for a private family. Of interest is the fact that a Norah Begley is also living with the family, she is 38 and came to the US from Ireland. She lists her relationship to the head of the family (Marie) as servant.

By 1920, Frederick has married Kathryn A. Neary and they are living at 250 South Ithan Street in Philadelphia with son Frederick W., 12 months, mother Marie and brother Herman. Frederick is a machinist for the railroad and Herman a house carpenter.

Kathryn lists her age as 23 (she was 27) and that she came to the US in 1900 (she came in 1907) and that she was naturalized in 1917 (see the June 5, 2008 posting on the Neary family). Women were not generally naturalized on their own, only through their marriage so this is suspect also. The Philadelphia Archivist searched for a marriage record, but could not find one for them. Where and when were they married?

Always questions to be answered!

Mary A. Morris, born at sea, 1863, daughter of William and Rose

Mary A. Morris, b. 1863 at sea, daughter of William Morris (1840-1900) and Rose Dougherty (d. 1904) married Ulysses S. Grant Machen in 1888 in Philadelphia. This was determined by Rose Morris’s obituary in the Philadelphia Public Ledger, March 9, 1904 where it states: “Relatives and friend’s are invited to attend the funeral on Saturday, at 8:30 am from the residence of her son-in-law, Mr. Grant Machen, 5702 Woodland Avenue.” The Philadelphia Marriage Index, 1885-1951 LDS website, lists for 1888 License #18511 Machen, Grant and Morris, Mary. US Grant Machen was born in West Virginia and appears in the 1870 Census in Baltimore, MD, father, John, a painter born in Virginia, and mother, Rachael, born in Maryland.

Mary and Grant lived at the Woodland Avenue address in the 1900, 1910 census, and Grant was widowed and boarding on South Yewdall Street with youngest son, Roland in 1920. Mary Morris Machen gave birth to seven children between 1889 and 1904, four of whom died before 1899.

Children of Mary A. Morris and Grant Machen:
John Machen was born Jan 1889 in Philadelphia, PA. He died on 05 Jul 1889
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania of Cholera Infantism.
Burial on 07 Jul 1889 in Cathedral Cemetery.

Grant Machen. He was born 1889 in Philadelphia, PA. Cause Of Death on 17
Aug 1899 in Philadelphia, PA (heart disease, mitral valve?).
Burial on 21 Aug 1899 in Holy Cross Cemetery, Yeadon. (3)

Mary Machen. She was born Apr 1892 in Philadelphia, PA. She died on 08 Jul
1892 in Philadelphia, PA [2].
Burial on 11 Jul 1892 in Cathedral Cemetery .

Helen Machen. She was born Jul 1894 in Philadelphia, PA. Cause Of Death Sep
1894 in Philadelphia, PA (Cholera Infanture).
Burial on 06 Sep 1894 in Cathedral Cemetery

Morris J Machen. He was born on 26 Jun 1893.

Margaret Machen. She was born 1899 in Philadelphia, PA. Residence 1930 in
Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Roland Machen. He was born 1904 in Philadelphia, PA. Residence 1930 in
Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.