Immigrant Ancestors Part 2: Edward J. Fenlon, Sr.

Uncle Frank

Frank and Edward Degnan at the family livery stable on Clinton St. in Syracuse ca. 1907.

Today's post is again stories provided by Uncle Brian. Merry Christmas everyone!

Anne dearly loved her sisters, Mary and Kay, and often told a story about Mary’s husband Frank Degnan.  Frank’s father ran a livery on the near west side of Syracuse, and Frank and his brother worked in this business with their father.  

               Frank J. Degnan (1898--1986) in 1938             Mary G. Treacy Degnan (1906--1969) in '38

Catherine (Kay) Treacy Kelly (1912--1971) in 1938

It was probably in the early 1920s that a production of Ben Hur came to the Renwick Theater on Irving Avenue, site of the current Veteran’s Hospital. (This theater was designed by the famous 19^th C architect, James Renwick; an 1836 graduate of Columbia, he also designed St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC and the Smithsonian “Castle” in Washington, DC).  Ben Hur, as many of us remember from the Charlton Heston movie, had some pretty amazing chariot scenes, all of which required scores of horses.  Given that the stage at the Renwick was huge, it could accommodate a very realistic dramatization of these chariot races. It was Frank’s family business that supplied all the horses. 

Ben-Hur Stage Play Poster ca 1899

The livery later morphed into Brockway Trucks Sales and Service; during WWII, the Degnan business was a major supplier to Hancock Field. 

Brockway Motor Company was a builder of custom heavy-duty trucks in Cortland, New York, from 1912 to 1977. It was founded as Brockway Carriage Works in 1875 by William Brockway. (Wikipedia)

Anne also liked to remind us that the Degnan family farm on Onondaga Hill (Rte 173) was sold to Onondaga County; this land became the site of the County Home and the VanDyne Nursing Home, eventually becoming the site of Onondaga Community College.

OCC Entrance (Google Maps)

My (Ed Fenlon's) memories of Uncle Frank are when he used to visit us on Teeple Street in Adams Center.  He would always drop in unannounced, usually in the evening, and would proceed to tell stories at the kitchen table for several hours before departing to drive back to Syracuse.  At the time he was ca. 80 years old, but he always seemed to have a lot of energy. 

Frank and Mary are buried in St. Agnes Cemetery in Syracuse along with John Treacy, Janet MacDonell Treacy, Dennis Treacy, Dennis C. Treacy (1838-1917) and his wife Mary Hayes Treacy (1842-1913).