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View Tree for Edward Clarence Denné, Sr.Edward Clarence Denné, Sr. (b. Jul 21, 1897, d. Sep 24, 1974)

Edward Clarence Denné, Sr. (son of John Frederich Denne and Margaret Marie Klemann) was born Jul 21, 1897 in Irwin, PA, and died Sep 24, 1974 in Waynesboro, VA. He married Carrie Lamanda Robins on Jun 19, 1920 in Birmingham, AL154, daughter of William Walter Robins and Mary Goodwin Davis.

 Includes NotesNotes for Edward Clarence Denné, Sr.:
As told by Edward C. Denné Jr. April 7, 1998

"If the truth be known as best I know it, when my dad moved South (he was the only Denne to move South) and then married mom, she asked grand dad (dad's dad) how to pronounce Denne. Whatever he told her, she figured out it should have an accent. I guess my dad went along with it. The rest of the family just pronounced it Denny which caused a bit of a rift in the family when we moved up North. Uncle Fred and family always pronounced it Denny although the spelling was Denne. People in Edgewood wondered why there were two pronunciations. Grand dad and Grand mother always pronounced it Denny, spelled Denne, as did the relatives in Portage, PA. Now you know the "Whole Story". By the way, there ought to be a trail back through Portage, PA for the Denne tribe who came from Alsace Lorraine. [note Portage History below]

My Uncle Jake Clemens from Portage was Tipstaff in the Court House in Ebensburg, Cambria County, PA. If you look at a map you will see that Portage is halfway between Altoona and Johnstown. My grand dad helped pull the dead out of the Johnstown flood."

As told by Edward C. Denné Jr. April 2, 1997
"My dad, mother, sister and brother were on our way to Jasper, Alabama, from our home at 720 9th Avenue West in Birmingham AL. We were riding in a Ford rag top with running boards. There were no such things as spare wheels, just tires and inner tubes. After about 30 miles of this 40 mile journey on gravel road, we had our third flat. Dad wasn't too happy. It was getting dark. To see, he built a big fire out of corn stalks.

As he was fixing the tube with his tube patching kit, it started to rain. As quick as possible he fixed the tube, placed it in the tire, put it on the wheel, pumped it up, mounted it on the drum, lowered the jack that he threw in the running board carrier, set the spark and throttle, hand cranked her up and got into the driver's seat--soaking wet. Betty then said, 'But daddy, aren't you going to put out the fire?' The only response was, 'Aw! Piss on it'. We got to Jasper to my mother's folk's place without further conversation or, thankfully, flat tires."

As told by Ed C. Denné, Jr. From Birmingham to Pittsburgh, my home from 1934 to 1948

After the stock market crash in 1929, President Franklin D. Roosevelt closed the banks. This not only took my folks money but a little over $100 I had in a savings account. My father's employment at Tennessee Coal and Iron Company, Ensley, Alabama, was terminated. He became a salesmen for Norge refrigerators. I can remember yet when, as you would expect from an engineer, he had the company loan him a refrigerator compressor to demonstrate how efficient it was. He did this by putting a lit cigarette in the inlet side that produced smoke coming out the outlet side. It didn't prove much to the professional, but it looked impressive to the buyer.

We only stayed afloat during the first couple of years of the depression. The decision was made and accepted by my father's folks in Edgewood, PA (6 miles East of Pittsburgh, PA) that we would rent our home at 720 9th Ave. West and move in with them.

The trip North was over mostly gravel roads in our 1927 ? Chevrolet sedan. There was no trunk but a baggage wrack in back. Mom had a special trunk made to strap on this wrack to hold as much of our clothing and other needs as possible. In spite of the depression, my folks felt that we should go by way of Atlantic City to get our first glimpse of the ocean. Birmingham is nearly South of Chicago and Atlantic City is well East of Pittsburgh. I know we weren't in a spending mood, but I guess the folks felt we wouldn't have another opportunity to do this and thought this round about trip was worth it.

Edgewood was a small Borough of approximately 5,000 people, split through the center by the main line of the Pennsylvania RR. Many of the steel mill executives lived in Edgewood. My grandfather was head carpenter at the large Pitcairn works of the railroad. My father's folks owned two homes in Edgewood, one at the corner of Race Street and Greendale Ave. and the other next door on Greendale. Both homes are still in good repair as of 1996. They are across the street from Koenig Athletic field where there was a football field, tennis courts, baseball field and children's playground. This field was formerly my grandfather's cornfield. We used to play there and in later years, played football, tennis and gymnastics there for the high school.

I learned four quick things within two weeks of our arrival (1) short pants were not in vogue in the north --knickers were (2) I lost my Southern accent (3) every time the horse drawn ice wagon, vegetable wagon or other wagon passed that produced horse manure, grandfather would say, "Sonny, get the shovel and put it on the garden" (4) even though I had skipped a half grade in the South, they put me back a half grade to enter the Edgewood Elementary School.

My grandparents were very honest and frugal people. Nothing was ever wasted. They had emigrated from Alsace Lorraine when they were about 12 year's old . They spoke German as well as very good English. They had originally settled in Portage, PA, where my grandfather was a coal miner. His large stubby fingers told the tale of his work shoveling coal in the bowels of the mine. Each finger had blue dots having been peppered with bits of coal. The index finger of his right hand had been cutoff at about the root of the nail in an accident in the mine. This made a perfect tamping finger for his pipe that was ever lit. He smoked Prince Albert. His lawn was his jewel. We couldn't even think about stepping on any part of it.

My grandmother was about 5 feet tall. She had a huge bump on her head that was the result of hitting it against a marble mantle. She covered the bump with her hair that did make it quite presentable. She was a terrific cook. Everything from fruit cobblers to the tenderest rendition of the least expensive meats were her forte. But it was every Friday that she baked bread for the week. We would come home from school and be treated with hot baked bread crusts larded with butter---mmmm. Not having an automobile, in good weather she would walk "up street" to Wilkinsburg (about 2 miles distant) to shop. She would come home loaded with a large shopping bag hanging from each arm. She had a pass on the railroad to go shopping by rail when the weather was poor.

My Aunt Elsie, Uncle Bill and their daughter, Jean Loomis, lived upstairs and were forever complaining about the noise we children made. Down stairs my grandparents used the living room for a bedroom and our family of 5 used their bedroom that was connected to the only bathroom. The dining room wasn't used much since we most always ate in the kitchen. There was also a sun porch.

We lived with my grandparents for about a year. During that time, among other things to make some money (jobs were scarce), my father went with Aunt Elsie to teach dancing lessons. He also had a dangerous, part-time job inspecting bridges near down town Pittsburgh. Our fortunes began to change when Dad got a job with United Engineering and Foundry Company in Pittsburgh as a draftsman in steel mill design. This gave us the opportunity to move next door to the Borough of Swissvale. We were on the second floor of the Sherman Block on North Braddock Avenue. As the name implies, the Shermanblock was a whole city block of stores with apartments on the second floor. Friends of our folks, the Glasses and Burkharts, also moved in. They had come North just as we had and found this to be an inexpensive place to live. Many Saturday nights were spent playing piano, violin and singing with this group.

Mom also got a job at McCan's dairy establishment in Pittsburgh as a salesman on the floor for Jello products. Many was the night she would make Jello in special molds, putting them on the window sill in cold weather to jell. These then were taken to work for tasting and inspecting by customers in McCan's.

I was in 6th grade by now and asked a girl for a date to go to the local movie theater. Unfortunately, on the Saturday we were to go, I only had 10 cents and the movie was 10 cents each. That was the end of that date.

The owner of the Sherman Block was a widow who lived in Oakmont, high on a hill in a beautiful old home on many acres of ground. This was near the Oakmont Country Club of US Open Golf fame. She would invite us once a year for a big outing on her estate.

She was just one great landlord. One of her shop keepers who owned a 5 and 10 store went bankrupt. Whenever she would come to inspect her property she would let us children in the store to pick out any toy we wanted. One Christmas I made a big fuss about wanting a movie projector, that, of course, was not possible because it was too expensive. Lo and behold, on Christmas morning here was an old 35 mm projector, hand cranked, that she had given to my dad for my present. Dad had paid a huge price of $5 to get some film to show. He found it at a movie theater. It was cut from a cowboy movie. It showed a cowboy coming around the corner of the saloon and firing his six shooter—no sound. I used to charge a penny for the kids in the neighborhood to see what was about 3 minutes worth of film. But I would show it over and over again as long as they wished.

When things got a little better we moved to Wilkinsburg just over the Edgewood line into a duplex. It was here that I got my first erector set for Xmas. My brother, Don, was always bringing home stray cats. Onetime he brought home a female cat including kittens to be born. She had twelve. My mother said the cat couldn't take care of so many and that I would have to dispose of half of them. Why me? I was the eldest boy. I'll never forget drowning those six kittens in the basement laundry tubs. We walked to school 2 miles each way in the morning, home for lunch and home after school through all kinds of weather. There were no such things as snow days.

We then moved back over the line into Edgewood two blocks away into a single home. This home was quite large with front and back stairs. It was here that my mother had a very bad reaction from penicillin and had to stay in the hospital. A large black woman by the name of Mamie took care of us. She was just great and could she ever cook up a storm. We then moved to 228 West Swissvale Ave. in Edgewood. That was our family home until after my mother passed away.
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SOME THOUGHTS ON E. C. DENNE', SR. [Receive March 27th, 1999 and written by E. C. Denné, Jr.]

I thought I had written you about my dad's life before marriage, but I can't seem to find it. Anyhow:

As you have noted, dad was born in Irwin, PA. I'm not certain when the family moved from Portage, PA, where dad's folks settled from Europe. Dad's dad was a coal miner. It showed in his fingers that were very large and peppered with bits of coal. His right hand index finger had the tip cut off in a mine accident that made it very convenient to tamp the tobacco in his pipe. He smoked Prince Albert and was forever smoking. Christmas and birthdays were always celebrated with gifts of Prince Albert.

When the family moved from Irwin to Edgewood, my dad got a job at the Union Switch and Signal Company next door in Swissvale. That company made signal equipment for the railroad. Dad was a draftsman having been self taught through a mail order course.

Dad was always a competitor, especially with a 6th sense in card playing. He even became a poker dealer at a Pittsburgh hotel before he was 20. At about that time, Tennessee Coal and Iron was building an integrated steel plant in Birmingham, Alabama. This location had iron ore, coal and limestone-all the ingredients for steel making. Dad took off for TCI without a job and was hired as a draftsman. He became known as the fastest and best draftsman that ever worked at TCI. One of his big claims to fame was the design of blast furnaces that contained huge steel plates as the outer shell. Each plate was different since the furnace took the shape of a diminishing cylinder which meant each one was a separate design. Each plate had to be hammered out to the right curvature in the forge shop.

He took courses at Birmingham Southern College and became a buddy of Dr. E. Quinter Hawk, Professor of economics. He even supplied all the maps and charts for a book Dr. Hawk wrote about the South before the Civil War.

Dad loved sports and played baseball for the company team-pitcher and first base. He also was a golfer in his plus fours (knickers), wooden shafted clubs and small bag. To get to the golf course in Homewood which was across town, he had to take the trolly car along with his golfing buddies.

One of Dad's friends had a cabin on the Big Warrior river where we spent many a good time. This cabin was located in an area where Indians had fought. We got quite a large collection of arrow heads that have since disappeared. The ground was improved and a one hole golf course constructed.

After we moved North during the depression, Dad finally got a job with United Engineering and Foundry Co., rolling mill builders. He became Manager and Consultant of the Gear Department and gained world wide recognition for his work in gearing. With his varied engineering background, he received his Professional Engineer's License.
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The definition of "Portage" is to transport overland between bodies of water. The genesis of the Portage Area began out of such a necessity to connect Philadelphia and Pittsburgh for commerce purposes in the 1800’s. Water travel was possible from Philadelphia to Hollidaysburg via the Schuylkill, Susquehanna and Juniata rivers and from Johnstown to Pittsburgh and beyond by way of the Conemaugh, Kiskiminetas and Allegheny Rivers. However, the Allegheny Ridge provided a non-navigable obstacle to meeting this objective.

After several revisions, the Allegheny Portage Railroad, in conjuction with the Pennsylvania Canal, was to involve a 36 mile long route that contained ten planes, each with a stationary engine at the crest; a stone viaduct across the Little Conemaugh River; a 900 foot long tunnel; a skew-arch bridge of the tow spans, among several other minor bridges; and 11 levels. The portage would involve a 1,400 foot rise in elevation from the east and nearly 1,200 feet from the west. This was to be quite an engineering feat, even by today’s standards. The following is a thumbnail outline of some of the major milestones in the founding and growth of the Portage Area.

17?? The area may be inhabited by the Turtle Clan of the Delaware Indian Tribe. 1794 The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania grants Arent Sonman’s claim of having 5,000 acres of land, received as debt payment from the King of England. 1826 The Pennsylvania General Assembly gives approval for the Board of Canal Commissioner to begin building the Pennsylvania Canal. 1829 The Itel School was built for the farmer’s children in the Munster Road area. 1830s Portage is established 1831 Construction is begun on the Allegheny Portage, and is completed three years later.

1834 A trip across Pennsylvania, using the canal system and the Allegheny Portage Railroad, now took six days, instead of 22 required before its completion. 1837 The Washington House Hotel is built in Portage to serve the passenger taking the portage. 1848 The Pennsylvania Railroad Company buys both the Old and New Portage from the Commonwealth. 1852 Locomotives begin replacing the horse and mule teams used to pull canal boats along the tracks and issued the birth of the first full-fledged industry on the Allegheny Ridge --- lumbering for fuel for locomotives.

1855 The New Portage Railroad is completely operational. 1868 The Big Survey, later known as Cambria Mining and Manufacturing Co., bought land from the Earnest family. The first coal mine was opened in 1872 along BensCreek. 1872 The First Lutheran Church was established. 1874 April 29th signalled the beginning of the coal industry with incorporation of the Sonman Mine, Portage Colliery Company and Portage Coal Company. Nearly 60 different shaft, longwall, slope, drift, and room and pillar mining operations have operated in the Portage Area since then.

1878 Portage Township is formed from lands of Summerhill and Washington Townships on March 4th. 1890 The borough of Portage is incorporated on October 7th, following petition of the Portage Township Supervisors.

More About Edward Clarence Denné, Sr. and Carrie Lamanda Robins:
Marriage: Jun 19, 1920, Birmingham, AL.154

Children of Edward Clarence Denné, Sr. and Carrie Lamanda Robins are:
  1. +Edward Clarence Denné, Jr.
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