Person:Joseph Austin (47)

Joseph Harold was born and lived in St. Louis with his mother Adele for only a couple years at the longest. His father Joseph P. died when he was 2 years old or younger, possibly even before he was born. Joseph Harold moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma when he was about 2 and lived with his mother Adele and her mother Angie for several years. His early memories were of living reasonably well off in a home that was their own^[7], but city directory entries and 1920 US Census records identify his mother's residence as rented^[4]. He told the story that his family (mother Adele and grandmother Angie) had a black woman who worked for them. During the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, all the blacks were rounded up and taken to the ballpark. His mother Adele had to go to the ballpark to identify and vouch for the woman and have her released^[3].

His mother moved to Miami, Florida^[5] for work and left Joseph Harold with his grandmother Angie in Tulsa for some time^[3]. When he was about 12 his mother was able to come and bring him to Miami with her. He remembered being woken up in the middle of the night and being asked by his mother, "How would you like to go play on the beach in Florida?"^[7] He also remembered leaving a 2 story house fully furnished^[8], which would be consistent with a rented house. It is not clear whether his grandmother Angie moved with him to Miami or remained in Tulsa. After living in Miami for a few years, Joseph Harold had moved back to St. Louis with his mother and grandmother by 1929^[6] (when he was about 17). Reference his mothers page for more details of his childhood residence.

He continued to live with his mother and grandmother until he was married at 30, although he may have lived in a separate apartment unit in the same building^[3]. In 1942 he married Frances Glowczwskie and remained in the St. Louis area until he died in 1973. He was employed in receiving at a department chain around the depression era, and as was common for those employed during that time, he remained very loyal to his employer for his entire career^[7]. He was well liked by fellow employees and known even by customers although he did not work in sales. He was offered and turned down a better job offer at least twice during his career; one was from JC Penny's who wanted to steal him for his sales potential, and the other was from the Communist party who wanted him to start a union and were going to pay him a very large annual sum of money in addition to his regular job^[7]. He fathered 5 children: a miscarried daughter named Judy, and 4 sons still living.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Geneaology.com.

   http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/g/o/d/Patricia-M-Godfrey/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0394.html

2. ↑ Obituary of Frances Austin. (Published 3/1/2012).
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Interviews with 1st child of Joseph Austin & Frances Glowczwskie.
4. ↑ Tulsa, Oklahoma City Directory.

   1914: Austin, Adele (wid Joseph) bkpr City Supply Co r 839 N Main.
   1917: Austin Adele (wid Joseph) stenogr J E Crosbie r 716 N Main.
   1918: Austin Adele (wid Joseph) bkpr H F Wilcox r 716 N Main.
   1924: Austin Adele (wid Jos). bkpr Consolidated P L Co, r 712 S Cheyenne av

5. ↑ Miami, Florida City Directory.

   1927: Austin Adele (wid Jos) pub sten Columbus Hotel h301 SW 10th av

6. ↑ St. Louis, Missouri City Directory.

   1929: Austin Adele (wid Jos) h4940A Berthold av

7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3} Interviews with 3rd child of Joseph Austin & Frances Glowczwskie.
8. ↑ Interviews with spouse of 3rd child of Joseph Austin & Frances Glowczwskie.
9. ↑ Uncertain whether full given name was Joseph Harold; according to his children, he went by the name Harold as a child, but later was known by Joseph or Harold. Genealogy.com entry identifies him as Harold Austin, but the obituary of his wife identified him as Joseph Harold Austin, and the death certificate of his mother listed Joseph H. Austin as the informant.