Where the Ancestors Lived

I was visiting my parents over New Years, and was lucky enough to tour around Coronado with my dad to look at some of the places where my Great-Great Grandparents and Great Aunts lived, as well as where my Grandmother Nadine Tilley Robinson lived -- all on Coronado.

Here is the house where his aunt, Lou Goodale Bigelow lived with her parents. Is was originally in another part of town and was moved to Soledad Street, lock, stock and barrel. 

In 1936 our dad, Patrick Crowley, lived with his mother Nadine and Aunt Kathleen in the Mission Apartments. He remembers a cupboard with drawers, and the bottom drawer has a mattress it in which served as his bed. We went in search of the apartments, designed by Architect Irving Gill. As we approach the building, discussing Mr. Gill, a fellow ambled up behind us and introduced himself as the owner of the building - for the past 46 years. A long conversation ensued, where dad and Mr. Sweet shared a lot of information on Irving Gill and his one-time associate William Hebbard. There a few remaining Gill buildings on Coronado, 4 of them residential.  Mr. Sweet also waxed poetic about his famous hamburgers at his restaurant, Danny's Bar & Grill on Orange Avenue.  We'll have to make it over there sometime.

At the end of the day, the jewel in the Crown, the Monterey Apartments where Grandmother Nadine lived while married to Carl Ince in the early 1960s.  Grandmother was a great hostess to her three granddaughters and we loved her 3rd story apartment with its large deck and high ceilings.  The place looks just as it did when we last saw it in the mid 1960s.

A great morning spent steeped in memories, especially for dad. He's been a part of Coronado since 1936 when, as a 4 year old lad, he was brought there by his grandparents to live with his mother.  For my sisters and me, seeing the Monterey apartments again, where so much fun happened, is a true delight.

Oscar Henry Tilley

Oscar Tilley, 1907, 2 years before his wedding to Ada Bigelow

Tilley Girls Redux

Ah, what a new computer and photo program can do. Photo on top was published here using old program. On bottom, photo edited with iphoto on my new mac. Sharper, it pops out of dullness. Looks as though I will be going back and re-editing most of my photos here. All in good time.

Dean Raine

Nadine Tilley was married for a time to Dean Raine. Picture on left is taken at Auntie Lou's studio. The arch is scene often in her portraits. I'll post details on Nadine and Dean's marriage when I get them from dad.

Discoveries

I found an interesting item on eBay for sale: a LG Bigelow photograph going for $1,500 taken at her studio @ 1915. I have any inquiry into the seller to see what information he has on it. Click on the link to see the photo, as I couldn't copy it from the eBay site. His description reads:

Lou Adelaide (Goodale) Bigelow: 1884-1947: one of the finest women studio photographers of the first half of the 20th century, preferred northern exposure, as did painters of the past, to capture the inner glow and intensity of her subjects through light and shadow. Daughter of Lyman Bigelow, well known photographer himself, Lou learned the profession early in life, In 1913 the Bigelows were invited by Roland Reed to take over his studio in Coronado CA. Thanks to the proximity of the Hotel del Coronado, the "rich and famous" winter guests flocked to her studio from 1913 through the 1940's. You can find more of her work in museums in New York.

I also found this photo from the San Diego Historical Society. The description reads, "Margot Rocle with her two sons James (left) and Antoine. 
Photograph by Lou Goodale Bigelow (c.1930)." These two finds were the result of someone leaving a comment on this blog, saying he is from Ronan, Montana, and he knows of the photographer LG Bigelow. LGB was, he said, well known for the photos of the 1912 fire in Ronan which destroyed most of the town.

Welcome, Followers!

Imagine my surprise, this site now has four followers! If you wish to contact my sisters and me, you may leave comments at the comment section of the posts, or e-mail me at tara.rinaldi@yahoo.com.

If you have scanned photos in a jpg format that you would like to contribute to the site, we'd love to have them. I recently suffered the demise of my computer, so I'll have to ask Shannon to send me digital copies of the photos we had scanned this summer. You'd think I'd never heard of a back-up system. Well, I have. I'm just incredibly lazy.

We would love to hear from any and all family, so don't be shy!

Kathleen Tilley Newman

Kathleen Tilley Newman: our grandmother's red-headed and fun-loving sister. I remember our great aunt well, and her husband Charles Newman. They lived down the street from us when we were very young, in San Diego. They had a marvelous old spanish revival style home that was filled with exotic oriental carpets, marbled mirrors, treasures from around the world. Charles was popular with the kids - he knew how to make us feel special and to engage us in the conversation. He was artistic and creative, and Kathleen was sophisticated and laughed a great deal.

Dee Tilley

Our Great Uncle Dee Tilley. I have very fond memories of him, my Great Aunt Patricia, and their big family. Lots of fun times!

Buying avocados in Haiti. 25 cents a pound. Dee and Harvey. Jim, if you send me information I will include it.

Dee and Sgt. Harvey Collins. His skipper Woodie. 1949.

Lyman Tilley

I remember our great uncle Lyman. Uncle Dee's older brother who lived with our Great Grandmother and Grandfather Tilley off and on over the years. This from our dad:

He learned to be an auto mechanic from his father (Oscar) as did Dee to a lesser extent. Lyman actaully worked as a mechanic before he went to work for Convair during and after WW II. Convarir built the B-24 bomber and the PBY seaplane here for the US miltary and the British. He went to junior college in the LA area (San Fernando?) and lived with Auntie Pearl and Charlie Babbs.

While at Convair, he working on a test stand by the very tall (single) tail section of a Navy version of the B-24 Liberator, when he fell and his ring caught on a protruding bolt. He nearly lost his finger, but a fall from that height would have killed him. Ultimatey, he was asked to move temporarily to New Mexico to work on Convair Hustler B-58 Air Force superfast jet bomber. When that contract wound down, he tried to return to Convair in San Diego. When he returned, Convair was shocked to learn that he had no college degree. As a lead supervisor, his confreres all had bachelor degrees, or more, mostly in engineering.When he was laid off, he went to wiork for Maclellan Buick in La Mesa where he quickly rose to position of service manager. While there, he met and married Micky (Mildred).

He had the Tilley personality and was a very nice person. He also had a mastoid condition and had several surgeries over the years, one or more not very successful. Mastoid surgery was very primitive during that era. I assume that his ear problem, like mine, kept him out of the military during WW II, plus he was working in a critical defense industry which might have kept him our in any event.

Our Young Architect

Here he is. Our Dad, in his toddler cuteness and his young man handsomeness. Nadine's son, Ada's grandson. The kid who lived with his mother and step-dad in Venezula, Quaker boarding school in Poughkeepsie NY, who went to an adult life in California, attending San Diego State College and University of California. The fellow who married Ann Elizabeth McGee (did you know that McGee Creek runs into Crowley Lake in California?)

Patrick, circa 1937, in the photo studio of Lou Goodale Bigelow (his aunt).

Patrick with young cousin Carlos (L).

The Photographer - In a Photo!

Dad let me know that the photo with the collie, "Lady Virginia" is of Aunt Lou Goodale Bigelow, not Ama Lou. Also, the pretty lady on the stairs is Lou. So, now two photos of our accomplished photographer, Lou Goodale Bigelow

Studio Photos

Lou Goodale Bigelow had a portrait/photo studio in Coronado, CA. Here are some studio portraits of Nadine, the first photo being Nadine as an infant in 1910. We think that it is her mother posing with her as well. Drama queens.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Farm Life in Marshall County, Kansas

Nadine, 1912

Great Aunt Ama Lou

While I remember my Great Aunt Kathleen Tilley Newman very well, my memory of Ama Lou is sketchy. Kathleen and Charles lived on Henry Street in San Diego, just down the street from us. I recall many fun parties at their house, and Great Uncle Charles was always so good about giving the kids little presents and making us feel so special.

Johnnie and Ama Lou Stevens, with their daughter Ann. I don't have a date on this one, nor a location. Help me out, folks.