I was less than three years old (about 1925) and have very vague memories of driving from my father's family home in Elmhurst, Long Island, New York, to LaPorte. He had a new job there, and they were excited about going to the mid-West. His name was James Henry Cumiskey, and he would have been about 39 or 40-years old at the time. My mother, whose maiden name I've chosen to take (after a long ago divorce and the fact that my brother, the twin who lived, had 8 children, so there were plenty of Cumiskey's around) because Mom was the sole survivor in her family. When she died, there were no Darcy's remaining from that particular clan. Mother's name was Grace Emeline Darcy; she would have been about 29-years old when they lived in Indiana.
I am not sure whether or not they bought the house at 1708 Indiana Avenue in LaPorte before they went there or after they arrived. I can't recall living in any other place in Indiana. Our next door neighbors were people by the name of Daly (Daley?). The father of that family was called "Doc," and something tells me he was a veterinarian. The mother of the Daly family was Bess (Elizabeth?), and they had two sons around my age named Joseph and Thomas. I remember liking Thomas, but not Joseph. Isn't it strange the odd things we recall?
A vivid memory of the house we lived in was the depth of the snow in winter. Dad went out to shovel the snow off the sidewalk, and I, bundled in earmuffs and heavy clothing, went with him. I remember that the snow was "bigger" than I was, and that I couldn't see over the top of the snow banks. I loved it!
My twin brothers were born on July 23, 1925, and I had turned three years old the month before, on June 19. Although one was stillborn, the other was sickly. He was christened James Edward. He took convulsions and almost died on several occasions. Happily, he outgrew this ailment when he was about 12-years old.
Is there or was there an Otis Elevator factory in LaPorte? I seem to recall that Dad worked for Otis at some time in my early years, and I think it was LaPorte. I can't be sure. Mom did not work -- she was busy enough with Jimmy and me. Besides, it wasn't what women did in those days.
They blended in with the neighborhood, socialized with the Dalys, and probably were active in the nearest Roman Catholic choice.
A small memory I have is of my Dad and a neighbor -- a man, small, round faced, whose name I cannot recall -- sitting in the living room and tinkering with something called a "radio." The friend had been intrigued by it and brought it over to share with Dad, I guess. They were turning the dial and holding what I presume were aerials. Suddenly, there were voices coming out of the little box. The voices were coming from a radio station in Chicago. The two men were utterly amazed, and I can still hear their enthusiasm about being able to hear somebody talking all the way from Chicago. Ah, progress!
I don't know whether Dad left his job for a better one, or whether there were problems at the plant, but when Jimmy was about two (1927 or 1928, perhaps), we were off again, this time to Hamilton, Toronto, Canada.
I started school in Canada. We came back to Long Island when I was in the second grade, I think. That would have been in 1929 or 1930. Dad loved Indiana and did not sell the house on Indiana Avenue when we left. He truly hoped to return there one day. Alas, the Depression took care of the house -- he couldn't keep up the payments, and I must assume it was reclaimed by whoever held the mortgage. Neither of my parents are buried in LaPorte. During the depression, they lost the house on Indiana Avenue, and returned to my father's family home in Elmhurst, Long Island, New York, where they lived until Dad died in 1947. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Long Island City. Mom died 20 years later, and is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Flushing, Long Island, New York.
Although the Cumiskey family moved on, they left a part of their hearts here in LaPorte County when one of the twins would make the rest of life's journey only in their memories.