The Lowe Family Tree

Georgie, brother of great grandmother Edna Rogers, left home at 20 and joined the Army during WWII against his family's wishes. He was assigned to the 91st Cavalry Recon Squadron where he took part in the Africa, Sicily & Italy Campaigns. Even though Georgie was wounded twice he kept returning to the front lines and, according to his brothers in arms, showed no fear. On his way back to base at the end of a night recon mission behind enemy lines in northern Italy, Georgie was struck by pistol fire and killed in the line of duty. He had achieved the rank of Corporal and was a purple heart and bronze star recipient for his heroism and conduct.

The origins of Rufus H. Dodge are muddied. He was born in 1825 in what is believed to be Harpersfield, Ashtabula, Ohio. Nothing else is known about him until he marries Sarah Bryant in 1844 in Pennsylvania. The couple lived in Parkerburg, Ohio and then moved to North Ridgeville following his wife's family. Rufus was a stagecoach driver and later a teamster, hauling goods instead of people. The couple had 3 daughters together but lost 2 of the to illness. After his wife died in 1897, Rufus moved in with his daughter's family in Cleveland and then followed as they relocated to Medina. Rufus died in Granger, Ohio, not far from the family home in Weymouth in 1907.

Marie was born in 1864 in Aarestrup, Denmark to a single mother and seemingly uninterested father. Her father's sister took a far more active role in Marie's early life (as her godmother) and raised Marie until her mother married and was able to care for Marie herself; which happened at age 7. This tug-of-war lifestyle seemed to play heavy on Marie, who never officially married herself, yet gave birth to nine children. She posed as a married woman with her live-in boyfriend to immigrate to America at age 35, started American life Racine, Wisconsin, but eventually settled in Euclid, Ohio where her boyfriend ran off with her daughter (unrelated) after a string of family tragedies and left Marie to raise the family herself. Marie died in Euclid in 1925.

Edna, as she was known, was born in the city of Aalborg, Denmark to a single mother who worked as a maid/cook and her carpenter boyfriend. She was raised south of the city in the rural village of Aarestrup by her grandparents along with her brothers and sisters. Edna immigrated to America with her mother at 5 years old and eventually settled in Nottingham, Ohio on the east side of Cleveland. Here Edna worked as a maid until she met and married a butcher named George Rogers in 1913. The couple would have 2 children, a boy and a girl and build a happy life and successful family business around the butcher shop. Edna and George almost completely fell apart after the loss of their son to WWII, but family helped them find their footing and recover. The couple celebrated 59 years of marriage together before George's passing. Edna lived to be 99 years old and welcomed 4 generations into the world.

Born into poverty in North Olmsted, Ohio, George was the son of immigrant parents only two years removed from England. He learned the trade of a butcher after accepting a position at a butcher shop in Cleveland where he would work his entire life, starting at clerk and eventually becoming owner/operator. George raised two children in Cleveland with his wife Edna.

The daughter of a stage coach driver, Frankie was born along the Ohio-Pennsylvania border in the village of Petersburg. By the age of 8 her family relocated to North Ridgeville, in Lorain County where she spent the rest of her childhood. Here she met her husband and at 20 years old they married and moved to Cleveland. Together, they would have 7 children and eventually move out to rural Medina to take up farming; Here her husband died following a long illness at 59. Frankie would live a full life with her children and grandchildren and passed away in Medina at 81.

Born in Berea, Ohio, the son of a merchant tailor, George was the eldest of nine children. They were a fairly prominent family in the village as his father was very active in the community, eventually holding position of mayor during some of the town's most troubled times. George married in Lorain county at 25 and lived and worked in Cleveland as a machinist & laborer. He went through multiple periods of unemployment and eventually moved the family out to Medina where he became a farmer. After a few years in the area he became ill. The sickness never seemed to be diagnosed, but persisted for year before he finally succumbed at 58.

Marie and her twin sister Julie were born in 1858 daughters of a sailor in the seafaring town of Svelvik, Norway. Marie was 1 of 6 children and 1 step-brother in the house. She lost her mother at 9, her step-mother at 15 and cared for her siblings and father until he passed away in 1888. Marie married ship's captain Cornelius Christoffersen 3 months later. Together they had 6 children; 1 whom passed in infancy. Marie followed her sister from Norway to Cleveland, Ohio in 1907. Although they made a nice life here, tragedy followed. 1914 saw the death of both her son Oscar and Julie's husband. This was followed by son Rudd in 1926, her husband in 1927, and son Chris in 1929. She outlived all the men in her life but died herself at 74 in 1933. Julie followed 2 months later.

Cornelius was born in Svelvik, Norway in 1860, son of a sailor. He took to the sea like his father by the age of 15. He married the girl he grew up down the street from named Birthe Marie Andreasen. The couple was wed in 1888 and 2 months later Cornelius received his official captain's certification. He captained his own ship for years and even captain a ship to China, but gave it up in 1907 to move his wife and 5 children to America. They settled in Cleveland, Ohio near his wife's twin sister and changed the family last name from Christoffersen to Christopher. Here Cornelius became a sexton for a local church where he worked the rest of his life. He died in 1927 at the age of 67.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio to a machinist and laborer, Mona was the second youngest of seven children. She spent her early years on the southern end of Cleveland's west side before moving out to Medina closer to the age of 10. She met her husband while living with her brother and working as a packer for an aluminum manufacturer in Wooster at the age of 24. Together they had 2 children, but the marriage didn't last as her husband's drinking and rebellious side saw him abandon them. Mona would move back in with her mother and brother, and raise her children as a single mother. She had a wonderful relationship with her in-laws and gained a loving second family. She never remarried and lived in Medina the rest of her life.