Yankee Fife, Drum & Bugle Corps

Estimated photo dates mid to late 1930's

Above: George T Smith, 2nd from right

              Below: Charles Raymond Smith, 3rd from left; William Joseph Smith, 5th from left

Pennsylvania Station

One of the main entrances to Down Neck: Pennsylvania Station in 1935 shortly after its completion

Down Neck as Described in a 1939 WPA Book

"Southeast of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and limited on two other sides by the Central Railroad of New Jersey and the Pennsylvania freight line, is the Ironbound district, a triangular section of lowland solidly built with workers' frame houses, and blackened by the city's most important industrial plants. Because the shape of the land resembles the neck of a bottle it is also called Down Neck.

Once a most desirable residential section, it is now a strange mixture of century-old Newark families and European immigrants. The street names of Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, and London attest World War changes from old German names rather than the rich variety of nationalities. Berlin Street was left unscathed because its two unfinished blocks had not been recorded on the books of the municipal bureau of streets.

The Ironbound district is even more a separate part of the city than its steel-railed boundaries would indicate. Scores of small independent retail shops serve a population which seldom visits the other portions of Newark. A lower middle-income area rather than a slum, Down Neck was chosen as the site of the Chellis-Austin apartments, built in 1931 by the Prudential Insurance Company as an experiment in medium-cost housing for residents of moderate income. Few Newarkers from other sections see the district frequently except from the Pulaski Skyway along its eastern edge; many know only by hearsay of its existence."

From New Jersey, A Guide To Its Present and Past, a 1939 WPA book, p.315

James Smith

James Smith was the son of Philip Smith who immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1840's.

Born circa 1825, James Smith immigrated to US in the early 1840's, married Mary Ann Reilly 1850, died 1872; worked as a carpenter, born in County Mayo (or, possibly, County Cavan), Ireland;

Children of James Smith and Mary Ann Reilly Smith:

1) Philip Smith,  August 18, 1853; Sponsors: Charles Reilly and Catherine Dunn;

2) Patrick Smith, November 24, 1855; Sponsors: Lawrence Bennett and Catherine Smith;

3) John William Smith, July 29, 1857; Sponsors: Mark Lambert and Anne Reilly;

4) Charles Henry Smith, May 30, 1859; Sponsors: Marianne Reilly and Philip Farley;

5) James Edward Smith, February 23, 1863; Sponsors: Peter Farrell and Ellen Walker;

6) Thomas Jefferson Davis Smith, May 7, 1865; Sponsors: Charles Kellett and Catherine Kelly;

7) George Washington Smith, February 5, 1867; Sponsors: Philip Farley and __?_ Farley