Eleanor and Waldo Benjamin Window

 

In Memory of Eleanor and Waldo Benjamin

This window was dedicated by Reverend John and Eleanor Towery to honor Eleanor’s aunt, Eleanor May Morgan Benjamin.

Eleanor May Morgan was born August 1, 1885, in Jackson, Ohio, to Thomas R. and Esther Williams Morgan. Both parents had been born in Wales. Eleanor’s christening record says she was Nellie May Morgan and that she was christened on September 1, 1885, in Jackson, Ohio. The document listed her father as Tom Morgan and her mother as Hester Williams. Siblings of hers were William R. Morgan, christened in Jackson, February 28, 1882, and Gomer Morgan, christened February 8, 1887, in Jackson. Gomer Morgan married Ruth Pierce. Gomer was an upholster in an auto plant in Norwood, Ohio. Gomer and Ruth were the parents of Eleanor Ruth Morgan Towery, Betty Mae Morgan Tarvin Gentry, Gomer, Thomas Robert, Norma L. and Richard “Dickie”. Eleanor May Morgan Benjamin was the aunt of Eleanor Towery and Betty Gentry.

Eleanor Benjamin died December 20, 1971, in Dade County, Florida.

Waldo Paul Benjamin II was a chemist and manager in the shoe industry. He was born December 19, 1885, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Charles Henry (1847-92) and Emma Virginia Hardy (1851-?) Benjamin. His siblings included Reba Marie (1879-?) and Charles (1890-91). He was living in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1918. He worked for Ryan Ideal Stain & Blacking Company. He was reported to be the developer of the shoe polish that the Brown Shoe Company marketed. Waldo had stock in the Brown Shoe Company. He and Eleanor were married December 19, 1906. They had two adopted children, a daughter, Esther Benjamin (born Kentucky-May 1906-) and a son, Reese Benjamin (born Pennsylvania-1908-). Neither child is living with the Benjamins in 1910. The children were living with them at the time of the 1920 Census. Their name is misspelled, “Benjamen”, in the Ancestry.com entry. There is an Esther Benjamin attending East High School in Cincinnati in 1920. She plays the violin. Son, Reese, was a painter in 1943, in St. Louis, MO. His wife was Eva. Betty Morgan Gentry thinks these were originally children of a sibling of Waldo.

In the 1930s, Waldo and Eleanor traveled to the Canal Zone and to Vera Cruz, Mexico. In January of 1940, they took a trip to Honolulu, Hawaii.

Mary Towery Masters remembers their trips to visit Waldo and Eleanor in Florida. Her mother, Eleanor Towery, was always quite solicitous of Eleanor. When Eleanor Benjamin died, her bequeath to Eleanor enable John and Eleanor to purchase the church parsonage. The church was happy for this to happen as it felt that parsonages were generally unfair to ministers, as they accrued no equity to the occupants.

Waldo died April 1963, in Miami, Florida .