Thomas Osbey Winston

By: Douglas L. Winston

Thomas Osbey Winston (“Thomas O.”) was born on March 9, 1896 in Richmond, Virginia from the union of Thomas Henry Winston (“Thomas Henry”) and Mary Jane Winston (Pelham). At the time of his birth in 1896 he had two sisters. One born from this union, Jesse, who was 12 at the time of his birth, and Martha Elizabeth Winston (“Martha.”), his half-sister, who was born in 1878 from the union of his dad and Elizabeth Winston (Brown). A record from FamilySearch.org indicates Jesse passed in Richmond, Virginia on March 1, 1907, when she was 23.

By January of 1913 his father Thomas Henry had moved his family to Phoebus, Virginia (now Hampton, Virginia), roughly 100 miles southeast of Richmond, along Virginia's east coast. Thomas O. was 17 at the time. On January 27, 1913 his mother Mary passed from chronic bronchopneumonia. Evidenced in a 1917 Business Directory of Phoebus, Virginia, his father Thomas H. conducted a business as a blacksmith and wheelwright at this time. This business was located roughly 300 feet their home. The Thomas’s home address was 107 E. County Street and the address of Thomas H.'s business was 119 E. County Street.

On April 27, 1918, Thomas O. enlisted in the U.S. army at Camp Lee, near Petersburg, Virginia. WWI required his service. After weeks of training he was transferred to the 92nd Infantry Division, a segregated division of the army reserved for black servicemen. "The American Buffalo was selected as the divisional insignia [of this division] due to the "Buffalo Soldiers" nickname given to African American cavalrymen by Native Americans in the 19th century." (Quote taken from Wikipedia). By August 13, 1918 Thomas O. was transferred to the 152nd Division Brigade in Upton, N.Y. He never saw combat as a serviceman and was honorably discharged on January 13, 1919 following WWI's end on November 11, 1918.

As was common for blacks living in the south at this time, Thomas O. migrated north and northeast following his service and took up residence in Steubenville, Ohio where his sister Martha then resided. He met an Ida Doubt (aka "Doutt") and married her on November 29, 1919 in Wellsburg, West Virginia. Following his marriage to Ida, Thomas O. settled in Steubenville, Ohio with his newly wedded bride. Their son, Thomas David Winston (“Thomas David”), was born in Steubenville on June 19, 1920.

The 1920 Census for Steubenville conducted on January 19, 1920 noted Thomas O. and his family resided at 257 S. 7th Street and he worked at La Belle Iron Works as a blacksmith. La Belle Iron Works was an iron workshop located in Wheeling W.V that employed blacksmiths in the production of cut nails. A city directory for Steubenville published in 1921 listed Thomas O.’s residential address as 229 N. 7th Street, just blocks from Martha's address, which was 217 N. 4th Street.

By the early 1920’s Thomas O.’s family and his sister Martha had moved to Cleveland, Ohio. A 1925 City Directory of Cleveland, Ohio listed Martha’s home and business address as 2321 E. 55th Street. It listed Ida Winston’s residential address as 2245 E. 68th. That 1925 Cleveland directory likewise noted Martha was associated as ("Winton (sic) and Viney) in the operation of a hotel at the 2321 E. 55th location and Ida was a solicitor, i.e. someone selling items on the street.

According to a 1928 City Directory for Cleveland, Ohio, Martha’s address was again listed as 2321 E. 55th Street. This directory noted Thomas O. then resided at 2515 E. 33rd and he was a laborer. By this time, Thomas O. had been divorced from Ida and Ida had remarried a Marvin Grays in Cleveland Ohio on April 20, 1925.

Thomas O. likely lived with Martha in 1931 when Thomas O. would have been 35 years of age and his son Thomas David would have been 11. In the 1930 Census taken in Cleveland on April 4, 1930, Martha listed her occupation as a housekeeper of property addressed as 2343 E. 55th Street, Cleveland, OH. Thomas O.'s military document from 1931 listed Martha's address as his address.

On July 15, 1933 Thomas O. married Pattie Willett in Chicago, Illinois likely leaving his son Thomas David with his sister Martha for a period. It is believed his ex-wife Ida suffered from a mental illness at this time and needed assistance raising her son. Ida’s instability was reflected, perhaps, in the fact that Marvin Grays and she had been divorced by the time Marvin Grays married a Lola Mitchell in Cleveland, OH on December 8, 1931.

A census conducted on April 18, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois indicates Thomas O. and his wife Pattie resided in the Windy City. This 1940 Census also noted Thomas O. was an elevator operator and that he, but not Pattie, had lived in Ohio in 1935.

On February 6, 1940, Thomas O’s son, Thomas David, married a Valgene Brown. According to a U.S. Census conducted on April 5, 1940 in Cleveland, Ohio, Thomas David and Valgene lived at 2123 E. 46th Street in Cleveland, Ohio. This census also noted that Thomas David worked as a porter at a hotel, one likely operated by his Aunt Martha and located at 2343 E. 55th Street.

Sometime after his son wedded, Thomas Osbey returned back to Cleveland and took up residence. In the early 1940's Thomas O. listed an address of 2340 E. 57th, Cleveland, Ohio as his address when he completed a WWII registration card, again listing Martha as his sister in this record. This address was Martha's address according to a 1943 city directory of Cleveland, Ohio.

By virtue of Martha and Thomas O. having an identical address in this city directory at this time, it is apparent Thomas O. lived with his sister Martha when he filled out his WWII registration card in the early 40's. And he likely lived with his sister at this address for some time after, probably up until the time Martha died on March 6, 1946, and even thereafter. In fact, a Cleveland City Directory from 1951 reflects he lived at this address alone. And a like directory published in 1954 notes he continued to live at this address, along with Pattie, his wife. His marriage application to Hattie McGruder dated August 28, 1956, submitted with the Probate Court of Cuyahoga County on that date, revealed not only that he and Pattie were divorced on October 15, 1954 but his address continued to be the 2340 E. 57th - the address where he and Martha had lived in the 1940’s.

Thomas O. died in Cleveland, Ohio on December 15, 1965. His funeral was held at the House of Wills which was located at 2340 E. 55th Street, directly behind the home he and his sister Martha shared for years. Margaret Menefee (Winston) states that Thomas O. wanted to be buried at Lake View Cemetery where Martha was buried in 1946. He likely chose that location because of the close relationship he had with his sister Martha, evidenced by the assistance she provided to Thomas O. and Thomas David during her lifetime. Thomas O. was buried no more than a stone's toss from Martha's gravesite. Their close familial relationship is symbolized by their headstones. Their headstones are identical in design, color and stone type, granite stone.

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Final resting place for Martha E. and Thomas O. (please note a correction : Thomas Osbey was the grandfather of Thomas D.'s children, not the great grandfather of Thomas D.'s children)