A Growing Family

Anna and Andrew senior were married a little over a year when they discovered that they were going to have a baby. On January 19, 1927 Andrew J. Dunn Jr. was born. I am sure that my grandparents were happy to have a baby boy. They were a family of three until 1932.

Sometime during 1932, Andrew was working in a factory supporting his family. He smoked along with Anna. In those days it was acceptable to smoke. During one of his shifts, Andrew was smoking and laid down his cigarette. A coworker picked up the cigarette and took a drag. Unfortunately for Andrew, the coworker had tuberculosis. Andrew contracted the disease and took sick. In those days people with tuberculosis were sent to asylums to be treated and Andrew was no different.

Anna carried on at home with her five year old son. She continued to work to support the family. Shortly after Andrew was admitted to the asylum, Anna found out that she was pregnant again. I am sure that she leaned heavily on her mother (pictured above) during this trying time.

Anna's Siblings

Anna had seven brothers and sisters. They are listed below with dates. Anna was very close to her sister Helen. Helen and Anna used to ride around New York in one of their mother's cars. Their mother it was told to me had a moving and taxi business.I heard stories that they often would run out of gas and have to walk to get gas for the car to get moving. Back in those days, cars did not have gas gauges.

Anna had another sister Josephene, who was named after her father's sister. My grandmother, Anna, never really talked about her sister Josephene. Josephene was engaged to be married in September 1921. On September 12, 1920 she was walking on a cliff, fell and died. There was some question on whether it was an accident or if it was suicide. Here is a link to the newspaper story from the Daily Argus in 1920.

Anna and Andrew

Anna and Andrew were married on June 7, 1925 at Sacred Heart Church. The church was located at 5th Avenue and 2nd in Mount Vernon, New York. Here is a copy of their wedding invitation.


Andrew J. Dunn was born on May 10, 1898 in Mount Vernon New York. His mother's name was Anne. I remember hearing that Andrew was very interested in Anna who at first didn’t care about him. I guess she figured she would be an old maid since she was 25 years old when she married. They were married during the depression and money was tight. Andrew would save his money and sacrifice his well being to take Anna to the movies on Saturday night.