Houses of Genealogical Interest
in the St. Paul, MN Area:
Eggar:
After a two week honeymoon on the Isle of Wight Arthur Henry "Harry" Eggar brought his bride, Mary Frances Bennett, to Minnesota to the farm in Mountain Lake. The following February 6, 1887, Mary gave birth to their first son, Frederick. Harry went in a terrible snowstorm to fetch the doctor but by the time help came the baby had died. With her next pregnancy they decided they should be in the city and so they moved to Minneapolis, where Dora Mary Eggar was born 28 Jan 1888.
Harry Eggar was a carpenter and a builder of houses, and he would build a house, move his family into it, then build another and sell the first; so they moved many times. Matthew Charles was born 13 Jan 1890 in the W. Armstrong Av house, St. Paul, (the children were all born at home, attended by the doctor). Kathleen was born 13 Dec 1891 in the Louis St house, St. Paul. Then they moved to 299 W. Dayton Av between Western and Virginia, St. Paul. The 1897/98 Dual City Blue Book listed Mr. and Mrs. W. Eggar (William and Mary Lillywhite Eggar, parents of Frank George and Arthur Henry Eggar) at 299 Dayton Av. Harry had a carpenter shop across the street from the house and just next to the old Aberdeen Hotel. The children enjoyed watching the carriages filled with St. Paul's finest, drive up to the hotel and drop off people for parties. Then the carriages would pull away and wait. After the party the doorman would call out names, and the proper carriage would come to collect its people. Both Harry's father, William, and his brother Frank worked with him from time to time at his shop on Dayton. Cyril Edward Eggar was born 28 Oct 1894. Sidney Beech, later Mrs. Kenneth Casselman, lived next door to the Eggars on Dayton Avenue. She had an older sister who played with Dora and that is how she and Kathleen became friends.
The family then moved to 530 W. Iglehart Av where Arthur William "Bud" was born (22 Aug 1899) and then moved to 538 W. Marshall Av. The Dual City blue Book lists A H and Mary F Eggar in the editions from 1909/10 through 1915/16, but they were not listed in the 1917/18 edition. In the 1900 Minnesota census index Vol. 47, E D 118, Sheet 9, Line 7:
Arthur H. Eggar, 40 years old, born England, living in St. Paul on Iglehart
Mary Frances Eggar, born August 1858, England, 41 years old
Dora M., born June 1888
Matthew Charles, born Jan 1890
Katherine E., born Dec 1891 (note: should be Kathleen)
Cyril L., born Oct 1894
Arthur W., born Aug 1899
The Marshall house was home for many years. It was conveniently located close to both the Selby and Rondo Street cars. The children went to the old Webster Grade School downtown, where the Public Safety Building is now. As school children, they enjoyed watching the fire drills at the Fire Barn on Selby and MacKubin. The horses would come galloping out, the harness suspended from the ceiling would drop down, and the firemen would buckle it up and hop on to the horses. This old fire barn became the Engine House restaurant, but is now renamed Zelda's.
William (10) Eggar died in January 1909 residing in a house Arthur Henry (Harry) built for him at 1261 W. Selby Av. Mary, his wife, died twenty days later, 01 Feb 1909 residing at 538 Marshall, the home of her son Harry.
Harry (10) Eggar took his children to the lake every summer. They first rented a house at White Bear Beach and later on they went to Minnetonka. Kathleen finished her four years at the University while they lived on Marshall. The next move for the Harry Eggar family was a house on N. Broadway St, which is now County Road "B", between Lexington and Hamline. The mailing address was Route 3, Merriam Park. They lived there until the summer of 1921 when Harry built his last house at 1508 N. Albert St. He built a cottage in the back, which would later be the garage, and they lived there while the house was built.
It was finished just in time for Kathleen's wedding to Wesley Keys, 08 Sep 1921, and she and her brother Bud slept in it the night before she was married. When Bud married Julie Ernestine Hoemke, 21 Nov 1925, Harry made an apartment for them in the same house. Bud began with his father in the carpenter business but thought things didn't "set" right in the winter. Bud said he needed a twelve-month job, so he went to work for Keys Well Drilling.
Mary Bennett Eggar died there 12 Sep 1934. Harry Eggar and his son Bud both died there of lobar pneumonia the night of 21 Mar 1935.
Lawton:
In 1889 Jonathan Lawton and his wife Elizabeth and daughter Minnie, and Albert M. Lawton lived at 348 E. Winifred St in St. Paul (They owned a house, then also owned a duplex next door). When Minnie was older and still unmarried, she lived in one side of the double house. Percy Downing Godfrey rented the other side, and then courted Minnie.
Godfrey:
Percy Downing Godfrey married Minnie in 1892, when Minnie was twenty years old. In 1901 Percy Downing Godfrey and his wife Minnie lived at 348 E. Winifred St. In her thirties, Minnie became stone deaf. In 1919 Percy Downing Godfrey and his wife Minnie lived at 1089 Lincoln Av., St. Paul. After Percy died in 1919, his widow Minnie lived at 1722 Lincoln Av. Later, Minnie went to Baltimore, MD (where her son Percy Jr coached basketball) to take lip reading courses. There she met Augustus C. Knight, also deaf, who became her second husband. They ended up moving to California.
In 1923, Otis Hickman Godfrey, his wife Alice (Flinn) and children lived at 1764 Princeton Av. Their daughters, Alice and Marilyn, shared a bedroom. Young Otie slept in his parents' room, and a maid occupied the third room. In 1934 they moved to 1730 Portland Av., a house that had a fourth bedroom to accomodate Allan, who was born in December, 1934. In 1976, Otis Hickman Godfrey and his wife Alice lived at 515 S. Lexington St. In 1985, Otis Hickman Godfrey lived at 512 Humboldt Av, St. Paul.
William "Bill" and Alice (Godfrey) Wimer lived at 455 Banfil St. downstairs originally when Bill was working on his thesis and working for the St. Paul Council of Churches. This was a house that Otis Hickman Godfrey owned. Robert "Bob" Burnes and Marilyn Godfrey were married in March, l946, and moved into the front upstairs unit. Bill and Alice moved to Massacheusetts that summer. Otis "Otie" Hickman Godfrey Jr., his wife Jean (Keys) and their children moved into the upstairs front unit after graduating from Yale. A few months later the couple in the upstairs back unit (much larger) moved out, and Bob and Marilyn moved into that one. A friend of Otie's, Bill Moffett, moved into the little upstairs front unit where you had to go OUT the front door to go to the bathroom and access the refrigerator in the hallway. The teeny kitchen had room for only a three burner stove, and a hinged shelf on the wall to fix a meal, and then eat at. When the Burnes family moved to California, Allan and Marge Godfrey moved into the upstairs back apartment while Allen finished at Macalester. After all the children moved on, Otis Hickman Godfrey rented the apartments. Often the tenants could not pay and he let them stay on anyway.
In December, 1949, Otis Hickman Godfrey Jr. moved to 772 W. Fairmount Av, St. Paul.
Flinn:
After Alice J. Flinn graduated from High School, the Alban Leon (Allen) Flinn family moved to 1000 W. Fairmount Av, St. Paul, so their daughter could live at home while attending Macalester College. They were listed at that address in the Dual City Blue Book 1923/24.
