- Born: June 1, 1901, Kane, McKean County, Pennsylvania
- Died: March 1958, Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York
- Relationship: My great-granduncle
Raymond Walter Wegley was my great-granduncle and one of the sons of John W. Wegley and Helen Elizabeth “Bessie” Swanson. He was born on June 1, 1901, in Kane, McKean County, Pennsylvania, where his parents had established their family during the closing decades of the nineteenth century.
Some later records and family trees have given Raymond’s birth year as 1900, but a surviving Kane municipal birth record provides much stronger evidence. It records Raymond Wegley, born June 1, 1901, in Kane to J. W. and Bessie Wegley, confirming both his birth date and his parentage.
Parents and Family
Raymond’s father, John W. Wegley, was born on June 29, 1858, and was the youngest son of Joseph William Wegley and Eve Berkebile. His mother, Helen Elizabeth “Bessie” Swanson, was born in Sweden and brought a much more recent European immigrant connection into a family whose Wegley ancestors had already been in Pennsylvania for generations.
Raymond was one of at least six children presently supported by the family research:
- Minerva Pearl Wegley
- Frederick Wegley
- Ruth Leona Victoria Wegley
- Clarence John Leroy Wegley
- Raymond Walter Wegley
- Howard Wegley
The Wegley family was closely associated with 507 Biddle Street in Kane, an address documented in family records beginning by at least 1893. Raymond therefore grew up in a family whose roots in Kane stretched through much of his childhood and young adulthood.
Marriage to Minnie Ida Westcott
Raymond married Minnie Ida Westcott, and the couple eventually settled in New York. Together they had one known son, Thomas Galven Wegley, born in 1929. Thomas’s name may have honored Minnie’s brother, Thomas Galvin Westcott.
Here is the baptism record for Thomas Galven Wegley from the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York Church Records. It also provides further documentation of Raymond Walter Wegley’s life and family.
Episcopal Diocese of Central New York; Liverpool, New York; The Episcopal Diocese of Central New York Church Records, 1797-1970; Volume: 1
| Field | What the record says |
|---|---|
| Child | Thomas Galven Wegley |
| Sex | Male |
| Father | Raymond Walter Wegley |
| Mother | Minnie Ida (Westcott) Wegley |
| Sponsors | Several are listed, although two names are difficult to read |
| Clearly readable sponsor | Mrs. Anna Rippel |
| Date information | Not fully visible in this image |
The Wegleys in New York
By 1930, Raymond and Minnie were living in Salina, Onondaga County, New York, with their young son Thomas. Also living in the household was Cordelia Westcott, Minnie’s elderly grandmother, who was recorded as ninety-one years old.
Raymond would have been twenty-eight at the time of the census, not twenty-one as stated in an earlier version of this biography. The household provides an interesting picture of four generations of interconnected family life, with Raymond and Minnie raising a young child while sharing their home with an elderly member of Minnie’s family.
Thomas’s Baptism
Church records provide another glimpse of the Wegley family during their years in New York. On April 1, 1934, Raymond and Minnie’s son Thomas was baptized in a congregation associated with the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York.
The baptismal record is particularly useful genealogically because it records Raymond’s full name in connection with his son. Church records such as this can provide valuable evidence alongside civil birth, census, marriage, and military documents.
Service in the United States Marine Corps
Raymond entered the United States Marine Corps in January 1931. Records place him with the Marine Barracks at the Naval Air Station at Lakehurst, New Jersey.
Lakehurst was an important naval aviation installation during this period and became particularly famous for its association with lighter-than-air aviation and airships. Raymond’s presence there places him within the military world between World War I and World War II, rather than making his Marine service part of the Second World War itself.
Raymond’s World War II Draft Registration
Although Raymond had previously served in the Marines, the federal government documented him again during World War II through his draft registration. The registration provides a valuable physical description of him.
Raymond was recorded as:
- Height: 5 feet 6 inches
- Weight: 135 pounds
- Complexion: Light
- Hair: Brown
- Eyes: Blue
The registration also gives his birth date as June 1, 1901. That date matches the earlier Kane municipal birth record, giving us two independent records supporting the same birth year.
| Field | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Raymond Wegley |
| Serial number | T-1385 |
| Order number | T-10303 |
| Residence | West Cicero, Onondaga County, New York |
| Mailing address | R.D. 1, Clay, Onondaga County, New York |
| Age | 40 |
| Date of birth | June 1, 1901 |
| Place of birth | Kane, Pennsylvania |
| Person who would always know his address | Minnie Ida Wegley |
| Her address | R.D. 1, Clay, New York |
| Employer | E.W. Process Gear Corp. |
| Place of employment | Syracuse, New York |
| Signature | Raymond Wegley |
A Machinist in Syracuse
By 1940, Raymond and his family were living on Seeley Avenue in Syracuse, New York. Raymond was thirty-eight years old and working as a machinist, an occupation that required specialized mechanical skills and placed him within Syracuse’s substantial industrial economy.
The 1940 census records Raymond as having completed high school and earning $1,820 during the previous year. Rather than converting that salary into a modern dollar figure, the original amount is more useful genealogically because it preserves exactly what the historical record reported.
Life After Minnie’s Death
By 1950, Raymond’s household had changed considerably. Minnie had died by this time, leaving Raymond a widower.
Raymond lived at 144 North Salina Street in Syracuse, apartment 1304, and worked as an inspector at a gear factory. His progression from machinist to inspector suggests he stayed connected to skilled industrial work throughout much of his adult life.
From Machinist to Inspector
Raymond’s census records offer more than a simple occupation on a family tree. They allow us to follow his working life across at least a decade, from machinist in 1940 to gear-factory inspector in 1950.
Both jobs belonged to the manufacturing economy in which Syracuse played an important role during the middle of the twentieth century. Raymond’s experience and mechanical knowledge may have contributed to his later inspection work, although the records presently available do not tell us his specific employer or how long he held either position.
Death in Syracuse
Raymond Walter Wegley died in March 1958 in Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York, at the age of fifty-six. His precise date of death still needs to be confirmed because two dates currently appear in my family records: March 20 and March 29, 1958.
Until a death certificate, obituary, cemetery record, or another reliable contemporary source resolves the discrepancy, I prefer to preserve the uncertainty rather than select one date simply because it has been repeated elsewhere. Once that record is located, this page can be updated with the confirmed date and, hopefully, additional information about the circumstances of his death.
Raymond’s Place in the Wegley Family
Raymond’s life illustrates how far the Wegley family had traveled, both geographically and socially, in only a few generations. His grandfather, Joseph William Wegley, spent much of his life in rural Pennsylvania and worked as a day laborer and wood chopper, while Raymond grew up in Kane and eventually built his adult life in industrial New York.
His records also give us a much more detailed picture than we have for earlier generations. We know his exact birth date, his physical appearance, his military affiliation, the names of his wife and son, the households he lived in, his addresses, and the kinds of work he performed.
Raymond Walter Wegley was born into a Pennsylvania family whose American roots stretched back nearly two centuries, but his own story became centered in New York. Through his Marine Corps service, family life, and decades of skilled industrial work, he represents another distinct chapter in the Wegley family story.
One research target jumps out at me now: Raymond’s 1958 death certificate. Finding it could settle the March 20 versus March 29 question immediately and may also give us his cause of death, burial location, final address, occupation, and informant.