First Memories

Ethel's first memories were living with her Grandparents, David and Sarah Griffith, in their small row house at 642 Wharton Street in Philadelphia. Grandma always called it the "brownstone." David and Sarah had a candy store on the ground floor, and they lived upstairs with their own seven children, and their three granddaughters, Ethel, Dorothy, and Catherine Sack.

Ethel was about 7 years old at the time, and she remembers it being very crowded. She had a doll carriage that she would push back and forth in front of the store, but most of the toys were kept in the attic. 

So, why is Elizabeth (Lizzie) and her three daughters living with her parents? To answer that question we'll go back to the beginning.

Dorothy Sack McCormick and Ethel Sack Piper c.1908

My Great Aunt Marie Snyder told me that in 1903 her mother Lizzie Griffith was 19 years old and working at a pretzel bakery when she met John Sack. I can just imagine Lizzie being smitten with the charming 25 year old man. Grandma told me that her father could be charming when he wanted to be, "Dad always dressed well, he always wore a suit with a clean starched collar. He played the piano beautifully, and everyone liked him."

He worked his charm and by February Lizzie was pregnant. I can just imagine that John was trying to slip the hook, because they were not married until 6 months later on July 15th.

John and Lizzie continued to live in Philly near their families, and on October 29, 1903 Lizzie gave birth to Ethel. They would be joined two years later by Dorothy on January 4, 1906. On April 13th 1909 Elizabeth was born, but sadly she died the same day. The last of the Sack children to be born in Philadelphia was Catherine. She was born on May 10th 1910, and not long after Lizzie and the girls would move in with her parents.

David Griffith c.1880

Shortly after Catherine was born, John's older brother Adrian offered him an opportunity to make a new beginning in Denver. John took Adrian up on his offer and left his wife and children behind. Ethel always believed that it was her fathers intention to abandon the family, but David Griffith wouldn't let that happen.

Next: John's Escape to Denver