#52 Ancestors 2024 Week 41 Most: JK Summers' Fifteen Children

 Many of my ancestors had large families, but I think the largest was that of my great-grandparents, John Kostka Summers (about whom I have previously written) and Regina Ann Hill.

Twenty-two-year-old John and twenty-year-old Regina Ann were married at Holy Rosary Church in Cheltenham, Prince George's County MD on 28 October 1878. In their long marriage, they had fifteen children, all born at the family home--Pine Hill, Westwood, in the Nottingham District of Prince George's County. 

Their first child, John Lamar Summers, was born 20 August 1879. Sadly, John drowned in the Patuxent River in 1899 at the age of 20. 

A second son--John Kostka Summers Jr-- was born 13 November 1880.  John married Benedicta Gannon, the daughter of Frank Gannon and Marietta Burrows, in Manhattan NY 9 January 1906.  John worked as a district manager for the Vulcan Portland Cement Company.  John and Benedicta had one daughter, Benedicta.  John died at his home in Manhattan 21 June 1943. 

The first daughter in the family, Emily Louise Summers, was born 17 June 1882.  Sadly, Emily contracted typhoid on a visit to her aunt Emily Hill Young in Milwaukee WI. She died at age 16 on 1 May 1898 and is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Milwaukee.  

Alexander Hill Summers, named for his paternal grandfather, was born 23 September 1883. He died in 1918 in the Spanish Flu epidemic.  He never married. He worked as an insurance agent for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. 

Joseph Mary Summers and Mary Joseph Summers--twins--were born 26 November 1885. Joseph worked on the family farm and never married.  Toward the end of his life, he lived with his brother, my grandfather, and I knew him as an old man. He died 28 February 1963 and is buried at Old St. Peter's Cemetery in Waldorf. 

Mary Joseph Summers entered the Sisters of the Holy Cross and was professed in 1913 as Sister Mary Ange.  She died at South Bend IN 1 October 1954 and is buried at Our Lady of Peace Cemetery there. 

Eliza Mary Summers was born 14 January 1888. She married William August Dorr 29 June 1909 and had ten children with him: Mary Angela, Regina Summers, William August, John Kostka, Joseph Heath, Francis Paul, Marie Therese, Winifred Ann, Mary Rita and Elizabeth June.  My mother stayed close to her Dorr cousins who lived near us in Anne Arundel County.  Eliza Summers Dorr died 10 October 1980 and is buried with her husband at Our Lady of the Fields in Millersville MD. 

Regina Agnes Summers was born 9 March 1889.  She married Edward Payson Springer in June 1912 and had four children with him: Edward Payson Jr., Norman Wendall, Robert Hill, and David W. She died in Fairfax County VA 14 January 1968. 

Gretchen Summers was born 13 February 1891.  She married Joseph Summerfield Perrie, a Prince George's County farmer, 19 January 1910 and had four children with him: Mary Imogene, Dorothy, Joseph Summerfield Jr., and Gretchen Lamar. Gretchen Summers Perrie died 25 October 1953 and is buried with her husband at Old St. Peter's Cemetery in Waldorf. 

Mildren & Bernard Kummer

Mildred Elizabeth Summers was born 23 May 1892. She married Bernard Aloysius Kummer at St. Peter's Church in Waldorf 16 June 1917.  They had three children: Bernard Hill, Rita Elizabeth, and James Aloysius. Mildred was a registered nurse.  Bernard managed furniture stores in the District of Columbia and later in Bristol TN.  Mildred died 6 January 1980 in Columbia SC.  She is buried in St. Anne's Cemetery, Bristol TN.

Dorothy Lucile Summers was born 23 March 1894. Her marriage at age 19 in 1913 to a widowed 68-year-old War Department staffer, James Heath Dodge, was considered somewhat scandalous at the time. Dodge supposedly met Dorothy while on a hunting trip in Maryland. Dodge died a few years after the marriage. Dorothy graduated from Georgetown's Nursing School in 1927.  Dorothy died in Manhattan NY 12 March 1945 and is buried at Old St. Peter's Cemetery in Waldorf.

Paul & Evalina Summers

Paul Francis Summers (my grandfather) was born 11 September 1895.  He married Theresa Evalina Sasscer, the daughter of Thomas Reverdy Sasscer and Theresa Evalina Wallis, at St. Mary's Church in Upper Marlboro 26 April 1924. Paul was a tobacco farmer and one of the founders of the Marlboro Tobacco Market. Paul and Evalina had nine children: Anne Theresa (my mother), Paul Francis, Mary Evalina, Edwin Hill, Patricia Lee, John Kostka, Mildren Louise, Thomas Reverdy, and Robert Joseph.  Paul died 16 September 1970 and is buried with his wife at Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Upper Marlboro.

Olin Jerome Summers was born 19 December 1897 and died shortly after his first birthday in December 1898.

Emily Ruth Summers was born 23 September 1899.  She married Charles Henry Adams McPherson, a farmer from Aquasco, 22 February 1922 in Washington DC. They had eleven children: Charles Henry Adams Jr., Ruth, Evelyn, John, Dorothy Dodge, Margaret, Joseph, Nancy, Julia, Robert Kevin, and Regina. Emily Ruth McPherson died 18 April 1996 and is buried at St. Peter's Cemetery in Waldorf. 

Michael Jerome Summers was born 12 April 1903. In the 1930 and 1940 Censuses, Michael is living at the Mount Hope Asylum in Baltimore.  In 1950, he is at Spring Grove Asylum.  He never married. Michael died 31 August 1967 and is buried at Old St. Peter's Cemetery in Waldorf. 

The picture below shows the family about 1905 at the family home, Pine Hill.  In the back row are: Joseph Mary, Regina, Alexander, Mary Joseph, and John Kostka Jr. Regina Hill and John Kostka Sr are in the center. At the bottom are Michael Jerome, Gretchen, Mildred, Paul Francis, Dorothy, Eliza Mary and Emily Ruth.