Elizabeth M. McCrea

“Lizzie” was how she was known as a girl, and that probably remained with her the rest of her life as was the common practice in those days. She was the sixth of eight children born to James McCrea, a stonecutter from Scotland, and Jane Henry from Ireland. They had exchanged vows in Philadelphia in 1855.

It has long been known that genetics is a factor behind exceptional longevity. In the McCrea family the women prove the point but not the men. Two of Lizzie’s three sisters lived into their 90s, her mother lived to be 93 and even her maternal grandmother reached the age of 92. However, two of her three brothers died in their 50s. Her father only lived to 45 but that was due to contracting tuberculosis. 

His tragic death occurred in June of 1881, one month before Lizzie’s eighth birthday. One year later, the baby of the family, Margaret, died from measles at age 3. Both were interred here at Mount Moriah. Fortunately four older children were already working; the oldest son continued in his father’s work as a stonecutter, the second oldest was a watchman, and two sisters worked in a woolen mill.

Census reports help chart Lizzie’s path over the next 70 years. She only reported an occupation in 1900 and 1910, first as a twister in a cotton mill and later as a helper in a chemical firm.

Her three sisters left the home to be married but both Lizzie and her brother James remained single, living with their mother. For at least 25 years their home was with another of Lizzie’s brothers, Willie, who was Jane’s youngest son. 

He and his wife suffered the loss of three children before their fifth wedding anniversary in 1901. They had three more children but then his wife died in 1906. Lizzie stepped into the role of substitute mom, watching the three girls grow into adulthood and have children of their own. Two of them benefited from the McCrea genes, living well into their 90s.

Their father was a coal dealer and later became a police detective. His life was cut short in an automobile accident in 1922 when the taxi in which he was riding hit a utility pole. It was the same year that James died from lobar pneumonia. Their mother’s signature was on both death certificates, after which she  moved in with one of Lizzie’s sisters until she died in 1934. She and those two sons were also buried here in the family plot.

The three girls were now adults, but one continued to have an important role in the rest of Lizzie’s life. Sadie walked the aisle without her father when she married Frank Dreger in 1922 after the funerals were over. They raised their children with Lizzie’s help, and this time the genes helped her son, Frank Jr., live a life of 95 years.

Frank Sr. died in 1950 so Sadie was listed as a widow in that year’s census. For some reason, possibly in error, Lizzie wasn’t listed with her. No evidence could be found that she lived anywhere else.

Sadie’s address at the time was 6414 Woodland Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia. When Lizzie died in 1973 she was living at the Chapin Memorial Home for the Aged Blind, shown here, which was only three blocks away at 6713 Woodland.  

Various reasons account for the loss of vision among the elderly, including age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma. It may have been that she didn’t seek or receive treatment in time. Hopefully, Sadie and her children maintained their relationship with her, especially as long as they lived in close proximity.

The Chapin home owned a portion of Section 140 at Mount Moriah to bury indigent residents who died. Two of those here who lost their sight as children have notable life stories. John Maher was first in his class at the University of Pennsylvania, became a lawyer and educator, and served on the Chapin Home’s Board of Trustees before moving there years later. Anne Veronica Ward was the second blind woman in the country (after Helen Keller) to earn a college degree. She taught for 25 years at Overbrook School for the Blind before living her last 25 years at the Chapin home.

Unlike those, however, Lizzie  was buried in her family’s plot after being blessed with a long and good life. The plot was probably bordered with a fence, or with “coping,” a low concrete wall surrounding it. All that remains, however, is the stone shown above and at right where it marks the entrance to the plot,