Page 6 - Johanna F. Cronin Biography

products. By the turn of the century he moved his store to Moody

Street, Waltham and named it The Hub Department Store. By this time
he had married and he and his wife Raycliff had a son, Grover J. Cro-

nin. Their marriage did not last long and within two years of Grover’s
birth, Raycliff left him and their son. Jeremiah was left with having to

build his business while raising his son. It was a difficult task. By this
time Hannah was 34 years old, unmarried, and devoted to her father

and siblings. Her mother, Julia had died in 1884 and her sister Mary
had passed away in 1882. Her older brother Michael had left the board-

ing house and that left Hannah as the oldest child still living with the
family. She loved her brothers and sisters and immediately assumed the

responsibility for helping to raise her nephew Grover and care for her

father Jeremiah J. Cronin. While keeping house and supervising
Grover’s education, she also worked in her brother’s store as a sales
clerk.

A 1904 photo of the Cronin Store, Women’s Furnishing department.
Hannah is shown at far right. Her brother Jeremiah serves a cus-
tomer while his son Grover is shown on far left.