William Oscar Durbin and Margaret Gaul married in Dahlgren, Illinois, in 1902. Starting a family proved difficult. Their first child died at birth that same year. Two years later, their daughter Helen lived only a few months.
Their son, William Pius Durbin, born in 1906, also appeared unlikely to survive. Frail and ill, he was fed with an eyedropper and slept on a pillow. But he recovered, and his parents finally had a healthy child. The relief was short-lived.
In 1908, Margaret gave birth to another daughter, also named Margaret. She died at age two. In 1916 came John Owen Durbin (he went by Owen), and in 1919, Mary Catherine Durbin (later Mary Petterson).
Grateful for their three surviving children but struggling financially, Oscar and Margaret left their Dahlgren farm in 1912 and moved to East St. Louis, where Oscar found work as a streetcar operator. At some point they returned to Dahlgren for another attempt at farming, but again gave it up and moved a final time to East St. Louis, where Oscar became a bus driver. His family never went hungry again.
To everyone in the family, Margaret and Oscar were Ma and Pa—pronounced “maw” and “paw.” The relentless work ethic they’d developed on the farm served them well in the city. Pa didn’t earn much as a bus driver, but he was careful, patient, and inventive.
He built a garage behind their house at 484 29th Street with his own hands, and once fashioned an electric fan from scrap metal. It moved air impressively but had no protective guard, which terrified Ma. She raised chickens in the backyard until the city told her it was against municipal rules. Then she raised them in the basement until Pa objected and convinced her to stop.
Ma and Pa established the Durbin family passion for baseball that continues today. It was understood that Pa was never to be disturbed while listening to the St. Louis Cardinals on the radio—and the same courtesy was given to Ma, whose loyalty belonged firmly to the St. Louis Browns.
They rooted for different teams but worshipped in the same pew. The family went to Mass every Sunday at St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church. Ma went every day, regardless of weather. Kneeling in prayer, she surely thanked God for the prosperity East St. Louis had brought them after their years of hunger—and perhaps slipped in the occasional heavenly plea for the pitching arm of Dixie Davis.
Their eldest surviving son, William, was a model child. Strong and healthy, modest despite his good looks, devout and well-mannered, he played bugle in the Knights of Columbus Drum & Bugle Corps. In the early 1920s, he went to work as a stevedore for the Pennsylvania Railroad.
At that time in East St. Louis, if you didn’t work at a packinghouse, you probably worked on the railroads. The junction of so many rail lines—27 at one point—had attracted the meatpacking industry in the first place. And what brought the railroads was coal: vast reserves beneath the Illinois bluffs, mined furiously in the decades after the Civil War.
William would spend his entire career on the railroad. In November 1922, at age 16, he took a job with the Pennsylvania Railroad. Thirteen months later, in February 1924, he received $67.10 in wages for that month. In March, he switched to the rival New York Central Railroad, which paid him $77.80. Whether the modest raise was the reason for his change in employers is unknown, but he never switched again. He eventually rose to the coveted position of Chief Clerk.
All three of Ma and Pa’s children married. In 1926, on a blind date, William Pius Durbin met Anna Kutkin, a Lithuanian immigrant; they married in 1928. Their first child, William Pius Durbin, Jr., was this writer’s father. Their second was Robert Emmet Durbin, and their third was Richard Joseph Durbin—currently US Senator Dick Durbin.
Mary Catherine Durbin married George Petterson in 1940. They would have five children: Peggy, Tom, Mike, Kathy, and Bill.
John Owen Durbin married Delphine Salsbury in 1944. They would have four children: Jett Ellen, John Owen, Jr., Patrick, and Jim.
William Oscar Durbin died in 1950 at age 69. Margaret died in 1961 at age 79.
Next: 8. Robert & Marcella Kutkin 1873-1960
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Michael Durbin 