The Dawsons

I’m back, and I dug up another story to tell.  Actually, I think I told part of it before, but I can’t find the post. So sit back and enjoy, I’ll try to be brief, but no guarantees.

You may remember that my mom’s paternal side are named McConville, and one of the McConville girls married a man named Milford.  The Dawson line stems from their daughter Elizabeth. Elizabeth Milford marries a man named William J Dawson and they have four children of their own: William M in 1913, James F in 1914, Robert Girard in 1922, and Olive E in 1923.  

The family lived on E 53rd St in Brooklyn before moving to 124 Union Ave in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.  On 28 Jul 1920, their youngest son, 5 year old James, was crossing Union Ave at Driggs Ave, when he ran into the street when he was struck by a hearse automobile.  He was taken to St. Catherine's Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.  He was later buried in Holy Cross Cemetery on Tilden Ave in Brooklyn. Here is the newspaper article from the Brooklyn Citizen:

You may think that this is the end of a sad story, just like I did.  But I was on ancestry.com and I was looking at James F Dawson when I saw a shaky leaf.  I was not expecting that, so I clicked on the hint from NY Wills and Probate.  I REALLY wasn't expecting that, after all he was only five years old when he was killed.  I  don't think there are many five year old children with a will.  I have two pages to show you:

The probate is for limited letters of administration for the goods, chattels, and credits of James F Dawson, deceased.  His mother, father and older brother, William, who was only seven years old are listed as next of kin. The papers also list the three men who are associated with ownership and operation of the hearse involved in the accident.  If you look at the news article, it also lists the driver and owner of the hearse, two of the same names listed in the probate papers.  I assume that this is to be sure that any proceeds from the lawsuit will go to the family for the funeral and burial expenses, etc..

So as we close out this chapter, this is still a sad story with a twist at the end that I was never expecting.

James O’Dea 1822 - 1890

 Today I’m going to tell you about a new record that I found on ancestry.com for my 2nd Great Grandfather, James O’Dea in Broome County, New York.  Before I start, I have to tell you that I have searched for records about James O’Dea on numerous occasions over the years, and this is the first time that I have seen a record of his will.  The will is in the collection titled: New York, U.S.,  Wills and Probate Records 1659-1999.  This collection was last updated 8/23/2021.

I was quite surprised to see his name, so I searched that collection for other ancestors whom I know died in Broome County, NY during that time frame. I found no other probate records …. YET.

Here is the first page:

This is basically the cover page, there are two more pages on ancestry.com, but posting them would take too much space.  So I will tell you that it is probated on 26 Oct 1891, and is signed with an X (his mark) meaning that he was probably illiterate..  The will was written and witnessed on 8 Sep 1891. Honora O’Dea (his wife) and William O’Dea (his son) are the executors.

Without going too crazy, he gives his farm in Sandford, along with two tracts of state land that he owns, to his two sons: William and James, his wife will be the general manager during her life with use of the land and house.  His sons are to pay his daughter (their sister) Catherine $100.00 each over the next few years (I’m tguessing that this is buying her out ) she is married and living in Buffalo, NY. The other daughter, Mary (Sterling) and other two sons, Michael and Daniel are not mentioned in the will.  All three are married with families, and living in Jersey City, NJ.  I have no way of knowing for sure, but William and James stayed on the farm their whole lives, and Honora needed to be taken care of by her sons.  So that makes sense.  I still wonder why Michael, Daniel, and Mary were left out.  Maybe it was a family decision that they talked over beforehand, I guess I’ll never know.

 

Timothy Sullivan 1869 - 1909

Last time I wrote about my Sullivans in England, I was looking for my great grandmother’s siblings.  Hanna was in the US already living with family there (George and Ellen Wharton to be specific).  I told you that I found Mary Ann and Michael living with Maurice and Catherine O’Brien in Vauxhall, and Timothy living in St. Vincent’s Home in Paddington, London.

I started digging into Timothy’s life, and I found a marriage license application in Cleveland, Ohio, USA on 12 Jan 1904.  Timothy S Sullivan, age 34, born in England to Michael Sullivan and Mary Dunn, works as a bartender.  He is marrying Minnie Springer, age 21, born in Ohio, and works as a restaurant keeper.  Here is the document:

This certainly looks like my Timothy Sullivan, and it also looks like he just married his boss?  So now I had to resubscribe to genealogybank.com, so, I could check the Cleveland Plain Dealer for newspaper articles.  

The first one I found just listed recent marriages license applications, then I found this:

This was interesting.  I don’t know how long Tim had known MRS York, or why she was so enamored with him, but this is only six months after he was married.  About five years later, I found this article:

The last entry lists the death of Timothy Sullivan, on 8 Feb 1909.  A little more digging, finds an entry in findagrave.com.  Whoever created the memorial added Tim’s death certificate:

His date of birth is listed as 20 Dec 1869 in England, marital status is married, parents names are listed as Michael Sullivan and Mary Ann Dunn, cause of death is pulmonary phthisis, AKA tuberculosis, and the informant is listed as his wife, Minnie Sullivan.  He is buried in Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland.

The reason I told you that the informant is listed as Minnie Sullivan, his wife, is because 17 days after he dies, Minnie remarries.  On 25 Feb 1909, Minnie marries a man named Charles Addis in Cleveland.  This marriage lasts about twice as long as her marriage to Tim, and ends with her death 10 Oct 1920.  I did not find an obit or a death certificate, but there is a memorial on Findagrave.com.  She is buried in the same cemetery as Tim.

The Mystery of my Sullivans in England

I have previously posted about my great grandmother, Hannah Sullivan McConville.  She was born in Lambeth, Surrey, England in 1866 to Michael Sullivan and Mary Dunn.  She is counted in the 1871 Census in Lambeth, and has a sister Mary Ann born in 1868, a brother Timothy born in 1870, and shortly after the census another brother, Michael is born in about 1872.  

Thanks to my Aunt Florence, I learned that both parents passed away sometime between 1872 and the next census in 1881.  Supposedly, Hannah and Mary Ann were sent to Brooklyn, NY to live with cousins George and Ellen Wharton to be nannies for their children.  My problem is that I only find Hannah living with the Whartons in Brooklyn in the US Federal Census for 1880.  So where are Mary Ann, and her two brothers.  

Admittedly, I had only really searched for Mary Ann because Aunt Florence said she had married and died young - in 1894.  Family legend has it that she married "poorly" and was buried in a potters field.  That is until Hannah and her husband, Edward McConville, raised enough  money to give her a proper burial in Holy Cross Cemetery, in Brooklyn.  I could never find a burial for her there, because I don't know her married name.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to search for Timothy and Michael.  It only took me about 20 years to come up with this plan of action, so here is what I found.  I started with the 1881 England Census and I found a family in the municipal ward of Vauxhall, in the Borough of Lambeth.  It is the family of Maurice O'Brien and his wife Catherine.  Maurice is a blacksmith age 50 born in Ireland and Catherine is 47 and born in Ireland.  They have three daughters, all born in Surrey: Mary A is 19 listed as an Ironer, Catherine is 16 with servant scratched out as occupation, and Johanna age 9 is a Scholar (in school).  Next on the list of household members is Mary A Sullivan, age 13 listed as niece, and a scholar, and lastly is Michael, age 9 listed as nephew, and also a scholar.  The ages fit, so if they are my Sullivans, that means that Catherine's maiden name is Sullivan or Dunn.  The other issue is this: if Mary A and Michael are my Sullivans, where is Timothy?  I may have the answer for that.

I started looking for Timothy in the 1881 England Census and came across a Timothy Sullivan, age 11, listed as "inmate" at St. Vincent's Home in Paddington, London.  I was surprised to find him in St. Vincent's Home, so I Googled it.  Turns out the name is St. Vincent's Home for Roman Catholic Boys and it was started in about 1859, and managed by some  members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.  Quoting from the website: "The Home received Roman Catholic boys who were orphans and who were either destitute or in danger to their faith or morals."  Initially the Home could accommodate 20 boys, but as demand grew this was increased to 30 and then a wing was added to bring the capacity to 40. The other question is if Mary Ann and Michael are with family, why is Timothy in a home for orphaned Catholic boys?  

So, I think there is a good chance that these are my great grandmother's siblings, but I can't be absolutely certain at this point.  I still have some work to do on this.

Michael Reilly 1864-1917

I am going back to Susquehanna, Pa for tonight’s story.  This is about Michael Reilly, brother of my great grandmother, Mary Jane Reilly O’Dea.  Michael was born 21 Sep 1864 in Susquehanna, Pa to Michael Reilly and Mary (AKA Bridget) Kelly. 

As I was researching him, I realized that I was collecting information without adding it to my tree, because I wasn’t certain that the info was for the right Michael Reilly.  This is due to the last name being spelled differently on different documents.  The other thing is that his mothers name in his sister’s death certificate is Bridget Kelly, but in all the census records (and his death certificates, as I would learn in the very end) she is listed as Mary Kelly. 

 

One certainty that I found was the 1870 Census finds 6 year old Michael living in Susquehanna Depot with his father, Michael, a farmer, his mother (listed as Mary) keeping house, his brother Thomas age 18, sister Mary, age 15, and brother James, age 11.

The only other certainty was the 1880 Census, the family lives in Oakland, and the family consists of Michael (father), Mary (wife), and three sons, Thomas, James, and Michael, all listed as farm labor.  In 1890, as we all know by now, there is no census record available. By 1900, Mary (wife) has passed away.  Thomas lives in Susquehanna Depot and he is listed as a Hotel Keeper on Front Street and lives with his wife Mary, and their five children, as well as, his widowed father Michael.  I cannot find James or Michael in the 1900 census.  Mary is married and living in Newark, NJ.

This is where things get interesting.  While hunting around on ancestry.com I came across two other family trees which have my Reilly family with more information.  On both trees, there are articles about a Michael Riley shooting his wife, Coloma, then shooting himself, in Binghamton, NY.  Coloma survives a serious wound after spending time in the hospital, but Michael is successful with his suicide.  He is buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Dickinson, NY.

There are different newspaper articles about how a week prior to the shooting, Michael gets a gun permit from a local Judge Hart, telling the Judge he intends to return to Susquehanna for a vacation and to "do some shooting".  This is one of the few things that makes me think that this is my Michael Reilly.  But who is Coloma?  I have still not found a marriage record. Plus, I still have that pesky spelling issue, which will not be resolved anytime soon.

When I go back and start looking again, I searched for Michael and Coloma Reilly.  This time I found them on W. Main St in Lanesboro.  It says they have been married for five years and he is a teamster, drawing coal (I assume for the railroad).  It also says they have a three year old son, Francis. Now we're getting somewhere.  Now I find a birth certificate for Francis from 6 Aug 1906.  Unfortunately, the next document I find is a death certificate for young Francis, who dies in Lanesboro 31 Dec 1911.   I cannot read the cause of death, it says "Chloroform ?????, due to weak heart".  Over to the side in blue pencil it has the word "Adenoids".  It looks like he was having surgery for his tonsils/adenoids and the chloroform was too much for his heart.  It is a sad time in the Reilly household this holiday season.  

That is about all of the official documents that I can find, and I still cannot be sure that this is my Michael Reilly.  Michael Reilly is a pretty common name and I'm pretty sure there is more than one in this area, heck, there are two in this family alone.

 On newspapers.com I found another article in the Press and Sun Bulletin in Binghamton.  

This article is 16 Mar 1916, and says that Michael lost his job as a butcher, because he drank too much the night before.  He pleads guilty to the intoxication charge and asked to Judge to free him so he can go to the job he just got as a butcher.  By the way, this is the same Judge who will issue his gun permit next year.  The Judge decides to call the butcher shop to verify his story.  He was told that Reilly was fired when he did not report to work early this morning, the butcher had already hired someone to take his place.  He was sentenced to a $5.00 fine or five days in jail.

Still unable to verify my relationship, I returned to Susquehanna Historical Society to see if they had anything there.  They did not, but did have a suggestion that I go to Binghamton, NY and get the death certificate.

The ride to Binghamton was another 30-40 minutes but it was worth it.  The staff was very helpful and I was able to get a death certificate for Michael Reilly and he is MY Michael Reilly.  The parents names and his birthdate are correct, and the informant is listed as Thomas J Reilly, who I know to be his brother.

It also lists his occupation as butcher, says his place of death is on way to city Hospital, lists cause of death as gun shot wound to the head, and - wait for it - spells the last name right.

I was was happy to be able to get the proof that I needed, but it was also a sad story.  Unfortunately, we see stories like this in the news today far too often.  It goes to show that this is, unfortunately, not a new phenomenon.  It has been happening for years, but it wasn’t talked about like it is today.

Just so you know, Coloma survived her wound, and went on to live in Binghamton as a shoe worker.  On 30 June 1934 she married Albert F. Duren, Sr in New Milford, Pa.  On 23 Sep 1936 she dies in Montour, PA and is buried in Lanesboro Cemetery, Lanesboro PA with her son Francis.

The 1950 Federal Census

Yes, the 1950 U.S. Census has been released to the public.  There’s just one slight problem, it isn’t indexed yet, which means the you can’t search it by name yet.  According to a podcast that I heard today, the indexing should be complete by mid-June.  Until then, you need to know where your ancestor lived in 1950, and get the Enumeration District number.  When you search by E.D., you will have to browse through the entire district to find the house number and street that you are looking for.  It’s not as difficult as it sounds, so give it a try.

I have been looking forward to this census, because my parents married in 1948, and my oldest sibling was born in 1949, so they should be enumerated.  I also know the address in Brooklyn is 470 Rugby Rd.  They lived with my dad’s sister, Aunt Margie and her husband Merritt Whitman, and their daughter - my cousin Linda.

I entered the Brooklyn address to get the Enumeration District number, which turns out to be 24-1688.  Then I searched this E. D., which consists of about 50-60 pages. Their address is listed on page 15:

That is the page and below is the address that I’m looking for:

 Can you read what it says for 470 Rugby Rd?  It has two family numbers because is is a two family house. One family upstairs and one downstairs.  NO ONE HOME, I never saw that before on a census record, but it does say “see sheet 80 Line 1 and Line 3.  Only problem is that I don’t know where Sheet 80 is, not to mention line 1 and line 3.

Looks like I’m going to have to wait for the indexing to be complete.  Story of my genealogical life.

New York City Municipal Archives

I recently saw a few posts on Facebook from different genealogy groups, that the New York City Municipal Archives is digitizing their birth, marriage, and death records, from 1855 - 1949, to put their website.  The collection is searchable and FREE!  Yes, you read it right, free.

The thing that you need for now is the certificate number.  When you search on Ancestry or Family Search and find the record, you will find a certificate number for the birth, marriage, or death.  You will need to put the type of event (BMD), the year, and the certificate number to search to enter into the search.  You will get a good digitized (and downloadable) copy of the certificate.  The documents are in PDF format.  According to their website, the digitizing process is 70% complete as of this date.

So in the last few days, I have downloaded sixteen documents.  Most are on my mom’s side, because they stayed in Brooklyn after sailing across the pond.  I’ve found some interesting things too.  I found out that my great grandfather, Edward McConville and his sister, Mary Emma, were both married in the same church, by the same Priest, in Brooklyn about three years apart.  I was also able to get Edward’s father, Peter’s death certificate from 1874, which has his parents listed (with his mother’s maiden name).  This told me that my research was good, because these are the same names I had gotten by tracking the family back through British census records.

The last thing I’ll mention is that my great grandfather, Edward McConville died 30 Dec 1941 in Brooklyn, although he lived in Jersey City.  My mom told me that he he had some senility issues and he would always try to leave the house, but he wouldn’t go out without his hat.  So her grandmother would get her to hide his hat so that he would not wander off.  Apparently he found his hat and wandered off one night.  Mom said he would try to get back “home” to Brooklyn, and this time he made his escape and made it to his old neighborhood in Brooklyn.  I was told by Aunt Florence that he was found on the street by the church where he and Hanna were married.  The death certificate is not specific about whether he was found on the street or inside a building, or what time he was found, but it mentions 371 Union Ave and it is described as “Bar and Grill”.  I’m not sure what was at that location at the time, but looking at Google Earth for the location of the church where he was married, it looks to be within a few blocks of where the church was located.  So I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.