More About the Bergens

I recently took a couple of trips to the NJ State Archives, with a trip to Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington in between.  The results of these road trips is alot of new information on my mom's family - the Bergens.

While at the Archives, I started by checking old wills, where I had found Pop Bergen, and I found a will for a Thomas J Bergen.  I knew "Pop" Bergen had a brother Thomas, but there was no info in the will to make a family connection and it was dated as probated in 1933.  So I checked for a death certificate in 1933 but couldn't find one, but I did find a death certificate for Patrick Bergen in 1933 and I know he was their brother (mainly because the same parents are listed on the death certificates).  The other thing about the will was that the person listed on the inventory (it was actually more of an inventory than a will) was Catherine Cavanaugh and I had no clue who she was.  I thought she was a lawyer or so official who inventoried his belongings.  I got a few more items at the Archives and called it a day.

The following week, I went on a great website: rcan.org/deceased,which is a database of people buried in cemeteries run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark.  I mentioned this once before, but you can search by name (Last name only if you like) and you will find the cemetery, plot number, and date of burial.  When I entered Thomas Bergen, and Patrick Bergen, I found that they were buried with their wives (Margaret and Mary) in Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington.  ROAD TRIP

On Sunday, my son Tom and I drove to North Arlington armed with the location of the grave (and others which will be a later post).  After a while, we found the section and finally the headstone in the old section of the cemetery.  Here is the headstone:

Who is Mary V Cannon?  We'll get to that later.  So now I know that Thomas died in 1931 and Margaret in 1930.  I also know that Patrick and Mary Bergen are in there somewhere too.  I also know that Patrick and Mary had a daughter Mary, so I am guessing that she married someone named Cannon and this is her buried with her parents.  So much for the cemetery.

Back to the Archives.  I returned to the Archives to search for Thomas and Margaret's death certificates.  I already had Mary's from a previous trip.  I came across it while looking for someone else.  So here is Thomas's death certificate:

If you can read it, it says parents are Edward Bergen and Mary Malone and his wife is Margaret Carroll, but the thing that caught my attention was his occupation: Deputy Fire Chief - never knew that.  I also noted that at the top of the certificate above his name I think it says Jersey City Coroner, which tells me that his death was sudden and/or suspicious and maybe there was a coroner's inquest.  Next I checked the Jersey Journal on microfilm at the archives for obits, and I found them:

Turns out that Thomas was a Deputy Fire Chief at Laurel Hill AKA Snake Hill, this is where the asylum, hospital, potter's field, etc... was located and it was a county facility.  But the obit gives more info on family, it names brothers William and Patrick, and sisters Catherine Cavanaugh and Mary Kennedy.  So now I know Catherine Cavanaugh from his will is his sister, and I am certain that it is his will.  I checked some more on Catherine Cavanaugh and it turns out that she was married and widowed by the time of the 1910 census.  She lives with her children Charles, Edward, and Mary, and her brother Thomas - but not Margaret.  I am guessing that Margaret was sick and maybe spent alot of time in a hospital or nursing facility - maybe Snake Hill.  Other census records indicated that Edward is a Jersey City Police Officer.  I always like finding ancestors who were Police Officers and Firemen it tends to make me feel even more connected to them.

This two weeks with trips to the archives and cemetery really gave me alot of clues to follow up on.  So the archives, and especially the obit from the Jersey Journal really helped put everything together.   Now I have to check on Mary Kennedy and see what I can find about her and her husband and children.  I may find some live cousins who may know more or even have photos.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

"Aunt" Ruth

Did you ever have a very special person who you were not really related to, but was a big part of the family anyway?  So much so that this person earned the honorary title of "Aunt" or "Uncle".  Well, we only had a couple of them.  One was was dad's friend and co-worker, Bill Jones - somehow he earned the title "Uncle Jones".  But none were as special as "Aunt" Ruth.

"Aunt" Ruth Moss

Ruth Moss was our Aunt Alice's (Eeehee) (don't ask), room mate, and I can't believe that this is the only picture I could find.  It was taken at my brother's wedding.  They both worked in Jersey City for Baldwin Paints and Oils in the office.  I remember going to the office one time and you could see the Statue of Liberty from their window.  Anyway, they worked together and lived together in Jersey City, and they visited us almost every weekend "down the shore".  They lived in an apartment building on Fowler Ave until the night that it exploded while my brother Paul was visiting.  Paul got interviewed on the NY News Channel by Gabe Pressman.  This was in the early 60's, I think Paul said he was about 12 years old when it happened, and several people were killed in the explosion. Well so much for that apartment. Next they lived in Saint John's Apartments on Saint Paul's Ave - no I'm not kidding.  Maybe they thought the names would keep them from exploding, I don't know.  I think Saints are a Catholic thing, and Ruth was Jewish so I don't know about that.

Like I said they visited almost every weekend, birthday and holiday.  They always brought us stuff, like candy and toys.  Sometimes Ruth would drive both of them down, but if only Alice came, she would take the train or the bus (the Red and Tan Lines from Journal Square to Asbury Park).  Whenever they visited it was always fun.

I was thinking about Ruth the other day and how little I really know about her.  I know she died in 1979 in her car (that Alice later gave to me), and she had two brothers, but that was just about it.  I remember my mom saying that Ruth did not even know when her birthday was.  My sister told me recently that her brother Herman found her birth certificate shortly before she died and it turned out that she was actually about 9 or 10 years younger than she thought.  I also remember Mom telling me that Ruth had changed her surname at one point to Moss, Mom thought that it was originally Moskowitz.

You don't have to hit me with a brick - I started checking.  First I googled Ruth Moss and found her in the Social Security Death Index.  It gives her birth date as 28 Oct 1900, and her death in New Jersey in Oct 1979.  I went to the Monmouth County Library to check for an obituary in the Asbury Park Press, but could not find one.  That's when I remembered that when Jews die,  their religion requires that they must be buried before the following sunset (Great idea), so  maybe there was not time for an obit.  Then I went on the NJ State Archives website and they have a searchable database for legal name changes.  So I entered the "New Name" as Ruth Moss and BINGO.  Ruth Moskowitz changed her name to Ruth Moss on 7 Apr 1942 in Essex County NJ.  I was off to the Archives and I was able to obtain a copy of the Court Order from the Essex County Court of Common Pleas.  Not only Ruth changed her name, her two brothers: Herman and George, their wives: Celia and Pearl and Herman's daughter Marlene, and George's children: Rita and Malcolm.  Everyone lived at 140 Lehigh Ave in Newark, except Ruth who lived at 21 Borroughs Way, Maplewood.  Not a whole lot of info, but it did remind me of her family.  I remember her talking about all of them as soon as I read the names it came back to me.

When I got home, I ran Ruth Moskowitz through Ancestry.com to check census records and the only one that I found was 1930.  They are living at 155 Lehigh Av, Newark NJ and they are listed as Moskowitz, George age 21 (Head of house), Moskowitz, Herman age 19, and Moskowitz, Ruth age 24.  On the page the last name is listed first and is kind of faded (it is 82 years old) and then the three first names from top to bottom read George Herman Ruth - that is a famous name.  For you non baseball fans that is the name of the immortal Babe - BABE RUTH.  So I guess Ruth was destined to be a Yankee fan.  As a matter of fact, one of her nephews would later be a part owner of the team - I have an old Yankee Yearbook that has his name listed and a photo of him.  The best part of the census record is that is says  that they were all born in New Jersey.  We all know what that means by now "ROAD TRIP" to the archives for birth certificates.  Well that's enough for now, but I'll be back to "Aunt" Ruth when I find more info.

Holy Crap, Look What I Found

It usually takes a while for any advice to me to sink in.  Whether it is good or bad advice does not seem to have any bearing on my ability to listen to it.  I prove it all the time, and I have done it again.

In every genealogy podcast, lecture, class, etc..., almost every instructor will tell you to read every document that you find very carefully, because you never know what you may miss.  For instance, I just got done writing a blog about Family Search, the Family History Center, and the recent information that I found about the baptism of my grandmother, Catherine Mary McConville and her sister, Florence.  After writing the blog, I was looking at the entry for my grandmother's baptism in the ledger book of St Patrick's Catholic Church at 492 Bramhall Ave, Jersey City, when I saw another entry to the ledger written in.  Above my grandmother's name, I saw the name Edward Bergen written.  My first thought was that there was a Bergen baptized on the same day in the church, which would be odd because my grandmother would marry Edward Bergen in 1919.  Then I looked closer and this is what I saw:

My grandmother's name is on the bottom line, and written in above it says "Married Edward Bergen" then it says something I can't read.  Then I looked at the corresponding lines on the right hand page:

The line above my grandmother's godparents says: "J.C. (not THE J. C., it means Jersey City) Aug 27, 1919 by Rev. W. Costello.  Now you may not remember me telling the story about finding out when they married - but I discovered that Grandma was probably pregnant with my uncle at the time of the wedding.  Anyway, I have the marriage certificate from the State of NJ, signed by Rev. Costello with an address of 511 Pavonia Ave (Not St. Patricks Church)  511 Pavonia Ave is the address of St Joseph's Church.  I wonder if the change in Parishes had anything to do with the premature arrival of my Uncle Bill.  Or maybe they had simply moved and changed parishes.  Whatever the reason, the notation was entered in St Patrick's ledger book - I am pretty sure that this is supposed to happen.  BUT, if this is supposed to happen - how come there is no notation of Florence's marriage to Joseph Markey in the ledger by her baptism?  Maybe the notation was made somewhere else because the ledger books would be getting too tough to read.  Whatever the reason, I thought that this was an amazing find.

So the moral of the story, if there is one, is to read everything very carefully - you never know what you may come across.

Family Search and the Family History Center

I'm a big fan of the Mormon Church and their website: familysearch.org.  Here's how it works:  You go to the website:  https://www.familysearch.org and enter the name of the person you are searching for.  (The best part of this is that you can do all of this in the comfort of your home, dressed comfortably with a snack and/or a drink)  You can add extra info, such as date of birth, parents, place that they lived, etc...   Click on search and away we go.  You can get a variety of results from federal census records, state census records, NJ State Death  and Burial records,  and some Catholic Church Baptismal and Marriage records.  Along with the results, sometimes there is a digital image to view and/or save to your computer, and with each result you can get the microfilm roll number from the family history library in Salt Lake City, but you don't have to go to Salt Lake City to view the record.  You can order the microfilm from a local Family History Center near you (mine is in Eatontown)  It costs $5.50 to have the microfilm roll shipped to the FHC.   When the reel comes in, you can used their microfilm readers to view it.

So, having said all of that, I have previously had some good luck with Catholic Church Records from Jersey City, NJ. that I located on this site.  I found a bunch of records for my dad's O'Dea family baptisms and marriages.  The marriage records give you maiden names for the bride, and the parents of both the bride and groom - very helpful.  The baptism records give you birth dates and baptism dates, parents names (including the mother's maiden name) and Sponsors names - who usually turn out to be relatives.

All right, he is finally getting to the point.  I went  to the family search site and looked up Florence McConville.  I entered her parents names: Edward McConville and Hannah Sullivan, and BINGO.  One of the results is a baptismal record from 26 Nov 1899.  The entry says that she was baptized 26 Nov 1899 in Saint Patricks Catholic Church in Jersey City. It gives her parents names and a birth date of 11 Nov 1899.  When you click on her name, it gives you basically the same info in another format, which includes the microfilm number of 1403369 titled "New Jersey Births and Christenings 1660 - 1980".  As it turns out, when I called the FHC in Eatontown, they already have the film there.  So  I finally getting around to get driving up there to view the film.  The film is a group of ledger books of church records.  The first thing on the reel is an index.  In the index, I find a McConville - but not Florence - it is Catherine.  That is my grandmother's name (Florence is her sister).  I had run her through familysearch.org and did not get this result, she was born 10 Dec 1896 and baptized 3 Jan 1897 and her sponsors are listed as William (unreadable) and Mary Wharton.  Mary Wharton is probably the daughter of Willie and Annie Wharton who brought Hannah and Mary Ann Sullivan in the US after their father died, as nannies for their children.  The next index contains Florence McConville and the ledger lists her sponsors as Joseph A Findally (?) and Elizabeth Milford - another cousin.  Elizabeth is the daughter of Poppa Mac's sister Mary Emma McConville Milford.

More confirmation that Aunt Florence's recollections of family relations is right on the money once again.  Each baptism has a sponsor who is a cousin whom I never would have known about were it not for Aunt Florence.  So I had a good day at the Family History Center, only 15 minutes from my house - and that is important with the price of gas these days.  I got the record for Florence McConville Markey that I came for, plus I got a bonus and found my grandmother's baptism to boot.  Not too shabby. 

Granddpa Brady

I know it has been a while, but this time I have a great excuse -  Hurricane Sandy.  On Monday October 29, 2012 (just two days after my last post) the Jersey Shore was hit by a hurricane - actually it was not classified as a hurricane when it hit, but it did incredible damage.  My family and I were spared any permanent damage, just some trees down and no electrical power.  We lost power on October 29 and got it restored on November 10, twelve days without electricity.  It wasn't that bad because the day before the storm hit, I got a generator - so we could use lights and refrigeration - so it wasn't that bad.  But I did not have cable, computer, or internet - so no blogging.  Now that I have power, I have been trying to think of what I can write about.  I thought about Hurricane Donna which hit the Jersey Shore in 1960 when I was a kid, but that seemed kind of lame for a genealogy topic.  I have been thinking about writing about my grandfather, Thomas James Brady.  I had created a timeline in Excel for him to help me keep track of where he was in each event in his life, but now I can't find it.  So I will just tell all of the places and dates that I know about.

Thomas James Brady was born 27 Aug 1891 in Gordon, PA to James Edward Brady and Madge Bradley He was baptized in St Joseph's Catholic Church in Ashland PA on 30 Aug 1891 and his sponsors were listed in a letter from the church as Joannis Davis and Lilly Bradley.  I checked on line and it seems that Joannis is Latin for John, and I think that Lilly is misspelled.  I know from census records that Madge had a sister Lizzie who is probably the sponsor.  1891 is also the year that Carnegie Hall, then known as Music Hall,  opens its doors in New York with its first public performance under guest conductor, Tchaikovsky.
Benjamin Harrison is the 23rd President of the United States and alternating current is transmitted for the first time by the Ames Power Plant near Telluride, Colorado.

Thomas still lives in Gordon when his mother Madge or Maggie dies in September 1892, the year of the opening of Ellis Island.  The next time I find him is in the 1900 census, living with his grandparents (Brady) in Scranton, PA (his father still lives in Gordon and works on the Railroad).  In 1910, he lives with his grandmother - Bridget Brady - in Scranton and is working for the railroad as a clerk.  During his time in Scranton, President William McKinley is assassinated in Buffalo, NY and Theodore Roosevelt becomes the 26th President of the US.

Next stop is Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey.  He marries my grandmother - Marguerite O'Dea on 18 Nov 1914.  He was living at 359 Whiton St, Jersey City, and she lived at 361 Pacific Ave, Jersey City.  The witnesses were Marguerite's brother William O'Dea and her sister Mary Valleau.  1914 sees basic wages raised at the Ford Motor Company.  Workers now would receive $5 per day for eight hours of work versus $2.40 per day for nine hours previously, Babe Ruth makes his major league debut, and the big news: President Woodrow Wilson announces that the United States will stay officially neutral in the European conflict that would become World War I.  World War I hostilities had begun on June 28 when the Archduke of Austria and his wife, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were killed by Serb nationalists in Sarajevo.  Hostilities would begin on July 28 when Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia for failing to meet conditions set after the assassinations.

He lives at 9 1/2 Grant Ave Jersey City when their first child (my uncle Jim) is born 18 Sep 1915, and he still lives here on 5 Jun 1917, when he registers for the Draft for World War I.   (the same conflict that President Wilson announced the US would not enter) He listed his occupation as Brakeman for the Central Railroad of NJ.  I do not think that he served in WWI.  During 1915, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watson conduct the first telephone conversation between New York and San Francisco.

Next up is the 1920 US Census and he is listed at 9 1/2 Grant Ave.  He lives here with his wife, son James, daughter Marguerite (my Aunt Margie), his mother-in-law Mary O'Dea, his sister-in-law Gertrude Tully and his niece Mary Tully (my Godmother).  Now this is just an observation - but I am guessing that 9 1/2 Grant Ave is an apartment because there are at least four other families living at this address.  So he is living with his wife, two children, widowed mother-in-law, widowed sister-in-law and niece.  That's seven people in an apartment, sounds pretty crowded.  Thomas is still a brakeman on the railroad and his sister-in-law is the only other person in the apartment employed.  She is a Floor Lady in an electrical shop.  I know that Gertrude will remarry a man named William Rickert, so she and Mary Tully will move out to live with him.  But his mother-in-law's widowed brother will move in and is listed in the 1930 census.  Just sounds to me like he is a pretty good sport.

1920 is a big year in US History.On August 18 women are given the right to vote when the 19th Amendment to the United States constitution grants universal women's suffrage. The next presidential election was in 1922 and Warren G Harding became the 29th president.  Makes you wonder who your ancestors voted for, the women especially.  It also makes you wonder who ran against Harding.  It is also in 1920 that for the first time, the 1920 census indicated a population in the United States over 100 million people.  The other big events of the 1920's were the start of Prohibition on January 17, 1920 and the 1929 Stock Market crash happened on October 29, 1929  . The Great Depression begins.

The 1930 Census takes us to 1859 19th Avenue, Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, NY where we find Thomas and Marguerite, living with five children (including my dad), his mother-in-law, Mary O'Dea, and her brother James.  This residence seems to be a single family dwelling and Thomas is employed as a restaurant manager, and he is now the only one employed.  My sister Pat seems to think that the restaurant was the Automat - but we don't know for sure.

Somewhere in the 30's, he leaves the family (supposedly with another woman).  He has become an alcoholic and will come and go occasionally.  I have seen newspaper articles when my dad and his two brothers came home from the War, and he is described as the "late" Thomas Brady. I have also seen where Marguerite was widowed in 1932.  I guess that is when he left for good.

The next record that I find for him is his application for a Social Security Number.  His application is dated 21 Jul 1937, and gives his address as 350 W. 85th St. New York City, NY.  He is employed by Silvers Standard Corp. 1 Willoughby St, Brooklyn, NY and his is issued Social Security # 119-12-2933.  The Social Security Act was passed by Congress as part of the New Deal legislation and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 14, 1935.  It would begin payouts to retirees within two years.  Workers began contributing into the system during the same year, at a rate of 2% of the first $3,000 in earnings, half paid by the employee and half paid by the employer.  Prohibition is also repealed on December 5, 1933 with the passage of the 21rst Amendment.

I have not yet found him in the 1940 US Census, but he does register for the Draft for World War II on 27 Apr 1942.  He is 50 years old and resides at 242 Pacific Ave. Jersey City, NJ.  The form asks for the name and address of a person who will always know your address.  He writes Frank Nappie - Same Address.  Really sounds kind of sad that he comes from such a big family and the person who will always know his address is Frank Nappie.  I don't know who this man is, but I guess that Thomas is a boarder in his home (maybe a friend from work).  Okay we're winding down now.

Next address is 173 Boulevard Ave, Throop PA, which is a suburb of Scranton, then on to the Carbondale Nursing Home where he dies on 21 Aug 1974.  No one claims his body and he is buried in an unmarked grave in Mother of Sorrows Cemetery Finch Hill, Greenfield Township in Lackawanna County PA. 

The year of his death includes some noteworthy events:
7 Feb  - "Blazing Saddles" opens in theaters
27 Feb - "People" magazine begins sales
4 Apr - Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruth's Home Run record of 714 career home runs
8 Aug - Richard Nixon resigns the Presidency in the midst of the Watergate Scandal and Gerald Ford is sworn in as the 38th President of the US
Also in August 1974 a monsoon flood ravages Bangladesh killing 2,500 people
The last major event was my graduation from high school and in September I would start my 27 year quest for my college degree.  Pretty historic.

Gordon and Minersville, PA

After getting all of that information about the Bradys and Bradleys, my next move was Gordon and Minersville, both small towns in Schuylkill County- Gordon was the Brady hometown and Minersville was the Bradley hometown.  Actually the Bradys lived in Butler Township and their section later became Gordon.  The Bradleys lived in Cass Township, and I think their section of town became Minersville.

First stop Gordon Borough Hall to see if anyone there can help me find the lot where my great great grandfather lived.  When I pulled up outside the building, it looked dark.  The door was not locked so I walked in, but the offices were locked.  I called out "Hello", and surprisingly enough I got an answer.  I rounded the corner where the voice came from and I saw a man with all kinds of tools in the bathroom.  He smiled and asked if he could help me, so I told him I was looking for someone to help me with an old deed and finding the property.  He told me that he was the plumber and the employees in Borough Hall left for the day at 1:00 PM.  I asked where Plane St was and he pointed to the front of the building and said "that's Plane St out front", so I said "how about Birch Alley?"  He did not know, so I left and found a woman walking in the area.  I asked her where Birch Alley was and she did not know either, but she suggested I check at the Post Office. (As it later turned out, she was walking on Birch Alley - but in all fairness, there were no signs).  I checked at the Post Office and found that Birch Alley is the street just east of E Plane St.  It actually makes sense, but I wasn't thinking about it like that.  The Post Office had a map fit on a regular sheet of paper - small town.  So I have a general idea of the location of their property.

Next stop - Minersville.  You'll never guess where I planned to go in Minersville - St Vincent de Paul Church and Cemetery.  Okay so maybe you did guess.  This time I went to the church office before venturing across the street to the cemetery.  I spoke with two very nice women and explained that I was looking for James Bradley 1876 to 1928.   Well, they looked through their records and checked for any Bradleys and where they were buried in the cemetery - which consisted of Row number.  The way that the headstones are laid out, that is not a real  big help, but it did help me enough.

These women found Joseph Bradley, which I showed you before, James Bradley, the one I am looking for, and another Bradley.  She said that the records say that there is a metal cross near Joseph Bradley, which is the resting place of James Bradley (I think that this is James and Joseph's father James) my great great grandfather.  She also said that there is a Stephen Bradley, who is a Civil War veteran (be still my heart).

So off I go, into the cemetery, but this time I have an idea where to look.  After only a few minutes, I spot this metal cross in the general area where Joseph and Jennie Bradley are buried.  Then I saw on the cross bar (probably not the right term) the name J. Bradley on a small plaque.

Now that is cool, mounted on that small concrete block and two pipes strapped together with the plaque.  It may not be as cool as George's grandfather's homemade stone in Holy Sepulchar, but it is cool.

Next I found the stone for Stephen Bradley - but I don't know if he is even related.  He could be James's brother - just judging by age -  but I'm not sure about that.  But it is a well marked grave so I thought I would include it anyway.

Wow, they were not joking when they marked this grave.  It says that he died 16 Oct 1886, aged 39 years, which makes his born in 1847.  It has a foot stone with the initials S. B., an American flag and that is a GAR marker on the post of the flag.  The GAR marker (GAR stands for Grand Army of the Republic) signifies that the deceased served with the Union Army (north) during the American Civil War.  It has the dates 1861 and 1865 (the years that the war started and ended).  I am going to have to research this guy to see if we are  related.

My last find was the elusive James J Bradley who fought in WWI.  He was the last one that I found, and he was buried on the very edge of the cemetery.  So far to the edge that he was very close to the fence where the land drops off to the town below.  Nice view.  The stone was also sinking into the ground so only his name was visible.  I had to find a stick and a stone that looked more like a piece of slate to dig away the dirt to see the bottom of the headstone.

Now you can see the year of birth and the year of death, below that it says Co B 103rd Engrs 28 DIV, which is the unit that he served with in WWI.  It took awhile, but I found him.  So I had a real good day, and I still made it to my sister's house in time for dinner.

Schuylkill County Courthouse

I returned to Schuylkill County on Thursday and I spent the better part of two hours in the Schuylkill County Courthouse.  (I know how long I was there by the number of quarters I put in the parking meter) I went downstairs first to the county archives, where I got copies of some Bradley records.  I got marriage records for Joseph Bradley, who is the brother of my Great Grandmother Maggie (or Madge) Bradley.  Joseph was married twice - the second marriage was after the death of his first wife.  His first marriage is recorded in a ledger book with three marriages on a page.  It gives some information about both parties.  It says that Joseph was born 12 Jul 1873 in Cass Township and that he is a blacksmith by trade.  Katie Deegan was born 4 Jul 1873 in Cass Township and her occupation is listed as "at home".  The license was issued 7 May 1896 and returned 1 Jun 1896.

His second marriage is on a whole page in the ledger and has a whole lot of information.  It separates the form into Statement of Male and Statement of Female.  It asks where the male was born but not the date. It asks for parents names (and mother"s maiden name), residences, and place of birth.   Residence of father is "dead" - short and sweet with the same answer for occupation of father, man they don't mince words.  It also asks if this is the first marriage and it says that he was married once before.  Then it asks for date of divorce (which has a line through it) or death of wife or wives - July 8 1913. So now I know when Katie Deegan died.  Then we go to the Statement of Female ( only male and female statements, no male-male or female-female) and her name is listed as Mrs. Jennie Kessler, born in Gilberton, PA, age 43, lives in Minersville and works as a domestic.  She was also married once previously (just in case you didn't catch the Mrs. in her name) and her first husband died 16 Oct 1918.  Her father is listed as Thomas King, dead, but gives an occupation as miner, born in England.  Her mother is listed as Margaret Delaney (King) living in Minersville, domestic, born in Forestville PA.  Lots of genealogical information to follow up on.  The license was issued 13 Feb 1924 and returned on 20 Feb 1924.  Neither form gives the actual date of the marriage.

Then I found a marriage for Joseph's niece, Anna Murtha (his sister's daughter).  Anna married a man named John Conway, age 31 of Pottsville.  His parents Thomas Conway and Mary Barron are both deceased, and his occupation is listed as Clerk.  Anna has parents listed as Nicholas Murtha, deceased, and Mary Bradley, who lives in Pottsville.  The license is issued 21 Oct 1940 and returned on 6 Nov 1940.  This says that they were married at St Patrick's Church on 26 Oct 1940 by R.P. Campbell, Minister of the Gospel.  A quick Google search indicates that the Church of St Patrick is located in Pottsville.

That courthouse visit of about fifteen minutes reveals a lot of information and clues to follow up on, but I know what you are thinking.  Here we go again -  these are not direct ancestors of mine so why put in all of the effort?  My answer is that I could find some real live cousins who might have some info that I missed.  That would be interesting to find some cousins living in Pottsville or Minersville and find out more about how they lived in the area back in the day.

The other thing I did while I was in the court house was go to the Recorder of Deeds and search for the deed to the property  where my great great grandfather Thomas A Brady lived in Gordon - and with some help from the staff - I was able to locate the deed.  It says that he purchased the property on 1 Jan 1869 from David McKnight and his wife Elizabeth, of Reading PA for $250.00.  He purchased lots 12 & 13, located in the Town of Gordon, in Butler Township between Birch Alley and East Plane St and the property measures 100' X 164'  Pretty good size.  I couldn't find the selling of the property, but a nice gentleman helped me to see that although he purchased the property in 1869, the deed was not recorded to until 1903.  He said that back in the day, it may have just been to much trouble to go to the County Courthouse just to record the deed, so they waited until it was convenient.  The problem is that Thomas was living in Scranton in 1903 and died in 1904.  This stymied me until Katrina suggested that he may have given it to a family member who did not record it until 1903.  Perhaps he knew that his father was ill and decided to record the deed in case he passed away and he may somehow lose the property that was unrecorded.  It just so happens that his son (and my great grandfather James Brady) lived in Gordon until his death in 1914.  This would also explain why I could not find the sale of the property - I was looking for Thomas Brady in the Grantor index, but it may have been James' property to sell by then. Sometimes you just don't think about it like that, but it is very possible - I think Katrina should have been the Detective in this outfit. 

I checked further on usgwarchives.net and found a history of Gordon, PA.  A line in this history states that in 1775 three tracts of land were patented to David and James McKnight - the same men that my great great grandfather bought the property from.  I thought that was pretty cool.

The other thing that I think is great about all of these documents is that they all have signatures of the people involved in the events recorded.  To be continued...........

Cape May County Records

So last Friday I decided to take a drive to Cape May to check out some records there.  I did a post before about my great grandfather's brother, Michael and his wife, Cecelia.  Michael and Cecelia lived in Wildwood, NJ and owned house at 327 East Magnolia Ave.  Michael died in Wildwood on 28 Jan 1929, and Cecelia died in Wildwood on 31 Jul 1934.

I started at the Cape May County Library in Middle Township.  I looked through several local weekly papers for an obituary, and found nothing.  I had grand visions of finding an obit listing families and maybe a story about what he had been doing there.  And, be still my heart, maybe a picture.  But alas, he was truly a Brady, and left no paper trail.  So I checked for Cecelia and again - nothing.

Dejected, I left the library and there it was - across the parking lot was a smaller brick building with a sign that said "County Records".  Without even thinking, I was drawn to the doorway and entered.  Inside was the County Clerk's Office and deed books.  I solicited the help of one of the clerks, and she checked the index book of Grantees (people purchasing property) and there were three Michael Bradys.  She could tell by the listing that only one of the three were married, so that is the one I picked.  I had to go upstairs and find the very large deed book and went to the page listed.  There it was!  It took a while to decipher the document amid all of the legalese, but essentially it says that Michael N Brady and his wife, Cecelia Brady of the city of Philadelphia, purchased the property from Stephen P Loux and his wife Rebecca Loux (also from the City of Philadelphia).  They paid the sum of one dollar and other valuable consideration, lawful money of the United States of America.  The sale took place on 13 Aug 1923.  So now I know that Michael and Cecelia were married before August 1923.  The deed goes on to mention a building and the previous owner, yada, yada, yada.  I don't know, but it sounds like Stephen and Rebecca Loux may have been related somehow, just based on a sale price on one dollar. (or somebody lost a bet).

Next, I got the same clerk to help me with the Grantors Index to locate the sale of the property by Cecelia after Michael's death.  Well, it turns out that she didn't sell it, and it was sold by the executor of her estate on 14  May 1936.  Sale price - $2,850.00.  Sounds like a good profit (2,850 %).  I had been told by my cousin Peggy from Scranton that Cecelia had operated it as a rooming house.  The deed goes on to say that both owners "departed this life" and one of the executors renounced his right to be the executor.   Since the property was part of the estate of Cecelia, guess where my next stop was.

You guessed it - the Cape May County Surrogate - which was located around the parking lot in the same complex.  My intention was to get a copy of the entire will - until they told me that the price is $3.00 per page.  I don't think so.  I got three pages of the will itself - without the legal papers, copies of the letters of the executors, lists of persons notified, etc...  The will is in very small print on a legal size document, but can only be printed on letter size paper - not easy to read.

The will has some pretty good genealogical information.  It starts out with the whole sound mind and body deal, and paying off debts and funeral costs as soon as convenient, then we get into who gets what.

She leaves $3,000.00 to her step daughter Mary Murphy, wife of August Murphy of Third and Queen Sts in Phila.
Thomas Murray located at ???? So. 13th St in Phila. - $4,000.00
Cecelia Shanahan beloved niece gets $250.00
Mary Gill, beloved niece gets $250.00
Catherine McCaffrrey, beloved niece gets $250.00
Roman Catholic Church of St. Joseph on Willlings Alley between Third and Fourth Sts in Phila - $100.00 for masses for the repose of the souls of my deceased husband, John Shanahan (first Husband) and myself.
To the Denomination Sisters of 1600 Haddon Ave Camden, NJ for the saying of the perpetual Rosary for the souls of my late husband Michael N. Brady and myself - $50.00
To St. Bonaventures Monestary of Monestary, NY the sum of $200.00 for masses for the repose of the souls of my father and mother, Alexander and Mary Clark (didn't see that coming).
And last but not least - To St Charles Seminary Overbrook,  for perpetual masses for Alexander Clark and Annie, his wife (Really didn't see that coming)
There are other bequeathings including one to a beloved niece Cecelia Ortan, 2645 Mavine St Philadelphia.

So I learned her parents names, her step daughters, and nieces and her father's second wife.  Not too shabby, but all of these folks are not blood relations to me.  So in the end, it took me an entire day of driving and researching, gas money and fees to Cape May County to learn about a very collateral line (limb) on my family tree.  But it was fun and I do enjoy the hunt.

Old Family Photos

A few years ago, I was talking with my mom about her family, and some of the pictures that we had found.  Apparently I was not listening very closely, because I have located pictures again and I now have no idea who these people are.  She once told me that her father served in the US Navy during WWI and that she had a picture of him in his Navy uniform.  She looked for it, but never did find the picture.  I never really pushed the issue either, figuring that we had plenty of time.  Wrong again.  When mom passed away, my brother and I cleaned out the house before we sold it.  If any of our other five siblings wanted anything, they could have it.  But I wound up with all of the pictures.  I looked all over for that picture of my grandfather in his WWI Navy uniform, but no dice.  I do have other pictures, and I finally got around to scanning some of them and I e-mailed them to my cousin Regina so she could show her mom, Aunt Florence.  I thought Florence could ID some of my mom's family.   Here are a few of the pictures that I sent::

Regina sent me an answer.  Florence was able to ID a few people in this one.  Florence says that she thinks this one was taken at a house at Coney Island.  From left on porch it's her (Florence's) dad Joe Markey  (he had a heart attack at midnight mass and died Christmas day 1956), her mom (Aunt Florence-but we called her Florrie - if that is how you spell it), the kids are Bill &Ed sitting on the rail, and Kate (my grandmother) behind them.  She didn't know anyone else.  I thought they looked like the Hatfields or the McCoys, and I am guessing this was taken in the late 20's.

This one was next and Florence says that this photo is of my mom, Florence and Florence's sister Joan Markey O'Keefe.  I don't know the order, but I think that I got them from left to right.  Next one was one of my favorites.  Mom had told me once that a soldier she had dated had asked her to marry him before he left for the war.  She said no (Whew!!!).  When she turned him down, he asked her not to tell anyone that he had asked.  I guess the statute of limitations has expired by now, so the secret is out.

I thought this was the man in this photo.  Wrong again.  This is my mother's cousin Arthur Riedinger.  Yes the same Arthur Riedinger that I wrote the post about a couple of months ago.  He married and was killed in a construction accident and was buried in Toms River, about a half hour from my house.

Now I have a couple for my dad, but there is no one to confirm any identity.  Mom found this one in dad's drawer after he passed away in 2006.  It is one of my favorites, but I have no idea who it is.  The original in a tintype, so this is a copy.

Looks like what I would imagine Billy the Kid to have looked like.  Young man with a colt hidden in his vest pocket.  He does put me in mind of my two sons (neither of them owns a Colt), but there is a family likeness.
If I had to guess, I would guess it is my grandfather, but the family wrote him off and I don't know if dad would have kept his picture - my mother never saw him.  He is a very well kept secret.  I do, however, have a picture of my dad's father.

My cousin Linda gave me this picture and she has written on the back of her picture who every one is.
In the front from left is Mary Tully (my godmother and my father's cousin) Marguerite Brady (dad's sister), Dottie Moore (another cousin), my grandfather Thomas James Brady holding my uncle Jim, then my grandmother, Marguerite O'Dea Brady (holdin a dog or cat, or whatever that is).  Next row left with her arm around Dottie Moore is Aunt Mae (Mary O'Dea, dad's aunt) behind her is her sister Gertrude (Mary Tully's mom and my dad's aunt) Mary and Gertrude are my grandmother's sisters.  The boy behind my grandfather is unidentified, but he is a cousin (one of the O'Dea sisters' son).  I am guessing that this was taken around 1919 which is before my dad was born in September 1920 (by the way, today is his birthday, he would have been 92).

Well, that was fun.  While writing this post, I came across another photo of a female on my mother's side that I am going to e mail to Regina for positive identification.  I'll let you know how that works out.

Veterans - Lost and Found

Sorry, I know it has been a few weeks since my last post, but I just got back from vacation.  Not a good excuse, but it's the best I can do.  Before I get started with the recent veterans that I picked from my family tree, I have to show you something that I found, and thought it was humorous.

I was in Glendola Cemetery in Wall, NJ on a Find-A-Grave mission. and I came across this military headstone in the cemetery:

There is nothing humerous about this man or his service to our country, and I mean no disrespect to him, however, look at this stone and read it fast.  It took me a minute, but at first I was unsure if his last name was Greenlaw or Cook.   But I then I realized when I saw 8 CAV that he was a cook in Troop E of the 8th Cavalry.  Then I saw the abbreviation for the war SP. AM. War and that's when I had to chuckle.  It looks like he was a cook in the SPAM War (not the Spanish American War).  Perhaps the men tired of the same menu of spam every day - maybe he started the war.

When I was in Pottsville and Minersville in my last post, I mentioned that I had been in the St Vincent de Paul Cemetery and could not find a headstone for James Bradley.  I was in that cemetery before and had seen a headstone for a James Bradley and I thought that there was a military marker with it, but I could not find it that day.  When I got home later, I entered James' date of death into my computer program and made sure that the on line tree was in sync.  Within a few minutes, I got a shaky leaf on James Bradley, when I checked the hint from Ancestry.com, it was an entry from a data base from the Pennsylvania Department of Military Affairs and was a Record of Burial Place of Veteran.  I opened the entry and found the following card:

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to where James is buried?  You got it - St Vincent's, Minersville, PA.  So he was a veteran of the World War (if you note the date on the card of 7-10-35, you notice it was before WWII).  The military wasn't very exact on dates either - date of birth 1876, date of death 1928, Homeland Security might not let him get buried today without proper ID.  I did a little bit of research on Co B 103 Reg. Engrs and found a book in Google Books about Pennsylvania in the World War and it says that the 103rd Engineers were formed in August 1917 as the Pioneer Engineer Regiment, it says that Co. B was formed in Philadelphia, and Co. C was formed in Pottsville, apparently he signed up before the recruitment in Pottsville.  Company B was also the first unit of the regiment to be mobilized for service in the World War, it became part of the 28th Division on 3 Sept 1917.  18 May 1918 the unit embarked on H.M.S. Metagama and crossed the Atlantic in a convoy of thirteen ships under guard of a battleship.  So he went on to see service in England and France.  It is an interesting story, but I don't think I could do it justice.  If you would like to read it, just google: An illustrated history of the Twenty-eighth Division, Volume 2 (Google eBook).

After this find, I decided to check the Pennsylvania State Archives for any more info, and I found a place to check file cards for Pennsylvania Militia Units in various conflicts.  I looked for James Bradley, but had no luck.  Then I saw a link for file cards for Pennsylvania veterans of the Spanish American War - yes the famous SPAM war.  I check through a list of cards alphabetically.  In case you didn't think of it Bradley and Brady are very close, so after striking out with Bradleys, I continued and checked the Bradys.  This is what I found:

I know that my great great grandparents Thomas and Bridget Brady had a son Andrew, and the first thing that caught my eye was the place of birth - Gordon PA - that's where they lived early on.  Then the current residence - Scranton PA - which also is where they lived in 1900.  I thought they lived on Riffle St in Scranton, so I checked the 1900 census and much to my surprise they were living at 641 Birch St, Scranton, PA. - the same address as the card.  Holy cow!!  I knew nothing of Andrew and now this.  He apparently served in Porto Rico - love the spelling -and was mustered out with his company and honorably discharged 24 Jan 1899.  He promptly went home and was counted in the 1900 census.  Andrew is not in the 1910 census.

I checked a little further and found that I have his father's obit from 5 Oct 1904 and it listed his survivors - his widow (no name, just widow Brady) and children - Andrew is not listed among the survivors.  So I put my detective skills  to the test - they are a little rusty - and surmised that he died sometime between 1900 and 1904.  A few years back I visited Thomas' place of burial in Cathedral Cemetery, Scranton, PA.  Also buried there are his widow Bridget - yes she had a name all her own - and daughter, Mary.  I remember the staff there telling me that there was another grave there and there was probably someone buried there, but they had no record of who it was.  Then I remembered - now I'm really scraping the rust off those old detective skills - at the grave was a VFW marker with a flag and I wondered who that was for.  I called the cemetery today and checked on Andrew.  The woman said that records prior to 1905 were spotty at best, but they had no record of Andrew.  Then I called the Scranton public library - which is where I found my Great Great Grandfather's death certificate - and asked if they had death certificates for the city between 1900 and 1904.  I was told that they do, but death certificates were not required prior to 1906, so if may not be there.  I then asked if they had info on local Spanish American War Vets and, after checking her list, she said he was not on it.  So at least I can check for a death certificate in the Scranton Public Library for him.

Before I started writing this post, I did some research on line on the Spanish American War and I found that the VFW was organized around 1899to 1900, after the war, as an organization for veterans of foreign wars.  So I am now going to check with the local VFWs in Scranton to see if he is listed on any of their roles - maybe they know where he is buried.  I think it is probably Cathedral Cemetery, which would explain the VFW marker.

Before I found any of this information, I knew of several veterans in the family.  Starting with my father in WWII, his two brothers Jim and Frank in WWII, his brother Paul in Korea, my mother's two brothers Ed and Bill in WWII, and my mother's father served in WWI.  I could go on about my wife's family's military history - which includes several West Pointers, a Civil War General, and various other Generals, Colonels, and Majors, and no less than three burials in Arlington, but I would need alot more time and room.  

So it was nice to uncover the service of these two veterans that I did not know I had.  The thing that I wonder about is why did they die so young?  Andrew died about five years after his return at about 30 years old and James died at 51 years of age, only 10 years after his return from the service.  Did they suffer wounds or the effects of stress, disease or mustard gas?  Clearly more research is need to answer these questions.  I will research them more and hopefully get some more information about their service. 

One more thing I noticed - right after my wife asked about it.  Katrina reads my posts while they are still drafts - mainly for spelling errors and to make sure it makes sense.  After reading this post, she asked "So how are they related?"  My first answer was "they're not", but after thinking for a moment I said "James' sister Madge/Maggie/Marcella married Andrew's brother James, so I guess they are brothers-in-law".  Sometimes when you write these stories, you just don't think about basic questions.   So after reading this if you have any questions - ask.  It also helps me to figure this all out.

Return to the Bradleys of Schuylkill County PA

I really was not intending to write about my Bradley peeps, but Katrina and I took our son Tom to camp in Pennsylvania last week and I drove back on Friday afternoon to pick him up.  Okay, so  he didn't need to be picked up until Saturday morning, and I drove out early to visit my sister.  Okay, so on my way to my sister's house I stopped in Pottsville at the county courthouse (it was only a couple of hours out of my way, but I consider that close).

If you have never been to Pottsville or the Courthouse, they have both been there for a couple of hundred years.  The Courthouse is an older brick structure built on a hill, but when you park in the back, you have to walk down these old concrete steps to get down to ground level (it's tougher going back up).  Across the street is a castle looking building, minus the moat, which is some type of detention facility (juvenile- I think)  It is all looks rather foreboding.  In front of the detention facility is a large historical placard which tells about the "Molly Maguire Executions".  Never heard of them?  The Molly Maguires were a secret society of Irish Mine Workers. There were several members who were convicted of various violent crimes against the coal industry - usually killing bosses, etc..  This placard reads that on June 21, 1877, six Molly Maguires were hanged here, four others were hanged at the county jail in Mauch Chunk on the same day.

The reason I bring this up, is that I was thinking that these "gangstas" were running around this area back when my ancestors were mining coal or working the rails to transport the mined coal.  So I guess things haven't change much over the years, we have the bloods and the crips, they had the Molly Maguires.  It gives you an idea of what your ancestors had to deal with when they were alive.  I don't know if any of my peeps were "Mollys", but it was a secret society so I may never know.  You also wonder if any of them were targeted by the Mollys - again I will probably never know for sure, but it does make you think.

My original reason for going to the courthouse was to check old property records and deeds, but when I got to the archives, it was getting late and deeds were on another floor in the building.  I figured that I was lucky to just get to where I was and told the woman that I was doing a family tree.  She suggested that I check the estates and wills.  I didn't locate anyone named Brady with a first name that sounded familiar, but I found some Bradleys.  The person I found was James J Bradley, who died 23 May 1928 in Minersville.  You may remember that I posted his obit and his mother's obit in a previous post.  I remember that his obit says that he died in the hospital. Well it looks like he wrote his will  on 28 Mar 1928, he probably knew the end was coming and wanted to have all of his affairs in order.  It is interesting to read, even though I did not take the time to read it at the archives. I am getting my first chance to read it while I am writing.  There is a copy of the will, in which he leaves everything to his brother Joe and his sister Mrs N Murtha (Sorry Colin, but it must be Murtha with no "Mc").  In the will he uses the phrase "share and share alike".  I kinda like that phrase - a last loving gesture to his siblings. 
James and Joseph lived in Minersville, probably close to each other, both were blacksmiths, and Mrs N Murtha is their sister, Mary, with whom their mother lives in Pottsville.  So maybe he is taking care of his mom and helping his brother.  I say that because later in the day I found a headstone in St Vincent de Paul cemetery for Joseph Bradley who died in 1930 - maybe he was sick also.  Joseph is also the Administrator of the estate.  There is an appraisal of James' wealth, which amounts to $1,535.81 cash in the First National Bank of Minersville - I am not certain, but it sounds like a tidy sum for that time period in that area.  He owned no real estate.  There is also a list of Administration Expenses: Funeral $450. 35, Tombstone $250.00 (I didn't find that one), St Vincent's Church $ 56.00, Milliken Hospital $36.50.  It was interesting to read. (Notice how the bill for St Vincent's is almost double that of the hospital).  I then went to the Library and tried to find an obit for his sister, Ellen Bradley in 1911 (that explains why she is not mentioned in the will), but they were closing so I didn't have time.

Then on to Minersville to St. Vincent De Paul to walk the cemetery looking for headstones.  I found one for Joseph Bradley and Jennie Bradley, he died in 1930, she died in 1951.  I think this is James' brother from Minersville and his wife.  Joseph's wife is listed in the 1930 census as Jane (she is also a witness in James' will listed as Jane), so maybe they called her Jennie as a nickname.  Right next to this headstone is an older one with the family name of  Pepper.  Pepper is Annie Bradley's  maiden name.  Annie is James and Joseph's mother and my great great grandmother.  The headstone is for Francis Pepper.  I recall seeing Annie Pepper in the 1850 census in Cass Twp with her parents, Patrick and Magdelina (Reilly) Pepper, on the same page listed before Patrick is a man named Francis Pepper.  I think that he is a relation to Patrick Pepper.  I am gonna have to write to St Michael the Archangel Church to get more info.

Francis Pepper

I suspect that there is much more to be learned from this trip to PA, and I will return there again to check further.

Nurse Cadet Corps

My mom was a Registered Nurse, but she never worked when we were kids.  I don't mean that she did not work at all, she was a housewife and mother of seven children - probably busier and harder worker than most.  She just never worked as a Registered Nurse - unless she was treating one of us or our friends for any number of ailments and/or injuries.  Although, after we were all in school, she did substitute for the local school nurse on occasion, and she always kept her nursing license up to date and active.

My mom had told us that she had been a member of the Nurse Cadet Corps during World War II, and I even have a picture that she signed to our dad, that I think is a picture of her in her "uniform".  The other day, I was listening to Genealogy Gems Podcast with Lisa Louise Cooke from May 19th of this year, and she mentioned that Ancestry.com had recently put records on line from the Nurse Cadet Corps from WWII.  I listened to the podcast on my ipod at work, so as soon as I got home, I went on the internet on Ancestry.com and found the database.  I put my mother's name in and oila! There was a document: Form 300A Federal Security Agency, U.S. Public Health Service, Division of Nurse Education Serial No. 60020, for a Cadet Nurse named Claire Alice Bergen (we just called her Mom).  It has the school that she attended: Medical Centre, Jersey City, NJ, the date of admission to School 26 Jun 1944, date of admission to the Corps 26 June 1944, the date that her registration card was issued 1 July 1944.  The card had two signatures: the Director of School of Nursing and the Cadet Nurse (Mom).

Mom's registration with US Cadet Nurse Corps

My understanding is that the United States Cadet Nurse Corps was initiated in 1943, because of a shortage of nurses during World War II.  The purpose of the Corps was to ensure that the US had sufficient numbers of trained nurses to care for the needs of its citizens, both at home and on the war front.  Nursing Schools were offered grants to train nurses for duty abroad and at home.  I am not quite certain, but I think you applied to the school and were trained, and in exchange you owed an amount of years of service as a repayment for the training. 

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense for my mom to sign up for this  training and join the "war effort".  Her parents were both deceased by this time, and both of her brothers were in the service.  Uncle Bill was a second Lieutenant in the Army and Uncle Ed was serving in the Pacific in the US Navy.  I don't really know that much about Uncle Bill's service, but I do know that Ed was on the USS Monssen, which was a Destroyer sunk at the Battle of Guadalcanal.  He survived the sinking and the war.  My Dad and two of his brothers were also serving overseas, but mom and dad did not meet until after the war.  Turns out that they had lived only blocks away from each other in Jersey City, but they had never met.  Matter of fact, my dad's brother and my mom's brother knew each other from school.   I was thinking that World War II should be a blog unto itself, but the more I think about it, it could be a book.

Finding this document on ancestry.com got me thinking more about my parents, both of them passed away
a few years ago, and how many questions I would love to ask them now.  I have my mom's cousin Florence who has already helped me more that Ancestry.com could ever help.  That's not to say that Ancestry.com's data bases aren't helpful, but Florence knows my mom's family and their history.  She can tell you personal things that you cannot find in a database anywhere else.  I can find names of neighbors in census records or church records, but Florence can tell me who these people are, and how they are related, which leads me to more family that I would never have known that I had. I have actually found info that confirms what she has told me, so not only do I enjoy talking to her, but she is right on the money.  I don't have a Florence on my Dad's side, so there is really no one to ask any questions about his family.  When they passed away, all of that family information went with them and I will probably never find out most of it.  My point is that you should talk to your older family members while you still can, you may get some information that could lead to an unknown cousin who may know even more about the family.  Hey it could happen.

Arthur Riedinger

I know it has been almost three weeks since my last post, in case you haven't noticed I try to post something every other Sunday, but sometimes it just doesn't work out that way.  Well, I am late again, but I have some new information.  A couple of posts ago, I told you about my mom's cousin, Arthur E Riedinger, who died in 1970 and I found him via a shaky leaf in Find A Grave.  On a side note, they might want to find a new name for that website, because every time I tell someone about Find A Grave, they look at me like I am some kind of vampire who is up all night waiting for the full moon. ( by the way, please don't look at the time that this was posted).

Headstone for Arthur and Mary Riedinger

 Well, I drove to St Joseph's Cemetery in Toms River and found his grave, as well as, the grave of his wife Mary.  I checked nearby graves for names that I might recognize, but saw none.  Then I wondered if he and his wife had children, that wondering lasted until I  saw a small shell on the base of the headstone that said Grandmother.  So now I know that they had children.  The next step for me is to call the Bergen - McConville authority Aunt Florence, but I found out that she is in Georgia, but I did talk to Regina.  Later in the week I spoke with Aunt Florence and asked about Arthur Riedinger.  She said that he died young in a accident.  He used to drive one of those big yellow trucks like a tractor  and had some kind of accident and was killed.  Well, the ghoul in me could not resist.  I recruited my sister Joan, who happens to be a best selling author, to accompany me to the Ocean County Library to look for any articles on the death of my cousin, Arthur Riedinger.

So Joan read in the library, while I checked the microfilm.  I found two articles in the Asbury Park Press from 25 Feb 1970 and the next day 26 Feb 1970.  There was also an article in the Ocean County Observer from 25 Feb 1970.  The Press article says that Arthur Ritchenger (bad spelling) of 129 Tennant Ave, Beachwood, NJ , age 48 was killed in a construction accident.  He worked for  Sambol Construction Co. and was crushed beneath a payloader, when the earth moving rig - about the size of a bulldozer - toppled at 3:40 PM.  He was taken to Pt Pleasant Hospital where he was pronounced dead.  The NJ State Police investigated.  I am not sure if Brick Township - where the accident happened -  had their own Police Department at the time.

Asbury Park Press 25 Feb 1970

The article in the next day's paper was better.  They spelled his name right this time, and it said that he died of a broken neck and that he was working to clear land for Greenbriar, a senior citizen's complex to be built.  My mom would move to Greenbriar Woodlands in 2006, which is another complex by the same owners.  The last part of the article  gives alot of genealogical information.  It says that he was born in Jersey City and lived in the Bayville area for 21 years.  He was a veteran of WWII,  and he attended St. Barnabas Roman Catholic Church in Bayville.  It goes on to list survivors:  his widow Mary Totomasi Riedinger, his mother, Mrs Edna Riedinger, three daughters: Mrs. Jo-Ann Armino, Bayville: Mary Edna and Rose Marie, both at home: two brothers, John and Edward, both of Jersey City: and a sister, Mrs Lenore Parrott, Hasbrouck Heights.  The Funeral Home is also listed as Anderson and Campbell, Toms River.  That's alot of information.

Asbury Park Press 26 Feb 1970

I did not find an obituary in the Press, and the information in the Observer was not very revealing.  A month ago, I could not have told you anything about this man, but after doing the Shaky Leaf Shuffle and locating him in Find A Grave, I know alot more.  He was a veteran of WWII, in the artillery, survived the war to return home and marry Mary Tortomasi, had three daughters, one of whom was married.  He apparently never got to see his grandchildren, and he worked for a construction company and died while trying to support his wife and children.  It appears that he was a good man who served his country and was working to raise his family and had his life cut short by a tragic accident

Jersey City, NJ

Just yesterday, I went to Jersey City with Katrina, to attend a walking tour of Bergen Square given by the Hudson County Genealogy Society.  The tour was to include a tour of the inside and outside of Old Bergen Church ( built around 1660) and St Aeden's Church, built around 1912 (they are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the church this year).  We also walked through Old Bergen Cemetery, and walked past Speer Cemetery, as well as a few other historical areas of Bergen Square.

St. Aeden's Roman Catholic Church

This interested me because just recently I found (and promptly lost) my mother's baptismal certificate.  It says that she was baptized at St Aeden's Church on 28 Mar 1926.  Her sponsors were Florence Markey (who was her mother's sister) and Harry Belton.  I have no clue who Harry Belton is, I have never heard the name before.  I did put in a call to my McConville-Bergen expert, Aunt Florence (who is actually Florence Markey's daughter) to find out who Mr. Belton is, but no one was home.

St. Aeden's was actually the last stop on the tour, and it was just huge.  The communion rail is about 96' across, and the large dome in the picture above is 108' from floor to ceiling and 60' in diameter.  Very impressive.  The floor and pillars inside are marble and the website says that it cost a million dollars to construct.  (Dad always said that the Catholic Church is the best run business in the world, apparently he was right again).

Although the corner stone says 1912 and after taking pictures inside of the Baptismal Font and where mom would have been baptized, I read on their website that the church was not built in 1912.  Apparently the Priest felt that they needed a school more than a church, so they built the school first and while they were building the church, they used the first floor of the school as the church until the church opened in 1931.  Ergo, my mother was not baptized in this cathedral, but in a temporary church on the first floor of St Aeden's School.

Before getting to St Aeden's, we walked around Bergen Square and came across Newkirk St.  I have a copy of my mother's birth certificate (I made several copies and have not lost it yet), and it says that she was born at 131 Newkirk St.  Well, half a block north of Bergen Ave I found three row houses, and the last one before coming to a large commercial building with a Bergen Ave address was number 129, then there is an alley before the commercial building.  Apparently I was too late to get a picture of her house, but I got a picture of the houses next door.  While on Newkirk St, I saw a sign for Dick St.  I remember seeing that name on a McConville death Certificate.  It was Edward McConville, born 7 Jan 1902 and died 24 Dec 1925, Merry Christmas... again.  But the death certificate said that they lived at 25 Dick St.  Dick St today is just an alley, and it doesn't appear to have any houses on it.  Going on this tour now tells me that the McConvilles lived only a few houses away from my mom.  Actually, he died only three months before my mom was born.  So my grandmother was six months pregnant when her brother died, that's gotta suck.

123 through 129 Newkirk St Jersey City

After the tour, Katrina and I decided to take a tour of our own, and we drove to the address where we lived in Jersey City when I was born: 422 Bergen Ave.  We took a picture of the current house, and I say that because I don't think it is the same building we lived in.  I seem to recall old pictures of a large house with a big front porch.

422 Bergen Ave Jersey City

Last,  but not least, we continued down Bergen Ave, mainly because I couldn't figure out where we were and how to get to the turnpike, and we came upon Armstrong Ave.  We hung a right and drove past 343 Armstrong Ave, the house where my mom lived for a while after her mother died.   There was a group of people on the porch so we decided not to take a picture.  So I guess this was actually alot about my mother's days in Jersey City.

When we got home, I remembered that on my Dad's discharge papers after WWII, his address was 159 Bergen Ave.  I have to go back and photo that one, as well as All Saints Church, where he was baptized and later married my mom.

Memorial Day 2012

     It really seems appropriate to post a blog about those who have gone before us, on Memorial Day.  The best part is that I have found a couple of things to write about.  I am really loving this Ancestry App on my ipod, and all of those shaking leaves.  Honestly, I never used them before, but I am now finding census records for distant relatives that I never really looked for before.  The best part is that those clue/hints (shaking leaves) do not represent only records found on Ancestry.com.  They will also find information of Family Search ( the Mormon Church site) and Find A Grave, just to name two.
     So last week, I have my new Ipad with the Ancestry App, and I am doing the shaky leaf shuffle on random ancestors.  So I go to Thomas F Keaveney, who was my great grandmother (Annie Bergen's) half brother, and there is a shaking leaf, when you touch it, it gives you about 6 hints for him.  Most are census records that I had found on my own, and WWI Draft Registration.  But at the bottom of the list, the last hint says Michigan Find A Grave Index 1805 - 2011, Birth 1877, Death 1936, Burial Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan, USA, with a picture of his headstone.  It also tells me that he is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Lansing, so I can call them and see if they can give me the date of burial.  The info was entered by a man in Lansing, MI who enters info from local cemeteries into this database.  I intend to e mail him to see if we are related or if he is just a good deed doer.  I almost spelled Deed as Dead, would have actually worked either way.  Here is his headstone:
 

While on this site, I decided to check on Thomas' wife: Martha Flaherty Keaveney, and I found her too.  Martha was buried in 1930, and there is a picture of her headstone also:
 

I had found their marriage record on Familysearch.org, which is the Mormon Church website.  That is when I realized that his mother was also my great grandmother (Annie Sullivan Bergen)'s mother.  Another thing that comes up with the Shaking Leaf is some City directory records.  These are like phone books before the invention of the telephone.  It was made up by a local business and listed residents of the city and their address and occupation.  The City directory list Thos F Keaveney (Martha F)(Capital City cigar and Tobacco Co) h 216 Marshall Ave.  Pretty good info.

Just about two days ago I was doing the shaky leaf shuffle with another of my mother's ancestors: Arthur E Riedinger, who is my mother's first cousin (makes him my first cousin one time removed).  I hit the shaky leaf on him and found two hints: Social Security Death Index, which says he died in February 1970 and New Jersey Find A Grave Index, 1664 - 2011 (I guess NJ was inhabited and burying people before Michigan).  He is buried in St Joseph's Catholic Cemetery in Toms River, NJ, which is probably about a thirty minute drive from me.  Lucky for you there is no picture of his deadstone, (oops, did it again).  There is a note with his memorial : Cpl Battery A, 478 AAA, AW WWII, I am assuming this was his unit in World War II.  So I have to call St Joseph's and take the drive to take a  picture.

The last thing I want to mention is a web site that my friend George found for me in a Genealogy Society of NJ Newsletter.  This is a database for searching burials at several cemeteries in the Archdiocese of Newark.  The database is not complete yet, but it does include burials at two Brady - Bergen favorites: Holy Name cemetery in Jersey City and Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, as well as, Holy Sepulchre in East Orange.  ( this is the huge one on the Garden State Parkway at about exit 145)  There are other cemeteries included in the database, which can be searched by surname, forename and cemetery.  Below is  the website:
http://www.rcancem.org/deceased

I hope some of the info is helpful and helps you find those who came before you.