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.

The Bradleys of Schuylkill County

Wow, I didn't realize that it had been three weeks since my last post.  Time flies when you have five kids or when you're having fun (which is usually the same thing in my house).  I know my last post was about my home town in the 1940 Census, but I have uncovered some new information since then that I want to share.

Remember that I had mentioned that I found date of death for my Great Great Grandmother Anna Bradley in the Pennsylvania Archives website?  Well, while looking through that same year, I found another Bradley who died in Minersville on May 22, 1928:  James Bradley.  Last weekend I drove to my sister's house near Scranton Pa, with two of my sons, to visit for the weekend.  On my way back, I gave the boys a thrill of a lifetime by taking them by the Pottsville Free Public Library to search through microfilm of the Pottsville Republican for 1928 for obituaries.  They were nearly thrill to tears.  But it turned out to be a short sentence for them - only an  hour, because I had to get Jack home so he could get to work.  He has a real appreciation for work now.  My search was successful and I found two obits for the Bradley family, the first one was for Anna:

Don' you just love the way that she is treated as a second class citizen.  She is listed as the "widow of the late James Bradley", no mention of her maiden name and the killer (no pun intended) is that the funeral will be held at the home of "his" son, Joseph Bradley of Carbon St in Minersville.  It doesn't happen to mention that he is "her" son also.  Now I could be wrong, but I think the US government even allowed women to vote in 1928, but I guess citizenship and voting doesn't trump dead.  I was expecting to maybe see it mentioned that she lived in Pottsville with her daughter, that she had other children still living and some who predeceased her.  I also expected to see grandchildren and great grandchildren (my father and his siblings), but nothing.  Even in death she was still only the widow of James Bradley.

On to the more important obituary (just kidding) James Bradley, her son.  Here is his obit:

Now that's an obituary.  Well known Minersville Man - he must have been an important guy.  Remember, that this was May 1928 - prior to his mother's death, and she is not mentioned by name in his obit either.  He is survived by his mother ("what's her name" Bradley), brother Joseph, who is starting to have a real bad 1928, and sisters: Mrs Chas Long of Philadelphia, Mamie McMurtha of Pottsville (this is the daughter that Anna lives with until her death in December) and Susan of Gordon.  Gordon is the same town that James Brady and Madge (Maggie Bradley) Brady lived in when Maggie died in 1892.  How would you like to be Joseph having to have two funerals in his home in 1928 - I guess it beats the hell out of being James or Anna, but a pretty depressing year when you think about it.

I just feel compelled to mention that perhaps in the twenties and thirties, women were treated as second class citizens and just an extension of her husband (unless of course she was unmarried by the age of 16 or 17, then she was a "Spinster"), I think the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction today.  You can't watch a television show or commercial without seeing the husband or boyfriend or baby daddy, depicted as a complete moron.  Wives or girlfriends or baby mamas are all infinitely wiser and relish every opportunity to make him look stupid.  His children are smarter and have a higher IQ than he does.  Hell, most of the pets can hold a more intelligent conversation than he can (except the fish - cause you can't understand them speaking underwater).   I guess the times are changing, and I'm not so sure it's for the better.

One last thing to note about these two deaths: they are both interred in St Vincent de Paul Parish cemetery in Minersville.  You may remember that this is the same cemetery where Madge (Maggie Bradley) Brady was buried in 1892.  The same cemetery that charged me a $20.00 genealogy fee to obtain information about where in the cemetery she is buried - only to find out that they cannot find any record of her burial.  I called the church and found that several of the local churches have merged, and now I must write to St Michael the Archangel (the church not the saint) for any genealogy information - burials, baptisms, etc... Being that St Michael the Archangel is the Patron Saint of  Police Officers and I am a retired cop, perhaps I'll get a little professional courtesy - I better get out my PBA cards.