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.