You Never Know What You're Gonna Find

I know it has been a few weeks, but I was waiting for today to blog because I thought that I would have some new material on Thomas J Bergen, the Deputy Fire Chief at Snake Hill.  I had a Hudson County Genealogy Meeting today in Secaucus (same as last post), but this time I was on a mission.  I had e mailed the author of the article on Snake Hill in the Secaucus newspaper.  He e mailed me back, saying that the library had the Secaucus Home News - all of the old issues.  So I originally went to the library to research them, only to discover that they only go back to 1969 - Major Bummer!  So I read some stuff in the research room to kill some time before my meeting.

Then the Meeting began and soon the speaker for the meeting was introduced and gave her presentation on "Research Problems that Made My eyes Cross".  Her name is Toni McKeen and she was very good.  She gave some research tips that I had not thought of, and could not wait to get home and try them.  The one tip she gave was for searching Ancestry.  She said that if you can't find a family in the census, it may be because the spelling is so wrong or the handwriting of the enumerator was so bad that it could not be read and indexed properly.  So search for the family without a last name.  Yes, you read it right.  Search for your person with all the information you know, but do not put a last name.  If that doesn't work - try searching for the children in the same way.  You are not required to search for the head of household.

I got home and tried this out on my elusive Keaveneys.  I recently did two posts on the wandering Keaveneys - well this is the same group.  If you remember - and I would not believe you if you said that you do - my great great grandmother Bridget Cremmins-Sullivan was widowed in 1867 and had a child, Johanna Sullivan.  I later discovered that she remarried to a man named Thomas Keaveney and had seven more children before she died in 1884.  Here is my problem - I cannot find Bridget or Johanna in the 1870 or 1880 census records, although I know that they are both alive and probably living in Jersey City.  By 1880 Bridget has married Thomas Keaveney.  I think that she had married him by 1870 because they have a daughter Mary in 1871.  So according to Toni McKeen I should search the 1880 census first for Bridget and Thomas no last names with dates and places of birth, as well as Johanna (I searched for Annie because that is the only name of record that I have seen for her - her death certificate and headstone say Annie).  I also put in Mary, Edward, John, and Thomas, who were all born to Bridget and Thomas before 1880  The first result I see for for Bridget and Thomas Kearny.  When I checked the copy of the original record, I can see how the spelling was confused.  There are all of the children, but Annie is listed as Hannah - which is what my mom always said.  There is also an additional child named Kate, born in 1873.  This is a sad reminder because I know from previous research that Kate will die in 1884 at age 11 - the same year as her mother.

Here is the record, Thomas is 38, laborer, born in Ireland and Bridget is 34, housekeeper, born in Ireland all of the children are born in New Jersey.

Then I tried the same method for 1870 and found this one:

This record is also from Jersey City, and gives Thomas Kearman as age 28 and occupation is glass blower, Bridget Kearman is 24 and a daughter is listed as Mary J. age 2.  The "J" could stand for Johanna like my mom always said, but I am not sure.  There is also a Jane Kearman age 70 - probably Thomas' mother.  So I also wonder if the "J" in Mary J stands for Jane.

So the bottom line is that I am sure the 1880 census is for the Keaveneys, and the 1870 census in certainly close, and the ages fit, and the handwriting on the record could actually say Keaveney, but was transcribed as Kearman.  The 1870 census may need a little more research to determine that it is them, but I am inclined to believe it is.