Kate Bergen 1863 to 19??

   
I am sitting in a cabin in Rangeley, Maine writing this post.  Not to worry, I'll be home before I post it, just in case any burglars follow my blog.  So I have been trying to think about a topic for this post, and I found a few things about my Bergen line.  So I settled on my great grandfather "Pop" Bergen's sister Kate.  I have found out a lot about her lately, so here we go.

Kate was born in Ireland in 1863, to Edward Bergin (that's not a typo - it was spelled with an "I" originally) and Mary Malone. She has a sister Mary (surprise) and three brothers: Patrick, Thomas, and William (Pop).  The family emigrates to the US, and is enumerated in Jersey City, NJ in the 1880 census.  Also living with them is her mother's brother Daniel Malone.

The next record that I find for her is her marriage.  She marries a man named Bernard Cavanagh, born in Ireland in 1869 to Charles Cavanagh and Bridget Fennelly.  They marry on 16 Aug 1896, and have three children.  The first child is a boy, born 28 May 1897, and name him Charles (apparently after Bernard's father).  I wrote previously in my post about the website rcancem.org that I located Charles' burial in Holy Cross cemetery in North Arlington, N J.  He was buried 13 Oct 1937. He was only 40 years old.

The next child born is another boy, whom they name Edward J. (Joseph), he is born 18 Apr 1899.  He was probably named after Kate's father (according to the old Irish naming tradition).  Edward will serve in the Army during WWI, and upon his return, he become a boilermaker in a foundry.  Sometime after that, he follows another Irish tradition and becomes a Police Officer in Jersey City.  He is enumerated in the 1930 and 1940 census records as being single, living with his mother and sister, and employed as a Jersey City Police officer.  I have no record of Edward's death, and I don't know where he is buried.  Better than that, I have no record of him receiving a pension, which is what everyone wants to know today.

The last child born to this union is a girl, born 27 Nov 1900.  She will be named - I know this will shock you - Mary.  She is baptized Mary Teresa in St. Michael's Church on 13 Dec 1900.  Now this is the interesting part.  I just found a death record in the Social Security Death Index for a Mary Teresa Cavanagh born in NJ on 27 Nov 1900.  Anyone care to guess when and where she died? Doesn't matter, you'll never guess.  She died 27 Dec 1989 in Rumson, NJ.  This is about 15 minutes from my house!  She would have been my mom's first cousin 1X removed, living 15 minutes from mom.  Mom never mentioned her, that I can remember.  Probably never knew she had a cousin that close.  This is all assuming that the woman who died in Rumson is my first cousin 2X removed.  As soon as I get home, it is time for a trip to the library to check the Asbury Park Press for an obit.  If this is her, it means she did not marry or was divorced and went back to her maiden name.  It also means that I need to return to the Monmouth County Courthouse to check property and probate records.

As I said, I wrote most of this in Maine, but we came back to New Jersey this Friday.  Guess where I was Saturday morning - you got it - I was at the Monmouth County Library checking the microfilm for the Asbury Park Press for the end of December 1989 and the first week of January 1990 for an obituary.  Guess what I found. Right again - Nothing.  So that means I will have to make a couple of phone calls this week to the Surrogates Office and the County Clerk's Office to check on probate and property records.  I'll keep you posted.

As for Kate's husband Bernard, there is very little that I know about him.  She is listed in the 1910 census as a widow, but I have not found a death certificate or an obit for him, so I do not know his fate (other than death).  Actually, as I am trying to finish this post, I went on Ancestry.com one more time to look specifically for Bernard and I found his death.  It appears that he died 3 Apr 1900.  It looks like a record that I can get either at the NJ State Archives or through the LDS Church, because it has a FHL (Family History Library) Film Number of 589072.  The record says that he was born about 1870 in Ireland and died 3 Apr 1900 in Jersey City.  He was 30 years old, married and a laborer.  If this is him, that means that his wife Kate was pregnant with her third child (Mary Teresa), who would be born in 8 months and never see her father.  That also means that both of her sons barely knew their father and probably looked to Kate's brother Thomas (who would be enumerated with them in the 1910, 1920, and 1930 census records) for advice and guidance.  But that's another story.