Social Security Claims and Application Index 1936 - 2007

This is a great database available on ancestry.com and it has led to some great discoveries in my research lately.  For example, this is how I found Helen Keogh and her family after her marriage.  It is really good for finding married names of female ancestors.  Before this was available, you had the Social Security Death Index, which told you when your ancestor died - sometimes it just gave the month and year, sometimes it also gave the day. But with this new index, you usually get the date of death and names of parents - including the mother's maiden name, which was always tough to find.  If your ancestor is female, it will usually give her maiden name, married name, and the date that they got around to changing the last name.

So I was looking through my family tree app for shaking leaves (hints) and I came across my Grandmother, Marguerite (O'Dea) Brady's brother: Leo O'Dea and his wife Veronica Walsh.  Leo is the man who changed the spelling of the last name to O'Day (although most of the O'Deas switched back and forth apparently)  Leo married Veronica Walsh and they had three children: Gertrude, William and Veronica.  The only one that I was somewhat familiar with was Veronica.  She became a Catholic nun and her name became Sister Eleanor Gertrude.  She was a member of the Sisters of Charity.

But Leo's wife Veronica is the one with the shaky leaf.  When I clicked on it, the Social Security Claims and Applications Index database came up and this was the result:

Even Social Security spelled the last name both ways (Odea and Oday).  But the thing that caught my eye was place of birth.  Gordon, PA!!!  Does that sound familiar??  Well, it certainly did for me. Gordon, PA is the small town in Schuylkill County, PA where my grandfather was born.  According to Wikipedia, the population of Gordon, PA in the 2000 Census was 781.  So you can imagine how many people lived there 100+ years earlier. My Grandfather Thomas James Brady was born 27 Aug 1891, and Veronica Walsh was born in the same small town a year later.  Then she marries my grandfather's brother-in-law, go figure.

A little more digging into this line, is about to yield a couple of 2nd cousins, who live within a couple of miles of me.  I'll have to let you know how that works out.

The Olsens of Buffalo

Last time we met, we were in the midst of the Great Lakes Storm of 1913.  Somehow the Olsens survived this brutal storm, apparently they were not on the Great Lakes at the time.  Actually, during this same time frame in 1975 - November 10, 1975 to be exact, was the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.  I guess those Great Lakes storms can be pretty bad.  Now I'll be singing that song while writing - oh well.

John then served overseas during WWI, there is no draft registration card, so I assume that he enlisted, but I could be wrong.  This is his service abstract from ancestry.com:

Unimpressed by the storm, and after the War,  the Olsens remained in Buffalo, living at 59 Zittle St in 1920.  Alfred supported his family by working as a motorman for a railway company, and John was a clerk for the railroad.  Then, as we saw in our last episode, Alfred dies on 18 Mar 1926, as he is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in the Lackawanna section of Buffalo (Sec DD, Lot 45 if you're keeping score).

About two years before the death of his father, John is hired as a Policeman in the City of Buffalo, NY, a job he will keep for 32 years.  In the 1930 and 1940, John and his mother still live at 59 Zittle St, and John polices the streets of Buffalo until 1956.  There is one change in the 1930 census - Catherine's brother William H. O'Dea, now lives with them, where he is also counted in the 1940 census.  But 1941 brings some sad changes.  William O'Dea dies on 31 Aug 1941 at the age of 82.  His body is returned to Susquahanna, PA for burial with his parents and brother, James.  James had died forty years earlier in 1900.  Apparently the attorney for William's will set a record of sorts authenticating a signature on William's will.  And the event made the local paper:

I thought this was interesting, and I just had to add it.  This came to me courtesy of my on line researching friend, Denise.  Thanks.

So then on 18 Nov 1941, (three weeks before Pearl Harbor) Catherine passed away.  She was 80 years old and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery with her husband:

So it appears that John lives in the house and retires from the Buffalo Police Department in 1956.  He lives there until he entered the North Town Nursing Home in North Tonawanda, NY where he passed away at the age of 69 on 9 Aug 1962.  I found this obit for John, sorry about that nasty stripe down the middle:

It takes a little work, but it is still readable.  So he spent 32 years as a Patrolman in Buffalo.  I found a website for Buffalo Police Now and Then, and I never knew how big the city was.  I have one more picture before I go.

This is 59 Zittle St in Buffalo NY, which I got from Google Earth. Yup this is where it all happened for over 40 years the Olsens owned and resided in this house.  It was still standing in 2015 when the Google Earth car drove by and captured this image.  It probably looked a little different back in the day, no air conditioners in the windows I would imagine.  I wouldn't think you would need A/C in Buffalo - but what do I know.  I do know that my ancestors spent most of their lives in this house, in this city, and it's still there.

Catherine O'Dea Olsen 1861 - 18 Nov 1941

Up until a couple of months ago, I knew nothing of whatever happened to Catherine O'Dea, who is the sister of my Great Grandfather Michael O'Dea.  This would make her my Great Grand Aunt.  I found much of the information thanks to my on line genealogy friend who had helped me with my Sterlings.  Thanks to her sending me some newspaper clippings, I learned that Catherine O'Dea had married Alfred Olsen.  That was all I needed to kick start my research.

Catherine was born in Sanford, NY in 1862, to Honora McGuan and James O'Dea - Honora was 29 and James 39 at this time.  Honora was the second wife of James, and Catherine was born at about the start of the American Civil War.  The family is listed as living in Sanford in the 1870 and 1880 US Census.    Her father, James, died on 12 Dec 1890 in Sanford.  At some point around this time, Michael, Mary, Daniel, and Catherine moved to Jersey City, where they are counted in the 1990 US Census.

After learning of Catherine's marriage, I was able to locate her living in Jersey City with her husband, Alfred, and their son, John W. Olsen.  Believe it or not, I had her census record all along, but I didn't know it.  They were living at 220 Whiton St, and are listed right below Michael O'Day and family, and Mary O'Day and John Sterling and their children.  The whole group lives between 218 and 220 Whiton St, next door to each other.

 I just have to say something here.  I always thought that our family was close, all of my brothers and sisters keep in touch and visit each other.  But we are somewhat spread out.  This group is not very far apart, literally.  They usually live in the same town, if not on the same block, or even the same house.  It is not unusual to find aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents all living in the same house.  Now that's togetherness.  But it's not just on my dad's side either.  My mom's family was the same way, two or three generations living in the same house.  I kinda like that.

Back to my story.  According to the 1900 Census (which is my favorite in terms of useful information)  Catherine was born in March of 1862, and was married to Alfred for 8 years at this point.  So they probably married in 1892, maybe in Jersey City.  Alfred was born in February 1869 in Sweden, and came to the US in 1884 and is a naturalized US citizen.  His occupation is listed as "clerk". Their son, John, was born in NJ in January 1893.

A quick search in Family Search, reveals two children born to this union.  The first was a girl, born 13 Feb 1892, named Honora Veda, baptized in St. Patrick's Church 14 Feb 1892.  This is the only record that I have found about her, until I found her father's death notice:

She is listed as "the late Vida H Olsen",  I am guessing that Alfred's mother's name was Veda or Vida, because Catherine's mom was Honora.  I also found it interesting that the first and middle name are switched too.

The second child was a boy, born 3 Jun 1893, named John William, baptized 11 Jun 1893 in St. Patrick's church.  Several things I noticed about this was that Vida was born in February 1892, which makes me think that Catherine and Alfred married in 1891 not 1892.  Also the fact that she was baptized the day after she was born makes me think that she was sick and probably died within a short time.  She is not listed in the 1900 census and this particular census asks two questions of the mother:  Mother of how many children?  Number of these children living?  The census lists the answers as 1 and 1. Just an interesting thing about this.

By 1910, the Olsens have broken from the flock and are living in Buffalo, NY, at 1234 Senaca St.  This record says that they have been married for 20 years.  So maybe they married in 1890?  This record also asks about the number of children born to this mother and how many are living.  This time the answer is 2 and 1.  This record also says that Alfred is employed as a motorman on a steam railroad, and that he is a naturalized citizen who came to the US in 1886.  Young John C (where did that come from?) is 16 years old and is a machinist apprentice in a Pump Works.  You can see that the info gathered by the census taker varies every ten years and I guess that it depends on who answers the door when the census taker comes.

One last thing I have to talk about before I call it a night.  My wife says that when I add in things that were happening at the time when my ancestors lived gives the story some historical perspective, and makes it more interesting than reading a list of births, marriages and deaths.  Once again she is right.  So I am going to add this little tidbit about the years that my family lived in Buffalo NY. I got this piece from my Ancestry App.  The Great Lakes Storm of 1913 took place between November 7 and November 10, 1913.  (Wow, that's 102 years ago - from now!)  Anyway, hurricane force winds of 90 MPH, 35 foot waves and whiteout blizzard conditions inundated the Great Lakes during this time.  Major shipwrecks occurred on the Great Lakes - except for Lake Ontario.  There was 24 inches of snow, traffic and communications were shut down.  When it was over 12 ship sank, 19 were stranded and nearly 250 people were killed.  Apparently my peeps survived - as you will see in my next post.

Expanding my Sterling line

My Sterling relations are mostly cousins, because my great grandfather, Mike O'Dea's sister Mary, married John Sterling.  So Mary O'Dea is actually the start of my Sterling cousins.  Now I would love to take credit for investigating and finding all of these relatives, but I can't do it with a clear conscience.  A few years back, when I first realized that Mary O'Dea married John Sterling, I found a woman on line who was checking the same Sterling-O'Dea marriage.  The difference was that her great grandfather is John Sterling's brother.  So we wound up investigating the same areas, and people.  Sometimes I would email her with stuff I found, and sometimes she would email me with stuff.  Lately it has been a little one sided, with her sending me stuff.  Such as:

Yes, this little beauty.  Katherine Sterling is the daughter of John and Mary Sterling, born in Gulf Summit, NY 27 Jul 1880, and this is her obit.  She died 1 Oct 1964 in Jersey City, at the age of 84. But this obit gives me info that I did not know.  I knew that Katherine had a sister Susan, but I did not know that she had married or to whom.  Now I know that she married a man named Dauth.

She is also the Aunt to Mrs. Leona Pallander - sound familiar?  Well, it took me a minute, until I saw the next article she sent me:

Do you see that last name? Helen Willard - that one really helped.  The only thing that took me a few minutes was this.  I couldn't think of who had a daughter named Leona.  So I went to my family tree and that's when it hit me.  Katherine and Susan had another sister named Mary (but they called her Minnie)  I'm not sure, but it seems to me that "Minnie" is a nickname for a daughter who was named after her mother - the same as calling a son with his father's name "Junior".   Anyway Mary married Michael Sheehan, a Jersey City Police Officer, and they had a daughter Leona. - So that's how they're related, and that would make Leona a niece to Katherine.

Now, it is all becoming clear.  Through all of my investigating, I have come across Leona Pallander's name several times.  Usually as an informant on death certificates for my Sterling relatives, and (if you remember), she was the witness for Helen Keogh's marriage. I know from some of the death certificates that I got from the Archives, that she had listed her address as 162 Carteret Ave in Jersey City (the same address given in Katherine Sterlings obit above).  So I checked the RCAN website to see if Leona Pallander is buried in any of their cemeteries.  The only burial I found is for Michael F Pallander, who was buried on 13 Feb 1991 in Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City.  So I checked for Michael F Pallander in ancestry and I found an entry from the Social Security Applications and Claims Index:

This gives his full name as Michael Francis Pallander, and date of birth is 3 Aug 1936 and date of death if 10 Feb 1991.  But the best part is, once again Father: Francis Pallander and Mother: Marie Shennan.  Okay, so I can see that Shennan could be a confused spelling of Sheehan, but Marie is no where close to Leona.  Up to this point, I could not find a Leona Pallander in Ancestry.com, mostly looking in census records and knowing that at some point she lived on Carteret Ave.  So I gave Marie Pallander a shot and BINGO.

I found her in the 1940 census, living at 164 Carteret Ave with her husband, Frank, age 40, born in Finland, Marie is listed as 37 years old, born in NJ, and there are three children: Mary age 6, Michael age 3, and Frances age 1.  By the way, Frances is a girl. (in case you couldn't tell by the spelling).

Just so you know, on the next page of the census are more Sterlings. Mary, Catherine and John living at 162 Carteret Ave, and Susan and Frederick Dauth, also at 162 Carteret Ave.  It always pays to check the next page of the Census.

Last, but not least, I also found that Marie L. (Leona?) Pallander died in Rochelle Park, Bergen County, NJ.  The Social Security Death Index lists her birth date as 18 Aug 1902 and death as 1 Aug 1995.  Two and a half weeks shy of 93.  Not too shabby.

The Jersey Journal and my Sterling relatives

So, in my last post about Helen Keogh, I told you about how I found out that she married and had children.  Well, since that post, I have found out a whole bunch of stuff.  Enough to keep me posting for awhile, which is good because I haven't posted anything for over a month.

So I went to the NJ State Archives and I found a marriage license for Helen Keogh and William Willard. They were married on 16 Sep 1930 at 4:00 PM. This took place at St. Patricks Church  at 492 Bramhall Ave, Jersey City, and the witnesses were William Gilane and Leona Pallander, who we will learn more about in my next post.  The Certificate of Marriage also lists Helen's parents as Margaret Sterling and Thomas Keogh, her age as 30, and her address as 161 Carteret Ave.  William is 28 years old, employed as a clerk and his parents are listed as William Willard and Carrie Tyler. William lives at 125 Audubon Ave, both in Jersey City.  You can really learn alot from a Certificate of Marriage.

My next stop was the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark website to see if Helen is buried in one of their cemeteries, with everybody else.  I found that she was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington on 27 Aug 1964. Then I decided to look for William, her husband, and found his burial in the same plot on 8 May 1965.

With this information in hand, I checked genealogybank.com, which is a collection of digital newspapers, that I have used in the past.  I searched their database, narrowing the search to 1961 through 1965, and Jersey City.  I found this item first:

This is the obit for William Willard living on Seventh St in Secaucus, NJ.  You can see that it mentions his wife Helen Willard, who passed away the year before, and two children: Joan Zaremba, who's death sent me down this road, and a son: William Willard.  There are also two grandchildren, who are not named, so I don't know if they are Zarembas or Willards.

The next article I found was this one:

Yes, this is Helen's obit from the previous year.  This gives basically the same information, but includes "interment Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington.  So I learned that there are at least two grandchildren here, that I may have to try to find.

I checked Helen's granddaughter, Joan Zaremba in the search engine, and I came across this article, which threw me for a loop:

WHAT? Friedenenberger - where did this come from?  After reading this one a couple of times, I realized who this was.  If you read it closely, it says Carrie (nee Tyler).  Remember the Certificate of Marriage for Helen and William?  It gives William's mother's maiden name as Carrie Tyler.  So this is William Willard's mother, who must have remarried to Frank Friedenberger.  I don't know what happened to William's father.  He either passed away or they divorced, either way Carrie remarried.

So I learned alot from these articles and the Certificate of Marriage, and I've added some new names to my family tree.  But it all started in Holy Name Cemetery, when I checked to see if there was a headstone for Margaret Keogh, after being told that there probably was not.

Still working on Maggie Sterling's daughter - Helen Keogh

It has been awhile since I posted anything about Maggie Sterling, who is the daughter of my great grandfather's sister ( or my first cousin 2X removed).  If you recall, she married a man named Thomas Keogh in 1898, and they had a daughter Helen in March of 1900.  Margaret then passed away suddenly on 17 Jun 1900 - Helen was three months old.  They are all listed in the 1900 census living in Jersey City with Maggie's parents: John and Mary O'Dea Sterling.  In 1910, Helen is living with her grandparents and Maggie and Thomas are both no where to be found.

Later I found that Maggie had died, and even later than that, I found that Thomas had remarried and become a Jersey City Fireman - rising to the rank of Captain.  Then in my post of June 16, 2014, I had found Maggie's grave with this marker:

Ah yes, I can see it's all coming back to you now.  At the time I was wondering who Joan M Zaremba was and why she is buried with Margaret Keogh?  Well, just the other day I found my answer in ancestry.com. Where else?

When I found this headstone, I ran Joan M Zaremba in ancestry.com and could only find her in the Social Security Death Index, which gave a date of birth and death. DUH, well I knew that.  Well the other day, I tried again, and found her in the US Social Security Applications and Claims Index 1936 - 2007, which is exactly what is says, it is an index.  But it gives information that the person applying for a social security account would have to submit.  Here it is:

See the part where it lists Father's Name: William Willard, the next one is Mother's Name: Helen Keogh.  Holy Mackerel, Helen Keogh - This could explain why Joan Zaremba (if you look up top it gives an alternate name of Joan Mar Zaremba - she was not married when she signed up for Social Security), is buried in the same plot with Maggie Keogh.  Apparently at some point, Helen married William Willard, and had at least one child, who recently passed away.

So now I have some more research to do at the State Archives.  Marriage records, wills, etc...  I also found a tree on line with Helen Willard and her husband, and I sent a message to the owner of the tree.  Hopefully, he will e mail me back with some info.  But for now, as usual, I am waiting for a response.

Ancestry DNA is finding me cousins

So a couple of days ago I went on ancestry.com and clicked on my DNA.  When I checked my matches, I see that there is a new match and it is right at the top of the list.  The match also gives a possible range of 1st -2nd cousins, which is the closest relation I have seen so far.  I think it is at the top of the list, because it appears that the closer the relationship, the higher the hit is on the list.  When I tried to view the match, there is no family tree connected to this account.  So I was able to contact this person through ancestry.com, and I requested that he either contact me or put his tree on line so that I can figure out how we are related.  The match also tells you when this person last logged on to his ancestry account, which was June 21, 2015.  So far, I have not received a response.

So tonight, I went on ancestry.com to  see if there is a response from my first e mail and I found that there is none.  That's when I noticed that one of the matches, that I have seen before, has a shared ancestor hint, which I did not know the meaning of before.  I had some time and decided to click on this match, then I saw the shaky leaf next to the match.  When I clicked on the match, our shared ancestor is revealed.  Her name is Bridget Kelly - Who?  Then it shows how Bridget is related to each of us.  Bridget had two daughters Mary Jane Reilly and Anna Forkin.  Mary Jane is my great grandmother on my dad's side, and I recall seeing the name Bridget Kelly on her death certificate, listed as mother.  So Bridget is my 2nd great grandmother.  I am not quite sure, but it looks like Anna Forkin is the grandmother of the person whose DNA had certain matches to mine.  The match says that this person last logged onto ancestry.com today.  So I sent him a message through ancestry and I will be awaiting a response and hopefully some more info on my dad's side, which I could always use.

You know, the more I look at the tree attached to this match, the more questions I have.  This does not look like a match to me, at least not through Bridget Kelly.  Maybe there is someone else in the tree who is a distant common relative.  If the match is through Bridget Kelly, I think we are 2nd cousins, but the initial match says we are distant cousins, like 6th to 8th cousins.  So we shall see what we shall see, but I am starting to think that Bridget Kelly is more of a common name than a common relative - but I have been wrong before.  So let's hope I am wrong again.

Waiting for an answer, as usual.

John McConville 1895-1963

I told you I would find something interesting right here in my own little "Archives", and it didn't really take that long.  I was checking through my old blog posts starting with my great great grandmother Bridget Crimmens Sullivan Keaveney.  Then I moved on to a post about the McConvilles, and I located them in the 1940 census.  The census record is attached to John McConville, who will be my main subject.  Here is the 1940 census in Jersey City:

    

As you can see, it lists Edward McConville (Poppa Mac) and his occupation is roadman, employed by the city.  This is what Aunt Florence had told me a few years ago. Next is Hanna (Momma Mac), then comes John, born  14 Jan 1895, in New York, he is listed as iron worker and the employer is WPA.  Next is Peter, born in 1898, and he is employed as a barrel maker,  (his father was a cooper, before this census, and he would make the bands that went around the barrel), and last is Alice, born in 1909, she is a typist for a packaging company.  The interesting part is that I know she was divorced by this time, and is listed as single - not divorced.  Being divorced was frowned upon in those times.

Anyway, let me get back to John the iron worker.  I found a few things about him.  First I talked to Aunt Florence, and asked if he had served in WWI, because I remember that from somewhere.  She said that he served in the Navy during WWI, and actually stayed in the Navy for awhile after the war. This could explain why I couldn't find him in the 1920 census.  But it was actually his name in the 1940 census which sparked a memory for me. First off, I kinda remember Uncle John, although he died on 15 Jul 1963 and I was only 7 years old,  but I do remember his wife, aunt Gertie.  I remember her living in Ocean Grove, which was owned by the Camp Meeting Association, which was affiliated with the Methodist Church.  I remember that there was a problem with John marrying Gertie, because she wasn't Catholic.  He could not marry her in the church, but they married shortly before he died.  I think this is why they are buried in Jersey City Harsimis Cemetery - because the church would not allow him to be buried in a Catholic cemetery.  Aunt Florence concurs that I am correct in my assumption. 

Then he had to register for the draft for WWII:

This is in the 1940s and he is living with his parents on Ege Ave in Jersey City.  If you look at the employer, I think it says Vander Heide Contracting Co. in Union City.  I looked it up in Google and the only one I find is a G. Peter Vander Heide, who is an AIA Architect and Testifying Expert, I don't know if he is related to the company that Uncle John worked for, but I thought it was interesting.

Last, but not least, I contacted Jersey City Harsimis Cemetery and found that the cemetery was abandoned for many years, after the board of directors either died or moved away.  But a new group has since taken it over and have cleaned it up considerably.  I e mailed them about locating John's records and plot.  I have been awaiting a reply, but we have had a considerable amount of snow over the past few weeks, so I don't think much work has been done.  I did drive up there two weeks ago with my son, to see if I could find the headstone, but there was a good amount of snow, and one of the workers on the site advised against walking any where that was not shoveled.  He said there are gopher holes all over and you could get hurt.

So in the meantime, I will wait for a reply from the cemetery and continue combing my home archives for more stuff.

And now - The rest of the Story

OThat's right, I don't need no DNA - I can find relatives with my blog.  Here's what happened.  About a month ago, I got an email from my blog - which I have gotten before.  Every time someone leaves a comment on one of my posts, Blogger sends me an email and a link to read the post and the comment.  This one was from my post about Susan Metzger Baldwin, and was posted in January 2013.  The comment encouraged me not to give up on this line of the family, because Susan Metzger Baldwin was also her 2nd cousin.  As it turns out, her dad is Arthur J Valleau, who I also did a post about.  I had done several posts about the Valleaus about two years ago, and they finally bore fruit.

Anyway, the comment came from Diane Tucker, and as best I can tell, she may not be related by blood.  I found her father, Arthur Valleau, living with my great aunt Mary O'Dea, who was married to Charles Valleau.  Arthur, as it turns out, is actually the son of Charles' brother George Percy Valleau.  Are you starting to remember this story?  In the 1920 census, Arthur is listed as "Nephew" in Charles and Mary's house.  In the 1930 census, he is listed as "adopted son".  Well not only did I talk to Diane, but she sent me pictures.  This is Charles Arthur Valleau, or Uncle Artie as they called him:

Next is Aunt Mary (or May as they called her).  Aunt May is my grandmother's sister - this is the family link:

And this one is their nephew/adopted son - Arthur J Valleau

Taken during WWII, where he served in the US Army Air Corps, like both of my dad's brothers.
The last I will share tonight is Arthur and his father, George Percy, when they reunited in early 1945, after being separated for 25 yrs.

Man, I love pictures, they really help.  Especially when you never knew any of these people, it's nice to put a face with the names.

Now for the rest of the story:

Diane tells me that George and his wife Bess lived in Omaha, NE and at some point George joined the Navy (I am just guessing - but maybe during WWI)  I assume he stayed in the Navy for some time because Bess moved with young Arthur to New Jersey.  While in New Jersey, she left Arthur with friends and asked them to care for him and she would be back.  She left them some money at this time, but she never returned and never sent more money.  Apparently one of George's sisters was willing to adopt Arthur, and that's when Charles and Mary stepped in.  Charles offered to adopt him, that way he would not have to change his name, and that's what happened.  Sometime between 1920 and 1930 Charles and Mary adopted Arthur.  Then somewhere around 1943, George (Arthur's father) returned after almost 26 years.  As you can see from the picture Arthur must have been on leave at the time.  George stayed with his son and daughter in law, for a few years before he died somewhere around 1950.  Next time I go to the archives, I am looking for a death certificate for George to see what more I can learn from it, and see if I can find where he is buried.

So it actually turns out to be a good story, father and son are reunited in the end.  But what ever became of Bess?  Did she meet someone else?  Did she die?  Well I'm pretty sure she has died by now, but I wonder if she died shortly after giving Arthur with her friends?  I'm going to have to work on that too.

One more thing.  I also found some evidence that maybe George remarried during his absence from Arthur.  There was a WWII Draft registration for a George Percy Valleau born in Jersey City, but living in Newport News VA and it lists a wife named "Sally".  Is this him?  Who is Sally?  In case you haven't figured it out yet, this is not the complete rest of the story.

The Suez Canal

Strange title for a post in a genealogy blog don't you think?  Well let me tell you what happened.  My wife bought me a book to read - a history book, which I love to read about.  It was written by one of my favorite authors, David McCullough.  He wrote John Adams, 1776, The Great Bridge (about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge) and the Johnstown Flood, just to name a few.  The book she got me is The Path between the Seas, which is about building the Panama Canal.  I almost bought the book myself a few years ago, but I was probably working on a different book at the time and put it off.  His new one is "The Wright Brothers", which I would like to read because my in-laws lived in the Outer Banks of North Carolina for many years and we visited Kitty Hawk quite a few times.

Anyway, we drove to Rhode Island this weekend to attend my niece's graduation from Johnson and Wales University.  My wife was driving up and I was reading my new book.  As I said the book is about the building of the Panama Canal.  The Canal was not just built in the early 1900s.  It had been talked about and studies had been done since at least 1870.  So I am only on page 25 (of 698 pages) and I came across a paragraph which is describing a celebration honoring the Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal, which opened 17 Nov 1869.  In the book, The time is summer 1870, and the place is London's Crystal Palace where a public receptions is taking place.  The passage describes different events honoring De Lesseps and one part says:  "two hundred boys from the Lambeth Industrial Schools would wave four hundred colored flares in an "Egyptian Salute" to honor the Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal."  Good thing I wasn't driving when I saw this, cause we would have gone right off the road.  This was 1870 in Lambeth, where my Great Grandmother Johanna Sullivan was living.  She was four years old at the time.  I wonder if the family had any memories of this event occurring?  I wonder if they were invited?  This is the kind of stuff I like to find, and it connects your family some a big event in history.  We're talking the Suez Canal here.  I realize that the canal does not come up in everyday conversation, but this was a big event in its time.

I realize that my ancestors had nothing to do with the Suez Canal, but they may have taken part in this great celebration, and that's good enough for me.  If you remember a few posts back, my great great grandfather Thomas A Brady may have worked on the Erie Canal.  So I guess I may descend from a bunch of ditch diggers.

Charles Cavanagh Sr and Charles Jr

Charles Cavanagh, Sr was the eldest son of Bernard Cavanagh and Catherine Bergen.  He was born in Jersey City on 28 May 1897, and baptized on 6 Jun 1897 at St. Mary's Church in Jersey City.  He was the older brother to Edward and Mary Cavanagh, and man of the house at age three when his father Bernard died.

Charles married Ellen McDowell at Our Lady of Grace Church in Hoboken, NJ on 14 Feb 1917.  He was 21 years old and she was 22.  Ellen, who everyone called "Nellie", was born and lived in Hoboken with her parents and siblings.

Next, Charles registered for the draft on 5 Jun 1917, which is only four months after getting married.  Apparently he wasn't used to the whole marriage thing because if you look at line #9, it asks if you have a father, mother, wife, child under 12 who is solely dependent on you for support.  He initially writes no, but then crosses it out and writes "Wife".  At the time of his registration, he is employed as a checker at the Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, 150 Bay Ave, Jersey City.  For those youngsters among you, the Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company is the A&P, it's a grocery store.  I like the description on the back.  He is described as tall, slender, brown eyes and red hair, with no distinguishing marks.  I don't believe he serves in WWI.

By 1920, he is living with his wife on Willow Ave in Hoboken, with two sons: Charles Jr, age 2 and Gerard, age 4 months.  He is employed as a clerk in the Steaming industry, which I'm guessing is a Steam Ship company.  In 1930 they still live on Willow Ave, but they now have a daughter Mary, but their son Charles is not listed.  They also have Nellie's brother Joseph age 19 living with them.

This is what I found in the Hudson Observer about Charles Jr in 1928, which explains why he is missing from the 1930 census:

Sadly, young Charles died falling over a fifteen foot high gate and struck his head.  Very sad story, and it makes you wonder how you could ever deal with this type of thing.

Anyway, in 1930, Charles Sr is appointed to the Hoboken Police Department, just like his brother Edward, who was appointed a Patrolman in Jersey City.  Charles serves for seven years when another newspaper article appears in Hoboken Observer:

Some vacation.  Charles dies of a heart attack on 9 Oct 1937 at the ripe old age of 40.  But if you read the article, he was very well liked by both his fellow Officers and the citizenry of Hoboken.

So Charles only lives 40 years.  His father dies when he is barely three years old.  Who knows if he even has any memories of his dad.  I know that his uncle Thomas Bergen lived his family for a time, so maybe he gave him advice and helped him along, but that can't replace his father.  Then he marries, and his brother goes off to WWI in Europe.  He has three children and endures the heartbreak of losing his oldest son at the age of 10.  After that, he becomes a Police Officer in Hoboken for seven years, and dies of a heart attack. I just realized that both he and his brother Edward was employed as Policemen during the Great Depression.  They both had jobs, but I would be willing to bet that it wasn't an easy time to be policing two large cities.

I have one more trip to make to see if I can find any more info on Charles - The Hoboken Police Department Museum.  I have to call them and see what they have there - hopefully a picture of him in uniform.

My Sullivans of London, England

My mom always said that both of her grandmothers were named Hannah Sullivan - one was Hannah and one was Johanna.  I never knew which was which, but it never seemed to matter back then.  That is until I started researching.  Now that I care, mom is no longer here to ask.

Anyway,  Johanna Sullivan was born in London, England 6 Sep 1866, to Michael Sullivan and Mary Dunn.  This is according to an old family tree that my mom's cousin had made quite a while ago, and this info was confirmed by Hannah's death certificate.  She was the oldest of four children, a sister Mary, and two brothers: Timothy and Michael.

According to my mom's cousin Florence Armstrong, Johanna's dad was a tailor to the Ladies of the Court at Buckingham Palace, and Johanna and her sister used to play on the Palace lawn.  She and her sister Mary were flower girls at the wedding of Lady Alice.  I had never heard this story until Aunt Florence told me, but I had never been able to confirm it either.  Maybe it's the Detective still in me, but if I can't confirm it, it doesn't get added to my tree.

Well, I was able to confirm a piece of it lately.  It happened mainly by mistake. I was checking on Hannah Sullivan McConville on my Ancestry app, when I noticed a shaky leaf on her brother Timothy, so I clicked on it.  This is what I saw:

This is an 1871 Census from the UK, it says:  Lambeth Parish, Ward of Princes, Parlamentary Borough of Lambeth, and over to the right is says Ecclesiatrical District St. Marys.  I don't know what all of that means, but I remember Aunt Florence saying that their church was St. Mary's, so it makes sense.   Now the first line says House # 51, but there is no street, but several pages before this is says Model Home 5 - I don't know what that means either.  But now we get to the good part:  Michael Sullivan, male age 30, occupation is Tailor (journeyman), born in Ireland, next: Mary Sullivan, female age 30, occupation is Tailoress, born in Ireland, next is Johanna, daughter, unmarried, age 4, next is Mary, daughter, age 3, and last is Timothy, son, age 1.  Actually, there may be one more.  Below them is listed Ann Hall, Visitor, female, widow, age 50, occupation Servant, born in Ireland.  I don't know if she belongs in their household or the next family.  I don't know who she is at this point anyway.  By the way, this record also says the three children were born in Surrey Lambeth.

This seems to confirm what Aunt Florence had told me about her being born in London ( I think this is close to London) and the whole Tailor part of it.  Not that I ever doubted Aunt Florence, but this was really a good find.  I think I never found it before because I always looked for Hannah, but this record says Johanna, and I found it because of her brother. No matter how I found it, now I have it.

This record doesn't mention Michael (her Brother) so I guess he wasn't born yet - after all, Timothy is only 1, and I don't see them in the 1861 Census - probably still in Ireland, or the 1881 Census - I guess the parents have died by then and the children may be in the US.

So I have a lot more research to do, but this was a big boost that let me know I am on the right track.

The Historic Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery

The Historic Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery is located at 435 Newark Ave, Jersey City, NJ.  It consists of about six acres of land and unfortunately became abandoned and neglected over the years.  However, in 2008 they created a new board of directors and it is being cleaned up and cared for by the Board and a group of dedicated volunteers.

According to their website the cemetery was formed in about 1829.  The cemetery was one of the very first Garden Style landscape cemeteries established, which revolutionized cemeteries across the nation. It was also the first cemetery companies founded in the state of New Jersey.  The cemetery is home to hundreds of Civil War Veterans, as well as, veterans of many wars.  Legend also has it the there is an underground railroad connection, which played a major role in the freedom of thousands of slaves during the Civil War. The tunnels may still exist below the cemetery's hills and hidden crypts.

Along with all of this history and buried heroes from America's wars, foreign and domestic, lies an unknown veteran of World War I, and my great uncle John McConville.  You may recall that I posted about Uncle John not too long ago.  I found that he was buried in Jersey City Cemetery mainly because he married a Methodist and the church would not allow him to be buried in Holy Name or Holy Cross.  He is buried here with his wife, my aunt Gertie.  Her name was Gertrude Rothchild McConville, with members of her family.

I had called the cemetery a few months ago to attempt to locate his grave.  After a few e mails back and forth, I got my answer:

Hi, Tom  - I have some info for you.

Both John & Gertrude McConville are buried together in Block #41, Plot #8, Grave 1.   He was 68.  She was 71 - both died of heart failure (good to know for present family members....) 

This family plot was purchased by  Mary B. Rothchild of 107 Wayne Street, JC.  Later the deed was transferred to Mrs. Mildred Strand of 117 Van Wagenen Ave. 

In  this plot are 7 persons as follows:

John and Gertrude McConville

Frank Stroud -1973 and Mildred Strand - 1993

Walter Rothchild - 1981 and Harold Rothchild - 1995

Edward Rothchild - 1982

This e mail came from Eileen Markenstein, president of the Board of Trustees. With this info in hand, I got my trusty cemetery partner, my son Tom, and off we went on an adventure to find an uncle he had never met, (and I barely remember).  We got to the cemetery and and met "Digger" who is on the grounds almost everyday.  He got out a map and showed us to the general area of Block 41, Plot #8.  I had some trouble at first, then realized that this was probably her family's plot so the main name on a headstone is probably Rothchild.

After a short walk on a nice afternoon we came upon this stone:

That name on the stone in the center is familiar, and yes right there on the left if the one I have been looking for:

I doubt that I would have ever found this stone, had it not been for Eileen Markenstein, "Digger", and the rest of the volunteers that run this cemetery.  So Thank you.  

I find that I still have one question from this venture: What is a Harsimus?

National Siblings Day April 10, 2015

I'll bet you never heard of this day, thank God for Hallmark.  It does appear to be one of those Hallmark holidays, like Grandparents Day, or "Special Persons" Day that my kids and my siblings kids always had our parents come to school on.

Actually I think I heard about National Siblings Day - probably on the last National Siblings Day - but I was reminded of it in a text from my daughter this morning.  She sent to my wife and I, and her own siblings.  I did what every modern dad does, I googled it, and found that she is right - today is the day.  When I checked on line, I found an article from the International Business Times which contained scientific facts and quotes about the sibling relationship and it was very interesting and actually made me think.

The first thing it said is that by age 11, children will devote one third of their free time to their brothers and sisters.  That is supposedly more time than they give to friends, parents or themselves.

Next is that they help teach us social skills. It makes sense that children with brothers and sisters would learn early on how to get along with other kids.  They may tend to be better at sharing that children with no siblings.  I remember growing up, that you had a better chance of seeing Haley's Comet than you did of spending time alone in our house - and that's the way I still like it.

Some of this appears to be common sense, like boy who have sisters and girls who have brothers will probably get along better with the opposite sex, and may do better in romantic relationships.

The one that I liked the best is that sibling relationships are often the longest ones of our lives.  The relationship starts and ends with life itself.  It can outlast the relationship with parents and even spouses.  There is a quote from Erica E. Goode that says "Sibling relationships-- and 80 percent of Americans have at least one -- outlast marriages, survive the death of parents, resurface after quarrels that would sink any friendship. They flourish in a thousand incarnations of closeness and distance, warmth, loyalty and distrust".

I always remember my dad telling us to take good care of each other, because some day your brothers and sisters may be the only thing you have.  That is a sentiment that I have tried to instill in my children, and I think they are very close.  I can also see it in my siblings' children.  I always remember how close my dad and his brothers and sister were, and I think it really affected him when they each passed away.  My mom too.  She had two older brothers who she was very close to, and she took their passing very hard too.

Maybe that's another reason why our family is so close, because we saw it in our parents and their families.  Even if they were not getting along at the time, you never heard about it - and you certainly wouldn't hear about it outside of the house.  We may be mad at someone in the family, but nobody outside the family could say anything bad about him/her without repercussions, and they usually didn't want to find out exactly what the "repercussions" involved, cause it may be painful.

I grew up in a house with three brothers and three sisters. We had nine people living in a house with three bedrooms and one bathroom (usually with a waiting line).  We also had one car, which was a company car that my dad was allowed to use for the family.  He got a brand new car every two or three years and it was always a station wagon- probably because this was before mini vans.  We all went to the grocery store and everyone had a place for his/her hand on the shopping cart, and we would walk across the parking lot together chanting "If one gets hit, we all get hit".  We must have been quite a sight grocery shopping. As soon as we got in the store, Dad would say "okay spread out and steal" just to drive the security guy nuts - God help you if you ever took him seriously and took something. Speaking of God, this is the same group would fill  an entire pew in church at Sunday Mass.

We had our ups and downs, and our little fights - but it never got in the way of being brothers and sisters - "All for one, and one for all".  The Seven Musketeers. Some spats lasted longer than others, but in the end you know that your brothers and sisters are there for you.  We have that sacred bond that only siblings can understand.

The Results are In - I'm Irish

Well, the results are in and I am shocked.  According to Ancestry DNA I am 69% Irish, 18% British, 8% Scandinavian, and the rest is from 3 other regions.  When you click on the "other" it says Western Asia and the Caucasus region, which I think is part of present day Russia.

Okay, so nothing terribly surprising.  Based on everything that I have found out over the last ten years or so, the only thing surprising is the Scandinavian and the whole Western Asia and Caucus region.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised about the Scandinavian part, because I always saw myself as a Viking sort, you know the helmet with the horns, conquering who ever gets in my way and taking what I want.  You know, like Hagar the Horrible.  But I guess the Vikings at one point invaded Ireland and Britain, and apparently conquered some of the women folk.

The results that you get also contain a few links to the history of the regions that your DNA is prevalent in, as well as, a map with the regions highlighted.  If you click on the region, you can read the history.  So it is pretty interesting.

Ancestry also gives you any matches that they can link you to through DNA, but is up to you to figure out how you're related.  The closest matches that they found for me are eighteen 4th cousins or closer and another twenty 5th to 8th cousins.  They call the 5th  to 8th cousins: distant cousins, funny thing is that I call anyone past a 2nd cousin a distant cousin.  I have second and third cousins that I found through ten years of research, and I am debating how to contact them with them thinking I am a stalker or some other type of deviant.  Other than a genealogist that is.  Just so you know:  Ancestry says that a person who is your fourth cousin shares a great great great grandparent with you.  So if it is your third cousin, you take away a great, fifth cousin - add a great.  I thought that was the easiest way to explain it.

So I guess the bottom line is that ancestry found more cousins for me by examining by spit in a vial, than I could find by researching for 10 years.  I guess all of my research isn't worth spit.

My DNA

A funny thing happened over the Christmas holiday.  Let me start off with my sister's annual Christmas party that used to be at her house in Scranton, PA.  We all used to go up there for a party, usually on a Saturday close to the holiday.  My brother Paul used to also host a party right around the holiday, so it was always a big family affair.

Recently my sister has been hosting the party at a local restaurant/bar (mostly bar) near my house, and everyone looks forward to getting together.  It's not just our siblings and their families, we also have cousins and their families attend.  So it's almost a family reunion type event, and always fun.

Well this year after the party, I got an e mail from ancestry.com saying that my DNA kit had been shipped. Then it said that my sister had ordered it for me.  Well, the kit got to my house in a few days, and I followed the instructions, by spitting in the vial they supply, and sent it back the next day.  Two days ago I got another e mail from ancestry.com saying that they had started processing my sample on Jan. 21, 2015.  Just so you know, I had sent the kit back before I posted my last blog on Catherine Bergen Cavanagh.

The last e mail I got from ancestry.com says that I should get results from the DNA in six to eight weeks.  They said that in the meantime, I should update my family tree on ancestry so that I can get the most out of process.  So that's what I am going to do.

I recently realized that ever since I started this blog, I have been using it almost like a tree.  I have been adding all of the info that I have gotten over the past few years to my blog, but very little of it has been put into my Family Tree Maker program.  Uh oh, I have got a lot of work to do so that my tree is up to date.

I have never been organized, and I have death certificates, birth certificates, marriage records, and obituaries in folders, envelopes and notebooks all over the place.  I have a couple of file drawers with files in them with the names of ancestors, but not all of the info I have has been placed in the appropriate folder.  So I need to sort out a bunch of stuff.  Unfortunately the only organized child I have is now married and out of the house.  Man I miss that kid.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that over the next few weeks I am going to be doing more organizing than researching, and I really like researching more that organizing.  But I guess the good news is that when I am organizing, I will (hopefully) find some good stuff that I forgot I had.  It actually happens to me more often than not.  If I find anything interesting I will write about it, but if I don't, I don't know when my next post will be.

I am sure that over the next few weeks I will dig up some blog fodder right here in my own Archives. When I do, you will be the first to know.  Then when my DNA results come back, I hope to bury you in newly found ancestors and cousins.

Back to Kate Bergen Cavanagh's Family

I know it has been over a month since my last post, but I really haven't done much research lately, and we just came home from Preston Hollow, NY in the Catskill Mountains on New Years Day.  If you remember last year, I blogged from Rangley, Maine, so this year was almost like going south for the Christmas vacation.

Just like the Maine trip blog post, I found out more about Kate Bergen-Cavanagh's decendants.  Kate was my Great Grandfather William Bergen's sister, and she married Bernard Cavanagh, and had three children: Charles, Edward and Mary.  I don't think Edward or Mary ever married, but Charles did.  Charles married Ellen McDowell on 14 Feb 1917 (Valentine's Day) at Our Lady of Grace Church in Hoboken, NJ.  Ellen's parents were listed as David McDowell and Margaret Coleman, and she is 22 years old.  Charles is 23 years old, he was born on 28 May 1897, and his occupation is listed as machinist.  The witnesses listed are difficult to read, but appear to be Thomas Broderick and Carrie Flanagan.

I just want you to know that the marriage certificate is the only document that I have seen that lists Ellen's first name as Ellen, the census records that I have found and Charles' death certificate list her as Nellie.  Now that I look at it, Nellie is almost an anagram of Ellen, but it has an extra letter.  Just thought I'd throw that in.  Anyway, from what I can tell from Census records, Charles and Nellie have three children, Charles, Gerard, and  (wait for it) Mary.  It looks like Charles is born in 1918, Gerard in 1919 and Mary in about 1927.  It appears that young Charles dies in 1928 at the age of 10.  I haven't researched it a lot yet, but I know he is buried in Holy Name Cemetery.  The elder Charles dies on 9 Oct 1937 of syncope due to cardiac disease, probably myocardial infarction.  Now get this, I have had this death certificate for months and never read it completely.  I just saw here that Charles' occupation is listed as Policeman - City of Hoboken.  Remember that his brother Edward Cavanagh was a Policeman in Jersey City.  The two cities are right next to each other, and I wonder if they ever met up with each other on calls when they were working.  I know that when my brother Ed worked in Asbury Park for two years, we only met up once or twice while working.

Now on to what may be a lead to living cousins.  In the Social Security Death Index, I found a Gerard B. Cavanagh, who passed away 23 Jun 1983 in Rumson, NJ.  I googled "Gerard Cavanagh 1919 - 1983" and I got a hit on distantcousin.com, and it gave me a picture of his headstone in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Middletown, NJ, also on the stone is his wife Florence W. Cavanagh.  A little more research on ancestry.com gives some public record hits with an address at 26 Maplewood Dr. Middletown.  Then I hit the mother lode.  I went to the library and checked microfilm for the Asbury Park Press for June of 1983 to look for an obit. (By the way, Middletown is about 15 minutes from my house) and there it was. The Asbury Park Press24 June 1983 page A21, column 3.  Gerard B Cavanagh, age 63, manager of the Lobsterman's Restaurant, Route36 Middletown died at Riverview Hospital Red Bank. He had lived on Lafayette Street, Rumson. Born in Hoboken, moved to Middletown 18 years ago.  Veteran of the US Army Air Corps of WWII, communicant of Holy Cross Church in Rumson, member of the VFW Waterfront Post, Hoboken. He is survived by his wife, Florence Walker Cavanagh, three daughters: Mary Ellen Cotter, Rumson, Kathleen Maccagnano, Union City, and Janice Cavanagh, Rumson, and one grandson.  The funniest part is that the John E. Day Funeral Home Red Bank is in charge of the arrangements.  I used to work there as a pall bearer, but that was not until about 1994.