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.