I am going back to Susquehanna, Pa for tonight’s story. This is about Michael Reilly, brother of my great grandmother, Mary Jane Reilly O’Dea. Michael was born 21 Sep 1864 in Susquehanna, Pa to Michael Reilly and Mary (AKA Bridget) Kelly.
As I was researching him, I realized that I was collecting information without adding it to my tree, because I wasn’t certain that the info was for the right Michael Reilly. This is due to the last name being spelled differently on different documents. The other thing is that his mothers name in his sister’s death certificate is Bridget Kelly, but in all the census records (and his death certificates, as I would learn in the very end) she is listed as Mary Kelly.
One certainty that I found was the 1870 Census finds 6 year old Michael living in Susquehanna Depot with his father, Michael, a farmer, his mother (listed as Mary) keeping house, his brother Thomas age 18, sister Mary, age 15, and brother James, age 11.
The only other certainty was the 1880 Census, the family lives in Oakland, and the family consists of Michael (father), Mary (wife), and three sons, Thomas, James, and Michael, all listed as farm labor. In 1890, as we all know by now, there is no census record available. By 1900, Mary (wife) has passed away. Thomas lives in Susquehanna Depot and he is listed as a Hotel Keeper on Front Street and lives with his wife Mary, and their five children, as well as, his widowed father Michael. I cannot find James or Michael in the 1900 census. Mary is married and living in Newark, NJ.
This is where things get interesting. While hunting around on ancestry.com I came across two other family trees which have my Reilly family with more information. On both trees, there are articles about a Michael Riley shooting his wife, Coloma, then shooting himself, in Binghamton, NY. Coloma survives a serious wound after spending time in the hospital, but Michael is successful with his suicide. He is buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Dickinson, NY.
There are different newspaper articles about how a week prior to the shooting, Michael gets a gun permit from a local Judge Hart, telling the Judge he intends to return to Susquehanna for a vacation and to "do some shooting". This is one of the few things that makes me think that this is my Michael Reilly. But who is Coloma? I have still not found a marriage record. Plus, I still have that pesky spelling issue, which will not be resolved anytime soon.
When I go back and start looking again, I searched for Michael and Coloma Reilly. This time I found them on W. Main St in Lanesboro. It says they have been married for five years and he is a teamster, drawing coal (I assume for the railroad). It also says they have a three year old son, Francis. Now we're getting somewhere. Now I find a birth certificate for Francis from 6 Aug 1906. Unfortunately, the next document I find is a death certificate for young Francis, who dies in Lanesboro 31 Dec 1911. I cannot read the cause of death, it says "Chloroform ?????, due to weak heart". Over to the side in blue pencil it has the word "Adenoids". It looks like he was having surgery for his tonsils/adenoids and the chloroform was too much for his heart. It is a sad time in the Reilly household this holiday season.
That is about all of the official documents that I can find, and I still cannot be sure that this is my Michael Reilly. Michael Reilly is a pretty common name and I'm pretty sure there is more than one in this area, heck, there are two in this family alone.
On newspapers.com I found another article in the Press and Sun Bulletin in Binghamton.
This article is 16 Mar 1916, and says that Michael lost his job as a butcher, because he drank too much the night before. He pleads guilty to the intoxication charge and asked to Judge to free him so he can go to the job he just got as a butcher. By the way, this is the same Judge who will issue his gun permit next year. The Judge decides to call the butcher shop to verify his story. He was told that Reilly was fired when he did not report to work early this morning, the butcher had already hired someone to take his place. He was sentenced to a $5.00 fine or five days in jail.
Still unable to verify my relationship, I returned to Susquehanna Historical Society to see if they had anything there. They did not, but did have a suggestion that I go to Binghamton, NY and get the death certificate.
The ride to Binghamton was another 30-40 minutes but it was worth it. The staff was very helpful and I was able to get a death certificate for Michael Reilly and he is MY Michael Reilly. The parents names and his birthdate are correct, and the informant is listed as Thomas J Reilly, who I know to be his brother.
It also lists his occupation as butcher, says his place of death is on way to city Hospital, lists cause of death as gun shot wound to the head, and - wait for it - spells the last name right.
I was was happy to be able to get the proof that I needed, but it was also a sad story. Unfortunately, we see stories like this in the news today far too often. It goes to show that this is, unfortunately, not a new phenomenon. It has been happening for years, but it wasn’t talked about like it is today.
Just so you know, Coloma survived her wound, and went on to live in Binghamton as a shoe worker. On 30 June 1934 she married Albert F. Duren, Sr in New Milford, Pa. On 23 Sep 1936 she dies in Montour, PA and is buried in Lanesboro Cemetery, Lanesboro PA with her son Francis.
