James O’Dea 1822 - 1890

 Today I’m going to tell you about a new record that I found on ancestry.com for my 2nd Great Grandfather, James O’Dea in Broome County, New York.  Before I start, I have to tell you that I have searched for records about James O’Dea on numerous occasions over the years, and this is the first time that I have seen a record of his will.  The will is in the collection titled: New York, U.S.,  Wills and Probate Records 1659-1999.  This collection was last updated 8/23/2021.

I was quite surprised to see his name, so I searched that collection for other ancestors whom I know died in Broome County, NY during that time frame. I found no other probate records …. YET.

Here is the first page:

This is basically the cover page, there are two more pages on ancestry.com, but posting them would take too much space.  So I will tell you that it is probated on 26 Oct 1891, and is signed with an X (his mark) meaning that he was probably illiterate..  The will was written and witnessed on 8 Sep 1891. Honora O’Dea (his wife) and William O’Dea (his son) are the executors.

Without going too crazy, he gives his farm in Sandford, along with two tracts of state land that he owns, to his two sons: William and James, his wife will be the general manager during her life with use of the land and house.  His sons are to pay his daughter (their sister) Catherine $100.00 each over the next few years (I’m tguessing that this is buying her out ) she is married and living in Buffalo, NY. The other daughter, Mary (Sterling) and other two sons, Michael and Daniel are not mentioned in the will.  All three are married with families, and living in Jersey City, NJ.  I have no way of knowing for sure, but William and James stayed on the farm their whole lives, and Honora needed to be taken care of by her sons.  So that makes sense.  I still wonder why Michael, Daniel, and Mary were left out.  Maybe it was a family decision that they talked over beforehand, I guess I’ll never know.

 

Timothy Sullivan 1869 - 1909

Last time I wrote about my Sullivans in England, I was looking for my great grandmother’s siblings.  Hanna was in the US already living with family there (George and Ellen Wharton to be specific).  I told you that I found Mary Ann and Michael living with Maurice and Catherine O’Brien in Vauxhall, and Timothy living in St. Vincent’s Home in Paddington, London.

I started digging into Timothy’s life, and I found a marriage license application in Cleveland, Ohio, USA on 12 Jan 1904.  Timothy S Sullivan, age 34, born in England to Michael Sullivan and Mary Dunn, works as a bartender.  He is marrying Minnie Springer, age 21, born in Ohio, and works as a restaurant keeper.  Here is the document:

This certainly looks like my Timothy Sullivan, and it also looks like he just married his boss?  So now I had to resubscribe to genealogybank.com, so, I could check the Cleveland Plain Dealer for newspaper articles.  

The first one I found just listed recent marriages license applications, then I found this:

This was interesting.  I don’t know how long Tim had known MRS York, or why she was so enamored with him, but this is only six months after he was married.  About five years later, I found this article:

The last entry lists the death of Timothy Sullivan, on 8 Feb 1909.  A little more digging, finds an entry in findagrave.com.  Whoever created the memorial added Tim’s death certificate:

His date of birth is listed as 20 Dec 1869 in England, marital status is married, parents names are listed as Michael Sullivan and Mary Ann Dunn, cause of death is pulmonary phthisis, AKA tuberculosis, and the informant is listed as his wife, Minnie Sullivan.  He is buried in Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland.

The reason I told you that the informant is listed as Minnie Sullivan, his wife, is because 17 days after he dies, Minnie remarries.  On 25 Feb 1909, Minnie marries a man named Charles Addis in Cleveland.  This marriage lasts about twice as long as her marriage to Tim, and ends with her death 10 Oct 1920.  I did not find an obit or a death certificate, but there is a memorial on Findagrave.com.  She is buried in the same cemetery as Tim.

The Mystery of my Sullivans in England

I have previously posted about my great grandmother, Hannah Sullivan McConville.  She was born in Lambeth, Surrey, England in 1866 to Michael Sullivan and Mary Dunn.  She is counted in the 1871 Census in Lambeth, and has a sister Mary Ann born in 1868, a brother Timothy born in 1870, and shortly after the census another brother, Michael is born in about 1872.  

Thanks to my Aunt Florence, I learned that both parents passed away sometime between 1872 and the next census in 1881.  Supposedly, Hannah and Mary Ann were sent to Brooklyn, NY to live with cousins George and Ellen Wharton to be nannies for their children.  My problem is that I only find Hannah living with the Whartons in Brooklyn in the US Federal Census for 1880.  So where are Mary Ann, and her two brothers.  

Admittedly, I had only really searched for Mary Ann because Aunt Florence said she had married and died young - in 1894.  Family legend has it that she married "poorly" and was buried in a potters field.  That is until Hannah and her husband, Edward McConville, raised enough  money to give her a proper burial in Holy Cross Cemetery, in Brooklyn.  I could never find a burial for her there, because I don't know her married name.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to search for Timothy and Michael.  It only took me about 20 years to come up with this plan of action, so here is what I found.  I started with the 1881 England Census and I found a family in the municipal ward of Vauxhall, in the Borough of Lambeth.  It is the family of Maurice O'Brien and his wife Catherine.  Maurice is a blacksmith age 50 born in Ireland and Catherine is 47 and born in Ireland.  They have three daughters, all born in Surrey: Mary A is 19 listed as an Ironer, Catherine is 16 with servant scratched out as occupation, and Johanna age 9 is a Scholar (in school).  Next on the list of household members is Mary A Sullivan, age 13 listed as niece, and a scholar, and lastly is Michael, age 9 listed as nephew, and also a scholar.  The ages fit, so if they are my Sullivans, that means that Catherine's maiden name is Sullivan or Dunn.  The other issue is this: if Mary A and Michael are my Sullivans, where is Timothy?  I may have the answer for that.

I started looking for Timothy in the 1881 England Census and came across a Timothy Sullivan, age 11, listed as "inmate" at St. Vincent's Home in Paddington, London.  I was surprised to find him in St. Vincent's Home, so I Googled it.  Turns out the name is St. Vincent's Home for Roman Catholic Boys and it was started in about 1859, and managed by some  members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.  Quoting from the website: "The Home received Roman Catholic boys who were orphans and who were either destitute or in danger to their faith or morals."  Initially the Home could accommodate 20 boys, but as demand grew this was increased to 30 and then a wing was added to bring the capacity to 40. The other question is if Mary Ann and Michael are with family, why is Timothy in a home for orphaned Catholic boys?  

So, I think there is a good chance that these are my great grandmother's siblings, but I can't be absolutely certain at this point.  I still have some work to do on this.