The Bradys

I have been reminded that it is actually my father's family who adorns headstones with a single word.  They would be Brady, O'Dea, Sterling, Reilly, Bradley, Convey, etc... (if there is a marker at all).  My mother's family usually marks the graves with headstones that includes first names and dates which cover most of the residents.  Why didn't dad's family do that?  I don't know, maybe they didn't have the money, maybe they thought the money was better spent on the living, or maybe they just figured that the surname covered the residents well enough.  Whatever their reasoning, I doubt that it was some devious plot to drive me crazy a hundred years later, but I could be wrong.  Actually I don't even know where my great grandfather James E. Brady is buried, I have his death certificate and know that he died 4 Aug 1914 in Gordon Pa.   The death certificates says that he died of myocardial degeneration, he was treated by Dr. Thomas McCutcheon of Gordon PA, and "Place of Burial or Removal" is listed as Ashland, PA.  So I think I have it narrowed down to somewhere in Pennsylvania.

Let me tell you a little about James E Brady.  He was born in South Butler Twp, Schuylkill County, PA on 15 Oct 1859 (this is actually 100 years to the day before my wife Katrina was born). He was the third child born to Thomas A Brady and Bridget Convey, he had two older brothers, John, born in 1854 and Michael born in 1858.  William F. would follow on 6 Sep 1862, then Mary G. in 1866 and Bridget in 1869, and lastly (that I know of) Andrew in 1870.  If you check the 1900 census, there is a column asking how many children by this mother? Bridget lists 11, the next question if how many are living and the answer is 6.   Suffice it to say that James is from a large family.

On 10 Nov 1890, he marries Madge Bradley, who was born in Schuylkill County, PA 15 Nov 1867, and James is employed as a fireman (I think on the railroad).  They live in Gordon and Madge gives birth to their only child (my grandfather) Thomas, on 27 Aug 1891.  Unfortunately their time together was not to be a long one.  Madge Bradley dies in February 1892, I don't know the exact date because death certificates were not required in Pa at the time of her death.  My sister Pat and my cousin Linda told me that Madge died in childbirth and that family legend had it that James had our grandfather Thomas live with James' younger brother, William, who was a Doctor and married with children of his own in Scranton, PA.  (William is a whole other story for another blog post).

I'll tell you how I found out about Madge's death.  I was on the website for the Pottsville Free Public Library.  Pottsville is a city in Schuylkill County, and is the county seat, so I went to that library to see what genealogical info that might have.  While on the site, there was a section for Obits in the Pottsville Republican, between 1884 to 1894.  So I went to that page, and found an index list that listed Brady, Mrs James 2-18-1892, (the date of the newspaper) 4-4(which means page 4, column 4).  Now in order to view the obit, you have to go to the  Pottsville Free Public Library and check the microfilm.  Road Trip!!

This is the obit from the Pottsville Republican, it was on the page which had news from Minersville.  So I went to Minersville, PA that day and walked through the cemetery at St. Vincent de Paul, and could not find her grave.  I went into the church and asked for help in finding the grave, but they could not help.  They suggested that I sent a letter with the info that I had and they would check the records in their archives for me.  Oh yeah, there was a genealogy fee of $20.00.  So I went to the car and wrote everything down and returned with a $20.00 bill.  I later got a letter saying that they could not find her in their records.   So I got no additional information and no refund.  Man these Bradys are hard to find, even when you find where they are buried, you still can't find them.

While writing this post, I have been inspired to create a most wanted list.  Being a retired Police Detective, I naturally think of wanted posters (but I have no mugshot to put on the poster).  So stay tuned for my Most Wanted Ancestor List.

Calvary Cemetery and Mt Olivet Cemetery in Queens, NY

On 1/5/2012, I decided to follow my own advice and check on cemetery records sooner than later.  With that in mind, I called Calvary Cemetery in Woodside Queens, NY to check on the final resting place of my Great Great Grandmother Catherine McPartland McConville, who died in Brooklyn 1913.  When I gave this information to the clerk that I spoke to, I was told that she needed an exact date of burial, which I did not have.  So I told her about Catherine's son, Peter McConville who died July 30, 1948 and is buried in the same cemetery.  She put me on hold for about five minutes and returned by giving me the location of his grave in the cemetery as: Section 4B, Range 30, Plot D, grave 6.  When I asked about Catherine, who is buried in the same plot, I was told that I had to write to them requesting the information and enclosing a fee of $115.00 for the info.  That was pretty much the end of the conversation.

The next day I called back, figuring that I would get info on when they had someone on the property to show me where the plot it, preferably on the weekend.  I spoke with a very nice woman who asked for the plot number.  When I gave it to her, she said that the plot is in Old Calvary or First Calvary, which is located in Long Island City, but the office is in Woodside.  The she looked up the plot and told me that it was purchased by Catherine McConville in 1907.  I casually said " then I guess that someone I am looking for who died in 1894 isn't gonna be there".  That's when she said well actually she bought a different plot in 1894, and two people were buried there.  They were removed to this plot in 1907.  The old plot # Section 5, G6 was never resold, there may have been some type of problem with it.  Then I told her I was looking for Maryann Sullivan buried in 1894, and she offered to look up one of the 1894 burials.  She put me on hold, and came back a few minutes later saying "I don't think I solved your problem, but I may give you another one".  The two people buried in 1894 were babies: James McConnell (McConville) who was just four days old and the mystery was Jenny Milford, who was just one day old, now for the strange part - they were both buried on 24 Sep 1894.

So I called my ace in the hole, Aunt Florence, and told her about the babies and asked if the Milford name sounded familiar  She immediately said "Well, there was an Olive Milford who was a cousin, I think  There were also cousins named Dawson."  She also said that the Milford's had a son who was a fireman in New York, I don't know if it was FDNY or not.  She said that if may have been her grandfather's sister who married a Milford.

So now I know four of the seven occupants of this plot: Catherine McConville, Peter McConville, Jr, James McConville and Jenny Milford, hopefully I can find info on the remaining three.

So last night I am on Ancestry.com checking on Catherine McConville, and I found three census records that I had never seen before.  All of the records are from Brooklyn, NY and the 1870 census has Catherine and her husband, Peter, children Edward (my Great Grandfather) age 11, John age 9, Mary Emma age 5, and William age 9/12, with a notation that he was born in NY in Sep 1869.  Everyone else was born in England, and I think William is actually Peter Jr, but I don't know why he is listed as Willilam.  In 1880, Catherine is widowed, Edward is a cooper, John is a cork cutter, Mary Emma is a book binder, and Peter (not William) is at school.  There is also a boarder named Elijah Cash, who is a book binder.  In 1900, John and Peter are living with Catherine.  John and Peter are both foreman at the Cooper Works.  The interesting part is the family listed right before Catherine and her sons.  They are the Milfords: Robert, his wife Mary, children Mary, Elizabeth and Robert. I wonder if this could be the parents of Jenny Milford.

Today I called Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Maspeth, Long Island to check on the final resting place of Mary Emma McConville, who was buried in 1924.  The cemetery had no record of her.  Then I called back and told the lady that I think Mary Emma married and her last name could be Milford.  That did it.  Lot 4161, Section F is the location of the Milford family burial plot.  Grave 1 is occupied by William and Elizabeth Dawson Grave 2 contains Mary Emma  Barth and Frederick Barth. Grave 3 Robert J and Mary E Milford, and Grave 4 Olive Shields (Milford ?) and Elaine Shields.  I think I hit the jackpot, and it hasn't cost me yet.

One last thing before I stop.   I was checking some census records and I found one from 1910 for Catherine  McPartland McConville and while looking at it, I can see the questions about children.   It asks how many children born to this woman and how many are now living.  Catherine had 11 children and four of them were living.  I called my daughter Chrissy, who was the only one home at the time, because I had to tell someone about this amazing fact.  Chrissy came in the room and when I started to tell her, she says to me "Daddy, I was calling you,and you didn't hear me. I'm alive and you're paying more attention to a dead person than you are to me."  I have to work on that slight defect.

Happy New Year

Last time I wrote, I was talking about cemeteries and the information that they may contain, not necessarily on the headstone in my case, but sometimes.  I was complaining about the fact that all of the headstones that I usually hunt down are emblazoned with one word epitaphs, either "BRADY", or "O'DEA", or "STERLING",  etc...  Well, that is not entirely true.  My best find was the grave of my Great Great Grandfather James O'Dea in St. John's Cemetery in Susquehanna, PA.

James O'Dea is the father of my Great Grandfather Michael O'Dea and his sister, Mary (O'Dea) Sterling, as well as other children.  They lived in Sanford, Broome County, NY, which is located just across the Susquehanna River from - Yes you guessed it - Susquehanna PA.

At the time, I was trying to find information on my O'Dea family in Sanford, so I called Town Hall and spoke with a very nice lady, whose name escapes me, and I asked her if there was any information at Town Hall about my ancestors James and Honorah O'Dea.  She asked me to hold on while she checked.  Then she came back to the phone and says to me "I'm sorry, but the only thing I have here is their death certificates."  I was shocked - I never expected that answer.  She said that Honorah died 31 Mar 1900, and that James died 24 Jun 1920.  James living until 1920 astonished me, cause I was figuring that he was born somewhere around 1830, which would mean that he lived until he was about 90.

So I sent the required fee, and received two death certificates in the mail.  The first was for Honorah, and listed her date of birth as unknown (however, where it says age, the listing is very specific by stating 67 yrs. 10 mos. and 4 days ) born in Ireland, born to Peter McGuan and Mary McGuan, and died 31 Mar 1900 from apoplexy softening of the brain (which I think means that she died of a stroke).  It also indicates that she is buried in Susquehanna PA.  The question I have is this: If they can tell me her age right down to the day, how come they do not know her date of birth? Go figure.

The second death certificate was for James P. O'Dea born 29 Aug 1862 to James O'Dea and Honorah McGuan, and died 24 Jun 1920 in Sanford.  His occupation is listed as farmer, and cause of death was arterial sclerosis (Cerebral Hemmorage). He is also buried in Susquehanna PA.  So this James P. O'Dea is not my Great Great Grandfather, he is actually the son of my Great Great Grandparents James and Honorah O'Dea.

Then I called Susquehanna PA and asked Town Hall about cemeteries and if there was a way to determine which cemetery they may be buried in.  I was told to call the Susquehanna Historical Society because they have a computer database of most burials in the cemeteries of Susquehanna.  I contacted them and inquired about their database.  Once again the checkbook had to be consulted for a genealogy fee, and $10.00 later I received a copy of the O'Deas in their database.  The list said that they were buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Susquehanna.  (Man, that is a long word to have to keep spelling out).  My next step, which is my Standard Operating Procedure in all leads that send me to PA, was to call my sister Teesh in Scranton and ask her when a good time to visit her would be.  I received her standard answer "anytime you want".  Teesh and her husband Gary have an open door policy, and are always willing to have me (and my wife, five children and 120 lb. golden retreiver) stay with them.  God love them. Genealogy trips are usually solo. (At the insistence of my wife, five children, and 120 lb. golden retriever.) 

So in early October 2011, I drove to Scranton and dragged my sister Teesh (it is short for Patricia, and would take another blog to explain) north on 81 to Susquehanna PA and Sanford NY.  When we get to Susquehanna, we began asking where Laurel Hill Cemetery was located (nothing like preparing for your trip) and everyone we spoke with said there was a cemetery near Laurel Hill Rd, but it was not named Laurel Hill, it was St. John's and was maintained by - wow, you're getting good at this - St. John's Church.  There were also other small cemeteries in the area, but we decided to concentrate on St. John's.  We drove to St. John's cemetery and started walking through the rows of headstones, looking for a small stone, probably worn by acid rain to the point of being illegible, and found nothing.  We looked for a good hour and a half, and this is not a huge cemetery like Holy Name in Jersey City or Holy Sepulcher in East Orange.  I was near the  point of surrender and actually wondering if we had the right cemetery, when Teesh found a foot stone with an O'Dea name on it (I'm not sure if we are related or not, but it was on the list from the historical society and listed as being in Laurel Hill)  So my energy was renewed when I realized that we were in the right cemetery, and I decided to press on.  Within a half hour I found what we were looking for, but it was not  what I had been looking for.  Instead of a worn out headstone that read "O'DEA" in letters that I could barely read, I stood staring at a twelve foot high monument with a lot of information.

No wonder I didn't see it, I was looking down for a smaller stone the whole time.  In case you can't read it, the stone tells when and where he was  born and died, and that he is buried with his first wife, Catherine, and his second wife, Honorah.  I had no idea that he was married twice.  When I checked that date of Catherine's death, it coincides pretty much with the birth of my Great Grandfather Michael's brother Daniel.  So once again I will guess that she died from complications of childbirth, but remember I have been wrong before.

Before I go, I have one more thing to say.  On Sunday January 1 2012, I was speaking with a friend who is very interested in tracing her family tree.  She is also from Jersey City, NJ and has relatives buried in Holy Name Cemetery.  She told me that she took a ride to Jersey City with her husband and they went to Holy Name to check her family plot.  She found that there are more people buried there than she thought.  Some of whom she is not familiar with.  So she went to the office to ask for further information on the residents of the plot and dates of burial.  She was told that they could not release any information without payment of a genealogy fee of $25.00 for the first person inquired about, and $15.00 for each additional person.  Apparently a  large company has taken over management of the cemetery and has put these fees in place.
So, be warned.  Get your cemetery information from your ancestors' burial places before this practice catches on.

Cemeteries

Well here I go walking back into a cemetery.  Last weekend, my friend George and I went to East Orange, to Holy Sepulcher cemetery, which is a huge Catholic Cemetery located between exit 144 and 145 on the Garden State Parkway.  When you live in New Jersey, you describe the area where you live by exit number on the GSP, I live off of exit 98.  Anyway, Holy Sepulcher is a huge cemetery and the GSP goes right up the middle of it, you can't miss it from the Parkway.  So all George has is a section and plot number and there is nobody working at the cemetery to give us any help in finding the grave.  When you drive into the cemetery,  you see headstones as far as the eye can see, except of course for the Garden State Parkway running past you.

We looked for an hour in the section where the grave was listed and I headed to the car, because it was getting a little chilly.  George wanted to look down one more row, so I drove the car to where we would finish, and parked there and got out and started looking again.  Then George calls me saying that he found it.  This was George's great grandfather, and he was a Polish immigrant who died in 1922 and I cannot begin to try to spell the name we were looking for.  But George found the headstone, and get this, it was home made.  Yeah, you read it right, it was home made.  The headstone was a big thick poured concrete block.  It looks like whoever made it used pipes for a mold or like re-bar to hold it together.  And the top had a rusty pipe sticking up, maybe it had been fashioned like a cross and had rusted away over the years.  But the writing on the front with the deceased's name looked like it was written with a stick in almost dry cement.  Like when you were a kid and someone poured a sidewalk or patio, and you would put your hand print there when it was almost dry.  It was very interesting, not to mention difficult to read, because it was also written in Polish.  It looks like whoever created the headstone poured the block graveside, because I don't know how they would have gotten it here from another location.  It looks a lot heavier than anything that I'd care to try to move. So George took pictures and will try to get a translation of the writings.

Here is a not so good photo of George's Great Grandfather's headstone, I inadvertently cut out the remnants of the cross on top.  If you look real  close you can see that someone took the time to scratch in a cross and the letters "S" and "P" on either side of the cross.  This has some meaning, but I don't know what it is.  Then they scratched in his name, and death date (written in Polish) along with two Polish words, which are probably religious, but again, I'm not sure.  But it is unique.  I wish I had gotten a photo of the grave to the left, it is also a poured form with small stones stuck in the front for decoration.

After that I realized that nothing could top that find, but we moved on to Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, NJ because I wanted to see the grave of the aforementioned Sterlings - John and Mary, and their daughter Mary Sheehan and her husband Michael Sheehan, John and Mary's other daughter Catherine and I think their son, John (Augustus).  Well it was only about 15 minutes to a half hour away from East Orange and this cemetery is also huge and Catholic.  Holy Cross is very active, we saw about six burials were taking place that day and there was actually a lot of traffic in there, by contrast Holy Sepulcher was bigger, but we only saw a few cars there.

We went to the Office and they give you a little map to the plot you are looking for.  So off we go to see the headstone for all of these ancestors buried together.  We are walking through the section looking for the headstone, and what I found was not surprising.  All it said was "STERLING", nothing more, nothing less.I was kind of expecting to see a list of names, maybe birth or death dates, but no, that was it.  No home made headstone with a cross made of pipe, no name and date and foreign sayings that need translation.  No not for me today - just "STERLING".  It was really kind of a let down, although I wasn't surprised.  Every BRADY headstone I tracked down in cemeteries across Pennsylvania had the same prize after all of my searching - "BRADY".  Oh well.

Black Friday

I know this is gonna sound nuts, but do you know what Black Friday (the Friday after Thanksgiving) means to a genealogist?  Well, I'll tell you.  I am employed by the county and we traded having the day off on Lincoln's Birthday and working on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  So now we have a four day weekend for Thanksgiving, and I have to work on Lincoln's Birthday.  As a patriotic American, I would rather have traded a different holiday and celebrated Lincoln, but it is nice to have the four day weekend.  In New Jersey with the latest budget problems, State employees are now required to work on black Friday, in the past they got the day off as an extra perk from the state.   So this means that the State Archives is open on that day and I am off,  YAHOO.

So I spent Friday at the Archives in Trenton and looked into Mary and John Sterling and Maggie Keogh, their daughter.  I found Maggie's death certificate and found that she died of "Acute Miliary Tuberculosis" on 17 June 1900.  I don't know if that has anything to do with childbirth but I know it has nothing to do with the military.  I still don't know what happened to Thomas, but I still think he just allowed his in-laws to raise his daughter.

Now Mary and John had another daughter named Minnie, I think.  I find her listed as Minnie when she is Godmother to William Martin O'Dea (Big Mike and Mary O'Dea's son) and when I found Minnie's wedding to Michael Sheehan, who was a Jersey City Police Officer, retired as a Sergeant.  Minnie's death certificate lists her name as Mary Sheehan, born 10 Nov 1874, and she died 5 June 1936.  So her given name is Mary, but they call her Minnie.  Sounds like she was her mother's Mini Me (like Austin Powers).  Michael Sheehan was born 30 May 1868, his father is listed as Thomas Sheehan, mother is unknown.  He was born in Vermont, his father was born in the US and his mother was born in Ireland.  Michael was a Jersey City Police Officer, retired and died at  of 70 heart disease, contributory  condition was pulmonary edema.  Minnie died of carcinoma of the bladder, she suffered from this condition for six months and was 61 years old when she died.

I am still working on the other children, Katherine, who apparently never married.  I think that Katherine is the one that my cousin Linda says that they called Aunt Kit.  There was also a son, Augustus, however, I think  his name was John A(ugustus) Sterling and they called him Gus (so he is not confused with John, his father).

Now back to Mary O'Dea Sterling and John Sterling.  Mary O'Dea's death certificate says that she was born 23 Dec 1854 in New York State to James O'Dea and Honora McGuan O'Dea.  She died on 19 Jan 1942 of  generalized arterial sclerosis and she was diabetic.  John Sterling's death certificate says that he was born 6 Jun 1849 (this would make him considerably younger and closer in age to his wife than the census records say).  He was born in Ireland to John Sterling and Susan Cunningham.  He died of arterial sclerosis on 2 Apr 1931 at age 81.  His wife's name is listed as Margaret O'Dea.  At the bottom of the form there is a line for the informant's signature and it is sign Mrs. Margaret O'Dea, and they live at 162 Carteret Ave Jersey City, NJ. This is the same address listed on the death certificates for Michael and Mary Sheehan.  QUESTION:  Is Mrs. Margaret O'Dea the same person as Mary Sterling using her maiden name or is there another Margaret O'Dea - which would not surprise me.

One more thing: The informant on the death certificates for Michael and Mary Sheehan is listed as Mrs. L Pallander, who is also listed as living at 162 Carteret Ave. Jersey City, NJ.  Who is she?  It seems that the more I learn, the more I learn that I know very little.  Judging by names on census records and death certificates, I'm not real sure what anyone's real name is and which is a middle name or nickname that they are called by family.  I am slowly becoming more confused than when I started.

Be sure to tune into the next episode when I find out my real name.

Mary O'Dea Sterling

I just want to finish what I have found about my Great Grand Father's sister, Mary, who married John Sterling at the tender age of 15 or 16.  Mary and John have five children: Margaret, Minnie, Katie, Susan, and Augustus (Gus) and they all live in Jersey City, NJ on Whiton St.  They are listed in the 1900 US Census right below Michael and Mary O'Dea (our great grandparents) and their children, which makes them neighbors.  Michael is an electrician and John is a day laborer, both for the railroad I think.  In 1900 John and Mary Sterling's oldest daughter, Margaret is married to Thomas Keough and they have a daughter Ellen born in May of 1900, all living with John and Mary Sterling.  (I have to keep adding the last name because there are so many John and Marys that it gets confusing).

Now here is the mystery that I am trying to solve.  John and Mary had a daughter, Margaret (Maggie) in May of 1872, according to the 1900 US Census.  On 8 Feb 1899 she married a man named Thomas Keogh (also spelled Kehoe and Keough depending on who is writing it) in Jersey City.  In the 1900 US Census for Jersey City Thomas and Maggie are listed as living with John and Mary Sterling 220 Whiton St, and Thomas and Maggie have a daughter, Ellen, born in March of 1900.  In the next two census records (1920 and 1930) Thomas and Maggie are missing, but Ellen is living with John and Mary Sterling.  Where were Margaret and Thomas and why would they leave their child?  I have checked for death certificates at the State Archives for Maggie and Thomas and find none (I thought they were killed in some type of accident).

Well, I have an update,  between the time I started this post on Friday and now, I have solved part of the mystery.  I started calling cemeteries in Jersey City to see if Maggie and Thomas were buried there between 1900 and 1910 (Because 1910 is the next census, and they are not in it)  I called Holy Name in Jersey City, Holy Cross in N Arlington, because those are the two Catholic favorites and gave them two spellings of K-E-O-U-G-H and K-E-H-O-E, and they did not have any listed.  Later I saw the spelling of K-E-O-G-H, and called back to Holy Name in Jersey City.  The guy told me that they had a Margaret Keogh, buried 19 Jun 1900 and and she was 28 years old, which fits.  I asked about Thomas and he checked and said that Thomas owns the plot, but is not buried there.  She is the only one buried there and there is no stone (sound like grandpa Brady).  Just in case you are interested, she is buried in Block P, Section La, Grave 29.  So my guess is that she died from a complication of child birth after a few months, and Thomas just let the child stay with his in-laws to be raised.  I can't confirm this until I get to the State Archives and find her death certificate, which I can probably find with the correct spelling.

So John and Mary Sterling raised not only their own children, but a grand daughter as well.  Maybe they were meant for each other, but realized it unusually early.

The O'Deas

I know that I said that I was going to return to Aunt Florence and the McConvilles (sounds like a musical group), but I felt like changing gears back to my father's side of the family.  I knew little about his family and most of what I knew about his mother was that her name was Marguerite O'Dea.  Every time somebody said the name Monica, Dad would say " Monica, that was my mother's name - Monica Marguerite".  Nobody ever said that his mother's name was Monica before, but later on I found her Baptism record and - you guessed it - she was baptised "Monica May O'Dea", so now I wonder where the heck Marguerite came from.  I also remember Dad saying that in his youth, they would visit a relative in Susquahana near Binghamton NY and stay on a farm.  I thought he said that his Grandfather had the farm and it was close to Scranton PA also.

Now I knew that his father was an alcoholic and he was in and out of the picture, so I think that his mother kept the house going and kept the family together.  But I never knew much about her and her family, so I started digging and this is what I found out.

My Grandmother was the fifth child born to Michael Thomas O'Dea and his wife Mary Jane Reilly O'Dea, she was born 5 Nov 1893 in Jersey City, NJ, baptized on 16 Nov 1893 in St Patricks Church in Jersey City, her Godparents are listed as William O'Dea and Mary Sterling (they are her father's siblings).  Marguerite or Monica or whatever her name really is had five siblings: Catherine, Mary, Gertrude, Leo, and William, all born in Jersey City.

I know almost nothing about her mother, Mary Jane Reilly O'Dea, except what I learned from her death certificate.  She was born 3 April 1857 in Pennsylvania to Michael Reilly and Bridget Kelly, she married Michael O'Dea in about 1879 in Pennsylvania, and she died 16 April 1938 in Jersey City, NJ.  That's about it in a nutshell.

I knew even less about my Great Grandfather, Michael Thomas O'Dea until I finally figured out where he lived as a young man.  I learned that he was born in New York and died in 1904 and he is buried in Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City.  My cousin Linda told me that he was out of state when he died and was transported back to Jersey City for burial.  She also said that he was a big man, so big that when he died they had to build an over sized coffin to bury him in and, oddly enough, they called him "Big Mike".  I also knew that he was only about 54 when he died.  So I checked on Ancestry.com and found found a Michael O'Dea in the 1870 US Census in Sanford NY, which is in Broome County near Binghamton.  This Michael was 19 years old born in August 1851, and he had several siblings: Daniel, Mary, William, Catherine, and James.  They are living with James O'Dea and Honora O'Dea.  I had been talking to cousin Linda and knew that Mike had siblings including a Mary and William, maybe more.  I also knew from Linda that Mary married John Sterling and lived in Jersey City also.  But I did not have anything that made me certain that the O'Deas in Sanford NY in 1870 were my O'Deas. At least not for about four years until I did what they tell you to do in every genealogy class.  When you have a record "READ THE WHOLE THING".  I finally read the whole census record and the O'Dea family has two boarders listed as living with them - Patrick McGuan(e) and John Sterling, both working on the Railroad.  Then it hit me, JOHN STERLING, the same man that Mary would marry is a boarder in their house.  Mary is 15 years old and John's age is hard to read, but it is either 25 or 35, either way, within a few years they are married.  In the 1900 census in Jersey City, they have been married for 29 years and have five children, she is listed as 43 years old and he is 53.  So lets do some math, according to the census Mary would have been about 14 or 15 when she married a 24 or 25 year old man.  Can you imagine if that happened today?  A 25 year old man marrying a 15 years old girl, can you say Registered Sex Offender?  I knew that you could.  But the marriage lasted from about 1871 until at least 1930, so that's about 59 years, not too bad.

Just today, (the 118th anniversary of my grandmother's baptism) I found out when Mary and John Sterling were buried and where.  John was buried 4 April 1931, and Mary was buried 22 Jan 1942 in Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, NJ.  Now I have more death certificates to research at the State Archives.

I have found much more info on the elusive O'Deas, but that's enough for now.  I was told that I should leave 'em wantin' more.