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.