Muddling through the Mullanes

After a recent lull in my researching, I decided to focus a little more energy on the family tree. I've gotten to a bit of a sticking point on the Murray branch, so I thought I'd look into the Mullanes. I don't have a lot of definitive information about the Mullane branch of the family tree. I know my great grandmother's name was Mary Josephine Mullane and she married my great grandfather Marshall Edward Murray sometime prior to 1914 when my grandfather Edward was born. I also know she had at least two brothers, Phillip and Patrick, as they were mentioned in her death notice in the San Francisco Chronicle. Finally, Mary Mullane's mother's maiden name was Manning.

After that, things get confusing. The only Mary Josephine Mullane I have been able to find to date lived on Belcher Street in the late 1890s/early 1900s. This Mary Mullane, however, is married to a Denis Edward Hayes in the 1900 and 1910 censuses. If this is the right Mary Mullane, then in 1900 she was living with her husband and two brothers, Joseph and Patrick, and in 1910 she and Mr. Hayes are living with another brother, John. Through the San Francisco city directories, I have also found a Timothy, Thomas, Phillip, and Edward Mullane living at the same address on Belcher.

Now, the first rule of genealogy is not to assume anything. Documentation is crucial to correctly identifying the correct family members. However, with the lack of solid information, I needed to start somewhere and decided to see what I could find on the Belcher Street Mullanes. I left Mary alone since I've already been tearing my hair out trying to figure out if she is indeed the correct Mary Mullane and focused on what I am assuming are the brothers.

From what I've found so far, the Mullanes had a rough time of it in the early 20th century. Patrick Mullane married a woman named Ella Mary (last name unknown) and in about 1907 they had a daughter Myrtle. Myrtle only appears in the 1910 census though. When Patrick and Ella show up again in 1920, there is no sign of Myrtle. Since she would have been about 13 in 1920, I decided to take a look at the California Death Index for 1905-1929. There's a Myrtle Mullane who died in 1916 at age 9. From what I can tell so far, Patrick and Ella had no other children. Phillip Mullane married a Mary Greeley in 1902 and they had at least 4 children. In the 1910 cenus, they have two sons Edward and Clayton, but according to the census record Mary had given birth to three children. By the 1920 census Phillip and Mary show up, but with only one son and his name is Leonard, age 7. Since Edward and Clayton would have been 16 and 12 in 1920, I looked for them in the CA Death Index, and found an Edward, age 13, who died in 1917. I didn't find a Clayton Mullane, but I did find a Phillip C Mullane, age 9, who also died in 1917. I'd have to order the death certificate to be certain that Phillip C Mullane and Clayton Mullane are the same person, but their ages are similar and Phillip C Mullane died in San Francisco. As for the fourth unknown child indicated in the 1910 census, I found a birth notice for a daughter born to a Phillip Mullane in 1905 in the San Francisco Call, but couldn't find any death record that might correspond to a girl born in 1905 who died before 1910. If these are the Patrick and Phillip Mullane identified in my great grandmother's death notice, then they had a really tough time.

John Mullane died in 1911, based on a death notice I found in the San Francisco Call. That death notice indicated brother Thomas had predeceased him, probably in 1910 (again referencing the CA Death Index.) From what I can tell neither married. I haven't found much on Joseph and Timothy Mullane yet, which leaves Edward. Edward married a woman named Margaret Shanahan (I think) in about 1908. They had three sons, Edward (b 1909), John (b 1911), and Raymond (b 1914.) This was a record I was most interested to find. Recently, one of my father's Coleman cousins contacted me as she is also doing research on the family tree. In comparing notes, she mentioned that she had known one of my father's Mullane cousins in high school. Based on the information she gave me, I believe this cousin is a descendant of the elder Edward Mullane.

I'm still waiting on Mary Mullane's death certificate, which I'm hoping will list her parents' names and help me sort out all of this muddled mess, but based on the bits of information I've found, I do feel I'm on the right track. Hopefully I'll have similar luck to what occurred with the Murrays and the missing 1880 census and I have identified the right family with out all the details filled in.