Trying to put the pieces together to make some sense of the Mullane branch of the family tree has been a bit frustrating. Despite sending off for my great grandmother Mary Mullane Murray's death certificate months ago, I've not yet received any notification as to whether or not it's been found. All I know is what I've been able to find online in the CA Death Index (her birth and death dates and that her mother's maiden name is Manning) and her death notice in the San Francisco Chronicle (that she had two brothers named Phillip and Patrick.) Not knowing who her parents were makes it harder to determine if the Mary Mullane I found in 1900 married to Edward Hayes is the right person. That Mary Mullane has at least five brothers and possibly as many as eight based on the names I've found living at the same addresses. Right now, most of the information I've found makes me suspect I have found the right person, but there are still several grey areas that make it difficult to be 100% certain.
I know that Mary Mullane Murray was born in 1871. That means she should show up in the 1880 census, but when I searched for her name, nothing came up. Ditto when I searched on any of the brothers who were born before 1880. Not having her parents' names meant a bit of a road block for searching. I knew the Mullanes should be showing up in San Francisco in 1880, but I couldn't figure out why they weren't. Since I'd already had this experience with the Murrays not showing up due to undigitized pages of the census, I turned to the city directories and looked up all the Mullanes that were listed in 1880. I only found three: Cornelius Mullane, teamster, living on 25th between Douglass and Diamond; Michael Mullane, groceries & liquors, living at 446 Natoma; and Timothy Mullane, porter Lawrence Ryan, living at 25 Fillmore.
That wouldn't be too hard to search. At least, that was the thought. None of the three turned up in a general search of the 1880 census. Great, that meant browsing page by page again! At least I had the reference to narrow down the enumeration districts. Cornelius should show up in Enumeration District 183, and I find Con Mullane (age 30) working as a milkman. He is married to a woman named Maggie and has a one year old daughter Eliza. There are no other children, so that should eliminate him from my list as Mary's father. Michael should show up in Enumeration District 133 or 134, and I find 446 Natoma in Enumeration District 133, but no Michael Mullane. Drat! Last try is Timothy who should show up in Enumeration District 223. I scroll through the pages looking for 25 Fillmore and find a record for T.J. McLay (age 32) working in a furniture store living at that address. He's married (Mary, age 35) and has seven children: John (10), Mary (9), Joseph (7), Thomas (6), Phillip (5), P.H. (4), and E.W. (11 mos.) Well, that matches up with the Mullanes I found around 1900, but the last name is completely different.
I head back to the city directories and go forward and backward on Timothy Mullane at 25 Fillmore, and in the 1881 city directory Timothy J. Mullane is listed as "furniture, r.25 Fillmore." I find him at 25 Fillmore as early as 1872 and continuously thereafter until 1888. His listed occupation varies over the years, but the address consistency leads me to believe that the census enumerator misheard the last name for Timothy Mullane in 1880. By the 1891 directory, Mary Mullane, widow, shows up at 45 Belcher which is the same address I found Miss Mary J. Mullane in 1896 living with what appears to be six brothers.
So, Timothy Mullane and his wife Mary are the parents of the Mullanes I found in the San Francisco City directories of the late 1890s/early 1900s. Phillip and Patrick (P.H.) show up with Mary again. Mary is 9 years old, which means she was born in 1871 which again matches up with the information I have for my great grandmother. Edward (E.W.) also shows up again, and what I've found out about him so far leads me to believe he was one of my Mary's brothers. Still, none of this is confirmation.
While I strongly suspect I've found the right family, I'll need to search further on Michael Mullane in order to eliminate him as a possible father to my Mary Mullane. (And it is entirely possible that he is an uncle, so more information will be useful!) If I can ever get her death certificate to turn up that might save me considerable time.
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