At the beginning of the year, I decided to tackle the case of Martin Mullane. Martin appears in the 1869 San Francisco city directory living with my great-great grandfather T.J. Mullane. Other than knowing Martin was a tailor and likely T.J.'s older brother, I hadn't been able to find out much more information. I tracked him through the city directories up until 1880 when he disappears. I had to go back and see if I could find Martin in any census records.
The Mullanes have been very hard to locate in the census records, largely due to the misspelling of their last name. After some digging, I was able to find Martin in the 1870 Census listed as Martin Melane. Finally! That record gave me a lot more information. Martin was married to a woman named Mary, which should make things interesting since T.J.'s wife was also named Mary and they named their daughter (my great-grandmother) Mary! Such fun! Martin and Mary have three sons, Peter age 6 who was born in Ohio, Martin age 3 who was born in California, and Christopher age 1 who was also born in California. I will assume both Martin, Jr. and Christopher were born in San Francisco. Those names match up with the names I found in the 1890s voter registrations, so my guess that they were Martin's sons was correct.
There are a number of other families enumerated in the same building, but since the 1870 Census doesn't record street addresses, I don't know if there are several families living together or if they are living in an apartment building of some kind. The really interesting bit I found is a few lines down from Martin and his family there is another Mary Melane, age 23, who is a washerwoman with a son who is about 9 months old named John. I believe this is my great-great grandmother Mary Manning Mullane, but there's no sign of T.J. with them. Well, that makes for yet another Mullane mystery to figure out. Where the heck was T.J. when the 1870 Census was taken?
Finding this record, allowed me to trace Martin's family a bit more, and I located them in the 1880 Census record living on Shipley Street. Mary Mullane is listed as a widow when the census was taken in June 1880, and since I had records for Martin in the 1879 and 1880 San Francisco city directories, I suspected he may have died earlier in the year. The 1880 Census has a mortality record of anyone who had died over the previous year, so I went to see if I could find Martin in those records, and he turns up twice! Martin died in March 1880 of tuberculosis. I still haven't figured out where he was buried and there aren't any San Francisco papers available on line for 1880, so it will require a trip to a library with microfilm to see if I can find a death notice.
Knowing that Martin had died, I turned to see what I could learn about his wife and sons. The records I found for Mary stop in 1883, so that was a bit of a dead end. I was able to track Peter Mullane until 1904 when he died from tetanus. Peter was a woodworker who worked in mills in and around San Francisco. It doesn't appear that he married or had any children. Martin Francis Mullane went on to become a tailor like his father, but I can't find any record of him after 1898. I did find a Martin Mullane in the Calvary records at sfgenealogy.com who died in March 1900 who is about the same age as Martin Francis Mullane, but I couldn't find a death notice in either the San Francisco Call or San Francisco Chronicle that matched up with the date to confirm if it is the same Martin Mullane, so I don't know if it's the one I'm looking for. The youngest son of Martin and Mary Mullane, Christopher J. Mullane, became a peddler and I've been able to track him up to 1913.
So, as always with the Mullanes, there are a bunch of new puzzles and mysteries to work out and people to track down. I still need to find evidence that the elder Martin Mullane is indeed the older brother of my great-great grandfather T.J. as I believe he is. Knowing that his son Peter was born in Ohio gives me another lead to follow, so that will be part of my next steps along the Mullane branch. My preliminary searches thus far haven't turned up any Mullanes in Ohio, but I've not done much more than a cursory search. It also makes me wonder if Martin fought in the US Civil War. My direct ancestors all seem to have been in California for most of the war and I haven't found anyone who fought in the war, but with Martin living in Ohio which was more more located where the war was going on may have enlisted at some point.
Saturday, November 11, 2017
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Searching for McDonoughs and Finding Scandal
Over the course of my research, I've gone off trying to see if I can locate any relatives of my great great grandmother Bridget McDonough Murray. The only lead I have discovered to date is a reference in her death notice that "Chelsea, Mass., papers please copy" which would suggest she had family of some sort in Massachusetts. I've also discovered some records in San Francisco for some McDonoughs who may or may not be connected to Bridget. The connections at this point are very tenuous, and really mostly supposition on my part.
In the 1880 Census, there is a Patrick McDonough living at 2026 Filbert St. which is just 2 blocks from where John and Bridget Murray lived at 6 Harry Place. Patrick was born in about 1835 in Ireland, which is about 5 years before Bridget was born, so they are close enough in age to be siblings. I have no evidence whatsoever that Patrick and Bridget are related in any way, but on the chance that there might be a connection I have taken a look to see if I can find something that would prove one way or another if there was any relation.
Patrick married a woman named Honora Connor in Philadelphia in about 1858, though I suspect that date may be fudged a little bit as I found Patrick and Honora living in the household of a Martin Murphy in the 1860 census and they are not yet married. To further support this, the oldest of their seven children, John H. McDonough was born in about 1860 in Philadelphia. Patrick and Honora are in California by the time their daughter Mary E. McDonough is born in 1864. Bridget McDonough arrived in San Francisco some time between 1864 and 1867, so again a tenuous connection.
Unfortunately, tenuous connections are all I have at this point as I have found no evidence to indicate any family relation between Bridget and Patrick. However, in my periodic checks on Patrick McDonough's family, I stumbled on some really interesting information about a couple of his sons. The youngest two of Patrick and Honora's children were Thomas and Peter McDonough, and when I did a search on their names at newspapers.com I was flooded with news stories, particularly about Peter.
From what I've uncovered through these articles, it seems that Thomas and Peter owned a saloon and also operated as bail bondsmen. Neither of those occupations seem particularly unusual for the sons of an immigrant in the late 1890s/early 1900s, and when you take into consideration that Patrick was a police officer the bail bondsmen makes some sense as I would imagine they were familiar with the operations of the police department and courts of the time.
Their story starts getting interesting in 1909, when a story appears in the San Francisco Call with the headline "GLEAN HARVEST FROM CROOKS IN BAIL BOND FEES." The sub-headlines go on to read "McDonough Brothers accused before police commission of impeding justice" and "Effort being made to have liquor license of saloon keepers revoked." From what I can tell in the article, being a bail bondsman in 1909 was not a particularly approved of occupation. The assistant district attorney was expected "to declare that the saloon's co-operation with criminals has seriously handicapped the prosecution of offenders."
In 1912, Peter and Thomas seem to have had a falling out which resulted in Thomas retaining the saloon and Peter operating as "a bond and money broker with offices in the Bank of Italy building, entirely separate and disassociated from the saloon business owned and carried on by my brother." That quote appeared in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle in July 1913 wherein Peter was denying accusations of bribing police officers.
The stories continue on through the 1920s and 1930s and include tales of bribery, corruption, graft, and prohibition violations. I've not delved too deeply in all of these reports as it's a major rabbit hole to fall down, especially since the bits of the stories I've read are so fascinating and would easily take up days if not weeks of reading and research. The online availability of San Francisco based newspapers ends in the early 1920s which also limits my ability to follow up on all of the scandalous news (which includes accusations of bribing a judge in 1920) just through online sources. There is even one story that includes one of Patrick's grandsons, Harry Rice. The latest bit I've been able to find was an AP story that appeared in the San Bernardino County Sun in November 1937 that reported Peter McDonough was going to lose his license as a bail bondsman for being a "fountainhead of corruption." Peter does turn up in the 1940 census as a bail bond broker, so I don't know if that means he regained his license or that it was his former occupation. Peter died in 1947 at the age of 75.
Should my periodic attempts to find McDonoughs turn up a connection between Bridget McDonough Murray and Patrick McDonough somewhere down the line, you can bet I will delve in to all of the stories about Thomas and Peter!
In the 1880 Census, there is a Patrick McDonough living at 2026 Filbert St. which is just 2 blocks from where John and Bridget Murray lived at 6 Harry Place. Patrick was born in about 1835 in Ireland, which is about 5 years before Bridget was born, so they are close enough in age to be siblings. I have no evidence whatsoever that Patrick and Bridget are related in any way, but on the chance that there might be a connection I have taken a look to see if I can find something that would prove one way or another if there was any relation.
Patrick married a woman named Honora Connor in Philadelphia in about 1858, though I suspect that date may be fudged a little bit as I found Patrick and Honora living in the household of a Martin Murphy in the 1860 census and they are not yet married. To further support this, the oldest of their seven children, John H. McDonough was born in about 1860 in Philadelphia. Patrick and Honora are in California by the time their daughter Mary E. McDonough is born in 1864. Bridget McDonough arrived in San Francisco some time between 1864 and 1867, so again a tenuous connection.
Unfortunately, tenuous connections are all I have at this point as I have found no evidence to indicate any family relation between Bridget and Patrick. However, in my periodic checks on Patrick McDonough's family, I stumbled on some really interesting information about a couple of his sons. The youngest two of Patrick and Honora's children were Thomas and Peter McDonough, and when I did a search on their names at newspapers.com I was flooded with news stories, particularly about Peter.
From what I've uncovered through these articles, it seems that Thomas and Peter owned a saloon and also operated as bail bondsmen. Neither of those occupations seem particularly unusual for the sons of an immigrant in the late 1890s/early 1900s, and when you take into consideration that Patrick was a police officer the bail bondsmen makes some sense as I would imagine they were familiar with the operations of the police department and courts of the time.
Their story starts getting interesting in 1909, when a story appears in the San Francisco Call with the headline "GLEAN HARVEST FROM CROOKS IN BAIL BOND FEES." The sub-headlines go on to read "McDonough Brothers accused before police commission of impeding justice" and "Effort being made to have liquor license of saloon keepers revoked." From what I can tell in the article, being a bail bondsman in 1909 was not a particularly approved of occupation. The assistant district attorney was expected "to declare that the saloon's co-operation with criminals has seriously handicapped the prosecution of offenders."
In 1912, Peter and Thomas seem to have had a falling out which resulted in Thomas retaining the saloon and Peter operating as "a bond and money broker with offices in the Bank of Italy building, entirely separate and disassociated from the saloon business owned and carried on by my brother." That quote appeared in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle in July 1913 wherein Peter was denying accusations of bribing police officers.
The stories continue on through the 1920s and 1930s and include tales of bribery, corruption, graft, and prohibition violations. I've not delved too deeply in all of these reports as it's a major rabbit hole to fall down, especially since the bits of the stories I've read are so fascinating and would easily take up days if not weeks of reading and research. The online availability of San Francisco based newspapers ends in the early 1920s which also limits my ability to follow up on all of the scandalous news (which includes accusations of bribing a judge in 1920) just through online sources. There is even one story that includes one of Patrick's grandsons, Harry Rice. The latest bit I've been able to find was an AP story that appeared in the San Bernardino County Sun in November 1937 that reported Peter McDonough was going to lose his license as a bail bondsman for being a "fountainhead of corruption." Peter does turn up in the 1940 census as a bail bond broker, so I don't know if that means he regained his license or that it was his former occupation. Peter died in 1947 at the age of 75.
Should my periodic attempts to find McDonoughs turn up a connection between Bridget McDonough Murray and Patrick McDonough somewhere down the line, you can bet I will delve in to all of the stories about Thomas and Peter!
Saturday, January 14, 2017
The Ever Mysterious Mullanes -- Who is Martin Mullane?
One of the many on-going mysteries on the Mullane side of my family tree, is the curious case of Martin Mullane. In the 1869 San Francisco city directory, Martin is living with my great-great grandfather Timothy J. (T.J.) Mullane on O'Farrell Street. It's the only occasion where Martin and T.J. appear at the same residence, but I believe they are related somehow; quite possibly brothers. (T.J.'s oldest son is named John Martin Mullane which lends support to this theory.)
In the 1869 directory Martin's occupation is listed as a tailor, so I decided to go back through the San Francisco directories looking for a tailor named Martin Mullane. This was a little more challenging than I anticipated as I found listings for Martin Mullane, Martin Mullan, Martin Mulane, Martin Mulaine, Martin Mullene, Martin Mulan, and the misspelled Martin Mullena! Fortunately, I seldom found two possible names for the same person, and when I did the addresses were identical. The earliest listing I could find for Martin was in 1867, which is four years after T.J. shows up in the San Francisco directories. Besides the city directories, I was able to find a few voter registrations for Martin (as Martin Mullan) which gave me his approximate age. According to those records, Martin was born in about 1834, which would make him about 13 years older than T.J. It also lets me know he was naturalized in San Francisco on August 2, 1869.
I was able to track Martin Mullane through the city directories up until 1880 when he disappears. In 1885 a Martin Mullane, butcher, appears living on Tehama. There is also a Peter Mullane at the same address working as a machine hand. Going from a tailor to a butcher seems like a pretty drastic career change (especially considering the five year gap between entries), but could perhaps this be the son(s) of the Martin Mullane I've been tracking? Hard to say as they disappear in subsequent directories. A Martin F. Mullane, tailor, shows up in 1891, but we're now 11 years from the Martin Mullane, tailor, that I've been looking for so I doubt it's the same person. When I find a Martin F. Mullane in the 1890 California Voter Register who is living at the same address as in 1891 and is also listed as a tailor, I discover this Martin Mullane was born in California in about 1868. So again, if he's related, Martin F. Mullane is most likely the son of the Martin Mullane I'm tracking.
With the lack of information on Martin after 1880, I am guessing he died some time around then. The particularly frustrating thing, is I'm unable to find any Mullanes in the 1870 census. I know both T.J. and Martin are in San Francisco in 1870, but I'm not completely certain where they were living. They could be at the address on O'Farrell, or they could be living elsewhere, and since the 1869 San Francisco city directory also covers 1870, the next address I have for either is in 1871. Going on to the 1880 census is also problematic. It took me a long time to find T.J. and his family in 1880 since their last name was recorded as McLay. If Martin died before June 1880, he may not be in the census at all, and, as evidenced in my search for T.J., the last name Mullane doesn't readily pop up in the 1880 Census either. As I have no certainty that Martin Mullane was married, I can't even search for his family. (I did go back and look at the record for Martin F. Mullane from the 1891 voter register and I noticed there is also a Peter J. Mullane living at the same address. He's a few years older and was born in Ohio, so if these are the sons of the Martin Mullane I'm tracking I have a few other leads to follow up.)
I'm not even sure if Martin Mullane died in 1880 as I've found no evidence of his death as yet. He doesn't appear in the records for Holy Cross and Calvary at sfgenealogy.com and I haven't found a death notice in the paper (though those don't always turn up on a search and require a more manual review.) I'm fairly confident Martin and T.J. are related, but beyond that it's a mystery. More research needed.
More Mullane mysteries ahead as I also try to figure out if/how a Michael Mullane, tailor, fits into the puzzle.
In the 1869 directory Martin's occupation is listed as a tailor, so I decided to go back through the San Francisco directories looking for a tailor named Martin Mullane. This was a little more challenging than I anticipated as I found listings for Martin Mullane, Martin Mullan, Martin Mulane, Martin Mulaine, Martin Mullene, Martin Mulan, and the misspelled Martin Mullena! Fortunately, I seldom found two possible names for the same person, and when I did the addresses were identical. The earliest listing I could find for Martin was in 1867, which is four years after T.J. shows up in the San Francisco directories. Besides the city directories, I was able to find a few voter registrations for Martin (as Martin Mullan) which gave me his approximate age. According to those records, Martin was born in about 1834, which would make him about 13 years older than T.J. It also lets me know he was naturalized in San Francisco on August 2, 1869.
I was able to track Martin Mullane through the city directories up until 1880 when he disappears. In 1885 a Martin Mullane, butcher, appears living on Tehama. There is also a Peter Mullane at the same address working as a machine hand. Going from a tailor to a butcher seems like a pretty drastic career change (especially considering the five year gap between entries), but could perhaps this be the son(s) of the Martin Mullane I've been tracking? Hard to say as they disappear in subsequent directories. A Martin F. Mullane, tailor, shows up in 1891, but we're now 11 years from the Martin Mullane, tailor, that I've been looking for so I doubt it's the same person. When I find a Martin F. Mullane in the 1890 California Voter Register who is living at the same address as in 1891 and is also listed as a tailor, I discover this Martin Mullane was born in California in about 1868. So again, if he's related, Martin F. Mullane is most likely the son of the Martin Mullane I'm tracking.
With the lack of information on Martin after 1880, I am guessing he died some time around then. The particularly frustrating thing, is I'm unable to find any Mullanes in the 1870 census. I know both T.J. and Martin are in San Francisco in 1870, but I'm not completely certain where they were living. They could be at the address on O'Farrell, or they could be living elsewhere, and since the 1869 San Francisco city directory also covers 1870, the next address I have for either is in 1871. Going on to the 1880 census is also problematic. It took me a long time to find T.J. and his family in 1880 since their last name was recorded as McLay. If Martin died before June 1880, he may not be in the census at all, and, as evidenced in my search for T.J., the last name Mullane doesn't readily pop up in the 1880 Census either. As I have no certainty that Martin Mullane was married, I can't even search for his family. (I did go back and look at the record for Martin F. Mullane from the 1891 voter register and I noticed there is also a Peter J. Mullane living at the same address. He's a few years older and was born in Ohio, so if these are the sons of the Martin Mullane I'm tracking I have a few other leads to follow up.)
I'm not even sure if Martin Mullane died in 1880 as I've found no evidence of his death as yet. He doesn't appear in the records for Holy Cross and Calvary at sfgenealogy.com and I haven't found a death notice in the paper (though those don't always turn up on a search and require a more manual review.) I'm fairly confident Martin and T.J. are related, but beyond that it's a mystery. More research needed.
More Mullane mysteries ahead as I also try to figure out if/how a Michael Mullane, tailor, fits into the puzzle.
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