Who Is Lizzie Quinlivan?

In writing my posts on Julia Manning, I realized I had never posted anything about the other name mentioned in my great-great grandmother Mary Manning Mullane's obituary in the San Francisco Call -- Elizabeth (Lizzie) Quinlivan of Oakland.

Having poor luck in my initial research into the mysterious "J. Manning," I turned my attention to Lizzie. Lizzie never married and worked for a number of Catholic parishes in Alameda County. Based on the 1880 Census, Lizzie is about five years younger than my great-great grandmother Mary and according to the 1920 census, she arrived in the US in 1860. The 1920 census also lists her as age 70 which would have made her 10 years old when she arrived in the US. However, when she died two years later both the California Death Index and her obituaries list her as 80 years old, which would mean she was born in 1842 and so was 18 when she arrived in the US.

So far, I'm having a problem finding any records for Lizzie in the 1900 or 1910 censuses. She is living at 1317 then 1267 16th Avenue in Oakland from 1879-1899 based on what I've been able to find in the city directories and is working as a housekeeper for a Rev. William Gleeson, who is the pastor of St. Anthony's Church. I couldn't find a listing for her in 1900, but she appears again in 1901 in the Alameda city directory living on San Antonio Avenue as "Mrs. Lizzie Quinlan" and working as a domestic. Checking that address against Google maps to see where it is today, and there, a few blocks away is St. Joseph's Basilica, so despite the name not quite being exactly correct, I am fairly confident this is Lizzie Quinlivan. 

Using both the 1899 and 1901 addresses, I went back and looked more closely at the 1900 census and was unable locate her. The "family" listed at 1267 16th Avenue in 1900 is headed by a priest named Charles O'Neil, and there is no sign of Lizzie or Rev. Gleeson. When I looked for the 1901 address in Alameda, I couldn't find the house counted, so it may have been missed. So, back to the directories to see if I can find Lizzie in 1910.

In 1902, Lizzie is back in Oakland, but disappears from the Oakland/Alameda/Berkeley city directories between 1903 and 1909. In 1910 and 1911 I find an "Ellie Quinlan" working as a domestic at 2644 Etna St. in Berkeley. It's a few blocks from the University of California campus, and the closest Catholic facility I can find on Google maps is Newman Hall-Holy Spirit Parish, so I saved that file to cross reference, and keep looking further. Nothing again between 1912-1922. I know Lizzie is living in Berkeley in 1920, since she shows up as a housekeeper in the census at 2101 California Street, which appears to be a convent of Catholic nuns led by a Sister M. Consilia Fenton, alas there isn't a 1919 or 1920 city directory available on line for Berkeley that I've found, and I can't find Sr. Consilia in the 1921 city directory nor any listing of a convent. 

Time to go back to "Ellie Quinlan" in 1910 and see if I can find her in the US Census. I do. Alas, Ellie Quinlan is 23 years old, far too young to be Lizzie who would have been about 62 by 1910. Great, that means I've got a twenty-year gap between residences for Lizzie and a forty-year gap in census records!

Still, this information is a good lead on my great-great grandmother's family. While I don't have additional verification at this point, I suspect Lizzie is a cousin on Mary's maternal side, thus giving me at least last names to search for to try to identify Mary's parents. One of the other reasons I believe this to be true is found in a record from the Ganter-Felder-Kenny mortuary records for Mary's son Timothy Joseph Mullane which lists Mary's name as Mary Quinlan. I still have much more research to do on that supposition.

More on Julia Manning

When Julia Manning died in December 1898, she left some property to her niece Elizabeth Quinlivan. The property was a “lot on S line of Atlantic street, 74:3 E of Willow, E 25 by S 100:7, being lot 9, block 446.” A little poking around in the Oakland city directories led me to find that Atlantic St. is now 5^th St. (and apparently was changed about the same time Julia died.) It took a little poking around on Google maps to find the intersection of Atlantic/5th and Willow streets as 5^th Street no longer runs all the way to Willow. The location turns out to be the main Oakland Post office and US Postal Service sorting facility in West Oakland, right next to the Nimitz Freeway (US Hwy. 880) So much for finding Julia’s house 123 years later!

But with that info, I also looked deeper into the Oakland city directories. I found a Mrs. Julia Manning living at 1679 Atlantic in the 1889 directory and a Miss Julia Manning at the same address in 1878, which made things a little more confusing. Further digging shows Julia at the address on Atlantic Street from 1877 until 1892, but that’s the last time I find her in the Oakland directories. Since I found a Julia Manning in the 1892 San Francisco directory, I continue looking there. In 1892, she is listed as a music teacher living at “SW corner 7th and Railroad Ave.” There’s no Julia Manning in the 1893 San Francisco city directory, but in 1894 I find a Julia Manning living at 328 ½ 7^th. This time she’s listed as a widow. The 1892 and 1894 Julia Mannings are likely the same person, but is she the same Julia Manning I found in Oakland? Nothing in the 1895 or 1896 directories, but Julia shows up again as a widow on 7^th St. in 1897 and 1898. I check 1899 to 1901 to make sure I’m tracking properly and lo and behold, while there was no Julia Manning listed in 1899 or 1900, there is widowed Julia Manning in the 1901 directory, now living on Ivy Avenue. Ok then, the San Francisco Julia Manning is probably a different person.

But, I have a number of Oakland addresses that match up with the property left to Lizzie Quinlivan, so I know Julia is in Oakland as early as 1877, which means she should show up in the 1880 US Census. Off to see what turns up there. She doesn’t show up in a general search so, once again, it means paging through the census records page by page. No luck. I find a family living at 1677 Atlantic, but that’s as close I can get. It appears 1679 Atlantic got skipped. Ok, so now what?

The directory information I found was all on Ancestry.com, so time to head over to the Internet Archive which has some city directories for Oakland among the many many documents they have scanned. Can I find Julia before 1877? Maybe even in 1870 which would give me another census option? Alas, no luck on either front. There aren't many Oakland city directories available at the Internet Archive that are earlier than 1877, so even if Julia was living in Oakland earlier than 1877, I can't find evidence. A search of the 1870 census is equally futile -- no Julia Manning in Oakland or any other part of California though there are several in other parts of the country. Most are married, and it appears “my” Julia never married (despite the “Mrs.” designation in the 1889 directory – all others listed her as “Miss” and there is no reference of a husband in her obituary which I would expect to see if she had been married.)

Looks like there’s a bit more digging to do for Julia, which is par for the course, especially for the Manning/Mullane line of the family.