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 5th 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 5th 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 7th. 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 7th 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.
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