As you may have noticed from the paucity of posts this year, I’ve been a bit lax in my research in recent months. I’ve spent some time cleaning out my database and better organizing my files, but I’ve not spent a whole lot of time on searching for new records and documents.
That’s not to say I haven’t done any research or found new documents. After Uncle Eddie died last December, I wound up with some records that had been in his possession. Uncle Eddie (my father’s eldest brother) had been the executor for Aunt Eileen’s estate. Aunt Eileen was my grandmother’s oldest sister and she and Uncle Bill had no children, so her estate was left to her nieces and nephews. In the documents Uncle Eddie had, there was a copy of her will which listed her beneficiaries and contained addresses for them as of her death in 1998. Nothing in those documents was hugely revealing, though it was helpful in locating some past addresses of relatives.
The more interesting documents I received were ones that were indirectly related to Eileen’s estate. The key document was a copy of a baptismal record for my great grandmother Lizzie O’Leary Coleman. It wasn’t an original record of her baptism, but one that was provided by the parish in 1938. This record indicates that Lizzie was baptized in the parish of Ovens in the Diocese of Cork. My earlier discoveries had put her baptism in the parish of Ballinhassig, but as I had spent time looking for baptismal records I had uncovered a map of the various Catholic parishes in Ireland and knew that the parish of Ovens (or Ovens & Aglis) wasn’t far from Ballinhassig and Ballincollig parishes. I’m guessing that in the intervening years since my great grandmother was baptized (in 1873) and the record was provided (in 1938) the parishes merged.
This discovery helped reinforce my earlier discovery of Jeremiah O’Leary’s baptism in the Ovens and Aglis parish in 1825. While I’m not 100% certain that the record I found for Jeremiah is that of my great great grandfather, the odds are favorable.
Lizzie’s baptismal record matches up with the record I found on line – her parents are Jeremiah O’Leary and Mary Looney and her godparents are Timothy Riordan and Mary Looney. I’ve yet to figure out who the second Mary Looney is, but that’s a trail to follow. The one additional item I learned is the name of the priest who baptized her – Reverend Carson Murphy. Whether these clues lead to any other information remains to be seen.
I also wound up with a lot of information on Uncle Bill’s side of the family as his family records were among Aunt Eileen’s papers. While the Doheneys are only relatives by marriage, it’s interesting information to have and may prove useful further on down the line as my research continues.
I also finally received a copy of my great grandmother Mary Mullane Murray’s death certificate. It confirmed that I have been tracking the correct Mullane family from San Francisco over the last year and a half. Mary’s parents are listed as Mary Manning and Timothy Mullane, which are the names I had found in the census, city directories, and newspapers. It also confirms my thought that Mary was less than honest on her marriage license application! Her death certificate indicates that Timothy Mullane was born in England, which conflicts with the census information I found showing him born in Ireland. Seeing how this information would have been provided by my great grandfather Marshall Murray, I suspect it was his best guess. Nonetheless, it may be another clue on places to search.
According to her death certificate, Mary died of chronic myocarditis brought on by high blood pressure. She also had a chronic ventral hernia and something illegible due to atrophy of her abdominal muscles. All in all sounds like a heart condition to me.
I’ve also dug around and believe I’ve found a few more Mullane and O’Leary descendants that are still living in the San Francisco Bay Area where much of the family has remained over the past 150 years. I’m still working out some verifications and double checking the records, but there looks to be quite a few distant cousins in the area.
So while I’ve not been as diligent in my research this year as I was last year, I have still made some strides in finding out where my family came from and where they’ve wound up. Hopefully as the autumn progresses I will find a bit more time to follow up on some of the leads I’ve discovered.
Showing posts with label Mary J. Mullane. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mary J. Mullane. Show all posts
Monday, August 26, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Uncovering a Family Scandal!
Okay, maybe it’s not too terribly scandalous in 2013, but for the early 1900s, it sure could be! A large part of my research over the past year has been trying to figure out the story of my great grandmother Mary Mullane. The only Mary Mullane living in San Francisco between 1871 (when she was born) and 1914 (when my grandfather was born) that I could find was married to a Dennis Edward Hayes in 1900 and as of the 1910 Census, Mary Mullane and Edward Hayes were still married. As late as April, 1911, when her brother John died, she is known as Mrs. Mary Hayes.
That made the time line for what little I knew about my great grandmother very odd. According to family lore, my grandfather, Edward Murray, had an older sister who died. Grandpa Murray was born in May 1914. If Mary Mullane was married to Edward Hayes in 1911, then how on earth could she be married to my great grandfather Marshall Murray and have had two children by May 1914? Turns out the answer is, they weren’t married.
Gasp! A family scandal!
In looking for family records, I have often searched online editions of historical newspapers. Mostly, it has been the San Francisco Call which is available free of charge through the Library of Congress for the years 1890-1913 under it’s various names over the years. I hadn’t been able to find a record of a marriage license being issued for Marshall Murray and Mary Mullane, which was very frustrating. Recently, through the subscription-site Newspapers.com, I was able to access issues of the San Francisco Chronicle from 1865-1923. Being able to do a search of newspapers is a great help when you don’t have a specific date for information. When I logged in to Newspapers.com, I called up the Chronicle and did a usual run of family names to see if I got any hits on people I’ve been researching. One of the first names I entered was Marshall Murray. When that didn’t turn up any hits, I tried Edward Murray which both my grandfather and great grandfather used. One of the records to turn up was the September 6, 1918 issue on the Birth/Marriage/Death notice page. I took a look at the page and saw under the list of names of people who had marriage certificates issued in Oakland “Edward Murray, 42 and Mary Hayes 38, both of San Francisco.” Well, the names are right, the ages are about right, but September, 1918 is nearly four and a half years after Grandpa Murray was born!
I sent off for a copy of the marriage certificate and waited to see if these were my great grandparents. If, as I suspected, they were, I would likely now have the names of Mary Mullane’s parents and know what the heck happened to Edward Hayes. Well, that’s not exactly what happened.
When the copy of the marriage certificate arrived, there were two pages loaded with information, but not all of it made sense. The groom is listed as Edward Murray, a Teamster, born in California, age 42, son of J. Murray and Bridget McDonough both born in Ireland, and that he is single and this is his first marriage. Other than the age being different by 2 years, that all matched what I knew about my great grandfather. The bride is listed as Mary Hayes, a domestic servant, born in California, age 38. Again that made sense, though in her case the age is off by 9 years. Since all the records I’ve found for the Murrays have had wildly variable ages, I set that point aside. It was the next bits of information about Mary Hayes that weren’t adding up. She also said she was single and that this was her first marriage. Huh? Then it goes on to list her parents as John Hayes and Mary Manning, both from Ireland. Double huh?
I know from the census records that Mary Mullane was married to Edward Hayes, so how could this be her first marriage? Her mother’s name of Mary Manning matched up with other items I’ve found, but who on earth is John Hayes? She is listed as Mary Mullane on my grandfather's birth certificate, so I suspect Mary was being somewhat disingenuous on the marriage license paperwork!
The other interesting bit on the marriage license is that Marshall and Mary were married by a justice of the peace and not in the Catholic Church as the family had always assumed. If she’d been married before, then not getting married in the Church, especially if she’d been divorced, makes sense.
Okay, so what happened?
One of the other items I’ve been tracing is who is the unnamed Murray buried with my great great grandmother Bridget. The records from Holy Cross say that person was buried on March 16, 1912. According to the California Death Index for 1905-1929 for fetal deaths, there is an unnamed Murray child who died on March 15, 1912 in San Francisco. I’ve yet to request a copy of that death certificate, but it would seem likely that is the unknown sister to my grandfather. I have also found a record for a Dennis E. Hayes in the 1940 Census who is about the right age as the Edward Hayes I found married to Mary Mullane in 1900 and 1910. In the 1940 Census, he is listed as divorced, and he is a patient at the Napa State Hospital and was there in 1935. I’ve yet to find any other record of him between 1910 and 1940.
That’s a lot of puzzle pieces, but fitting them together is the trick. The 1910 Census record was recorded on April 23, 1910. At that point Mary Mullane had been married to Dennis Edward Hayes for 10 years and Mary’s brother John was living with them. John died April 15, 1911, and Mary appears as Mrs. M. Hayes in his death notice. Assuming the unnamed child that was born and died in 1912 was the child of my great grandparents, does that mean Mary Mullane ran off with Marshall Murray? Did Edward Hayes abandon Mary? Assuming the Dennis Edward Hayes I found in 1940 is the same one that was married to Mary, when did they officially divorce? Under what circumstances could a woman file for divorce in 1911-1918? Did she file for divorce? Were they actually divorced? Why is Edward Hayes at the Napa State Hospital? When was he admitted to the hospital?
As always, the more answers I find, the more questions I uncover. I’m going to have to spend some time trying to work out this puzzle. I did get one bonus piece of information with this marriage license. The witness to Marshall and Mary’s wedding was John Henry Murray, Marshall’s older brother. It lists him as a resident of the city and county of San Francisco, so I at least have some record of him beyond his being mentioned in his sister Nellie’s death notice in 1909. Maybe I can pin him down soon.
That made the time line for what little I knew about my great grandmother very odd. According to family lore, my grandfather, Edward Murray, had an older sister who died. Grandpa Murray was born in May 1914. If Mary Mullane was married to Edward Hayes in 1911, then how on earth could she be married to my great grandfather Marshall Murray and have had two children by May 1914? Turns out the answer is, they weren’t married.
Gasp! A family scandal!
In looking for family records, I have often searched online editions of historical newspapers. Mostly, it has been the San Francisco Call which is available free of charge through the Library of Congress for the years 1890-1913 under it’s various names over the years. I hadn’t been able to find a record of a marriage license being issued for Marshall Murray and Mary Mullane, which was very frustrating. Recently, through the subscription-site Newspapers.com, I was able to access issues of the San Francisco Chronicle from 1865-1923. Being able to do a search of newspapers is a great help when you don’t have a specific date for information. When I logged in to Newspapers.com, I called up the Chronicle and did a usual run of family names to see if I got any hits on people I’ve been researching. One of the first names I entered was Marshall Murray. When that didn’t turn up any hits, I tried Edward Murray which both my grandfather and great grandfather used. One of the records to turn up was the September 6, 1918 issue on the Birth/Marriage/Death notice page. I took a look at the page and saw under the list of names of people who had marriage certificates issued in Oakland “Edward Murray, 42 and Mary Hayes 38, both of San Francisco.” Well, the names are right, the ages are about right, but September, 1918 is nearly four and a half years after Grandpa Murray was born!
I sent off for a copy of the marriage certificate and waited to see if these were my great grandparents. If, as I suspected, they were, I would likely now have the names of Mary Mullane’s parents and know what the heck happened to Edward Hayes. Well, that’s not exactly what happened.
When the copy of the marriage certificate arrived, there were two pages loaded with information, but not all of it made sense. The groom is listed as Edward Murray, a Teamster, born in California, age 42, son of J. Murray and Bridget McDonough both born in Ireland, and that he is single and this is his first marriage. Other than the age being different by 2 years, that all matched what I knew about my great grandfather. The bride is listed as Mary Hayes, a domestic servant, born in California, age 38. Again that made sense, though in her case the age is off by 9 years. Since all the records I’ve found for the Murrays have had wildly variable ages, I set that point aside. It was the next bits of information about Mary Hayes that weren’t adding up. She also said she was single and that this was her first marriage. Huh? Then it goes on to list her parents as John Hayes and Mary Manning, both from Ireland. Double huh?
I know from the census records that Mary Mullane was married to Edward Hayes, so how could this be her first marriage? Her mother’s name of Mary Manning matched up with other items I’ve found, but who on earth is John Hayes? She is listed as Mary Mullane on my grandfather's birth certificate, so I suspect Mary was being somewhat disingenuous on the marriage license paperwork!
The other interesting bit on the marriage license is that Marshall and Mary were married by a justice of the peace and not in the Catholic Church as the family had always assumed. If she’d been married before, then not getting married in the Church, especially if she’d been divorced, makes sense.
Okay, so what happened?
One of the other items I’ve been tracing is who is the unnamed Murray buried with my great great grandmother Bridget. The records from Holy Cross say that person was buried on March 16, 1912. According to the California Death Index for 1905-1929 for fetal deaths, there is an unnamed Murray child who died on March 15, 1912 in San Francisco. I’ve yet to request a copy of that death certificate, but it would seem likely that is the unknown sister to my grandfather. I have also found a record for a Dennis E. Hayes in the 1940 Census who is about the right age as the Edward Hayes I found married to Mary Mullane in 1900 and 1910. In the 1940 Census, he is listed as divorced, and he is a patient at the Napa State Hospital and was there in 1935. I’ve yet to find any other record of him between 1910 and 1940.
That’s a lot of puzzle pieces, but fitting them together is the trick. The 1910 Census record was recorded on April 23, 1910. At that point Mary Mullane had been married to Dennis Edward Hayes for 10 years and Mary’s brother John was living with them. John died April 15, 1911, and Mary appears as Mrs. M. Hayes in his death notice. Assuming the unnamed child that was born and died in 1912 was the child of my great grandparents, does that mean Mary Mullane ran off with Marshall Murray? Did Edward Hayes abandon Mary? Assuming the Dennis Edward Hayes I found in 1940 is the same one that was married to Mary, when did they officially divorce? Under what circumstances could a woman file for divorce in 1911-1918? Did she file for divorce? Were they actually divorced? Why is Edward Hayes at the Napa State Hospital? When was he admitted to the hospital?
As always, the more answers I find, the more questions I uncover. I’m going to have to spend some time trying to work out this puzzle. I did get one bonus piece of information with this marriage license. The witness to Marshall and Mary’s wedding was John Henry Murray, Marshall’s older brother. It lists him as a resident of the city and county of San Francisco, so I at least have some record of him beyond his being mentioned in his sister Nellie’s death notice in 1909. Maybe I can pin him down soon.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
More Muddling Through the Mullanes
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.
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.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
More Mystifying Mary Mullane
Trying to find out about my great grandmother Mary Mullane has been quite a puzzle. To date, the only Mary Josephine Mullane I have found in San Francisco was married to a Dennis Edward Hayes in both the 1900 and 1910 censuses. My grandfather Edward Murray was born in 1914, which leaves a four-year gap between records and should have Mary Mullane and Marshall Murray married by 1913.
I sent off for her death record months ago, but haven’t received any response to the inquiry and may need to request it again as I’m hoping that will help me identify her parents and thus help clear up some of my confusion. I also sent off for the birth record for my grandfather, which provided some interesting, but again confusing, information.
For starters, my grandfather’s name is listed as John Marshall Edward Murray. Where on earth did “John” come from?! My best guess is that it was to honor my great great grandfather John Murray. From what I can tell, he never used John at any point in his life after that. And that’s not even the confusing part!
Towards the bottom of the birth certificate is a notation “Number of children born to this mother, including present birth.” That number is listed as two. Next to it is a notation “Number of children of this mother now living.” That number is listed as one. Well, ok, what’s that all about? There was a family story that my grandfather had an older sister who died as a child and that would match up with the birth certificate information. The question becomes, then, when was this sister born?
According to the 1900 and 1910 census records Mary Mullane Hayes had no children. If this Mary Mullane is the same Mary Mullane that married my great grandfather, then between April 1910 (when the census was taken) and May 1914 (when my grandfather was born) she would have had to have lost a husband, remarried, and had a daughter who subsequently died. That’s an awful lot in a fairly short time. It’s not impossible of course – a fairly reasonable scenario would be something like this:
May 1910 – unknown daughter born to Mary & Edward Hayes
1910 – unknown daughter dies in infancy
1911 – Edward Hayes dies/abandons/divorces Mary
1912 – Mary meets Marshall Murray
1913 – Mary and Marshall are married
May 1914 – Edward Murray is born
I have no evidence whatsoever to support that timeline, but it’s one that makes sense. Another scenario is that Edward Hayes dies before the unknown daughter and Mary marries Marshall then the daughter dies – a widow with a young child might be likely to marry sooner rather than later especially at that point in history.
Unfortunately, that’s all speculation. I’ve yet to find any record of Mary and Marshall’s marriage. I have no idea what happened to Edward Hayes. And I haven’t the faintest idea if the sister is a full sister or half-sister or when she was born or when she died. Heck, I don’t even know for certain if the other child was a girl!
I have been tracking down some other leads on the Mullanes, but I will save them for another post. I will say, this particular branch of the family tree is quite confounding!
I sent off for her death record months ago, but haven’t received any response to the inquiry and may need to request it again as I’m hoping that will help me identify her parents and thus help clear up some of my confusion. I also sent off for the birth record for my grandfather, which provided some interesting, but again confusing, information.
For starters, my grandfather’s name is listed as John Marshall Edward Murray. Where on earth did “John” come from?! My best guess is that it was to honor my great great grandfather John Murray. From what I can tell, he never used John at any point in his life after that. And that’s not even the confusing part!
Towards the bottom of the birth certificate is a notation “Number of children born to this mother, including present birth.” That number is listed as two. Next to it is a notation “Number of children of this mother now living.” That number is listed as one. Well, ok, what’s that all about? There was a family story that my grandfather had an older sister who died as a child and that would match up with the birth certificate information. The question becomes, then, when was this sister born?
According to the 1900 and 1910 census records Mary Mullane Hayes had no children. If this Mary Mullane is the same Mary Mullane that married my great grandfather, then between April 1910 (when the census was taken) and May 1914 (when my grandfather was born) she would have had to have lost a husband, remarried, and had a daughter who subsequently died. That’s an awful lot in a fairly short time. It’s not impossible of course – a fairly reasonable scenario would be something like this:
May 1910 – unknown daughter born to Mary & Edward Hayes
1910 – unknown daughter dies in infancy
1911 – Edward Hayes dies/abandons/divorces Mary
1912 – Mary meets Marshall Murray
1913 – Mary and Marshall are married
May 1914 – Edward Murray is born
I have no evidence whatsoever to support that timeline, but it’s one that makes sense. Another scenario is that Edward Hayes dies before the unknown daughter and Mary marries Marshall then the daughter dies – a widow with a young child might be likely to marry sooner rather than later especially at that point in history.
Unfortunately, that’s all speculation. I’ve yet to find any record of Mary and Marshall’s marriage. I have no idea what happened to Edward Hayes. And I haven’t the faintest idea if the sister is a full sister or half-sister or when she was born or when she died. Heck, I don’t even know for certain if the other child was a girl!
I have been tracking down some other leads on the Mullanes, but I will save them for another post. I will say, this particular branch of the family tree is quite confounding!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Back to Holy Cross
Two trips to Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma and I hadn’t been able to find my great grandparents Marshall and Mary Murray. I had been told at the office they were buried in Section V, but I could not find them and trying to figure out the section numbering was beyond frustrating. Then a couple of weeks ago I discovered that the folks at SFGenealogy.com had a searchable database of Holy Cross Cemetery available for 1887-2001. I plugged Marshall and Mary in and up popped their records – in Section U! No wonder I couldn’t find them! I entered in the names of various other family members buried at Holy Cross over the past 100 or so years and they all turned up where I expected them to and I logged the specifics for some where I only had the section noted.
 | |
| My great grand parents Marshall and Mary Murray |
So I headed back up to
Holy Cross with a list of names and gravesites to find. I knew that my Kenny great grandparents were
also in Section U and from the database they were in Row 14, Grave 134. Marshall & Mary were in Row 23, Grave
59. Mom had shown me where the Kennys
were on our last visit so I parked near their graves and counted down the aisle
until I got to grave 59. Then I made a
right turn and counted rows up until I hit row 23. I was only off a couple of markers and there were Marshall and
Mary – finally!
 |
| Aunt Eileen & Uncle Bill Doheney |
My list for section U also
included my grandmother’s sister Eileen Coleman Doheney and her husband
Bill. They were fairly easy to find
right along the road at the top of the section. Aunt Eileen and Uncle Bill are buried with Uncle Bill’s sister
Gertrude and mother Annie.
Nana’s aunt Ellen O’Leary
Ford and her husband John Joseph Ford are buried in Section V with their
daughter Catherine and her husband Edward Ambrose Dwyer. It was a pretty hot day, so I only did a cursory
look for the Fords in Section V and will go back to look for them another day.
 |
| My father's younger brother Jackie Murray who died at age 2 |
Next it was over to the
children’s section to look for my father’s younger brother Jackie (John Joseph
Murray.) I’d bypassed this section on
previous visits since I only had a general section and not a row and grave
number. It’s very sad walking through
the rows and seeing lives ended so young. I found Jackie’s grave in fairly short order.
 |
| My father's second cousin Mary Catherine Ford |
Since the children’s
section is close to the newer crypts where my father’s second cousin Mary
Catherine Ford was buried, I walked down there too. Mary Catherine was the daughter of Arthur Patrick Ford and died
of cancer in 1999 at the age of 58.
I’ve found several other
relatives in the on line database and will make another trek up to Colma in the
coming months to document their locations. The database was able to clear up a couple of mysteries. Nana had an older brother John who died as a
child. I knew it was sometime between
the 1910 census (where John appears) and 1918 when Aunt Margaret was born, but
didn’t have a specific date. It turns
out that John died in 1913 and is buried with his parents. The database also helped confirm a marriage
record I’d found for Catherine Ford Dwyer – in Washington DC! No wonder I was having problems finding her
husband in San Francisco. I’m not sure
if Edward Dwyer died in San Francisco or in the Washington DC area, but at
least I’ve got a name and date to help figure it out! Finally, I have a suspicion that my great grandmother’s brother,
Arthur O’Leary might have lived in San Francisco as he was mentioned in Ellen O'Leary Ford's death notice. There are several Arthur O’Learys buried at Holy Cross, four who
died after Ellen in 1932. Two of those four show up in the CA Death Index from 1940-1997, and one
of those two was born outside of the US. I’ll need to do a bit more digging there also, but it’s a place to
start.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Second and Third Field Trips
As summer rolled in, I found myself spending less time digging into the family history than I did during the winter and spring. I have done some poking around here and there, but haven't turned up a whole lot of new information that has any definitiveness to it. But that doesn't mean I haven't kept poking around at things either and some of the research I've needed to do required access to records not accessible on line, which definitely slows down the process.
However, I did get a chance to make a couple of field trips during the month of July. The first was a fortunate happenstance when my cousin invited the family over for her daughter's second birthday. Since this is the cousin who lives a block from where our great great grandparents lived from 1877-1890, I made a special point to bring my camera and planned to take a quick stroll down the street. Unfortunately, I forgot to put the battery back in my camera after I had taken it out to charge it! Thankfully, my mother had her iPhone with her, so I was able to borrow it when we took a stroll down the street.
The house my great great grandparents lived in is no longer there, but I was able to take a picture of the houses that are on the site now. John and Bridget Murray and their family lived at 6 Harry Place, so I took pictures of the flats that are at 2 & 4 Harris Place and 8 & 10 Harris Place.
John Murray worked at the Occidental Laundry for most of his life in San Francisco, but the only address I had for the laundry was "Filbert between Gough and Octavia", so I wasn't able to take a picture of that (the block is mostly residential now, with a couple mom & pop type storefronts.) I did have an address for the last location that John worked and it was also within a short walking distance on Union Street, so I strolled up there to take a look at what is there now. The building looks to have been remodeled considerably since 1890, but the storefront looks like it might be from the original building. The original building probably looked something like the yellow one to the right in the picture.
My next field trip came at the end of July when Mom and I trekked up to Holy Cross cemetery to see if we could find Marshall and Mary Murray, my great grandparents. Mom was also going to show me where some of the relatives on her side were buried that I couldn't find on my previous trip.
On my initial trip to Holy Cross in April, I had located the approximate location for my great great grandmother Bridget McDonough Murray and her daughter Nellie and, based on the notes from my mother, they were buried in the same section as my Theler great great grandparents. Mom and I headed up there first, and Mom realized that she had mismarked her map. The Thelers weren't in Section M, but in Section K which is down the hill. That explains why I couldn't find them on my first trip!
After finding the Thelers, Mom and I headed over to Section V to try and find Marshall and Mary. As I mentioned before, the numbering makes no sense (on the rare occaisions when we could actually find numbers on the headstones) and after traipsing back and forth over the whole section, we couldn't locate their grave. We decided we'd ask at the office for some more information, but before we went back down to the office, we went over to Section U to find my Kenny great grandparents. We located them fairly quickly and hopped in the car to go back to the office, only to discover that a funeral procession was pulling in. We decided to skip the office for now and plan for another trip.
Once we left Holy Cross, Mom and I drove up to San Francisco to find the house Nana grew up in on Bosworth Street. We found it quickly and when we got out of the car to walk around the neighborhood a little bit, I noticed that the house was on the corner of Bosworth and Marsily St. The Colemans lived on Marsily Street before they moved to New Jersey, so Mom and I walked up the street and took a look at that house also. It looked to be fairly original to what the house probably looked like in the early 1900s when my Coleman ancestors lived there.
While we were walking around the neighborhood, my mother told me a story I'd never heard before. Apparently my father's oldest brother fell out of the first floor window and severely broke his leg when he was about 2 years old. When we got home, my father elaborated on the story some what -- the owner of the grocery store saw that my uncle was about to fall and ran across to try to catch him. If I'd known that part of the story, I would have taken a picture of the small grocery store that is still across the street!
However, I did get a chance to make a couple of field trips during the month of July. The first was a fortunate happenstance when my cousin invited the family over for her daughter's second birthday. Since this is the cousin who lives a block from where our great great grandparents lived from 1877-1890, I made a special point to bring my camera and planned to take a quick stroll down the street. Unfortunately, I forgot to put the battery back in my camera after I had taken it out to charge it! Thankfully, my mother had her iPhone with her, so I was able to borrow it when we took a stroll down the street.
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| Numbers 2 & 4 Harris Place, the approximate location of John & Bridget Murray's home from 1877 -1890 |
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| 1815 Union Street - location of John Murray's last place of employment |
John Murray worked at the Occidental Laundry for most of his life in San Francisco, but the only address I had for the laundry was "Filbert between Gough and Octavia", so I wasn't able to take a picture of that (the block is mostly residential now, with a couple mom & pop type storefronts.) I did have an address for the last location that John worked and it was also within a short walking distance on Union Street, so I strolled up there to take a look at what is there now. The building looks to have been remodeled considerably since 1890, but the storefront looks like it might be from the original building. The original building probably looked something like the yellow one to the right in the picture.
My next field trip came at the end of July when Mom and I trekked up to Holy Cross cemetery to see if we could find Marshall and Mary Murray, my great grandparents. Mom was also going to show me where some of the relatives on her side were buried that I couldn't find on my previous trip.
 |
| My Theler great great grandparents |
On my initial trip to Holy Cross in April, I had located the approximate location for my great great grandmother Bridget McDonough Murray and her daughter Nellie and, based on the notes from my mother, they were buried in the same section as my Theler great great grandparents. Mom and I headed up there first, and Mom realized that she had mismarked her map. The Thelers weren't in Section M, but in Section K which is down the hill. That explains why I couldn't find them on my first trip!
 |
| Joseph & Maggie Kenny, my great grandparents |
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| 142 Bosworth St. where my Coleman great grandparents lived |
 |
| 14 Marsily St. where my Coleman great grandparents lived when my grandmother was born in 1914 |
Once we left Holy Cross, Mom and I drove up to San Francisco to find the house Nana grew up in on Bosworth Street. We found it quickly and when we got out of the car to walk around the neighborhood a little bit, I noticed that the house was on the corner of Bosworth and Marsily St. The Colemans lived on Marsily Street before they moved to New Jersey, so Mom and I walked up the street and took a look at that house also. It looked to be fairly original to what the house probably looked like in the early 1900s when my Coleman ancestors lived there.
While we were walking around the neighborhood, my mother told me a story I'd never heard before. Apparently my father's oldest brother fell out of the first floor window and severely broke his leg when he was about 2 years old. When we got home, my father elaborated on the story some what -- the owner of the grocery store saw that my uncle was about to fall and ran across to try to catch him. If I'd known that part of the story, I would have taken a picture of the small grocery store that is still across the street!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Fuzzy Findings
I’ve been following several trails through the Murray family
trying to figure out some unanswered questions. Right now, the best I have are suppositions and guesses that need
a bit more information to find out if I’m on the right track or if I’ve
identified the wrong people.
For starters, one of the unanswered questions I have right
now is who was Joseph’s wife? He shows
up in the 1920 census as married, but his wife isn’t living with him. Who is she?
Where is she? I’ve done some
digging around in the city directories trying to find all of the Murray
siblings between 1900 and 1920, and it’s rather hit or miss, especially when
I’m trying to track John, Joseph and Mollie (Mary). I’m never quite sure if the person I’ve found in the directory is
the right one.
However, I did find a Joseph S. Murray working as a driver
in 1911, which seems a good bet. I can
track him through to 1917, and from 1914-1917 he shows up with a wife named
Agnes. I’ve yet to find any record of
their marriage, so I don’t know Agnes’ maiden name. Despite not being certain this is the right Joseph, I did a
search for Agnes Murray in the 1920 census to see if I could find her. I found two that might fit. The first Agnes Murray shows up living in
San Francisco, but is single. She is
about 45 years old, from Scotland, and working as a cook. Joseph Murray would have been about 40 years
old in 1920, so it’s possible this is the right Agnes, but I don’t think it’s
likely. The second Agnes Murray shows
up in Napa. This Agnes is also about 45
years old, married, and was born in California. She is also a patient at the Napa State Hospital. I suspect this is the correct Agnes. So, if this is the right Agnes and she was
married to “my” Joseph S. Murray, what happened between 1917 and 1920 that
would put her in the state mental hospital?
Historically, that would be the end of World War I and coincide with the
flu epidemic of 1917-1918. Could something
have happened related to those events that would cause some kind of mental
breakdown? I’m not even certain what
would cause someone to be hospitalized in the early 1900s when mental illness
was no where nearly as well understood as it is today. I’ve found what I believe is a death record
for Agnes in Napa in about 1926, and need to do some more digging to see if I
am on the right track.
Another avenue I am exploring is what happened to John Henry
and Mollie? I know that as of 1909,
when Nellie died, they are both still living.
Mollie is probably unmarried in 1909, but that is about all I have
figured out. I have no idea where she
was living or how she was supporting herself.
John Henry is an equal mystery.
Other than his name appearing in the death notices for Bridget and
Nellie, I can’t find a definitive record of him after 1901. Part of the problem is that by the 1910
census, the four surviving Murray siblings – John Henry, Mollie, Marshall, and
Joseph – are all in their 30s and 40s and as best as I can tell unmarried. Their parents are dead, so I’m looking for
four single people living in a city of over 400,000 people. That’s assuming they stayed living within
the city borders. Talk about a needle
in a haystack! I haven’t been able to
find any of them for certain yet in the 1910 census, and the only thing I know
for certain is that they are not living together. The 1920 and 1930 censuses are even less help at least for John Henry and Mollie (and Joseph in 1930) since by then I don't even know if they are still living.
And then there are the McDonoughs. I still have no idea if Thomas, Betsey, and/or Patrick McDonough
are related to Bridget. There are bits
and pieces that point to Thomas and Betsey as possibly being family. I believe I have found Thomas in Chelsea,
Massachusetts in 1858. Betsey also
shows up in Chelsea in 1870, though her name is listed as Beesey. I know Bridget must have had some family in
Chelsea as her death notice in the San Francisco Call asked that Chelsea,
MA papers be copied, but I can’t find any definite connection between Thomas,
Betsey/Beesey, and Bridget. It’s also
not clear if Betsey is a sister or a sister-in-law of Thomas, but I’m fairly
certain that those two, at least, are related.
If they are related to Bridget, I do have Thomas’s parents’ names, which
will be a world of help. Patrick was a
bit easier to trace through the records, but there is nothing I’ve found about
him that would definitely tie him to any of the others.
I’m still waiting for an answer to my request for my great
grandmother Mary Mullane’s death certificate, which I’m hoping will tell me
what her parents’ names were. That
might help me unravel some of the Mullane mysteries. I still can’t figure out if the Mary Mullane I found is my great
grandmother and if it is what the heck happened to Edward Hayes.
Finally, there are the things I doubt I’ll ever find
out. In the 1900 and 1910 censuses,
women were asked how many children they had and how many survived. In the 1900 census, Bridget Murray said she
had six children, five of whom survived.
Based on the ages of her children, I suspect there was a child born
between Mollie and Marshall.
That would have been in about 1872, and since that child does not appear
in the 1880 census record he or she would have died before then. A similar situation exists with Sadie
Coleman, my great grandfather Daniel’s sister-in-law. She had three children who did not survive, one born between
1895-1900, the other two between 1900-1910.
I keep my eyes peeled for any of these lost children while I comb
through newspaper records looking for other people, but the odds of me being
able to find them are not good.
The more I search, the more I realize there is so much more
to learn and that some of the information may be lost to time. I have many library hours ahead of me as
some of the information I’m looking for just isn’t easily found online. And I’ve barely started on the
Coleman/O’Leary side, so it’s about time to start digging further into Irish
records to see what I can turn up.
Friday, May 11, 2012
1940 Census
After I posted my last update, I realized I had neglected to share what I had found out in the 1940 census records. I had hoped to find out if my great grandmother Mary Mullane had been married before she married my great grandfather Marshall Murray. When I looked at information about the 1940 census I noted that one of the questions that was asked of women was whether or not they had been married before, however what I had missed was that it was a supplemental question asked only of a random sampling of respondents. Alas, Mary Mullane was not one of the random samples, so I still haven't confirmed whether or not she was married to Edward Hayes before she married my great grandfather.
Nevertheless, I was able to gather some interesting information from the census records. When the records were posted on line in the beginning of April, they were not searchable by name (that is an effort still in progress) so I needed to know where my ancestors lived in order to find them in the census. I had a couple of addresses for my Murray relatives, but not specifically from 1940. I had asked my father if his family was living at the house on Niagara in 1940, and he said that they were and gave me the house number. I had addresses for Marshall Murray up to 1932 and then a gap until 1948, so I hoped one of those two addresses would be where I would find him in 1940.
When the census records came on line, I called up an available map that showed the census tracts and opened Google Maps to help orient myself to the streets. None of the Murrays were showing up where I thought they might, but I also wasn't sure I was reading the maps correctly. To test that I was reading the maps correctly, I decided to take a look for my Dwyer relatives since I knew for certain they were living on Westwood Drive in 1940. I found the corresponding map and looked for the enumeration districts in tract O6. In fairly short order I turned up my grandparents and great grandparents living exactly where I expected them to be and conveniently on the same page (my grandparents living across the street from my great grandparents.) It was fun scrolling through this set of images and recognizing all the street names and knowing exactly where they were with out having to cross-reference Google Maps. (That's the downside of not having lived in San Francisco proper -- I am only familiar with certain sections off the top of my head.) It was even more fun showing the page to my mother who recognized the names of the neighbors, some of whom I'd heard many stories about over the years.
Ok, so I was clearly reading the maps correctly. Why wasn't I finding the Murray side of the family? I thought about it and realized that they probably weren't living on Niagara in April 1940. My father had always told me that his grandfather had bought the house for his parents and the plan was for him to move in with them at some point. Just his grandfather (my great grandfather.) That meant the house had to have been purchased after my great grandmother had died. She died in July 1940 -- the house on Niagara hadn't been purchased yet!
I turned back to the city directories and went back to the 1932 listing and proceeded to march forward in time to see if I could find the right address. I eventually found Marshall and Mary living on Natoma in 1939. Nana and Grandpa Murray were living on 29th Street. One of the things that had thrown me in my searches was that Marshall and my grandfather Edward weren't working in the occupations I had expected after 1932, so when I searched and got an Edward Murray working as a watchman and another working as a reporter, I set them aside as the wrong people. It was only when I looked year to year that I realized that the watchman was Marshall and the reporter was my grandfather Edward! That was quite a surprise, and when I mentioned it to my father he said "oh yeah, he worked for the newspaper for a while." Thanks for the heads up Dad! From what I can tell, Grandpa Murray became a teamster around the time he and Nana were married in 1934.
Now that I had found everyone (including the Colemans living on Bosworth) what information could I get? Most of it was things I already knew, but because of the Great Depression there were more questions about employment than had been asked in previous censuses. The items that leaped out at me the most were related to the cost of living -- what was being paid in rent (or the value of the house if owned) and what the person's annual income was.
It was fascinating to see what my ancestors earned in 1940. It ranged from nothing (my great grandfather Daniel Coleman, who was 80 by 1940) to $4,200 (my great grandfather Ignatius Dwyer who was the registrar of voters for San Francisco.) Most intriguing, however, was Marshall Murray. He was earning $1,000 per year as a watchman and paying $16 per month in rent. How on earth was he able to afford to buy a house for my grandparents if he was making that little? Dad's stories always said that his grandfather had bought the house outright for his parents and it cost $4,500. Where did Marshall come up with that much money? Right now, my best guess is that there was some kind of death benefit paid after my great grandmother died in July 1940. It's as good a guess as any I suppose.
So, while I didn't find the information I had hoped in the 1940 census, I did learn some new things about the family during that time frame. And I definitely need to look more into this whole "Edward Murray, reporter" business.
Nevertheless, I was able to gather some interesting information from the census records. When the records were posted on line in the beginning of April, they were not searchable by name (that is an effort still in progress) so I needed to know where my ancestors lived in order to find them in the census. I had a couple of addresses for my Murray relatives, but not specifically from 1940. I had asked my father if his family was living at the house on Niagara in 1940, and he said that they were and gave me the house number. I had addresses for Marshall Murray up to 1932 and then a gap until 1948, so I hoped one of those two addresses would be where I would find him in 1940.
When the census records came on line, I called up an available map that showed the census tracts and opened Google Maps to help orient myself to the streets. None of the Murrays were showing up where I thought they might, but I also wasn't sure I was reading the maps correctly. To test that I was reading the maps correctly, I decided to take a look for my Dwyer relatives since I knew for certain they were living on Westwood Drive in 1940. I found the corresponding map and looked for the enumeration districts in tract O6. In fairly short order I turned up my grandparents and great grandparents living exactly where I expected them to be and conveniently on the same page (my grandparents living across the street from my great grandparents.) It was fun scrolling through this set of images and recognizing all the street names and knowing exactly where they were with out having to cross-reference Google Maps. (That's the downside of not having lived in San Francisco proper -- I am only familiar with certain sections off the top of my head.) It was even more fun showing the page to my mother who recognized the names of the neighbors, some of whom I'd heard many stories about over the years.
Ok, so I was clearly reading the maps correctly. Why wasn't I finding the Murray side of the family? I thought about it and realized that they probably weren't living on Niagara in April 1940. My father had always told me that his grandfather had bought the house for his parents and the plan was for him to move in with them at some point. Just his grandfather (my great grandfather.) That meant the house had to have been purchased after my great grandmother had died. She died in July 1940 -- the house on Niagara hadn't been purchased yet!
I turned back to the city directories and went back to the 1932 listing and proceeded to march forward in time to see if I could find the right address. I eventually found Marshall and Mary living on Natoma in 1939. Nana and Grandpa Murray were living on 29th Street. One of the things that had thrown me in my searches was that Marshall and my grandfather Edward weren't working in the occupations I had expected after 1932, so when I searched and got an Edward Murray working as a watchman and another working as a reporter, I set them aside as the wrong people. It was only when I looked year to year that I realized that the watchman was Marshall and the reporter was my grandfather Edward! That was quite a surprise, and when I mentioned it to my father he said "oh yeah, he worked for the newspaper for a while." Thanks for the heads up Dad! From what I can tell, Grandpa Murray became a teamster around the time he and Nana were married in 1934.
Now that I had found everyone (including the Colemans living on Bosworth) what information could I get? Most of it was things I already knew, but because of the Great Depression there were more questions about employment than had been asked in previous censuses. The items that leaped out at me the most were related to the cost of living -- what was being paid in rent (or the value of the house if owned) and what the person's annual income was.
It was fascinating to see what my ancestors earned in 1940. It ranged from nothing (my great grandfather Daniel Coleman, who was 80 by 1940) to $4,200 (my great grandfather Ignatius Dwyer who was the registrar of voters for San Francisco.) Most intriguing, however, was Marshall Murray. He was earning $1,000 per year as a watchman and paying $16 per month in rent. How on earth was he able to afford to buy a house for my grandparents if he was making that little? Dad's stories always said that his grandfather had bought the house outright for his parents and it cost $4,500. Where did Marshall come up with that much money? Right now, my best guess is that there was some kind of death benefit paid after my great grandmother died in July 1940. It's as good a guess as any I suppose.
So, while I didn't find the information I had hoped in the 1940 census, I did learn some new things about the family during that time frame. And I definitely need to look more into this whole "Edward Murray, reporter" business.
Friday, April 27, 2012
First Field Trip
As useful as the internet has become in the 21st
century, it can’t do everything. I
long knew that this trip through the past would require making trips to
libraries and cemeteries and who knows what else. So with a little vacation time, I planned my first outing to find
some information in person.
The Murrays aren’t turning up in the 1880 census for San
Francisco. I’ve found what I am fairly
confident is their address for that year: 6 Harry (now Harris) Place. It’s a one-block street off Laguna between
Filbert and Greenwich, so it would be easy to miss in an enumeration of the
census. I don’t think that’s what
happened. After going half blind
scrolling through pages and pages of images for the 1880 census trying to find
Harry Place, I was able to find a site that helps find census enumeration
districts by street name. That sped up
my search tremendously – Harry Place was in the 196th enumeration
district. I was pretty sure I had
already looked at that set of images on line, but I went back and took a closer
look. I discovered that the on line
images for the 196th enumeration district start on page five with
the 40th family visited! Well no wonder I wasn’t finding them – there are four pages missing from
the digitized images. The new question
is were those pages not digitized for some reason or are they missing? The only way to find that out was to go to
the National Archives in San Bruno and take a look at the microfilm and see for
myself. Being a federal agency meant it
was only open during weekdays, which meant I needed a vacation day to go check
out the microfilm.
On my last day of vacation, I drove up to San Bruno and took a
look at the microfilm. It took me
longer to find the right roll and get it on the reader than it did to scroll
through the film to find out if the pages were there. Alas, pages one through four were missing from the microfilm
also. Damn. I asked the librarian at the help desk if she knew what might
have happened to those four pages, but her answer was about as good as my best
guess – they may have been appended to a different part of the census. Since I’ve scrolled through pretty much the
entire 12th Ward of San Francisco on line, plus about half of the
other images (which is considerable as there were 229 enumeration districts for
San Francisco in 1880 and each averages about 20 pages) and the names aren’t
turning up in a search, I’m doubtful the pages were put on to microfilm. Does that mean the pages no longer exist or
simply that they were skipped when being put on microfilm? I’m hoping the latter and have sent a
request to the National Archives in DC to find out.
The second part of my field trip meant heading up to Colma
and wandering around Holy Cross Cemetery. From the death notices I’ve found, I knew Bridget McDonough Murray, Ella (Nellie)
Murray Nelson, Marshall and Mary Murray were all buried there, but of course I
didn’t know exactly where. I had hoped
that Mom could come out with me and help look for the Murrays while also
showing me where some of the rest of the families were (both her side and
Dad’s,) but she wasn’t able to join me. Mom did have some notes on where the graves were, so I took that
information with me and drove on up to Colma.
The first stop, naturally, was the cemetery office to
inquire about the gravesites. Bridget
and Nellie were buried in the same gravesite, but there was no mention of
John. I asked the fellow at the desk if
anyone else was buried in that gravesite and he said there was someone buried
in 1912, but there was no first name to help identify who it was. Could John have been relocated from some
place else? I believe he died in
November 1890, so it is possible as burials within San Francisco city limits
weren’t stopped until 1900. I asked if
there was a John Murray buried around November 1890, and the closest he could give
me was a John Murray who was buried in January 1890, so that didn’t help. I did manage to impress the fellow at the
desk with the dates and information I had already though! He looked up Marshall Murray for me and
jotted down the information for that gravesite on the map with Bridget and
Nellie and off I went to see who I could find.
I drove first to Section M where Bridget and Nellie were
buried. It took a while and quite a bit
of tracking through the section to figure out where the row numbering started
and how the plots were numbered. If I
counted correctly, there wasn’t a gravestone for Bridget and Nellie and the
unknown third Murray as was the case for much of this section. According to my mother’s notes, my Theler
great-great grandparents are also buried in that section, but I couldn’t find
them.
 |
| Nana and Grandpa Murray's gravestone at Holy Cross Cemetery |
Since section M isn’t too far from where several of my aunts are buried, I headed up there and paid my respects before heading back down the hill to find Nana and Grandpa Murray. Mom’s notes were more helpful for this stop and I found their graves fairly quickly.
Next it was over to Section V for Marshall (and presumably Mary, I forgot to ask) Murray. This section was much more complicated to figure out as there is a road that curves through it, so the graves run both horizontally and somewhat vertically along the road. I could not figure out the numbering at all and was unable to locate their grave. Most of the plots in this section have headstones, so I’m fairly confident that a second trip to go through the section more methodically than I did should turn them up.
 |
| Daniel & Elizabeth Coleman's gravestone at Holy Cross Cemetery |
Second to last stop was to find the Colemans in Section T. Mom’s notes were again helpful and had the row and number and, in this section, the graves were much more clearly marked with numbers. My father’s older brother Dan is buried here with his grandparents (my great-grandparents.)
 |
| The Dwyer clan gravestone at Holy Cross Cemetery |
On the way out, I made my final stop at the one gravesite I could find in my sleep – that of my Dwyer grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great grandparents as well as a few other sundry relatives (it’s a big plot.) They’re located right in the front section of the cemetery near the office and not far from such San Francisco and California luminaries as the Aliotos and the Browns. Who knew the Dwyers were so posh? (In actuality, the original plot was moved out of San Francisco when burials within the city limits were stopped in 1900 and many folks were relocated to Holy Cross in Colma and thus these graves are among the first in the cemetery.)
Monday, March 26, 2012
The Mystery of Mary Mullane
After hitting a couple of road blocks that required field trips during work days, I turned my attention to my grandfather Edward’s mother, Mary Mullane. I’d found a death record for her in 1940 and it gave her middle initial “J” and her mother’s maiden name as Manning. Armed with these bits of information, I sent off for her death certificate and then started looking elsewhere to see what I could find.
Having had success with the San Francisco city directories already, I started there to see if she might turn up. I found a Miss Mary J. Mullane living on Belcher Street in 1896 and 1897. There were quite a few other Mullanes at the same address, all men. My best guess is one is her father the rest are brothers, but which ones are which I can’t really tell. Having an address will make it easier for me to find her in the census records, so I head off to check out the 1900 census.
Huh. Well, this is weird. In 1900, Mary Mullane is still living at the address on Belcher, but now she’s Mary Hayes and she and her husband Edward Hayes are living with her brothers Joseph, Patrick, and Edward. Did I find a different person with the same name and about the same age or was my great-grandmother married twice? I decided to check the 1910 census, maybe Edward Hayes died? I find her again, though this time her husband is listed as Dennis E. Hayes and another brother, John, is living with them. Curious.
Maybe I’m wrong and I’ve found the wrong person. There aren’t a whole lot of Mullanes listed in the city directories though, and most of the ones that were listed were all in that house on Belcher in the late 1890s.
I decide to go looking for more information on Mary Mullane, and that means newspapers. First I checked the San Francisco Call on line and found a notice in the April 21, 1900 edition for marriage license issued to Denis E. Hayes and Mary J. Mullane on Belcher Street. I also stumble upon a death notice for a Mrs. Mary Mullane, who seems to be the mother of Mary J. Mullane. (Why, oh, why are there so many repeating names!) It lists her children as John, Mary, Joseph, Thomas, Phillip, and Patrick and mentions she is the niece of “J. Manning.” Seems to be the right family, but still…
Next stop, it’s off to the San Mateo library and the microfilm for the San Francisco Chronicle. Let’s see if her death notice provides any insight. There is no mention of Dennis Edward Hayes, which I didn’t expect, but there is a mention of two brothers, Phillip and Patrick. Those brothers show up in the death notice for Mrs. Mary Mullane and I can find them living at the same address on Belcher in the late 1890s, so the odds are I have found the right person.
So, if Mary Josephine Mullane was married to Dennis Edward Hayes as late as 1910, what happened? I haven’t been able to find a death notice for Mr. Hayes, but if I’ve found the right Mary Mullane she was married to Marshall Murray by 1914 when my grandfather Edward Murray was born.
I asked my father if he’d heard any stories of his grandmother having been married before, and he said he hadn’t. As I kept poking around I was aware that the 1940 census records were about to be released, so I decided to brush up on what information I could find there. I wasn’t really planning on mining much information from the 1940 census – I know a lot about the people that would likely turn up in it – but a bit of explanation caught my eye.
For all women who are or have been married:
· Has this woman been married more than once? (Yes or No)
· Age at first marriage.
Well, what do you know? So now I have a reason to look for the 1940 census. It won’t be as easily searchable right away, but I have the information I need and I should be able to find the right page to see if there is an answer to this question. My only fear is that the census enumerator didn't survey the Murray family before my great-grandmother Mary died in July 1940 and therefore the information got missed.
April 2, 2012, can’t wait!
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