My Old Ohio Home - Massachusetts

Michael Malone, a butler in Boston in 1902

2018-10-08T00:00:00-04:00

RMS Commonwealth

Some information about Moses Malone, a 30 year old butler who died at sea in 1902.

UK Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960, at ancestry.com.

Ship: Commonwealth, Dominion Line
Port of Departure: Boston
Arrival: May 1902
Port of Arrival: Liverpool

Died at sea:
Name: Michael Malone, second cabin passenger.
Male or Female: male
Age: 30
Occupation: butler
Nationality: American, born, New York
Cause of death: Gastric ulcer, haemorrge
Died 30th April at 4:30 AM and was buried at sea the same day at 4PM.
Lat 50.15 N
Long. 17.17 W

UK Registers and Indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths of Passengers and Seamen at Sea, 1891-1922

BT 334/027
Register of Deceased Passengers, 1902 to 1905
page 28, image 30
Register of Deceased Passengers
May 1902

Register General to whom reported: E
Source of Information: LB
U.K., C.I., I of M., Col., For., Etc.: U.K.
On Sea or in River or Harbour: Sea
Trade: For
Accident or Disease: D
Wreck or Casualty: _
Sail or Steam: S
Name of Ship: Commonwealth
Official Number: 113408
Port of Registry: Liverpool
Date of death: 30.4.02 4.30.am
Place of Death: Lat 50.15 N Long. 17.17 W
Name: Michael
Surname: Malone
Sex: M
Age: 30
occupation: butler
Nationality or birthplace: American/New York
last place of abode: 77 Mount Vernon St
cause of death: Boston Gastric Ulcer, haemorrhage

1900 Census for 77 Mount Vernon St

1900 Census Precinct 1, Ward 11, Boston, ED 1308, sheet 11, household 120, family 144
June 8, 1900
at 77 Mount Vernon Street
Henry Whitman, 60, married 33 years, born in Canada (English), parents also, arrived 1854, naturalized, wool merchant, renting
Sarah Whitman, 57, born in Maryland, parents in Massachusetts, artist
4 servants, none were Michael Malone. all foreign born.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6QDW-4V9?cc=1325221&wc=9B71-CXL%3A1030549901%2C1034570401%2C1034625701&lang=en&i=20

1902 Boston City Directory

Henry Whitman, died July 27, 1901
Mrs Henry Whitman, artist at 184 Boylston, h 77 Mt Vernon
five men named Michael Malone, none were butlers

1903 Boston City Directory

Mrs Henry Whitman, artist at 184 Boylston, h 77 Mt Vernon
many men named Michael Malone, none were butlers

Credits

Photo from Norway Heritage

Augusta (Lucy) Stinson, Jamaica Plain, MA

2022-01-14T00:00:00-05:00

1913 postcard from Cleveland, Ohio, to Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

In July 1913 Mr William A Lucy of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, received a postcard that his daughter sent from Cleveland, Ohio. The message read:

Dear Pa
This is the boat we took from Buffalo to Cleveland. It is certainly a beautiful boat.
Love
Gussie

Can we find out a little bit more about Mr Lucy and his daughter?

The Lucys

William A Lucy was born July 27, 1847, in Bradford, Essex County, Massachusetts, the son of William and Adeline (Davis) Lucy. The town of Bradford does not exist any longer. The section of Bradford where William was born became Groveland in September 1850, and he is on the 1850 census of Groveland with his parents. Their page of the census is dated September 11, 1850, after the formation of Groveland. According to the family trees on ancestry.com and familysearch, both sides of William's family are of old New England stock. And to paraphrase Bullwinkle, 'if you can't trust online trees, who can you believe?'

William Lucy married Emelia C Hjort on February 11, 1879, at the Flint Street Methodist Church, Somerville, Massachusetts. The marriage record said that Emilia was born in Malmbeck, Sweden, and that her parents' names were Johanes and Magdalena C. The membership records of the Emanuel Lutheran Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts, inform us that Emelia was born December 3, 1851, in Malmbeck and left for America from Gutenberg on May 3, 1872. Her destination was Boston. Emelia's first son, George William, was baptized at that church in 1880.

Chickering Factory, 1895

Besides George W, their family included Augusta, the daughter who sent the postcard. She was born March 27, 1883, in Boston. Their two other children were Annie Amelia (July 11, 1885, Boston) and Evangeline (May 20, 1889).

William Lucy worked as a cabinet maker for a piano factory most of his life. It was probably the Jonas Chickering Pianoforte Manufactory at 791 Tremont St, Roxbury, since William lived in that area before moving to Jamaica Plain. Addresses included Camden St, Greenwich St, and Columbus Ave. They settled in at 58 Dunster Road, Jamaica Plain, by 1912. William died January 30, 1922, and Emilia in 1943. They have no living descendants–Augusta's one son died childless, George W adopted his wife's three sons, Annie had no children, and Evangeline never married.

Augusta Wilhelmina Lucy

Augusta, as mentioned, was born March 27, 1883, at 73 Camden Street, in the South End. She married William Charles Stinson on December 2, 1907. From an article about her marriage we learn that she "studied for several years at the New England conservatory of music. She has a particularly fine voice, and has often appeared in concerts, being a member of the Handel and Hayden society." I tried to find out more about Augusta's singing career, but came up empty.

Boston Globe, December 21, 1907,
page 8

The article said the Stinsons' first home was on Brunswick St in Grove Hall, which is where they are listed in the 1908 Boston City Directory. They soon moved to 112 Talbot Avenue, then to 7 Blackwood Street in the South End by 1910, and finally to 58 Dunster Road in 1912 with Augusta's parents. The home was a duplex. Augusta was apparently still living on Dunster Road in 1954 when she died. She is in the 1954 Boston City Directory at that address.

Augusta (Lucy) and Will Stinson had one child, a son William Charles, born March 18, 1909, in Boston. He married Mary Elizabeth Powell and died in 1992 in Pinellas County, Florida.

William Charles Stinson

As you may have noticed from the newspaper clipping, Augusta's husband, Will Stinson, was a "bicycle rider." He was not a bicycle rider like you and I might be bicycle riders–he was a professional motor-paced (or slip-stream) cyclist around the turn of the 20th century. I had never heard of this sport but, after a lot of Googling, I think I can sum it up here:

A motor-paced cyclist raced behind a motorcycle ridden by one or two people. The cyclist would ride in the slipstream, or draft, of the motorcycle to minimize air resistance. Using this method, Will Stinson became the first man to bicycle forty miles in one hour, doing so at Brockton, Massachusetts, on October 25, 1900. According to the Courier Journal Almanac of 1901, found at Google Books, he also held at that time the American record for the 2, 30, 35, and 40 mile distances.

Will Stinson

To see the speed advantage of drafting behind a pacer when cycling, we can compare Will's times for 2, 30 and 40 miles with the record speed for unpaced cycling. The paced record for 2 miles was 2:51 2/5, unpaced was 4:25. For 30 miles, paced was 44:49, unpaced was 1:13:36. And for 40 miles Will's time was 59:43 versus the unpaced record of 1:59:56 3/5.

Motor-paced cyclists also raced against one another. The book Life in the Slipstream: The Legend of Bobby Walthour Sr., by Andrew M. Homan, (2011) states that the sport was dangerous. The author tells of the Memorial Day, May 30, 1903, 20 mile race at the Charles River track in Boston, in which prominent cyclist Harry Elkes was killed and Will Stinson was badly injured. After that, Will took a few years off from the racing circuit—the only other mention of him in the book is at a 1906 20 mile race in Revere.

Apparently Will Stinson discontinued racing by the time of his marriage to Augusta. Their marriage license lists him as a traveling salesman and his censuses from 1910 to 1940 all put him in sales, usually of books. Will Stinson died March 9, 1941, at his home in Jamaica Plain.

The "Sea and Bee"

Inquiring minds might be wondering what Augusta was talking about when she said on the card "This is the boat we took from Buffalo to Cleveland. It is certainly a beautiful boat."

The boat was the SS Seeandbee which made regular trips between Buffalo and Cleveland from 1913 to 1939. The postcard says it was the largest steamer on inland waters in the world at the time. Its parent company experienced financial losses in 1938 and the ship was sold to a company in Chicago. The Seeandbee sailed out of that city until 1941 when it was converted into a aircraft training vessel for use during World War II. It was scrapped after the war.

1913 postcard from Cleveland, Ohio, to Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, front

For those interested, there is more on the Seeandbee at the Seeandbee at the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History and at See the Seeandbee, at cleveland.com. There is also a video at SS Seeandbee ~ The C&B Line Flagship at youtube.

The Postmark

You never know what you will learn when you pick up a postcard and start researching. The postmark on Augusta's card tells us that it was mailed on the Cleveland Circuit Railway Post Office route. The postal service operated a street rail car on the streetcar lines on the east side of Cleveland. It made nine trips a day, carrying mail to and from various substations before returning to the main post office. The card Augusta (Lucy) Stinson sent was cancelled on trip six for July 11, 1913.

I was a bit more interested in the Railway Post Office than in the SS Seaandbee. Vehicles are–to me anyway–just a way to get from one place to another. Stamps and postmarks are important 🙂. I found a very informative article about the Cleveland R.P.O. in this .pdf file at The Cleveland Circuit R.P.O., 1908-1919.

Sources

Other than the sources already mentioned, most of the information came from the US Censuses, Boston, Cambridge, and Providence (RI) City Directories, and the Massachusetts Vital Records. The only unusual sources were the records of the Emanuel Lutheran Church, Roxbury, and the Swedish Emigration and Swedish Passenger Lists at ancestry.com.

Credits

The picture of the Jonas Chickering Piano Manufactory can be found at Wikimedia Commons and is said to be in the public domain. The newspaper clippings were found, I think, for free at newspapers.com, and the postcard itself is mine.

Edwin O'Connor of Woonsocket, Rhode Island–A Brief Ancestry

2019-08-16T00:00:00-04:00

Some years ago I researched a friend's Irish ancestry. She was from Galway and it turned out that she was distantly related to John Ford the American movie director. That got me thinking about the Irish experience in the United States and about American movies in general, which eventually brought me around to reading, not watching, The Last Hurrah, by Edwin O'Connor.

I read the rest of his novels, enjoying them all. Somewhere along the way I learned he was raised near to where I was living at the time. In fact I had driven past his family's house more times than I could count. So I thought I'd see what I could find in the online records for the ancestry of Edwin O'Connor's family.

His biography, A Family of His Own, by Charles Duffy (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, ©2003), got me started with exact dates and locations for Edwin's birth and the marriage of his parents, John V. O'Connor and Mary Greene. According to the author's interiews with family members, Mary Greene's mother's family was from County Tipperary. Little was known about the O'Connors or the other branches. That seemed a bit of a shame.

The Research–a summary

To make a long story short, I was able to trace Edwin O'Connor's ancestry back to the immigrant ancestor in all lines. In most cases this was his great grandparent; in one line it was his gg grandparents. All were Irish.

The County Tipperary connection was the easiest, since their Catholic parish in Ireland—Templemore, Tipperary—was evidently carved on the headstones of John Ryan and Mary Healey. I narrowed them down a bit more to Clonmore, a village in that parish.

Richard Dwyer, John O'Connor's maternal grandfather, said he was from County Waterford when he was naturalized, but I couldn't get more specific than that.

And James Greene, Mary (Greene) O'Connor's father, was very likely from Corrabeagh/Curbeagh Townland, Fenagh Parish, County Leitrim. His naturalization record provided the county, and his marriage record gave his parents names: John Greene and Catherine McQueeney. There is only one couple in Leitrim with those names, and they were of that townland when two of their other children were baptized.

Most of the men in the first two generations in America were laborers except for Richard Dwyer who was a butcher. Two were insurance agents for a while, but one of them went back to being a mill worker. It might be interesting to find out just what constituted an "insurance agent" in northern Rhode Island around the turn of the 20th century that would lend itself to this type of transitioning. And speaking of mill workers, O'Connor's paternal grandmother, Anastasia Dwyer, was working in a cotton mill in Blackstone, Massachusetts, at the age of 14–along with her 12 year old sister.

Conclusion

Page 7 of A Family of His Own said that Edwin O'Connor's parents were "of a generation which seldom looked back to the 'old sod,' and which in fact often looked down on anyone playing the professional Irishman. The family took little interest in genealogical searches."

I guess that makes me a professional Irishman who takes an interest in genealogical searches. There really ought to be one in every family. Details and sources that went into the research are available on Edwin O'Connor's page in the Other Families tree on this site.

Finally, this article was not meant to be a history of the O'Connors and how they fit into their times. For that, read A Family of His Own, then find a history of Blackstone, Massachusetts, especially during the mill era, and one of Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

Credits

Wikipedia provided the image of the movie poster and says it is in the public domain, since the copyright was not renewed.

Patrick Lanagan of Sligo and Waltham

2018-10-09T00:00:00-04:00

Sligo town

Every human being is unique and no doubt that was true of Patrick Lanagan as well. But what makes him special to me is this: he is the only person whom I have found who is recorded in Griffith's Valuation of Ireland and then emigrated to America. How I found the Lanagans' location in Ireland also depended on something unusual: the relatively rare name of his father-in-law. Here's the story:

From his records in Waltham, I knew that Patrick was born between 1823 and 1827 in Ireland and that he had married his wife Hannah about 1853. The Lanagans' first three children were born in Ireland between 1854 and 1861 and their fourth was born in Massachusetts in July 1863.

I was tracing a descendant of their oldest daughter, Ellen, but from her sister Catherine's marriage record I learned that Hannah's maiden name was McRane. Then I found Hannah's own death record which gave her parents' names as Bartholomew McCran and Honora Scanlan.

At this I asked myself, How many Bartholomew McCrans could there ever have been on the face of this earth? I used the Irish Times surnames page and Google to arrive at the answer: Not many, and most of them were from County Sligo.

There is a gap in the available vital records for Sligo, so Ellen's baptism record was not available, but I was able to find transcribed records for her sister Mary in 1858 and her brother Patrick J. in 1861. Both were baptized in Sligo Parish, Sligo, children of Patrick Lanigan/Lonacan and Anne McCrann/Hanna McRyn.

There is also a Patrick Lanagan on Griffith's Valuation, listed on Church Lane in the Town of Sligo, parish of St. Johns Union, Co. Sligo. I'm fairly sure this is him, since he is in Sligo Town, not in the countryside, which means he might have had a trade. On his Waltham records, Patrick was always recorded as a shoemaker.

So when you are looking for answers in your family history, keep an eye out for something unique. It may be all you need to solve the puzzle.

Update

I've now looked at the images of the baptism records of St John's (Catholic) Parish in Sligo. They are available for free at https://registers.nli.ie. Here are my trnscriptions of those two Lanagan baptisms:

Maria Lonacan born 20 Nov 1858, baptized 28 Nov 1858 parents: Patrick Lonacan and Hanna McCran residence: Village Waste Joidi.. sponsors: Bartholomew Cunningham, Maria McCran

Patrick Lanigan born 8 March 1861, son of Patrick Lanigan and Hanna McRyn, residence Waste Garden Lane baptized 10 March 1861. sponsors: Michael Hanny and Margaret Finn

Credits

Photo of Sligo courtesy of a Lanagan descendant.

Mary E Keane, Nahant, Massachusetts

2019-09-07T00:00:00-04:00

About March 1943, Miss Mary Keane of 93 Fox Hill Road, Nahant, Massachusetts, received a letter from Gaillimh (Galway) Ireland.(footnote)The image of the letter to Mary Keane was once on the Jim Forte Postal History website, but is no longer. I am not connected with the site. Can this postmark tell us anything about her family's Irish origins?

Mary E Keane was born February 24, 1910, in Nahant, Massachusetts, the first child of Michael F Keane and Mary T Nolan. Michael and Mary had been married in Nahant on April 14, 1909. Both had been born in Ireland.

In 1940 the family was living at the address on the letter, 93 Fox Hill Road, Nahant. With Mary and her parents were the two other children in the family: Katherine Theresa, born August 5, 1911, and James John, born September 3, 1917. Her father was working as the manager of a state boat house. His later information said that this was for the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC).

Mary Keane remained single and lived most of her life in Nahant, dying on January 15, 1997, in Lynn. She is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery, Nahant, with her parents and her brother James.

Michael F Keane of Island Eddy and Nahant

When Mary's father was married, he stated that his parents were James Keane and Maria Connolly. I spent a long time looking for the ship manifest for his arrival, hoping that it would tell me at least his county of origin in Ireland. I was unsuccessful and was ready to give up on finding his birth family, until I remembered the trick of looking for siblings. So I went to familysearch.org and looked for anyone with those two parents.

There were a number of matches, but the one that stood out was Honora "Nora" Keane, who was born in Island Eddy, Galway, and married in Lynn, Massachusetts. Although the names Keane and Connolly are common enough, I thought that it had to be more than coincidence that both a Michael and a Honora Keane would settle in the Lynn/Nahant area. They were very likely brother and sister. And so it turned out to be. There was a civil birth record for a Michael Keane, born October 12, 1877, in Island Eddy as well.

Interestingly, Michael wasn't actually born on that date. The Irish Catholic parish records are now online and I found Michael's baptism record. It reads:

Baptized September 11, 1877 Kilcolgan Parish, Galway, Michalis Keane born September 6, (son of) Jacobus Keane and Maria Connolly of Island Eddy. Witnesses: Patritius and Maria Hann.

Since you can't get baptized until you are born 🙂 I believe the date of birth on this record is the correct one. What probably happened is either that his parents registered his birth on the October date, or they gave that date as his birthdate so they wouldn't have to pay the fine for a late registration.

Michael Keane, baptism record, page 1

Michael Keane, baptism record, page 2

Michael and Honora, or Nora, as she was called, are on the 1901 Census of house 4 in Eddy Island, Clarenbridge, Galway, with their parents James, age 60, and Maria, 50, along with their brothers and sisters: Thomas, Catherine, John, Martin, Winnie and James. Michael might have been visiting from America, because he was naturalized in 1904 and I am pretty sure the residency requirement was 5 years.

Mary T Nolan

What about Mary T Nolan's Irish origins? When Mary was married, she said that her parents were Thomas Nolan and Mary Tilly. On Griffith's Valuation of Ireland, taken in the 1850's and 1860's, those two surnames occur together only in Belfast, Dublin, and Co. Laois.

When Mary arrived in America she said she was headed for the home of her cousin, Annie Long, in Lynn. There is a birth record for an Annie Long in Abbeyleix, Co. Laois, that could be her, but I suspect it is a common name. I was unable to find a birth record for Mary Nolan, or any of her siblings.

If this were my family, I would probably plunk down a few dollars at rootsireland.ie and look through the index for children of Thomas Nolan and Mary Tilly. Then go to the Parish Records at the National Library of Ireland, nli.ie, and look for the baptisms. However, the records might not be complete or the family just might not have been recorded. Still I would start looking in Laois.

Update

I looked through the baptisms in Co. Laois for children of Thomas Nolan and Mary Tilly, and didn't find any. Your mileage may vary, as they say. Or try rootsireland.ie, since that is supposed to be the best site for the Irish parish records.

Conclusion

So although the postmark of "Galway" didn't give us much to go on this time, at least we were able to determine the Irish county of origin for the recipient. To clinch the matter, I found a post at facebook that mentioned a "Jim Keane of Nahant MA. USA ... [whose] father was from Island Eddy." That would be Mary E Keane's brother James J Keane.

There are a few other Galway families on the site. Click on the Co. Galway category at the top of this post. Sources and more information on the Keanes are in the New England Families tree on my other website.

Mary Orton of Fall River, Massachusetts

2019-09-05T00:00:00-04:00

1911 postcard, Sakonnet Rhode Island to Hastings Nebraska

In September 1911, Miss Lottie Orton, of Hastings, Nebraska, received a postcard from her cousin Mary Orton, postmarked Sakonnet, Rhode Island. The message read:

Dear Cousin Lottie;-
I hope you received my letter. Florence and I are going home Thursday. Mr. + Mrs. Wainwright go to Philadelphia for the winter. You can address my mail up home because I expect to be home all winter. Write soon.
With love, Cousin Mary O
Mary Orton

Introduction

This post card is an excellent example of how postal covers and letters can be helpful in genealogical research. Mary Orton called Lottie Orton her "cousin", not just once, but twice. That's pretty strong evidence that their fathers are brothers, wouldn't you say? Let's see if this conclusion is borne out by the documents we find. What can we learn about these two young women and their families?

The Ortons of Fall River, Massachusetts

Mary V Orton was born September 1893, in Fall River, Massachusetts, one of eleven known children of George E Orton and Clarissa Chace Brown. Her sister Florence was born in November 9, 1892. They were both evidently working in Sakonnet for the summer, since Mary says she would be "up home" all winter.

In 1910, Mary and Florence can be found at 284 Meridian Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, with their parents and family. Their father had been born in England, allegedly about 1854, and their mother in 1861 in Rhode Island. I say "allegedly" because further digging into George's records turned up his Petition for Naturalization to become a United States citizen, which he submitted on October 10, 1883. On that he said he was born in Shelton, England, on or about 17 November 1845. His death record (November 30, 1910, Fall River) added his parents' names: Edward Orton and Diana Wesley.

"Shelton" turned out to be Shilton Parish, Warwickshire, where we find George on the 1851 Census of Shilton Village in the household of Edward and Dinah Orton. There is an index reference to a birth of a George Orton in Foleshill registration district in the fourth quarter of 1844. There were a lot of Ortons in the area, but I am pretty sure this is "our" George.

The Browns

Mary's mother, Clarissa Chace Brown, was born June 9, 1861, the daughter of Otis Lake Brown and Caroline Chace Wilbor. You just have to love those old New England families who use a family surname as a second given name. I was really tempted to get sidetracked into the Lake, Brown, Chace, and Wilbor families of Little Compton and the area—they had all been there a long time. If you want to take a look at them for yourself, you can start with this tree at familysearch.org: Clarissa Chace Brown. I didn't verify that research, but it looked ok at a quick glance. Or see Clarissa Chace Brown in Google Books' preview of Little Compton Families, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1967.

1911 postcard, Sakonnet RI to Hastings NE, back

Mary and Florence Orton

Mary Orton was married a few years after this postcard was sent, on January 30, 1917, to Albert J Suprenant, of Fall River. They were found on the 1920 through 1940 censuses in that city, and at last look they were living at 41 Lafayette Street. They had two children, whom I will leave unnamed, since I didn't find death records for them. Albert died on October 12, 1973, and Mary on August 31, 1974. They are both buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, Fall River, as are much of Mary's family, including her parents.

For her part, Florence married John S Dupont on October 4, 1920, in Fall River. They were living in Fall River in 1930 and 1940, but had no children listed with them. Florence died February 15, 1982. I didn't find John Dupont's death.

The Wainwrights

Before we leave New England, lets take a quick look at the Wainwrights, the family that Mary and Florence evidently worked for, and who were going back to Philadelphia for the winter.

Joseph Reeves Wainwright and Laura Lloyd Coates were married in Philadelphia 30 April 1901; it was the second marriage for both.(footnote)Joseph R Wainwright and Laura L Coates, 30 Apr 1901, in "Pennsylvania Civil Marriages, 1677-1950," at familysearch.org In 1910 they were living at 1635 Spruce Street in Philadelphia.(footnote)Joseph Wainright household, 1910 Census of Philadelphia, at familysearch.org. Joseph was the founder of Penn Chemical Corporation(footnote)Obituary of Joseph Wainright, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 10, 1917, as found at findagrave. and, more to the point of this article, a member of the West Island Club, Sakonnet.(footnote)"In Search of the West Island Club" in New England Boating. When the Club ceased operations in 1906, Mr Wainwright bought East and West Islands from the club. He died 7 July 1917, in Ardmore, Pennsylvania,(footnote)Joseph Reeves Wainright page at findagrave.com. and his wife Laura on 2 February 1941, also in Ardmore.(footnote)Laura L Lloyd Wainwright page at findagrave.

If you really want to get sidetracked, read about the history of West Island at In Search of the West Island Club, at New England Boating, and O’CONNOR aka “East & West Island”, at the Sakonnet Preservation Association.

Sakonnet Post Office

The Post Office

Thanks to the Little Compton Historical Society, I came up with a picture of the post office where Mary Orton mailed her card to her cousin. The staff member told me that it was at Sakonnet Point near the dock, and was probably only open in the summer. The sign over the door indicates that it was also the Office of the Sakonnet Steamboat Company. According to the Historical Society's site, this picture was taken between 1910 and 1920, which would include the summer that we know Mary spent in Sakonnet.

Conclusion

Getting back to our main theme, so far we have established that Mary Orton's father, George Orton, was born about 1844 or 1845 in Shilton, Warwickshire, the son of Edward and Diana (Wesley) Orton. Did he have a brother in Hastings, Nebraska, the father of Lottie Orton? Let's see.

Continued in Lottie Orton of Hastings, Nebraska.

Sources and more information about the Ortons of Fall River can be found under Orton in the Other Trees section of this website.

Credits

The photograph of the Sakonnet Post Office comes from the Little Compton Historical Society Collection at Little Compton Historical Society, Online Collections Database. Choose Advanced Search, and enter "Post Office" in the title box.

The best history of Sakonnet Point I have found so far is a .pdf file at Sakonnet Point Perspectives.

Mary Frances Dolan, Cambridgeport, Massachusetts

2019-06-17T00:00:00-04:00

1904 postal card, Castlewellan, Co. Down,
to Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, back

On November 26, 1904, Miss Fannie Dolan of 16 Watson Street, Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, received a postcard. It had been mailed 11 days earlier from Castlewellan, County Down, Ireland, and carried the message

"It is very cold here today.—L.E.B. Nov 15, 1904"

Introduction

Mary Francis Dolan was born April 20, 1883, in Roslindale, Massachusetts, the daughter of John H Dolan and Mary A Noonan. I will refer to her as Frances, since she seemed to go by her second given name throughout her life.

In 1910, John Dolan's household at 16 Watson Street, Cambridge, included his wife, his daughters Mary Frances ("Fannie"), Elizabeth, and Rosalie, and his mother-in-law Ellen Noonan. His son Edward, born 1881, had married Alice Duffy in 1903 and was living a few blocks away on Pearl Street. Edward's marriage record indicates that the family was on Watson Street when he married.

So with all those Irish names, does the postcard tell us anything about the Irish origins of Frances' family? No, not really, as it turns out. Unlike the other in this series of articles, it is really a tourist type item, and carried no meaningful text. But my curiosity was piqued, so here goes.

1904 postal card, Castlewellan, Co. Down, to Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, front

The Dolans

John Dolan was born October 19, 1854, in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, son of John Dolan and Bridget Dillon. They had at least two earlier children, Mary Ellen (1851), who died the following year, and William Henry (1853-1888). With that start, I thought I might get somewhere, but I was soon lost in the sea of Dolans in the Boston area. West Roxbury was a separate town at the time but even there, if I am not mistaken, there was another John and Bridget Dolan couple. So the Dolans were a dead end.

The Noonans

I got farther with the Noonans. Frances Dolan's mother, Mary Ann Noonan, was born January 1858, in Lowell, Massachusetts, the daughter of Dennis Noonan and Ellen O'Brien. In turn, Dennis was born about 1829 in Ireland, the son of John Noonan and Ellen Murphy. John, Ellen, and sons Dennis, Robert, and John were all in Lowell in the 1850s and 1860s.

Dennis' brother Robert proved to be the key to success for this family. His naturalization papers in US District Court, Boston, said that he was born in County Tipperary "on or about" May 3, 1835. I didn't find Dennis or Robert, but there was a John Noonan, son of John Noonan and Ellen Murphy, baptized 7 April 1833 in Galbally and Aherlow parish, Co. Tipperary. This was a couple years earlier than John's American records say he was born, but it is a possible match.

Tipperary was loaded with Noonans and Ireland is loaded with Murphys, so this might not be the right couple, but at least we found a county.

The O'Briens

The 1865 household of Dennis Noonan in Lowell also included his father in law, Patrick O'Brien. Patrick was married to Ellen Connors. Ellen's death record, Lowell, 1859, said she was the daughter of John Connors and Catherine "Manesse". The name Manesse didn't show up at all on John Grenham's surname search site. I don't know what name was meant, and that was the end of the line for the O'Briens anyway.

Conclusion

Compared to the other postal covers I have researched, I would say that I came in below average on this one. Once again, the famine immigrant generation proved difficult.

All of the sources I used are available at either familysearch or ancestry.com. They include federal and state censuses, Massachusetts vital records, city directories of Boston and Lowell, and Robert Noonan's naturalization record.

I have uploaded a brief tree of the families mentioned in this article.

Patrick J Slowey of Syracuse, New York, and Holyoke, Massachusetts

2018-10-08T00:00:00-04:00

Postal Cover, Co Cavan, Ire. to Holyoke, MA

I came across P.J. Slowey while looking through some postal covers at the Jim Forte Postal History site. In 1939 he received a letter from Ballyjamesduff, Ireland.(footnote)The image of the envelope is used by permission of the Jim Forte Postal History site and can be found on this page of the site, unless it has been sold. I am not connected with the site. As a genealogist I wondered if that was his place of birth.

I've done a few of these postal cover articles and they are usually a challenge, but Patrick Slowey was one of the easiest persons I have researched. I'm not going to bother listing most of the sources. If you type his name into the boxes at Familysearch, you will find almost everything you need. To find his trips through Ellis Island, start at stevemorse.org. A few bits of information were only at ancestry.com.

Patrick was indeed born in Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan, Ireland, March 2, 1885, the son of Alexander and Catherine (Kelly) Slowey. He is on the 1901 Census of Ballyjamesduff in his brother Thomas' household, along with his widowed mother and his brothers Alexander and James.(footnote) National Archives of Ireland, 1901 Census of Ballyjamesduff. His father's name comes from Patrick's passport application in 1919, which was on ancestry.com. His mother's maiden name can be found at Familysearch in some of the records of her children's births.

Patrick came through Ellis Island at least three times: February 19, 1906, as an immigrant; July 11, 1911, with his brother James; and March 23, 1920, as a citizen. Patrick worked most of his life for the Holyoke Belting Company: first as a salesman in upstate New York, then as a company official and later President in Holyoke itself. He died January 15, 1965, in Holyoke and is buried in St. Jerome Cemetery.(footnote)Larry Murray & Carole King Murray Family rootsweb database for Patrick Slowey.

Patrick's mother seems to have died about 1919 or 1920. When Patrick applied for his passport in June of 1919, he said his reason for travel was to visit his mother before she died. In December he seems to have sent the passport in for renewal, saying he was unable to make the trip as planned.(footnote)U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925, at ancestry.com. Then in March 1920 he returns through Ellis Island. The Civil Registrations in Ireland should have his mother's death.

Elizabeth J Nolan

Since Patrick was so easy, I thought I'd try to find out something about his wife Elizabeth. Ireland was partitioned in 1922, so the 1930 U.S. Census was the first to distinguish between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland as a place of birth. Elizabeth's information said she was born in the North. The 1940 Census says she was born in the Irish Free State, but the census indicates that her husband provided that information.

Maiden name

I had the hardest time finding Elizabeth's maiden name, until I Googled "Patrick J Slowey Syracuse" and found an article in the August 9, 1938, Ogdenburg Journal, page 3, which said:

**Chippewa Bay**
Mr. and Mrs. Patrick J. Slowey and family arrived here by motor on Wednesday from Holyoke, Mass., to spend a month at their summer cottage on Marjorita Island.

Lieutenant William E. Nolan of New York arrived here by motor on Thursday evening to spend part of his annual vacation with his sister and brother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Patrick J. Slowey.(footnote)August 9, 1938, Ogdenburg Journal, page 3. This is a .pdf file. The article is in the upper left corner of the page.

Marriage record

I had already looked at the Italian Genealogical Group website for a marriage record, searching for Slowey, but to no avail. This site has indexed many vital records for the New York City area for the late 19th and early 20th century, not just for Italian couples but for all marriages.

I went back and searched for "Elizabeth Nolan" and found the following:

Nolan Elizabeth Apr 5 1915 7569 Manhattan

Clicking on the groom lookup button got me this:

Siowey Patrick J Apr 5 1915 Certificate Number:7569 Manhattan(footnote)Italian Genealogical Society, bride's search.

No wonder I didn't find him. They indexed his name as "Siowey" instead of "Slowey." But anyway, they were married in Manhattan on April 5, 1915. And they are together on the (June) 1915 NY State Census of Manhattan at 4509 Sixth Ave, Patrick already a salesman.

Edited to add:

In December 2018 I took another look at this couple and found the marriage record now indexed at familysearch. It said that Elizabeth's parents were Philip Nolan and Bridget Callahan.

Death

Elizabeth may have died in Holyoke about 1963 or 1964. In the 1964 Holyoke City Directory she and Patrick are listed at different addresses on Linden Street. In the street cross reference section both of these addresses are for the Buckley Manor Nursing Home. And Patrick's obituary does not mention Elizabeth as a survivor.

County of Origin

Unfortunately, I didn't find enough information for Elizabeth Nolan to definitely determine her birthplace. My best guess is that she was from County Fermanagh, but it is only a guess. There is a couple named Philip Nolan and Bridget Callahan who have at least six children on the birth records in Greagh Townland, Lisnaskea Registration District, Fermanagh, including an Elizabeth. However their Elizabeth was born 18 January 1878, which is about 8 years earlier than Patrick Slowey's wife Elizabeth said she was born.

Perhaps Elizabeth was a few years older than Patrick, and lowered her age on the census records to better match his. Her passenger manifest would have been helpful in that regard, but I couldn't find it. Likewise for a census listing for Elizabeth before she was married.

Anastasia (Lawton) Hankard—of Cork and East Boston, Massachusetts

2018-10-09T00:00:00-04:00

In the first article in this series, John Aloysius Hankard, East Boston, Mass, we identified John Aloysius Hankard's paternal grandparents as John Hankard and Anastasia Lawton, both born in Ireland. On her marriage record, Anastasia said her father's name was John. Could we find Anastasia's Irish county of origin?

Anastasia named her daughters Caroline, Dora, Mary, and Louisa. Was one of them named after Anastasia's mother? I tried Caroline first but didn't find anything. Then I looked at familysearch.org for any Lawtons in Massachusetts with a father named John and mother Dora. I found a William Lawton who was married in Boston in 1885 to Margaret Meade. His parents were John and Dora. The marriage was also registered in Taunton.¹

Anastasia (Lawton) Hankard died in Taunton in 1876, and her husband John was in the Taunton City Directory for that year. I looked in the directory again, this time for William Lawton. In 1876 William was at the same address as John and Anastasia Hankard.² So it is almost a certainty that Anastasia and William Lawton were brother and sister. This could explain why Anastasia's death record said her father's name was William, not John.

When William Lawton died in 1911, his death record said his parents were John Lawton and Dora Cashman.³ The names Lawton and Cashman occur together on Griffith's Valuation only in Cork and Waterford.⁴

Anastasia was born about 1831 according to her American records. I looked at rootsireland.ie for "Lawton, An*", father's name = John, born from 1826 to 1836, born anywhere in Ireland. There were two listed:

Church Baptism Lawton Anastatia 1830 Co. Cork
Church Baptism Lawton Anastatia 1832 Co. Cork

One of these is probably "our" Anastasia Lawton. I didn't find William Lawton's baptism.

I also came across a posting from August 2000 on the Cork message board at rootsweb.com, that might refer to Anastasia's extended family. If so, she is from Kilmacahill in the Parish of Cloyne, in East Cork. The message mentions an Anastasia Lawton and a Dora Cashman who are probably relatives. Given names run in families and in localities. These aren't the two women we have been discussing, but I don't think this is just a coincidence.⁵

Also, there is a John Lawton in Kilmacahill on the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1837) and also in Griffith's Valuation.^{6, 7}

Finally, there is an Anty Lawton, age 17, who arrived in Boston on July 7, 1848, aboard the Britain, of St. John, New Brunswick. She had departed from Cork. This could also be "our" Anastasia Lawton.⁸

So if one of my ancestors were Anastasia Lawton and I was looking for her townland of origin, I would definitely start my search in the area of Kilmacahill, East Cork.

Footnotes

Sources not mentioned here are given in the first article.

"Massachusetts, Marriages, 1841-1915," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N49T-9MR : accessed 06 Jan 2014), William C. Lawton and Margaret Meade, 1885.
1876 Taunton City Directory, at ancestry.com
Massachusetts, Deaths, 1841-1915," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N4D2-7Y3 : accessed 06 Jan 2014), William C Lawton, 1911.
Irish Times, Irish Ancestors -- Surname Search.
zzwrigm, "Lawton", 26 Aug 2000, at Rootsweb, Cork, General, Message Board.
National Archives of Ireland, Tithe Applotment Books, for Kilmacahill.
Griffith's Valuation at ancestry.com.
Boston, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1954, about Anty Lawton, at ancestry.com.

James Carrigan of County Meath, Ireland, and Salem, Massachusetts

2018-10-09T00:00:00-04:00

Naturalization Papers,
thumbnail

Earlier this week I received a photocopy of the naturalization papers for a James Carrigan, naturalized in Manchester Police Court, Manchester, New Hampshire, on March 13, 1866. He wasn’t our James Carrigan, my wife’s great, great grandfather, as I had hoped. But he was someone’s James Carrigan, so rather than let the work go to waste, I thought I would put it here.

According to his papers, James had served in the 19th Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteers during the American Civil War. He listed a term from December 31, 1863, until July 24, 1865, but he had actually served earlier as well.

The 19th Volunteer Regiment was organized in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. The roster of the Regiment shows that James Carrigan enlisted on July 21, 1861, at the age of 35 then reentered on December 21, 1863. He was wounded July 3, 1863, (at Gettysburg, from what I can tell), and again on June 3, 1864, (likely at the Battle of Cold Harbor). At some point he was assigned to the Veteran Reserve Corps, an arrangement for officers and enlisted men who were either unable to serve in the line of duty because of wounds or disease, or were honorably discharged because of wounds or disease and wanted to reenter the service. He was discharged on July 24, 1865.(footnote)History of the Nineteenth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 1861-1865, Salem Press, 1906, digitized at Google Books.
19th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, article at wikipedia.org.
Veteran Reserve Corps (VRC), 1863-1865, National Archives and Records Administration at archives.gov.

History of the Nineteenth Regiment, Salem Press, 1906, p. 376

Since the military unit was formed in Lynnfield, MA, this might be James Carrigan and family in 1860 in nearby Salem:

1860 Massachusetts State Census, Salem
James Carrigan, 32, currier, real estate worth $900, personal estate worth $75, born in Ireland, cannot read or write
Ruth [sic] Carrigan, 30, born in Ireland
Lawrence Carrigan, 5, born in Massachusetts
Mary Carrigan, 5, born in Massachusetts
James Carrigan, Jr, 1, born in Massachusetts (footnote)1860 Census of Salem, Massachusetts at familysearch.org.

and in 1865:

1865 Massachusetts State Census, Ward 6, Salem
James Corrigan, 36, currier, born in Ireland, ratable polls: yes, legal voter: no, naturalized voter: no
Roseanna Corrigan, 36, born in Ireland
Lawrence Corrigan, 9, born in Massachusetts
Mary Corrigan, 7, born in Massachusetts
James Corrigan, 5, born in Massachusetts
Rose Corrigan, 4, born in Massachusetts (footnote)1865 Massachusetts State Census of Salem at familysearch.org James Corrigan, Salem, Ward 06, Essex, Massachusetts; State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 954,562.

James died in Salem on October 24, 1877, of asthma. He was 55. His parents’ names on the record were Lawrence and Elizabeth (Flanigan) Carrigan, both born in Ireland. He was still a currier when he died.(footnote)“Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915,” James Carrigan, 24 Oct 1877; citing Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, v 292 p 274, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 960,212, at familysearch.org.

On his page at findagrave.com, there is a photo of his headstone in Saint Mary’s Cemetery, Salem:

James Carrigan headstone

At least I think it is his, despite it being carved “Corrigan.” The date of death matches exactly. It says James was a native of County Meath, Ireland.

Rose (Mcardle) Carrigan

There was a Scanlin/Scanlon family in the Carrigan household in 1860, so I wondered if Rose’s maiden name was Scanlon. But not so. The death record of her son Lawrence in Salem on August 25, 1855, said his mother was Rosanna Mcardle. Lawrence died of a fractured skull, and was single at the time.(footnote)Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915, Lawrence F. Corrigan, 25 Aug 1883; citing Salem, Massachusetts, v 346 p 294, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 960,224, at familysearch.org.

Other Children

Like his brother Lawrence, James Carrigan also died at age 27—on April 8, 1889 in Haverhill, Massachusetts. James had married Katie F Carey in Haverhill on January 8, 1884. She and their 14 year old son Lawrence are living with her brother James in Haverhill in 1900.

The Carrigan’s older daughter Mary married Peter C Mead on February 28, 1889 in Salem. I found them in Salem until 1920. Mary had 5 or 6 children, of whom 3 were living in 1920.

Daughter Rose married first to Edward Irvine Brassey in Lynn, Massachusetts on May 9, 1887, then to Thomas Mcdermott, September 7, 1895, also in Lynn. Mary died April 24, 1902, widowed, in Lynn, at age 39, childless as best as I can tell.(footnote)Sources for the children’s information are the Federal Censuses, and the Massachusetts marriage and death records.

Postscript

I didn’t find anything on the Miles Carrigan who is listed right after James on the roster of the 19th Regiment. Not in Salem, Manchester, or anywhere.

And if anyone knows where this family is on the 1870 Census, or where my wife’s James Carrigan is in 1870, would you please let me know?

To download the pdf of James’ naturalization, click here: 1866 James Carrigan Naturalization Papers.