My Old Ohio Home - New Jersey

Barbara (Hynes) Tarsney, Moycullen, Galway, and Glen Ridge, NJ

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

In 1941, Mrs. Felix Tarsney of 63 Willow Street, Glen Ridge, New Jersey, received a letter from Gaillimh (Galway City), County Galway, Ireland. What can we learn about Mrs Tarsney? Was she from Galway?

Compared to some other postal covers I have looked at, this family was relatively easy and well documented. There were also a few family trees at MyHeritage.com, and I think at ancestry.com as well. So I will just summarize what I found and maybe include a few things I didn't see on the trees at MyHeritage.

In 1940 Felix Tarsney, 54, and his wife Barbara, 52, were living at 63 Willow St, Glen Ridge, New Jersey. In 1910 they had been at 40 Newell St, Brooklyn.

On September 17, 1911, Barbara Tarsney and her sister Delia "Bridget" Devestern arrived on the SS Lusitania. Barbara was headed to 40 Newell St. Their last place of residence had been Moycullen, Ireland.

There is a record of a marriage of Felix Tarsney to Barbara Hynes in Brooklyn, NY, on June 28 1908. Her parents were Lawrence Hynes and Mary Bain. Various trees on line had identfied Moycullen as Barbara (Hynes) Tarsney's place of birth. So it was no surprise to find that the Residents of house 31 in Ower (Wormhole, Galway) on the 1901 Census of Ireland included a Barbara and Bridget Hynes, with their parents Lawrence and Mary, and a number of siblings.

What I didn't find on any of the family trees was the arrival of Barbara Hynes in 1905, the year in which she usually said she had immigrated. This was probably because the indexes at familysearch.org, libertyfoundation.org, and elsewhere, had the right ship but the wrong date. By starting at stevemorse.org and searching for the ship I found that Barbara had indeed arrived on the SS Oceanic, but on April 6, 1905, not April 5. She was age 20, a housemaid from Galway, and was headed to her uncle Frank Hynes' home at 179 Java St, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY. She said she had been in the US before, in 1899. I didn't find that voyage.

Manifest of the SS Oceanic, dated April 6, 1905

So yes, Barbara (Hynes) Tarsney, the addressee of the envelope, was from Galway.

The Tarsneys

Felix's family was a little more difficult, but interesting. When he registered for the World War II draft in East Orange, NJ, Felix said he was born in County Monaghan. His brother Charles, when registering, said he was born in County Louth.His sister Norah, when she arrived May 29, 1909, on the SS Campania, said she was born in Carrickfergus, Monaghan.

A tree at ancestry.com, said that Felix' father James, who died in Brooklyn in 1911, had been born in County Armagh on 22 Nov 1854 to Arthur McAtarsney. There was an Arthur McAtarsney on Griffith's Valuation of Armagh the in parish of Loughgall and the townland of Annaghmore. And in 1901 there was a Felix McAtarsney, 54, in Annaboe, Kilmore, Armagh, who looks like a relative. Annaboe is an 11 minute drive from Annaghmore. So evidently, Felix' family was originally from Armagh. Then his father James left home to find work, went to Louth for a while, then to Monaghan, before emigrating to Brooklyn.

Combing through familysearch, findagrave.com, the Ellis Island records, etc., I found these siblings of Felix: Mary, Charles, (Felix), Catherine, Norah, Lucy, Agnes, and James. He had three half-brothers: Peter, John, and Frank.>

There is more information about the Hines and Tarsneys in the Other Trees section of this website.

Endnotes

An image of the envelope to Mrs. Felix Tarsney was once on the Jim Forte Postal History site.

Sources

"United States Census, 1940
United States Census, 1910
NYC Marriages at familysearch.org
Ellis Island Records
World War II Draft Registrations
Griffith's Valuation, at askaboutireland.ie.
1901 Census of Ireland, house 31 in Ower (Wormhole, Galway)
1901 Census of Ireland, house 13 in Annaboe (Kilmore, Armagh)

Done and To Do in Cape May for James D. Hamilton

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

James D Hamilton was not found in any of the following:

Done

Calendar of New Jersey wills, administrations, etc, Volume 30 By New Jersey Historical Society, William Nelson, et. al.

Cape May, New Jersey, Marriage Records - at NEHGS

Collections of the New Jersey Historical Society, Volume 8

Early church records of Atlantic & Cape May Counties, New Jersey, edited by Barbara Epler Wright. - Lookup from Worcester Public Library on Aug 21, 2009

Genealogy of the Duke-Shepherd-Van Metre family: from civil, military ... By Samuel Gordon Smyth, images at Google books, Aug 21, 2009, looked for Cape May genealogy 'Cape May' hamilton genealogy

Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs ..., Volume 4, by William Richard Cutter

History of Cape May County, New Jersey: from the aboriginal times to the ... By Lewis Townsend Stevens

Hughes family of Cape May County, New Jersey, 1650-1950

New England historical and genealogical register, Volume 52

New Jersey coast in three centuries: history of the New Jersey ..., Volume 2 By Peter Ross, Fenwick Y. Hedley

Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, Volume 1,2, and 6

Publications of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, Volume 6, By Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania

Scannell's New Jersey's first citizens and state guide By William Edgar Sacket

Semi-centennial celebration of the founding of the New Jersey Historical ...By New Jersey Historical Society

Session Book of the Presbyterian Church of Cape May, NJ, in The Mayflower Descendant Vol VIII (1906).
Sketch of the early history of Cape May county, to accompany the geological ... By Maurice Beesley

This is New Jersey By John T. Cunningham

Nov 30, 2006, at the Gale Group, 19th century newspapers online.

Search for apprentice records

Searched for available Philadelphia papers:

Mechanics' Free Press
Aurora and Franklin Gazette
North American
Pennsylvania Inquirer

for:
1 Jan 1838 to 31 Dec 1839
+James + Hamilton + apprentice
and 1 Jan 1837 to 31 Dec 1838
and 1 Jan 1836 to 31 Dec 1837
and 1 Jan 1834 to 31 Dec 1835

Nothing found.

Available, but not yet done

microfilms from Family History Library of Quaker meetings:

Great Egg Harbor, Atlantic Co., N.J. ^and Cape May, Cape May Co., N.J. Monthly Meeting : births & deaths 1681-1841, marriages 1809-1837, minute 1726-1843

Marriages performed by Rev. David Jenkins at Washington (now South River) & Cape May in New Jersey, 1805-1826 and Great Valley, Pennsylvania, 1745-1799

Monthly meeting records, 1693-1837

Records from the Great Egg Harbor, Atlantic County, and the Maurice River, Cumberland County monthly meeting of Friends

Records of Great Egg Harbor & Cape May Monthly Meeting of Friends (Gloucester County, New Jersey), 1681-1817

But there is no reason to think he was a Quaker.

Samuel Crim of Pedricktown, New Jersey

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

According to the Weatherby - Kurtz - Sittler Genealogy Lines database at rootsweb.com, Aaron Crim and Lydia Harrow of Pedricktown,Salem County, New Jersey, had four children:

Samuel Crim b: 6 FEB 1820
Sara Crim b: 21 NOV 1822
Isaac Crim b: 28 NOV 1825
Peter Crim b: 22 JAN 1830 in Pedricktown, Salem, NJ

I have traced part of my wife's family back to a Samuel Crimm living in East Boston, Mass., in the 1860's. His approximate birth date, location, and father's name all match this Samuel in New Jersey.

For information on the Boston part of the mystery, see the article Was Charles Jenkins Really Samuel Crimm?.

The Father of James D. Hamilton of Cape May

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

Assuming the father of James D Hamilton was living with his wife when James was born, and assuming that James actually was born in Cape Island (Cape May) as he said on his 1850 census, then we are looking for a man living in Cape May in 1818.

James' obituary said he was apprenticed at age 16 as a carpenter in Philadelphia. But his parents do not need to be living in Philadelphia at this time for this to occur.

Possibilities

There is this man who was born in Cape May in 1782 and who was a mariner living in Philadelphia in 1809. Did he move back to Cape May?

25 March 1809, City of Philadelphia
before George Heyl, an notary public, came William Hamilton, of Philadelphia, a mariner, and made an oath that he is a US Citizen born in Cape May County, NJ.
He is 27, 5'9", light brown hair, fair complexion, grey eyes, scar on left little finger and near wrist of left hand.

The National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Proofs of Citizenship Used to Apply for Seamen's Certificates for the Port of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1792-1870

(found at ancestry.com)

There is this man who was in Cape May County in 1807 and 1808. But was he still there in 1818? See the next man, also named William. Are they the same person?

Name: William Hamilton
Residence: 1807 - Lower, Cape May County, NJ
June Tax List, page 3

Name: William Hamilton
Residence: 1808 - Lower, Cape May County, NJ
September Tax List, page 3

(found at ancestry.com)

There is this man (or men) also found on the New Jersey tax records. If the man in Cape May County above is the same as the one in Essex County below, then he is not James father, since he had left Cape May by 1808 or 1811.

Hamilton, William Morris Co 009 Hanover Twp TX1808
is he the same as
Hamilton, William Essex Co 018 Orange Twp TX1811
Hamilton, William Essex Co 008 Orange Twp TX1812
Hamilton, William Essex Co 007 Orange Twp TX1813
Hamilton, William Essex Co 008 Orange Twp TX1814
Hamilton, William Essex Co 011 Orange Twp TX1815
Hamilton, William Essex Co 008 Orange Twp TX1820
Hamilton, William Essex Co 010 Orange Twp TX1821

On the other hand, this man might not be the man in Cape May in 1807 and 1808. A tree at myHeritage.com seems to account for this man, and says he was born in Morris County, NJ, on Feb 12, 1783, baptized in First Presbyterian Church, Morristown, on May 23, 1780, and in Orange, Essex County, NJ, by 1850. The tree is here: William Hamilton, 1783-1855

If James' father was named William, as some say, there is this man. He was an actuary, born in Pennsylvania, with a son who was a bookbinder. But this man's son Turner said on his later censuses that both of his parents were born in Pennsylvania, not Ireland, as James D said, nor in New Jersey. And wouldn't James have been apprenticed as something besides a carpenter if he were part of this family? Something more "white collar"?

On the plus side, this man was in Philadelphia by 1840, and James D Hamilton served his apprenticeship in Philadelphia.

Tax Rolls NJ 1827-1829
William B in Paterson, Bergen County

1830 Upper Freehold, Monmouth, New Jersey

B William Hamilton
1 male 0 to 5
1 male 10 to 14
1 male 30 to 39
1 female 20 to 29

1840 Census Philadelphia North Mulberry Ward, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Willm B Hamilton 1 male 10 to 14
1 male 40 to 49
1 female 30 to 39
1 female 50 to 60
1 person engaged in commerce

1850 Philadelphia Walnut Ward, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

William Hamilton, 60, born in Pennsylvania, actuary at the Franklin Institute
Margaret Hamilton, 50, born in Pennsylvania
Turner Hamilton, 24, book binder, born in Pennsylvania

1860 Census, 3rd Ward of Philadelphia
Turner Hamilton, 34, book binder, born in Philadelphia
Kate, 30, born in England
Margaret, 6, born in Philadelphia
Kate 10m, born in Philadelphia

In 1870 Turner says his parents were not of foreign birth.
Source: 1870 Turner Hamilton Census.

In 1880, Turner says his parents were both born in Pennsylvania.
Source: 1880 Turner Hamilton Census.

This man is another candidate for the William Hamilton in Cape May in 1807-1808. He was a teacher born in Ireland, with an apparently small family. If his age on the 1840 census is correct, he would have been born between 1781 and 1790. That would make him old enough in 1818 to be the father of James D Hamilton. On the other hand, Paterson is a long way from Philadelphia, where James D was apprenticed.

1840 Census Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey

William B Hamilton
1 male 50 to 59
1 female 10 to 14
1 female 50 to 59
1 person employed in learned professions and mining

1850 Census Ewing, Mercer, New Jersey, United States, family 227
September 22, 1850
New Jersey Lunatic Asylum

William B Hamilton, 62, school teacher, born in Ireland, insane
Source: 1850 William Hamilton Census.

Or did James D Hamilton's parents arrive in Cape May after the 1808 tax rolls? Here are other Hamiltons on the 1830 Census of New Jersey:

These were eliminated beause there was no male at the right age in the household:
Samuel, Silas, and Benjamin Hamilton.

These have not been eliminated:
Thomas in Stafford
Benjamin in Nottingham
Jacob in Bloomfield

Was Charles Jenkins Really Samuel Crimm?

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

That question will only make sense to you if you let me explain the mystery we are facing:

It begins with Margaret Louise Jenkins, who was born in East Boston, MA, on March 27, 1889, the daughter of Catherine Carrigan and (we thought) James Jenkins. When Margaret was married to William Page in Veazie, Maine, on April 25, 1905, her name was recorded as "Margaret Crimm christened Jenkins." I always wrote it off as a bit of confusion between a young lady and the parson taking the information.

Then one of Margaret's descendants found a record for the marriage of Catherine Carrigan and a James Crimm on November 21, 1880 in Boston. All the details about Catherine matched what we knew about her. We had never found a record for a Carrigan-Jenkins union.

Next we poked around the Massachusetts Births on Familysearch.org and found birth records for their first two children: Charles "Crimm" born in 1881 at 171 Everett St, East Boston, to James and Catherine, and his sister Mary Josephine "Crimm" born at 170 Everett Street two years later. The Boston City Directories for those years put the Jenkins' family at 172 Everett. We had never located birth records for these two children as "Jenkins".

We next worked back one generation. James Jenkins' birth record says he was born in East Boston July 5, 1854, the son of Charles and Mary Jenkins. Charles and Mary are faithfully on the censuses in 1855, 1860, and 1865. There is a Charles Jenkins in the city directories for those years. But the marriage record for Mary Donovan says she married "Samuel Crimm" in Boston on November 18, 1852. There is no marriage record for Mary and "Charles Jenkins".

What's more, James Crimm and his (mythical?) father Samuel Crimm appear from nowhere and then disappear just as quickly. There is no record for this "Samuel Crimm" at ancestry.com or familysearch.org before or after the marriage. Likewise for "James Crimm". He is nowhere to be found until he marries, then once his first two children are born, he vanishes, except for the reference to his surname on his daughter Margaret's marriage record.

Now it is possible that these men existed and are listed in records that are not yet online, but not even once? The Massachusetts vital records are pretty complete, as far as I have heard. They should have turned up somewhere.

Unless Charles Jenkins, for some reason known only to him, was really Samuel Crimm.

See also the article Samuel Crim of Pedricktown, New Jersey.