Secretaries are Golden

Parish secretaries can be a blessing or a curse to work with. Recently, I was pleasantly surprised when a cursed effort became a very nice blessing. I had written to a parish in the Bronx for two wedding certificates. I indicated that I specifically wanted the baptismal notation data listed in the marriage registration. This would be the simplest and best way to identify the parish of origin for a Catholic immigrant post 1907.

After several weeks with no reply, I called the rectory to see what was causing the delay. The secretary was very friendly and she took my information details again over the phone. A couple of more weeks went by and finally my SASE was in my mailbox. 

The secretary sent along a letter stating that she had done the search and then misplaced the certificates causing the delay. I looked at the certificates, noticed that there were no baptismal notations and became very annoyed. That was the whole reason I sent the request, $20 and a SASE.  It was to see if the church records would record a place of origin in Ireland for the 4 spouses that the civil records did not. 

Haste reading her correspondence on my part was responsible for negative thoughts and plans to call the next day and ask again about the notations. I later collected the contents from my letter and noticed two xeroxed marriage registrations that were from the original register. She had sent them along with her letter because she could not exactly make out the names in the notations column. She thought perhaps I might be able to make out what was written in the notations column. 

I was able to make out the place of origin for my grandfather’s cousins and their husbands. The brides were both baptized at St. Joseph’s, Glenville, County Cork, Ireland. Their husbands were baptized at Knockbride, County Kavin(sp) and St. Patrick’s, Mohill, (Leitrim), Ireland. I believe these notations are another example of couples providing oral testimony and not necessarily an actual baptismal certificate for these nuptials in 1931 and 1941. The four baptisms in question were from 1876, 1884, 1902 and 1905. The older couple were listed as being baptized in 1877 and 1888 on their 1931 registration. The misspelling of Cavan was obvious. Of the four the 1876 baptism is available at nil.ie online for free and when checked did not provide the corresponding marriage notation from 1931 that would be expected.   

The parish in the Bronx was originally a heavily Irish parish since its founding in the 1920s. Today it is a very Hispanic neighborhood. The pastor is named Father Gonzalez and his secretary is Miss Rivera. The names of the couples, their witnesses and the celebrants were traditional Irish surnames and Miss Rivera misread both maids of honors’ surnames and one of the officiants. This is an reminder that one must always consider that a transcription is not an accurate representation of the record. Do not accept information provided from a transcription without a pinch of skepticism. It reminded me that I would likely misread Hispanic surnames that unfamiliar to me if I were a parish secretary in Havana or San Juan. 

Look at all possible records to make out difficult handwriting. In 1941 the church register was not crystal clear for the celebrant’s name. The parish secretary read it as Shaullez. This was a surname I had never seen before. Looking at the signature on the civil marriage certificate did not shed any light on the subject either. A careful and full analysis of the civil marriage certificate showed that someone other than the priest had filled in the names and addresses in easily read and immaculate penmanship. The priest in question was Father Timothy J. Shanley.