This past Friday FindMyPast added a major set of Catholic sacramental records to its Catholic Heritage part of its database. This specifically included previously unsearchable records from the Archdiocese of New York. This archdiocese includes three of NYC’s boroughs: Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island and parts north of the city. It does not include either Brooklyn or Queens.
A WPA(Works Project Act) list identified approximately 119 Manhattan parishes through 1919 or so. I counted 55 that did not appear to have made the entry into the FindMyPast database just yet. They are: St Patrick Cathedral, St Peter, Christ Church, St Joseph, St James, Transfiguration, St Vincent de Paul, St John the Baptist, St Andrew, St Francis of Assisi, St Columba, St Alphonsus, St Francis Xavier, St Stephen, St Brigid, St Michael, St Paul the Apostle, St Joseph(W 125th Street), St Teresa, Holy Innocents, Epiphany, St Bernard, St Rose(Cannon Street), St Elizabeth, Sts Cyril & Methodius, St Stanislaus, St Patrick, St Leo, OL Rosary, St Benedict the Moor, OL Queen of the Angels, St Raphael, St Veronica, Guardian Angel, St Joachim, St Joseph(Washington St), Most Precious Blood, OL Pompeii, St Francis de Sales, St Stephen Hungary, St Malachy, OL Guadalupe, St Clare, Resurrection(West 151st), St Sebastian, St Cyril, St George, St Joseph(Catherine St), OL Miraculous Medal, OL Martyrs, Holy Agony, St Teresa of Avila and St Hedwig.
Baptisms and marriages recorded from the other dozens of Manhattan parishes can be searched in a database that has been transcribed. For a current listing please examine the list here: https://www.findmypast.com/articles/world-records/full-list-of-united-states-records/birth-marriage-and-death/new-york-roman-catholic-parish-list
Right now several parishes from Manhattan, Westchester and the Bronx are included. Scanned images and another upload to complete the set will follow.
A few of the glitches to beware of include transcription issues. James Benson married at Holy Cross in 1881. A marriage certificate verifying these nuptials from 1924 exists and is in the hand of the family. Searching under Benson and McGrath did not bring up the wedding. However, searching under only McGrath and Holy Cross and 1881 brought a list of candidates. The Catherine McGrath who married James in 1881 was selected. The full transcription indicated that James was Mr Genson and not Benson, hence the mix up in the database.
John Meade married four times in his life and had several children with his first two wives. He wed in 1887, abt 1897, 1920 and 1933. Certificates and exact dates were discovered for all but his second wedding. Now the Catholic wedding details were discovered through the database at FindMyPast. John married Maria Cruise on 18 May 1897. These nuptials were not recorded with the Department of Health and the church record is the only legal proof of the wedding.
In 1887 both a marriage certificate and a ledger style marriage registration were recorded by the Department of Health. In 1920 a marriage license and certificate were filed with the City Clerk. A church record filed at the parish level listing his baptismal location. In 1933, his marriage was recorded by the Department of Health, the City Clerk and St Michael’s parish in Brooklyn. A notation of this 1933 wedding was also recorded in the Buttevant parish baptismal register.
A good strategy for any new database is to search for records you anticipate are included for sure. John Meade married Julia Heffernan on 19 Sep 1887. A search for either of them with a full name search found nothing. A search by year and location did come up with their details. Trying that again as I write this found that the glitch had been fixed. Hopefully that will be the case but it is always a good idea to be very diligent in your searches. Don’t try one search and accept a negative reply as definitive. Tinker with the fields because misspellings or partial spellings will elude you otherwise.
Owen McGinn wed Mary Mahoney in 1902. If you search under McGinn it is a miss but Owen alone will bring up the right wedding listed as Owen M Ginn marrying Mary (Mahoney).
Another strategy is to deliberately misspell the name. Search for Goodwin under Goodman or Gordman.
Transcriptions are only as good as the transcribers. Transcribers are only as good as the legibility of the originals. In 1895 Catherine Gillen had a truncated baptismal entry that did not record her name as the infant but as the mother and her father as the newly baptized. No father was listed and the mother’s correct name was left out.
Do not be a slave to dates. Remember that subsequent children take nine months to gestate but the first child born to a couple comes when he comes. It could be 6 months after a wedding or even a year before. Catherine Knapp was married four times. It appeared that she bore each husband at least one child between 1898-1924; 1 McGovern, 3 Husseys, 1 McCormack and 4 Murphys. In about 1897 she married and had a child the following year. In 1900 they are enumerated together.
By 1902 she remarried a Mr Hussey. They had three children and he died in 1911. In 1914 she married Mr McCormack. The civil marriage record identified him as William J. The church register identified him as Michael. There was a death record just weeks after the wedding for a Michael J McCormack who had the same parents as the groom. A year earlier a son William was born and baptized of Michael J McCormick and Anna Hussey.
Francis Patrick Cassidy born 1894 and baptized 1895 at Immaculate Conception presented a curiosity. He is the only Cassidy cousin to appear in the database despite the fact that his older cousins and siblings were christened there also. His sister and cousin Mamie and Mary in 1882, cousin Joseph in 1883 and brothers Joseph, Patrick and Edward in 1884, 1889 and 1891. Both his uncles were married there and those 1878 and 1882 weddings do appear in the register.
I have no idea why or how these 6 children fail to appear in the database. It could be a single glitch or a symptom of a larger issue.
No comments:
Post a Comment