If at First You Don't Succeed

One of the strategies for family history research is to collect marriage records for more than one’s own ancestral line. I have collected numerous marriage records for my grandparents’ siblings and first cousins. 

My paternal grandfather had 5 paternal cousins and 2 maternal cousins marry. The weddings took place in 1909, 1910, 1914, 1919 and 1921 and 1910, 1920 and 1950. 

My paternal grandmother had 2 brothers that both married in 1916. They had 2 paternal cousins who married in 1916 and 1919. They had two maternal cousins who married in 1930 and 1937. 

My maternal grandfather had 6 siblings that married in 1919, 1921, 1924, 1927, 1933 and 1944. Their paternal cousins married in 1917, 1923, 1937, 1940 and 1944. Their maternal cousin married in 1941.

My maternal grandmother had 6 siblings that married in 1920, 1925, 1929, 1936, 1949 and 1950. Their paternal cousins married 1916, 1928, 1929, 1929, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1943 and 1946.

As a research aid I especially try to get marriage records for immigrants and the children of immigrants in case the place of origin is provided in either the civil or church registers.  These clues may be either in the marriage license or certificate from the state or the notations from a Catholic sacramental register. I have found specific localities in Ireland mentioned in various marriage records. 

I had struggled to track down a 1937 wedding for one of these cousins. The groom was baptized in 1912 in Manhattan. Although he married there was not the marriage notation I had expected next to his baptismal entry.

I was able to find him in the New Jersey Marriage Index (Brides) through his beloved but it did not provide a date or place for the nuptials. 

I was able to view the 1911 baptismal entry for the bride today. They were married 27 Jun 1937 in an urban area in New Jersey. I had provided this information in my request but it was returned with a letter that they had tried their best and not found it.

Now that I have the church notations I trust that a new search with the exact date and place will result in a find. (I am happy to update the report that a civil marriage certificate was sent to me recently. It detailed the occupation and address of the groom which was helpful in developing his life story.)

Irish Birth Registers

Irish birth registers are often beneficial because of the extra information that is listed on the page entire. A pair of cousins were listed on the same page months apart in Oct 1890 & Apr 1891 Ireland. Male cousin and his younger Female first cousin shared both a surname and townland of birth They lived very differently over the course of their lives. 

Male cousin was a fourth born son but he eventually took over the family farm and lived his entire life in Ireland from 1890-1978. He was one of ten children with seven living to adulthood. He was enumerated at the family farm in 1901 and 1911.  In 1933 at age 42 he married a young woman and raised a family of nine.

Female cousin was a second born daughter of eight children. Three of the children died as toddlers and two sons died as young adults without issue. The remaining three daughters lived to adulthood. Female cousin was enumerated with her parents and siblings in 1901. She set off to America in 1911. She settled with their fathers’ youngest brother who was the first of their clan to emigrate in 1897. She married a German immigrant in 1917 and had 5 children from 1919-1926. She would bury her eldest child before his tenth birthday and eventually was divorced by her husband in late 1943. The divorce petition and final decree were reported in the Nevada newspaper while she resided in New York. She became a citizen at about the same time and did not have to file a declaration of intent as the wife of a citizen. She was dutifully enumerated in the 1920, 30 & 40 federal censuses and both the 1915 and 1925 NY state censuses. She was also recorded in church and civil marriage records and newspaper accounts. She died in 1972. 

Two children, paternal first cousins, bookended a birth register page in 1890s Ireland but spent the rest of their years living individual lives and their unique record trails clearly show this. 

Male cousin had a sister that was just ten months younger than him and four months younger than (their) Female cousin.(While birth registers are often filled with inaccurate birth dates the baptismal register showed that Male cousin was baptized 5 Oct 1890 and his younger Sister was baptized 4 Aug 1891. Sister was registered as born 4 Nov 1891.) Sister was also enumerated in 1901 at the family farm but in 1911 she was living with their mother’s brother and his children. 

Sister, at age 14, had been sent to the neighboring farm after her uncle’s wife passed in 1905. This apparently did not sit well with her and she resented that for the rest of her life she was always a visitor in her father’s home and never slept overnight there again. Not surprisingly she emigrated in 1914 to live (initially) with their father’s youngest brother in NYC. She married an American born man in 1919 and became a citizen at the same time. They too had 5 children and remained married until his death in 1953. Sister couldn’t be found in the 1915 state census but otherwise she left a clear paper trail. She died in 1962. 

Remember to throughly examine records and look for unexpected relations to show up in the next cabin or the next entry. These three cousins had noticeably different lives although they were all born within ten months of each other in the same townland. 

Census Recounts

Searching an urban area is a unique endeavor in the family history setting. Some records such as census and vital records are similar to their rural counterparts. Others offer unique opportunities to unlock family mysteries and delve deeper into the story. 

One unique situation is census recounts. Understandably urban centers want as high a census count as possible and certainly do not want to be undercounted. This would cause a lack of congressional representation and missed funding and infrastructure benefits. In 1870 the federal census was criticized as undercounting a few urban areas. A recount was ordered for both New York and Philadelphia. This gives an opportunity for researchers to potentially find dual enumerations for a family in Jun 1870 and Jan 1871.

Enumerated in the 20th Ward in New York county in New York state for both enumerations the following is found:

Date 29 Jun 1870 Jan 1871

Dwelling 140 Family 444 528 (West) 38th Street

Robert English 40 blacksmith Robert English 40 chair maker

Fanny English 30 Fannie English 42

James English 14 James English 15 driver

Edward Mulligan 12 at school Eddie (English) 13

Martin English 12 Martin English 12

William Mulligan 9 Wm(English) 11

Elizabeth Mulligan 7 Lizzie(English) 6

George Mulligan 5 Geo(English) 4

Sarah English 4/12 b. Jan Sarah English 3

Fannie English 1

The information between two decennial censuses often has disparities. These censuses above are a mere 6 months apart and show dramatic differences. Mrs. English ages 12 years in half a year's time. The original census properly identified the stepchildren of Robert English with their father’s surname, Mulligan. The recount listed them by age interspersing the step-siblings and listed all as English. The later count identified the Mulligans by their pet names and even added an English daughter Fannie completely missed in Jun 1870. Sarah’s age is way off and one must wonder if she was missed in 1870 and correctly added in 1871 partly boosting the second count by 2% over the original. 

Chicago was denied a recount but conducted one anyway that was published in a headcount city directory. It listed the head of household and the number or males and females in each dwelling.

In 1890, New York again questioned the federal count. It was not granted a recount but it sent its police force across Manhattan and parts of the Bronx in the fall of 1890. They listed only the address, name, sex and age of each resident. 

In 1890 the Robert English household lived at 524 West 37th Street.

Robert English, 65, M

Annie, 45, F

Fanny, 16, F

Margaret, 13, F

Social Media Not So Social

I made the decision to halt a GreenGenes presence on social media. I deleted both the Facebook and Twitter accounts because of the annoying display of partisanship found on social media. I am a person of strong opinions and would ordinarily appreciate the “CrossFire” approach. However, I don’t think that the hobby of genealogy is best served by one side freely sharing their deeply held beliefs while the other side is handcuffed because it is trying to avoid alienating others or afraid to be name called. 

Recently another blogger shared stuff on "resistance genealogy" and some agreed with his call and others called for a return to research matters. 

It is probably best to “suffer in silence” lest a war of words break out within the research community. I am truly interested in helping any other person access what records survive to answer his family history questions whether he voted for President Trump or Secretary Clinton. 

I can remember the days when folks could agree to disagree. Hopefully, we will soon return to a civility online that we once enjoyed in the past. 

Multiple Marriages a Major Plus

Multiple marriages are a godsend for genealogists. Whether because of divorce or widowhood multiple marriages create multiple records and increase the likelihood of research success.

I have come upon two individuals who married 4 times each yet never to one another. John Meade(1864-1942) married in New York City three times in Manhattan 1887, 1897 and 1920 and once in Brooklyn 1933. Catherine Knapp(1880-) married about 1897, 1902, 1914 and 1925. The latter three in Hell’s Kitchen.  

John Meade had children with his first two wives and a collection of civil and church records mark these nuptials. He provided examples of all the civil and church records available to researchers from ledger style marriage registers, marriage certificates and marriage licenses. 

Catherine Knapp was more interesting by far; marrying four times and bearing each husband at least one child. She first apparently married Edward McGovern in about 1897. This is based on their 1900 federal census enumeration where they were living together with her mother on West 35th Street along with their daughter. No other record exists of this union except that on 1 Jun 1915, Catherine attests on her daughter’s marriage license that Edward was deceased. I am hopeful that once St Michael’s records become available that I might find both an 1897 wedding and an 1898 baptism for this family.

On 20 March 1902, Katherine Marie Knapp wed Walter Joseph Hussey at St. Chrysostom Episcopal Church. This raises the question, Why?. Catherine was a baptized Catholic of German-born parents and would raise all her children in that faith. Possible reasons are that she and McGovern divorced or that Hussey was divorced. Both were listed as single on the civil marriage certificate. 

The three children born to this union were born in 1902, 1905 and 1909. All three were baptized at St Raphael Catholic Church and the latter two confirmed there in 1919. It is worth noting that the eldest was born 6 months after her parents’ marriage. On 12 Jul 1911 Mr Hussey died. 

According to subsequent census and marriage records a son named William McCormack was born to Catherine c. 1914 and she married Michael McCormack on 6 May 1914 at Holy Cross Catholic Church. On 21 Feb 1916 she bore a daughter named Murphy. This created a quandary as to the timeline for a marriage to McCormack, William’s birth, his father’s death/divorce and a new marriage to John Murphy. 

Finally with the online availability of Manhattan Catholic records the puzzle was solved. On 27 Apr 1913 William McCormack was born to Michael J McCormack and Agnes Hussey(sic) and baptized at Holy Cross on 13 Jul 1913. This birth was a full year before his parents’ marriage. Michael McCormack died a year after the christening on 18 Jul 1914. Oddly little William is NOT enumerated with his mother in either 1915 or 1920. He does appear as stepson in the Murphy household in 1925 and 1940. William McCormack was confirmed at St Raphael in 1925.

Catherine would bear a total of 4 children with John Murphy; 1916, 1919, 1920 and 1924 at age 44. All four were baptized at St Raphael Catholic Church. The three eldest Murphy children were confirmed there in 1929.  

On 20 Mar 1925 a marriage requiring a dispensation was recorded at St Raphael. Outside sources(civil and church) indicate that Mr Murphy was married to Margaret Golden in 1898 at St Raphael. Their daughter Annie was baptized at St Ambrose and died a few months later. Margaret Golden remarried in 1904 to Bernard Gaughran and had 4 children with him 1905, 1908, 1910 and 1920. Margaret Golden died on 6 Feb 1925 apparently freeing the Murphy’s to normalize their relationship. The church record recorded Catherine as Knapp while the marriage license rightly recorded her legal name McCormack. 

Remember that the second and subsequent children to a marriage gestate for 9 months. The first child, however, comes when it comes; sometimes months after a marriage, sometimes years before the marriage and sometimes with no marriage at all. This does not preclude a person from actively participating in the life of the congregation with regular attendance at Mass and reception of the sacraments for one’s children. Irregular situations can be brought into line with church teaching at a moment’s notice. Check all church records carefully.   

Urban Research Requires Piecing Together Multiple Sources

Now that (many) New York archdiocesan records are readily available online there are a plethora of new findings to be discovered. It is still a work in progress as the rest of the records are added.

Ellen O’Brien Rafferty Goodwin(1842-1890) married her second husband, Hugh Goodwin(1842-1926), on 1 Oct 1872 at St Michael. These parish records are not available online, just yet. However, neighboring parish Holy Cross is part of the Catholic Heritage collection at FindMyPast. 

Ellen was enumerated with her children Margaret(1864-1920) and Owen(1866-1895) in the 1870 federal census. This information was collected on 13 Jul 1870. (They were not counted in the second federal census that was conducted for New York City later that year.) 

It took awhile but is was discovered that her first husband was John Rafferty(1839-1870). His death details were found in the mortality schedule for the census. He also had a death certificate issued by the Department of Health. His name was also identified from the city directory during the years that Ellen was a widow. He was erroneously listed as Peter on his daughter’s death certificate in 1920.

When FamilySearch uploaded transcriptions of the vital records for NYC a few years back a third Rafferty child was discovered because of the address, 514 (West) 38th Street, listed on the record. This was the same address that his father died at a few months later. John Rafferty died at 5 days old on 26 Nov 1869. He too had a mortality schedule entry because he died in the census year immediately preceding 1 Jun 1870. He was baptized at St. Michael. (Another John Rafferty was baptized a month later at adjacent Holy Cross parish.)    

Once a database goes live researchers are able to plug in parents names in various forms and these parent searches are very beneficial. The Catholic Heritage database revealed a pair of previously unknown Rafferty children.  Two more daughters of John Rafferty and Ellen O’Brien were baptized at Holy Cross; Mary Catherine in 1862 and Bridget in 1868. The death records indicated that each girl died the year after her birth. 

One must search using the variants option for both surname and given name. Mary Catherine was transcribed as Rofferty and John was transcribed as Raftery. 

Marriages are also easier to find now that previously unfound marriages can be gleaned from Catholic parish records. John Rafferty wed Ellen O’Brien on 5 Sep 1861 again at Holy Cross. Civil recording of vital events before 1866 in New York City is sketchy. 

It was very common for Catholic marriages to go unrecorded with the civic authorities until 1908 when the marriage license law was instituted. This placed the burden on the couple to approach the City Clerk before the wedding to get a license instead of relying solely on the officiant to record the nuptials with the Health Department after the ceremony had been celebrated. From 1908-1937 dual civil registrations of a single marriage are likely in NYC. After 1937 the City Clerk collected the only civil documentation of weddings. 

The death registrations in 1863 and 1869 did not provide an abundance of details. However, they were enough to determine that the right girls were located. Mary C. Rafferty(1862-1863) died on 28 Sep 1863 from drowning at age 1 year 2 months 4 days. Her residence was 524 Tenth Avenue(between West 39th-40th Streets). This address was associated with her grocer father for several years prior to and subsequent to her demise. She was NY born and her parents were Irish-born. She was buried at Calvary.

Bridget Rafferty(1868-1869) succumbed after 3 weeks to acute bronchitis on Valentine’s Day 1869. She was exactly 1 year-old. No parents names were listed but she died at 457 Eleventh Avenue. She was buried at Calvary the next day. 

The city directories were checked leading up to 1869. John Rafferty, grocer, 524 Tenth Avenue was listed through 1868. There was a Mary Rafferty, widow of Michael, that lived at 457 Eleventh Avenue in these years. Might Bridget have been her daughter? Fortunately in the 1869 city directory there was also a John Rafferty, grocer, at 457 Eleventh Avenue(between West 37th and 38th Streets).

Ellen O’Brien Rafferty Goodwin(1842-1890) delivered eight children between 1862-1879. Four died very young; at 5 days, 1 year, 1 year 2 months and 2 years 2 months. In a twelve month span she lost a daughter on 14 Feb 1869, a son on 26 Nov 1869 and then her first husband on 10 Feb 1870. I imagine she had inner strength and external support to raise her two surviving Rafferty children and form a new family with her second husband. 

Re-examining her story one wonders if all her children were identified. Once the 5 Sep 1861 wedding was learned it did seem odd that her eldest child was born in March 1864. Not surprisingly this 19 year-old bride became pregnant immediately following her wedding and delivered a daughter in Jul 1862. 

Every married couple’s fertility is unique to their marriage. However, one can generalize and extrapolate from common situations. The average woman at age 19 or 20 is likely to have a baby within a year of marriage. The children often continue every 2 years or so until she is 40 and then possibly taper off as she hits 45. Some women bore children after this point but it is a small number. 

If there are gaps evident in the ages of children based on census or vital records reports one should determine whether the husband has died, was in the army or prison. Another thing to consider is the death of the first wife and a new marriage to another woman. If these are not the case, persist in turning over every stone and look for undiscovered children. Knowledge of family planning while not widespread was available and limited fertility within the marriage may explain why children were more than 2 years apart. Repeated miscarriages or stillbirths would also explain gaps. 

Records that will reveal missing children are the city’s birth and death records, church baptismal records and cemetery burial records. 

While each of the five Rafferty siblings had death entries, none had civil birth certificates. Their infant baptisms in the Catholic Church are the only records that record a specific date of birth. In 1874 their half-brother was the only child of the former Ellen O’Brien to have a birth certificate. He was recorded as her 4th child(sic). His parents names, ages and birthplaces were listed. His own given name was left blank. The doctor likely did not remember the given name of each new delivery as he turned in his required paperwork. 

Patrick’s baptismal registration indicates issues of its own. His father is properly identified as Hugh Goodwin. His mother, however, is identified neither as Ellen O’Brien nor Ellen Rafferty but Catherine Rogers. At first glance once would assume it was a different little boy. The date of birth both on the birth certificate and the baptismal entry was 13 Dec 1874. 

A bit more knowledge was required to determine why Catherine Rogers was listed. The priest likely said, “Mother’s maiden name?”. To which Hugh provided his mother’s maiden name which according to his 1872 marriage certificate, his 1894 marriage certificate, his poor house records and his 1926 death certificate was Catherine Rogers. Be mindful that the priest may have asked instead, “Name of mother at time of marriage?”. The answer in that case would have been Ellen Rafferty which is not helpful if a researcher starts down a path looking for childhood details of an Ellen Rafferty when he should be searching Ellen O’Brien. Be mindful of what limits a record, especially one that is the only source of information, has in reflecting reality.  

Going ten years forward one must wonder again if there is a Goodwin child born closer to Ellen’s second wedding date of 1 Oct 1872. Her first known child with Hugh Goodwin was born more than two years later. It may be that another child was born in 1873, baptized at St Michael, died and buried in the Rafferty plot. This would explain why the Goodwins purchased their plot in 1876 to bury Patrick. We shall have to wait for St Michael’s registers to come online.

It is a family nicety to remember all its members even those that lived very shortened lives. The genealogical value of these little children that died young is found in the records created by the birth, baptism, death and burial. Who helped deliver the child or was the informant on the death record? Who were the baby’s godparents? Was the baby buried in a grave owned by her parents or did they bury her in a relative’s grave? The answers to these questions may lead one onto a successful research trail.

Transcriptions are helpful but must always be seen in their proper place. Once access to scanned originals or the paper originals become an option, view the originals for a complete research perspective. 

NY Archdiocesan Records

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.