Thursday, April 30, 2009

Elizabeth Toner Loughlin Renehan, November 5, 1925

State of New York
Department of Health of the The City of New York
Bureau of Records
Standard Certificate of Death

Register No. 20307

1. Place of Death: Bklyn
Name of Institution: St. Peter’s Hosp.

2. Full Name: Elizabeth Loughlin Renehan

3. Sex: Female
4. Color or Race: White
5. Marital Condition: Widowed

6. Date of Birth: [blank]
7. Age: 65 yrs

8. Occupation
Trade, Profession, or Particular kind of work: Housewife
General Nature of Industry: [blank]

9. Birthplace: US
9A. How long in US (if of foreign birth): [blank]
9B. How long resident in City of New York: Life

10. Name of Father: Richard Toner
11. Birthplace of Father: Ireland
12. Maiden Name of Mother: Mary Cullen
13. Birthplace of Mother: Ireland

14. Special information required in deaths in hospitals and institutions and in deaths of non-residents and recent residents: 221 Conover St.

15. Date of Death: Nov. 5, 1925

16. I hereby certify that the foregoing particulars (Nos. 1 to 15 inclusive) are correct as near as the same can be ascertained, and I further certify that deceased was admitted to this institution on Oct. 5, 1925, that I last saw her alive on the 5th day of Nov 1925, that she died on the 5th day of Nov. 1925, about 5:45 o’clock P.M., and that I am unable to state definitely the cause of death; the diagnosis during her last illness was: Pernicious anemia.

Duration: [blank]
Contributory: [blank]

Witness my hand this 5th day of Nov 1925
Signature: J. Pamerantz, M.D.
House Physician

Filed: Nov 6 1925

18. Place of Burial: Calvary Cemetary
Date of Burial: November 9th, 1925
19. Undertaker: Henry J. Flood
Address: 297 Van Brunt St.

To Undertakers

1. No burial permit can be obtained without a proper certificate
2. Certificates must be written throughout in black ink.
3. No certificate will be accepted which is mutilate, illegible, inaccurate, or any portion of which has been erased, interlined, corrected, or altered, as all such changes impair its value as a public record.

I hereby certify that I have been employed as undertaker by Thomas Loughlin, the son of deceased. This statement is made to obtain a permit for the burial or cremation of the remains of deceased Elizabeth Loughlin Renehan.

Signature Henry J. Flood


This is the death certificate of Elizabeth Toner Loughlin Renehan (so far winning the "longest name" contest in our family). She's listed as being 65. Given that she was listed as 55 in 1910, 15 in 1870, and 5 in 1860, she should actually have been about 70. That's not far off. She died of pernicious anemia, which is the result of a B-12 deficiency. The son who signed her body over to the undertaker (Henry J Flood, and I realized where I know that name from: he's the undertaker who buried Patrick) was Thomas Loughlin. This son wasn't on the 1910 census when she was living with second husband Thomas Renehan, kids John and Katherine Loughlin, and nephew Willie Mulvaney. Because he shares his father's name, and had moved out of his mother's home before his younger siblings did, I'm going to take a leap and assume he might be the oldest - though I wouldn't venture to guess whether he was older or younger than Charles Thomas Loughlin, the brother who died at 8 months old in 1876.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

1930 Census - James and Florence Mulvaney at 4-46 57th St., Queens

This is the 1930 Census of James Mulvaney's family in Queens. James is 36 and was married at 28; Florence is 34 and was married at 26. Donald is 5, Joan is 3, and the younger Florence is 8 months old. They have a "roomer" named Joseph Conlon Jr. All were born in NY, although the elder Florence's parents were born in Ireland. (Boarder Joseph was born in PA.) James is a Captain in the NY Fire Department. No one else has a job - not even the boarder! (How, I wonder, was he paying them rent? Might he have been a relative who was not paying rent but was rather living with them during some hard times?) I'm not sure how special schedules work, but Joseph Conlon does not have a line number on the unemployment schedule. The column reads: "Whether actually at work yesterday" and "if not, line on Unemployment Schedule." He doesn't have a job, but also isn't listed as unemployed. Weird.

They own their home, and it appears to be worth $9,850.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

"Miss Mulcahy a Bride"

Searching the NY Times archives, both at nytimes.com and on ancestry has yielded gem after gem. Not a lot of new information, but lots of cool stuff, like this, Betty and John's wedding announcement. It was published August 25, 1968.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Papa's Obituary


I found Papa's death notice in the NY Times. He died on Christmas Day, 1970. The 9 grandchildren would have been. . .Lynn, Kevin, Eileen, Gail, Nancy, Brian, Kerry, and Eileen. I don't know which of his 6 brothers predeceased him. His brothers were James (d. 1987), Matthew , John, Gerard (d. 1997), Vincent (d. 1995), and Michael (d. 1978). (Death dates based on information from the Griffins, based on which I would have to conclude that it was either Matthew or John who predeceased Papa.) His two surviving sisters were his only two sisters, Mary Mulcahy Bohls and Margaret Mulcahy Hennessy.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Papa's WWII Draft Registration

Today, I came across Papa's WWII draft registration card. He did not (to my knowledge) serve during the Second World War, but was apparently still young enough to have to register for the draft. (I haven't come across any WWI draft cards, though there are WWI cards on ancestry. I know he served, and perhaps he enlisted before having a chance to register for the draft? I'm a girl; I don't know how drafts work.)

On the front side of the card, Papa gives his name as Joseph Eugene Mulcahy. His address (home as well as mailing) is 793 East 37th St., Brooklyn, Kings, NY. His phone number is MANS 6-1545. (I love old phone numbers like that!) He says he's 45, and was born September 3, 1896, in B'klyn, NY. For the category "name and address of person who will always know your address," he gives Nana ("Mrs. J.E. Mulcahy (wife)") but lists her address as "same." While accurate, that seems a little. . . ironic? Futile? You've already given your address, and presumably they're asking for the address of someone else who will always know your address in order to be able to locate you if you move. Your wife, however, will likely move with you. His employer's name and address is given as "Police Dept. N.Y. City," and his place of employment is '72" PCT 575-5" Ave. Bklyn Kings NY.'


On the back side of the card, Papa's race is given as white, his height as 5'9", his weight as 200 lbs, his complexion as light, eyes as brown, and hair as brown. A physically identifying feature is a "scar, left shin." Does anyone know where Papa got a scar on his left shin? I'm very curious now!

Papa registered with Local Board 213 on 4/27/1942.

Friday, April 17, 2009

1909 Map of Brooklyn

Click here for a map of Brooklyn from 1909. See if you can find our nieghborhood!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Dick, the Rat

I'm relatively confident that this Richard Toner, aka Dick the Rat, was not related to our Toners. He seems to be from Manhattan, not Brooklyn. (I'm just guessing, since his location isn't specified. Does the NY Times always default to Manhattan?) He's also described as "a slim, clean-shaven young man with sharp black eyes and a ruddy complexion." The article is from January 30, 1876, at which point our Richard would have been in his 50s, and unlikely to have been called a "young man." Since Richard, to our knowledge, had no sons or other younger relatives named after him, look at this as a curiosity, and an introduction to the fine art of rat-catching: Dick, the Rat.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Julia Toner Mulvaney's Obituary


Not that we're missing information about Julia's death, but I came across this NYTimes obituary for her, published October 11, 1938. I'd found it searching the NYTimes archive the other day, and put buying it (for $3.95!) on my list of things to do, but then I realized I could search for it on Ancestry.com (since I already pay for Ancestry!)

She's listed as the widow of the late Patrick, and the mother of Mrs. Stephen Kessell (that's Aunt Grace), Mrs. John Daniels (that's Auntie Mae), Mrs. Joseph Mulcahy (that's Nana), NYFD Battalion Chief James Mulvaney, and NYFD Lieutenant Thomas Mulvaney.

Her funeral was at St. Anselm, and she was buried at Holy Cross.

Things I learned: Aunt Grace's husband's first name; James's and Tom's NYFD ranks in 1938; where Julia's funeral was.

Monday, April 13, 2009

NY Fifth Heavy Artillery

Taken from ancestry.com, here's a Regimental History of the 5th Heavy Artillery, the regiment to which Richard Toner - potentially but not probably our Richard Toner. While he's listed as enlisting at Utica, this history does say that large parts of the recruiting of the recruiting were done in Brooklyn and New York City. What do you think?

Regimental History

New York
FIFTH REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY (HEAVY).
Second Regiment Jackson Heavy Artillery.
(Three Years)

Col. Samuel Graham, being so authorized, proceeded to
recruit a regiment of heavy artillery--the 2d Regiment Jackson
Artillery; Col. Edward Murray received authority from the State
in November, 1861, to recruit the Jackson Heavy Artillery.
These two organizations were consolidated March 6, 1862,
Colonel Graham's men forming Companies A, B, C and D, and
Colonel Murray's E, F, G and H of the new regiment, the two
colonels being appointed Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel,
respectively. The 70th Militia furnished a number of men to
the regiment. The companies were mustered in the service of
the United States for three years, in New York harbor, in
April, 1862. December 31, 1862, the 6th Battalion of
Artillery--3d Battalion of Black River Artillery--was
transferred to the regiment, forming its Companies I, K, L and
M, and thereby completing the regimental organization. These
companies had been mustered in the United States service for
three years; I and K September 11; and L and M September 12,
1862, at Sackett's Harbor. At the expiration of the term of
service of the original eight companies, the men entitled
thereto were discharged, and the companies retained in service.

The companies were recruited principally: A and B at
Brooklyn and New York city; C at New York city, Brooklyn,
Monterey, Big Flats, Valhalla, Catskill, Horseheads, Elmira,
Armonk and Quarrytonville; D at Brooklyn, New York city and
Rondout; E at New York city, Afton and in Ohio; F at New York
city, Liberty, Turin, Fort Edward, and in the counties of
Dutchess and Sullivan; G in New York city and in New Jersey; H
at New York city, Ancram, Poughkeepsie, Fremont Centre and
Liberty, and in New Jersey; I at New Bremen, Martinsburg,
Lowville and Greig; K at Turin, Leyden, Highmarket, Greig and
Theresa; L at Lowville, Watson, Denmark, Martinsburg, Diana and
Montague; and M at Denmark, Harrisburg, Pinckney, Montague,
Champion, Croghan and Wilna.

The eight companies, then organized, served in New York
harbor at Forts Hamilton, Lafayette, Wood, Gibson, Richmond and
Schuyler, from March 11, 1862; at Baltimore, Md., and other
points of the Middle Department, from May 28, 1862. Companies
A and F served at Harper's Ferry, W. Va., from June 19, 1862,
where they were surrendered in September, 1862; they rejoined
the regiment after being paroled, at Baltimore, Md. The 3d
Battalion served in the defenses of Washington north, and later
south, of the Potomac, 22d Corps, from December, 1862, and at
Harper's Ferry, W. Va., from November 24, 1863; the 1st and 2d
Battalions were also ordered to Harper's Ferry, 8th Corps,
April 19, 1864. The 1st Battalion, Companies A, B, C and D,
served with the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Army of West
Virginia, 8th Corps, in the field from May, 1864; it was
relieved by the 2d Battalion, July 29, 1864, and returned to
Harper's Ferry. The 2d Battalion, Companies E, F, G and H,
served in the field in the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Army of
West Virginia, until October 28, 1864, when it returned to
Harper's Ferry. The regiment served as infantry and heavy
artillery.

June 24 and 25, 1865, Companies I, K, L and M were
mustered out at Harper's Ferry, but at once reorganized of men
transferred from Companies A, B, C and D, and July 19, 1865,
the regiment, commanded by Colonel Graham, was honorably
discharged and mustered out at Harper's Ferry, W. Va.


Source: The Union Army, vol. 2

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Richard Toner Civil War Records?

I got home late last night and, after heading upstairs to go to bed, realized I hadn't seen my Civil War records. They weren't on my desk, where my parents usually put my mail when I'm at school. I went downstairs and checked the kitchen counter. Nope, not there. Sometimes mail goes on the dining room table. Not there either. By the door? Still no.

I finally found it in a pile of envelopes on a bench in the dining room.

I ran upstairs, pulled out my records, and here's the information they contained:

Toner, Richard

Enlisted
Age: 24 yrs
When: 13 April 1864
Where: Utica, NY
Period: 3 yrs

Mustered In
When: 13 April 1864
Grade: Priv.
Comp'y: [Unassigned]
Red't: 5th Hy Arty

Left the Organization
How: Deserted
When: 16 April '64
Grade: Priv.
Explanation: at Auburn Rendezvous

Remarks
[blank]

Born: Ireland
Age: 24
Occupation: Painter
Eyes: Grey
Hair: dark
Complexion: fair
5 ft. 7 in. high
21st Corig Out [OR] 21st Cons Int. [or something like that]


In addition, "DM+DR" is written 3 times in the left margin, opposite his name, his enlistment information, and his personally identifiable information. I have no idea what it means.

Now, the most important question here is is this our Richard Toner?

Points against our Richard:
-he enlisted in Utica, of all places
- he's pert near 20 years too young to be our Richard (This is based not only on date of birth/baptism, but also on the age he reported on every record or news item we've ever come across. He was not in the habit of misrepresenting his age by more than a couple years. He was sometimes 50 when he maybe should have been 57, but never 50 when he should have been 75.)

Points in favor of our Richard:
-correct name
-born in Ireland
-he's a painter
-large parts of this Regiment were recruited in Brooklyn and NYC (posting will be light during the rest of Holy Week, but check back Monday for a Regimental History of the 5th Heavy Artillery)

Now, there was not only one Richard Toner in Brooklyn. (The other one appears not to be relevant to us, but I'll try to post the link to the article about "Dick the Rat.") I'm sure that means that there were more Richard Toners in New York State. This could be one of the others. (To our knowledge, Richard had no sons or known other relatives who shared his name.) But really, how many of them could have been painters? Okay, potentially more than one. Would it have been likely?

Richard should have been in his 40s in 1864, and something my mom pointed out is that the age "24" could be a reversal of the age "42." I wonder, though, if that might be more of a 20th century, computer keyboard kind of mistake. Would it be as plausible to transpose two digits in a number when writing by hand? It certainly seems possible.

Another factor to consider is that this Richard Toner deserted after just 3 days. While it's entirely plausible, especially in the 19th century, that someone would lie about his age to be able to join the military (and the upper limit for service was age 45), it seems that this Richard did not want to be in the army. I have to assume he didn't lie about his age so he could enlist just to desert after less than a week.

So. . .jury's still out. Got any input?

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Mulvany Immigration Papers?

I started looking into the Mulvaney/Rothwell side of the family again, after spending a while concentrating on the Toners. When I asked Betty and John what they knew about the Bridget Rothwell, the answer was essentially "not much." However, they did mention that Nana used to say that she was from "the only poor Rothschilds," which seems to be an ironic reference to Bridget's family. We can't be sure, though, whether she was mistaken about the name, or just commenting on a well-known name similar to her grandmother's name, or whether, perhaps, Bridget's name really was Rothchild or Rothschild. It would be an unusual name for a Irishman, sure.

So anyway, I went looking for our Bridget Mulvany, searching Ancestry.com on her married, not her disputed maiden name. And I found this immigration record, from November 13, 1851, from the ship the John Hancock:

I know it's small, but it should enlarge when you click on it, I hope. Line 143 reads Jas. Mulvany, 25. Line 144 reads Bridget --, 22. Line 145 reads Thomas Mulvany, 16. And, most interestingly, line 146 reads Jas. Bothwell, 16.

There's not much information here, other than ages (which generally but not exactly match the ages James and Bridget provided census takers over the years). They tell us that all of these passengers are coming from Ireland, to the US. Unlike later ships' manifests, there's not detailed information about whence came the immigrants, who they were meeting and where, and their nearest relatives at home.

It would not be unusual for 16-year-old Thomas Mulvany to be the younger brother - or even, I suppose, a cousin - of James. After all, one of his sons was named Thomas.

But what I think is potentially most important - though also potentially a completely irrelevant coincidence - is the next name on the list, James Bothwell, which gives me a little more ammunition for the belief that this is, in fact, the correct record. Is this Bridget's younger brother? Is Bridget's real last name actually Bothwell? Is this a misspelling of Rothwell? It does give me a little additional evidence that the suffix of Bridget's maiden is -well, although it does potentially call into question the Roth- part.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Louise Toner Deegan, June 22, 1918

State of New York
Department of Health of the City of New York
Bureau of Records
Standard Certificate of Death
Register No. 13791
1. Place of Death
Borough of Brooklyn
Name of Institution: St. Mary’s Hospital
2. Full Name: Louise Deegan
3. Sex: Female
4. Color or Race: White
5. [Marital Condition]: Married
6. Date of Birth [blank]
7. Age: 51 yrs 1 mos
8. Occupation
a) Trade, profession, or particular kind of work: Housewife
b) General nature of industry…: [blank]
9. Birthplace: US
a) How long in US: Life
b) How long resident in City of New York: Life
10. Name of Father: Richard Toner
11. Birthplace of Father: Ireland
12. Maiden Name of Mother: Mary Cullen
13. Birthplace of Mother: Ireland
14. Special Information
Former or usual residence: 391 Baltic St.
Where was disease contracted, if not at place of death: 391 Baltic St.
15. Date of Death: June 22, 1918
16. I hereby certify that the foregoing particulars (Nos. 1 to 15 inclusive) are correct as near as the same can be ascertained, and I further certify that deceased was admitted to this institution on June 15, 1918, that I last saw her alive on the 22 day of June 1918, about 11:45 o’clock AM, and that I am unable to state definitely the cause of death; the diagnosis during her last illness was Chronic Endocarditis (aortic regurgitation) secondary anemia. Duration: [blank]
Contributory: carcinoma of the uterus. Duration [blank]
Witness my hand this 22 day of June, 1918
Signature: John Loughlin, MD
House Physician
17. [Autopsy – blank]
18. Place of Burial
Holy Cross Cemetery
Date of Burial
June 24, 1918
19. Undertaker
Henry J. Flood
Address
297 Van Brunt Street
To Undertakers
1. No burial permit can be obtained without a proper certificate
2. Certificates must be written throughout in black ink.
3. No certificate will be accepted which is mutilate, illegible, inaccurate, or any portion of which has been erased, interlined, corrected, or altered, as all such changes impair its value as a public record.
I hereby certify that I have been employed as undertaker by Julia Mullvaney [sic], the sister of deceased. This statement is made to obtain a permit for the burial or cremation of the remains of deceased Louise Deegan.
Signature Henry J. Flood

The above is my transcription of the death certificate of Louise Toner Deegan, Julia Toner Mulvaney's older sister, which arrived today. (So did that of Elizabeth Toner Loughlin Renehan, but as Julia figures more prominently here, I took the time to transcribe this one first.) Interestingly, though Louise should be about 10 years older than Julia, the age given here is closer to Julia's own age. It's off by just about exactly 10 years from the age attributed to the Louisa Toner who was a child in 1860 and a young teenager in 1870.

I'd been hoping to find out Louise's husband's name - I shouldn't be referring to my great-great-great-uncle as Mr. Deegan, now should I? - but it seems that, though Mr. Deegan was still alive (Louise is listed as "married"), it was Louise's younger sister, our Julia Toner Mulvaney, who "employed as undertaker" Henry Flood. (I know I've come across the name Henry Flood before, but it looks like the Mulvaneys always used the Redmond Brothers as their undertaker, so I'm not at all sure why I know this name.) You have to wonder why it was little sister Julia - who, after all, was busy raising quite a few kids, one with disabilities, while, as far as I know, Louise and Mr. Deegan had none. She was not yet widowed - Patrick would live for just more than a year from this date - but since diabetes is not generally a rapid onset type of death, I'd imagine she had numerous kids, 1 disabled, was potentially still raising her sister Mrs. Murphy's kids (I'd guess that sister was Mary, though there's also this Judith we know little about in the Toner family, but we have no way of knowing yet), and had a sick husband. And had just lost her big sister. Julia doesn't quite seem the ideal person to have been put in a position of responsibility here - but somebody's gotta do it.

I do wonder where Mr. Deegan was. Could "married" have been a mistake; maybe she was widowed? Could he, too, have been sick, injured, or disabled? Were they estranged? Or was he so distraught over the loss of his wife that he needed someone else to take care of the arrangements? (I wish I knew this guy's name before I began speculating on his psychological condition.)

Louise died of Chronic Endocarditis, an inflammation of the heart. She also had uterine cancer.

Elizabeth Toner Loughlin Renehan's DC is up next, but it might not be until after Easter, as I'm heading home after work tomorrow.

AARGH

That's a technical, genealogical term. It's what you say when your mother comes down to visit you in Washington, and tells you that you got something from the NYS Archives, but that she didn't bring it with her.

So, the Civil War service records of a Richard Toner (our Richard Toner?) have arrived, I just won't know what's in them until Wednesday evening. Stay tuned!

I don't know what information these records contain, so I'm not even sure that we'll be able to figure out whether it's our Richard or not. We'll see. I get home Wednesday night.

More death certificates

The other day, I sent away for death certificates for an Elizabeth L Renehan and a Louise Degan. Both are within the approximate age ranges of Julia Toner Mulvaney's sisters Elizabeth Toner Loughlin Renehan and Louise Toner Deegan. I'm not sure what this will tell us, if anything, but every so often I get that uncontrollable urge for more records! Records, records, records! The more, the merrier. And there they were, indexed online, only an online order form and a credit card away from my living room, so I ordered them. I don't know Louise Toner Deegan's husband's name, so I'm hoping to learn that from here, plus other assorted information. Really, though, I'm sure those are not the most important certificates I could have ordered.

I hesitate to order earlier ones, because they have less information, but they also concern the people I want to know more. We already have sketches of the lives of Elizabeth and Louise; I want a death certificate for Richard, to finally put an end to the question of when he died. (Problem: DCs are harder to find and more expensive when you don't know the date of death.) I want a death certificate for the elder Julia and her brother, especially to learn his age and his actual first name. John? James? Joseph? (Problem: DCs are harder to find when you don't actually know the person's name.) I want death certificates for the O'Hara side, for Grandpa JJ's parents, to learn their parents' first names. (Problem: DCs are really hard to find when you don't know the date of death and there are 382 men named John O'Hara in Brooklyn.)

So for now, I'm working with what I can get, just for the sheer joy of having the records, even if they add little to the actual corpus of knowledge.

I also recently ordered a military service record for a Richard Toner who served for NY in the Civil War. I have no idea at all whether this was our Richard, or what information would be contained therein even if it was, but for now I'm jsut excitedly awaiting that record in the mail, fingers crossed.

Friday, April 3, 2009

I hate formatting blogs

Clearly, the formatting on the post below leaves a little something to be desired, at least on my browser. If the jumbled lines are too difficult to read, do check out the original index to see the same information - and more - more neatly.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Maynooth Records

Remember when we found what we think are records of the baptisms of William Toner and Mary Cullen? I went looking for some more records from Maynooth, and here are some of the potentially interesting things I found, at the very helpful Fáilte Romhat, a personal family history site that includes lots of records scanned and/or transcribed:

http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/kildare/laraghbryan.htm
In this Index of Griffith's Valuation, I found these Toner records of interest:

Toner      William     Kellystown                   Laraghbryan   Kildare
Tonor      Samuel      Tw. Maynooth, Nunnery Lane   Laraghbryan   Kildare
Tonor      William     Tw. Maynooth, Main Street    Laraghbryan   Kildare
Laraghbryan was the civil parish that Maynooth was a part of. We've heard that Richard's father was named William, though here we're not sure whether he was the Toner or Tonor here. Note too, that the other Tonor listed was Samuel; Julia's brothers were William and Samuel. Do you think that means anything?

There are also these records, that I'm interested in based on the other names - both maiden names of women and witnesses - at the weddings and baptisms from the Maynooth sacramental records.

Boland     Patrick     Tw. Maynooth, Back Lane        Laraghbryan   Kildare
Cullen     Michael     Greenfield                     Laraghbryan   Kildare
Cullen     Michael     Moneycooley                    Laraghbryan   Kildare
Hackett    Anne        Tw. Maynooth, Pound Street     Laraghbryan   Kildare
Hackett    John        Tw. Maynooth, Nunnery Lane     Laraghbryan   Kildare
Hackett    Mary        Town of Maynooth               Laraghbryan   Kildare
Walsh      Ellen       Tw. Maynooth, Dublin Road      Laraghbryan   Kildare
Walsh      Joseph      Tw. Maynooth, Leinster St.     Laraghbryan   Kildare
Walsh      Thomas      Blakestown                     Laraghbryan   Kildare
From there, I went here, where you can search and view the actual records of Griffith's Valuation.

The William Tone(o)r's here are one in Kellystown who holds his house, offices, and land directly from the Duke of Leinster as his landlord, and one in Maynooth who holds his lands directly from the Duke, and rents land out, in turn, to John Connor and James Quin(n). Might they be the same William Tonor/Toner? Or do we think there were two families with slightly different names?

If this link works, you'll be able to see a contemporary map of Maynooth, though I'm having trouble figuring out the lot locations and who lived/owned/rented where. I do note that there is a Cushion's Street in Maynooth; I wonder if this is any relation to the Mary Cushion who was Richard's godmother?

I'll see about looking up the rest some time when it's not 1:30 in the morning.

Our two Julias

I have to say, I'm beginning to applaud the practice of naming a child after his or her deceased older sibling. Yes, it offends the modern sensibilities, but it works. Assuming that the idea is to preserve the memory of the child that died, it really works - probably better than the parents ever could have imagined. Julia Toner would never be the subject of blog posts on the internet if her little sister hadn't been named in her memory. (Do you think that Mary and Richard actually thought that their children would be the subject of blog posts on the internet?) If I weren't looking for our Julia, Julia Toner Mulvaney, I would have done nothing but glance at the name of the oldest child on the 1860 census record, assume she'd either died or married by 1870, and given her no further thought. I'm interested in my great-great-grandmother, after all. But since this girl shared a name with my great-great-grandmother, I sat up and took notice. I searched for her. I learned about her. And, I hope, I've lessened the risk of her being memory being forever lost to the past.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Death Notice, Julia and Joseph T. Toner

I searched the New York Times for the Toners, and came upon this, another notice of the death of the first Julia Toner and her brother. It's a PDF, so I can't post it, but you should be able to view the original by clicking here. From August 21, 1866, in a section counting local deaths from the cholera epidemic:

The Cholera in Brooklyn
The official returns of yesterday show an apparent decrease of cholera
cases, while at the same time the proportion of deaths is greater than
heretofore. Nine cases are reported, of which seven died. The following is the
list:
. . .
Joseph T. Toner, corner of Van Brunt and Tremont streets. Died 19th.
Julia Toner, same residence. Died 20th.
. . .
The report of the Registrar shows that 27 burial certificates were granted
on Sunday as follows,
Cholera - 7
Cholera Infantum, Cholera Morbus, Dysentery, &c. - 11
Other zymotic diseases - 1
All other diseases - 8
Total - 27
Which shows a reduction of 12, as compared with the day
previous.


This doesn't shed much light on them, but it brings to the fore a lot about their lives. These two didn't just die of cholera; they died during a cholera epidemic. That's much different, and probably a much scarier situation to live in, both for them and for their family. Interestingly, Julia's brother is listed here as Joseph T. Toner. This poor boy's been called every name in the book! He's James Thomas in the Eagle, but that was mistranscribed as John Thomas in the first record I saw of it. Here, in the Times, he's Joseph T. I'm assuming that his name was actually James; the notice in the Eagle was more of an obituary than a statistic (it mentioned the funeral times, etc.), so I want to give that one more credence, as it was probably submitted directly by the family. I'd imagine that the information that went to the Times took a more circuitous route, probably going from the doctor treating them to, say, the County Health Commissioner (if he existed back then), to the Times.