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.