Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Where lies Mathew Madigan?

My great-great-great-grandfather was Mathew Madigan. He died 11 September 1892. According to the death notice in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, he was to be buried at Calvary - that is, Calvary Cemetery in Queens, NY.


According to his death certificate, he was buried at Calvary Cemetery, on 14 September 1892. The undertaker was Jos. L. Hart of 496 Court St.



But according to Calvary Cemetery, who I called this afternoon, they have no record of his being buried there in September of 1892. I'm not sure what to do next.

2 comments:

Claudia said...

Find out if the records are complete, a lot of times records were destroyed.

Mitch Waxman said...

Calvary lost a lot of records in a fire during that time period, with many interment records literally going up in smoke, and the 1890's is when they were doing as many as 50 funerals a day. Check the church where the funeral service was held, they might be able to supply an address. You're looking for the plot address, which Calvary's system breaks down by section, row, lot, and individual parcel- section 1, row 2, lot a, 1234. Also, there used to be "burial societies" during that era, which would purchase tracts and resell to members- might be able to find something there. The fact that he got an obit, an Irishman in the 1890's, means that he was a respected member of the gentry and thus- there's probably a record somewhere. Keep looking.