Happy Birthday, Pop

Today marks the birthday of my grandfather, William James O'Hara - the second since he died, or or what would have been his 79th. He was born 2 December 1930, at St. Mary's Hospital in Brooklyn, to John O'Hara and Mary Quinn O'Hara. They lived at 505 6th St. at the time. He was the third of their four sons.

St. Mary's Hospital was in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn until it closed in 2005, after 123 years in operation.

Pop was baptized at St. Saviour's Church in Brooklyn, on 21 December 1930, when he was 19 days old. His sponsors were Joseph O'Hara - his father's youngest brother - and Elizabeth Quinn, who was presumably related to his mother, though I'm unsure of who she was. Molly's sisters were Agnes and Helen, and her brothers married women named Alice and Bobbie.

The DiGaetanos in 1930

Now who exactly are the DiGaetanos? I think that this is the family of Maria D'Ingeo Gatto's sister Giovanna/Giovanine/Jennie. The main reason I think this, of course, is Dominick DiGaetano's father-in-law, "Dominick Dingao."

The family is father Dominick, 27; mother Jennie, 25; children Frank, 6; Dominick, 5; Mary, 3; Adolf, 2; and father-in-law Dominick, 69. All the kids were born in NY, as was their father. Jennie says she was born in Brazil; Dominick-the-father-in-law was born in Italy. It does appear that the D'Ingeo sisters, in 1930, were telling people they were born in South America, as Maria did. Dominick DiGaetano is an operator in a factory. He married his wife when she was 18 and he was 20. Jennie and Dominick "Dingao" give 1917 as the year they immigrated, which, of course, exactly matches their actual immigration date.

The DiGaetanos lived at 400 4th Ave., just around the corner from their cousins the Gattos at 398 5th Ave:

View Larger Map

Gattos on the 1930 Census

This census record shows the Gatto family at their home at 398 Fifth Ave in Brooklyn. The parents are listed as Dominick, 38, and his wife Mary, 27. Their kids are Pasqualina, age 10; Michael, age 8; Anna, age 7; Jennie, age 6; Dominick, age 5; and Frank, age 3. They rent their house for $30.

Here's where it gets interesting. Dominick says he as well as his parents were born in Italy and speak Italian as their native tongue. Mary, on the other hand, says that she as well as her parents were born in South America, though their native language is Italian. Huh?

Grandpa has always told me his mother's life story, briefly summarized thus:

Maria D'Ingeo's mother died in childbirth with her youngest. Her father's second wife was abusive and neglectful of the kids, and when their father realized it, he threw her out and decided to move the family to America. Mid-way through their Atlantic voyage, though, the quota for Southern European immigrants coming into the country was filled, and so the ship's captain rerouted, taking them to Brazil instead. They lived there for several years, during which one of the youngest children was killed in a tragic accident. I believe he was run over by a wagon. After that, the family was able to again make the trip to America, and succeeded this time.

Their immigration records, though, which I'll post soon, don't offer evidence of this. Instead, they're shown traveling directly from Italy to America. I haven't yet quite pieced together exactly what route their migration took. But in 1930, Maria D'Ingeo Gatto, or someone in her immediate family, told a census taker that she'd been born in South America.

Mary and Dominick give their years of immigration as 1917 and 1912, respectively, and both are naturalized. Grandpa Gatto works as an Iceman (industry: "Ice") and he's working on his "own account." Mr. Rotundo who lives with his family at the same address, is also an Iceman.

Dominick and Mary were married when they were 25 and 16, respectively.

1930 Census - O'Haras at 505 6th St.

This census record is a 2-for-1 deal. It was the first O'Hara census record I ever found, and despite the interminable number of John and Mary O'Haras who were running around Brooklyn at the time, I thought it was safe to assume that these were our John and our Mary, since, after all, their children were Uncle Jack and Uncle Ted. Grandpa JJ is 34 and Grandma Molly 35, and Uncle Jack is 6, while Uncle Ted is 4. Molly and JJ say that they first married at 28 and 27, respectively, meaning their wedding should have been around 1923. They rent their home for $60. Uncle Ted can't read. (He presumably later gained that skill.) All were born in New York. Grandpa JJ is a clerk at a brokerage firm. At some point, I know he worked at 120 Broadway, the building where my dad would later spend most of his career, at a brokerage firm. Perhaps this was when he worked there? He's listed as a veteran of World War I. (I believe he was in the Navy.)

Where does the 2-for-1 deal come in? Glance upward several lines to find John and Mary O'Hara Sr., JJ's parents. They live in the same building, but they own their home - presumably they owned the entire building and that $60 in rent that the younger O'Haras were paying was being paid to them. Their youngest son Joseph is still living at home. John is 60, Mary 55, and Joseph 15. They say they were first married when John was 28 and Mary 23. Joseph is still in school. On this census, they give their immigration dates as 1890 and 1889, which matches what they said in 1900, but not what they said in any of the censuses in between. None of them are working. (Though I'd argue that "landlord" is an occupation, wouldn't you?)

When I first sent Uncle Ted this record, he told me he and Jack had grown up with Roy Larossa who lived in the building, as well as with the son of the Gibbens family:

"There was listed a Larossa and Wife and son Roy who lived in the same apartment house we lived in. Jack and I grew up with Roy. Also listed was a Gibbens who we also knew from the old neighborhood."

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.

1930 Census - Mulvaneys at 270 Van Brunt St.

So I went looking, and after some searching, I finally found the Mulvaneys at 270 Van Brunt St., and I was slightly surprised by the results, given what I thought I knew. Julia (age 57), Willie (age 28), and Harold (age 24) are living together at 270 Van Brunt. She's widowed, they're single, none has gone to school in the past year. No surprises there. However, Willie is now listed as being able to read and write - AND, he apparently holds down a job, as a Bookkeeper for an insurance agency! That's not exactly what I expected to find, given that last we checked, the 20-year old Willie was illiterate, he didn't speak until he was 10 years or older, and when he died just 3 years and 10 days later, he was listed as having no job. (I believe you were supposed to list "usual occupation," even if the individual was not working when he died - however, we do know that Julia just listed "Retired" for Patrick, so she may not have been in the practice of filling out death certificates to include former occupations.)

Perhaps I've been overestimating the severity of Willie's condition? This is entirely possible, as I know next to nothing about Willie's condition. Another unlikely possibility is that whoever answered the door - Julia, Harold, or Willie himself - could have lied to the census taker, to make him seem like a more productive member of society. In further speculation, it's possible he was some kind of savant, having limited communication but amazing math skills.

In other words, I'm now writing fiction, which is not the stated purpose of this blog.

Other interesting pieces of information we pick up from this census are that Julia's rent was $18 a month (what happened to rents like that?!), that neither of the boys had been in the military, and that Harold was a "Checker" in the "freight" industry - that seems relatively consistent with a job on the docks, I think, though I don't know what a "checker" is, unless it's exactly what it sounds like, and he checked things for a living.

1930 census - 85 Luqueer

This is a copy of the 1930 census for 85 Luqueer St. in Brooklyn. It's the house where Papa grew up, as well as the house where his mother, Mary Ann Madigan grew up. We believe it was built by her father, Matthew Madigan. On this census, both of Papa's parents, Michael Mulcahy and Mary Ann Madigan Mulcahy, have already died, and he is living at 648 83rd St., with Nana. They're newlyweds. In the house at Luqueer St., though, are several of his siblings - James, Mary, Gerard, and Vincent are all living together in the first apartment (listed as family 52), while the next family at the same address, presumably the next apartment in the building, is his brother Matthew Mulcahy with his wife Catherine and their sons Gerard, Matthew, and Eugene. As Gerard was one brother and Eugene was Papa's middle name, all three boys have family names from their father's family, it seems.

John Griffin and John Griffin visited the house at 85 Luqueer St. this fall:

John Sr.'s caption reads:
"The house on left that Betty & Your Nana's Great-Grandfather, Matthew Madigan, built for his family, the modern looking building was originally eight stables that later became garages and to the right of that structure are two more identical houses he built and rented. Their original family home is now a four family building."

(I believe that if you look closely, you'll see John in a blue shirt near the bottom left!)

Nana and Papa in 1930

This is a picture of the 1930 census. Nana and Papa, Veronica and Joseph Mulcahy, are listed on lines 85 and 84. They give their ages as 24 and 33, respectively, and are living at 648 83rd St. You can see that Papa's occupation is listed as "Police Officer." Nana says that both of her parents were born in NY, while Papa's mother was, but his father was from Ireland. (I believe the field reads "Ireland Free State.")

*click to enlarge image