"He was born in Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland"

Since I discovered a few weeks ago that the Brooklyn Daily Standard Union had been added to the Fulton History website, I've been working my way through searching for all of my Brooklyn families in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Hands down, the most crucial discovery I've made was in the 14 Jan 1914 obituary of my 2x great-grandfather, Hugh Quinn.

Brooklyn Daily Standard Union, 14 Jan 1914

The Quinn line has been the only line whose Irish origins I haven't been able to locate. A relative had found a birth record for a Hugh Quinn in Co. Antrim, but it set off all sorts of warning bells for me. The Co. Antrim Hugh Quinn is the only one of approximately the right age who shows up when you search Irish birth record indexes, and I've suspected that for that reason, an assumption was made that he was the only Hugh Quinn, and that he had to be our Hugh Quinn. But his parents' names didn't match those on my great-great-grandfather's death certificate, and a birthplace in Northern Ireland just didn't seem right. I couldn't put my finger on why, but it just didn't seem right.

This obituary states that Hugh James Quinn "was born in Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland," and that does make sense. His wife was from outside Castlebar. She maintained extremely close ties to her family, even after immigrating. Two of his daughters would go on to marry the sons of other Castlebar-area natives. It just makes more sense that Hugh, too, would be from County Mayo, and I admit I'm glad that I wasn't crazy for secretly suspecting that he might be, too.

I've started looking for Hugh Quinn in Co. Mayo, and so far, I can't find him. Castlebar is a major city, and I can't assume that he was actually born in Castlebar proper, as opposed to in one of the many small towns outside the city. Still, I have a substantially narrower geographic area to focus on now than I did before I checked the Brooklyn Daily Standard Union.

I'd searched the Brooklyn Daily Eagle extensively, but let this be a lesson to you: checking one newspaper is never enough!

The Quinn Family

(An occasional series outlining one of my ancestral families.)

Hugh J. Quinn and Mary Gillen (Gillan) were my 2x great-grandparents. Mary Gillen was born c. 1868 in Tawnykinaff, Co. Mayo, Ireland, to Martin Gillen and Honora Grimes, and immigrated to the US some time in the late 1880s or early 1890s. Hugh Quinn was born c. 1868 (possibly in Co. Antrim, though I'm still looking for confirmation). They married c. 1893, and had 5 children: Nora Agnes, Anna Mary, Helen, Martin, and Terrence. Nora Agnes Quinn, known as Agnes to family but often officially recorded as Nora, was born 5 December 1894 and married William Augustus (Bill) Maines, 3 July 1932. Anna Mary Quinn, known as Molly, was born 22 Mar 1897 and married John O'Hara, 31 Mar 1923. (Until this summer, there was no indication that her first name was anything but Mary.) Helen Quinn was born in 1899 and married Harry Kunze, around 1924. Martin Quinn was born c. 1902 and married Elizabeth "Bobbie" Byrnes around 1930. Terrence Quinn was born 3 July 1904 and married Alice, but I don't know her maiden name or when they married.

I unfortunately don't have a good picture of the whole family. I've never seen a picture of Hugh Quinn, but I have this nice picture of Mary Gillen Quinn and her daughters.

Back row, L to R: Unknown, Helen Quinn Kunze
Middle row: Agnes Quinn Maines, Molly Quinn O'Hara, Mary Gillen Quinn
Front row: two unknown children

There's also this picture, which I believe depicts the brothers Marty and Terrence Quinn. Certainly the man on the right is Marty, and I'm fairly sure that the man on the left is Terry.

Terrence and Martin Quinn

My first introduction to my great-great-grandfather, Hugh Quinn

"Did I ever tell you about Molly and the kittens?" Pop asked over dinner one day. We'd never heard about Molly and the kittens, so my grandfather continued, "Molly - my mother - was the second oldest. There was Agnes, Molly, Marty, and Helen.* Now, when Molly was maybe 7 or 8 years old, they had a cat, and the cat had kittens. And one day she came home from school, and the kittens were gone. When she asked her father where they were, he told her that he'd drowned them. He was trying to make it sound better so he told her that you always had to drown the first litter - you know, for health reasons. And what does Molly say but, 'Then why didn't you drown Agnes?!'"

I know that drowning kittens was common in "the old days," and I do what I can to avoid presentism. But Hugh Quinn is really one of my more mysterious ancestors. All I know about him is that he was born in Ireland, died in Brooklyn in 1914, and he drowned kittens. Sometimes I wish my very limited knowledge was of something a little more sympathetic!

*Helen was older than Marty, and he left out Terrence, the youngest.

1905 NYS Census - Quinn Family

This not-very-clear image is the 1905 NYS Census that records the Quinn family living at 1371 Atlantic Ave. I could have sworn that I already knew the Quinns lived on Atlantic Ave at some point, but maybe I only knew they lived in the neighborhood from when they lived nearby on Fulton Street, as there are no Atlantic Ave. addresses in my list of family homes. The family is recorded as the Quinnes: Hugh J., 38; Mary, 38; Agnes, 10; Mary, 8; Hellen, 5; Martin, 3; the last name begins with a T and is illegible but clearly too short to say "Terrence." It may say "Terry." Uncle Terry is 1. Hugh and Mary were born in Ireland, and all their children were American-born. The column for number of years in the US appears to say "W" for both of them; I can't figure out what number is intended. Maybe "20"? I think they're all listed as Citizens, but that column is pretty difficult to make out, too. Hugh is an engineer, Mary does house work, and Agnes and Molly are "at school." Neither Helen nor the boys are in school yet.

Surprisingly, Agnes is listed as Agnes, the earliest example of her use of the name that I've come across. Besides this, she's Nora until the 1920 Census.

The Gillen Families: Naturalizations

Some time ago, I found Mark Gillen, brother of my great-great-grandmother Mary Gillen Quinn, in the naturalization indexes online at Ancestry.com. I pondered whether I would learn anything new by trying to get my hands on the record, and decided on inaction for the time being. Sometimes, good things come to those who wait. Mark Gillen's naturalization record came to me!

It was sent to me by someone who came across my blog and thinks we may be related through the Gillen line. I'm almost certain he's correct, but we have yet to figure out exactly how our lines are connected. My line is the descendants of Martin Gillen; his line is the descendants of Patrick Gillen. They came from neighboring towns (Tawnykinaffe and Crimlin) in Co. Mayo. The aforementioned Mark Gillen was Martin's son, who lived in Brooklyn from the 1890s on. A Martin Gillon witnessed the wedding of one of Patrick's daughters in Brooklyn in 1899. One of Patrick's grandsons married one of Martin's granddaughters in Brooklyn in the 1930s. Some of the most damning (read: tantalizing) evidence, though, are these naturalization records. The above record, of Mark Gillen, is the naturalization record of Martin Gillen's son Mark, who lived with his sister, Mary Gillen Quinn, my great-great-grandmother. I know this because Mark and his witness Hugh Quinn were kind enough to write their addresses under their signatures, and both lived at 332 Bergen St. This is where Hugh and Mary Quinn were living in 1900 with their 3 daughters and Mary's brother Mark Gillen. Mark Gillen was naturalized in 1894.

Two years earlier, a Patrick Gillen had also been naturalized in the King County Court. His naturalization, too, had been witnessed by a Hugh Quinn. They were not then kind enough to their descendants to record their addresses, so I don't know whether this was the same Hugh Quinn who would marry Mary Gillen about a year later, around 1893.

We're still working on figuring out the connection between the two Gillen families. I've got a couple lines of questioning to follow up with some relatives, and I've ordered the marriage certificate between the two Gillen grandchildren, Agnes Quinn and Bill Maines. I don't know whether that will shed any light. What undoubtedly would, if it existed, would be any dispensation Agnes and Bill might have needed to be married in the Catholic Church if they were related, but according to the Diocese of Brooklyn's website, only dispensation records from before 1890 are open for research. I'm trying to gather as much information as possible on the families at this point, and hoping something will clear things up. Any research avenues you can suggest?

Mark Gillan Naturalization 1894

Mark Gillan was my great-great-grandmother Mary Gillen's brother. (The family used both spellings, but apparently more used Gillan than Gillen.) He's pictured as an older man in yesterday's post. I found this in Ancestry.com's Index to Naturalizations. Uncle Mark was naturalized in the Kings County Court on 9 October 1894. He was living at 332 Bergen Street, which is where he was living with the Quinns in 1900, as well. His witness is Hugh J. Quinn, his brother-in-law and Mary Gillen's husband, who also lives at 332 Bergen Street. Considering that the Quinns have been at a different address in each census I've found them in, just this little bit of information is a boon, since it means that they lived in the same place for at least 6 years - the 6 years that include the births of Aunt Agnes, Grandma Molly, and Aunt Helen! It will be very helpful for me to be able to figure out which local churches to contact to hopefully find baptismal records. Considering, too, that Mary and Hugh married in the year or two before Mark was naturalized, it may even lead to a marriage record! I wonder whether Uncle Mark's actual Declaration of Intent and Petition for Naturalization would include information about the Quinns he was living with? Should I order them?

WANTED - Washing or Day's Work

From the Tuesday, August 25, 1914 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, again via Fulton History:

WANTED — Washing or Day's Work.
WISH to do washing; to take home by
day. Mrs. QUINN, 1450 Fulton st, top
floor.

Mary Gillen Quinn's husband Hugh had died 8 months earlier, and it seems she was taking in washing to make ends meet. Her daughters would have been aged 19, 17, and 14; surely at least Agnes and Molly were working, too, if they haven't already moved out and married (Molly hadn't; I'm not sure about when Agnes married). Agnes had already been working as a saleslady in a department store when she was 15 in 1910.

Tombstone Tuesday - Hugh J. Quinn

This weekend was my first genealogical trip to a cemetery. I went to Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn, where a significant number of my relatives are buried. It was a very pleasant day, sunny, breezy, quiet - but not particularly genealogically fruitful. Since it costs a nice little fortune to request anymore than a gravesite location in Catholic cemetery in the Brooklyn diocese, and I'm a poor graduate student working part-time, I figured I'd skip that part and hope that the stones themselves would provide me some information. I ended up with pictures, but no information. Still worth going, I think. So I'll post the gravestones I found at intervals, starting with that of Hugh J. Quinn, Grandma Molly's father and my great-great-grandfather, who died in 1914.


The location inscription indicates that this stone represents 2 graves, so I imagine that he is interred with his wife, Mary Gillen Quinn, as well as, potentially, others. Maybe his hypothetical first wife? (Remember, he appears to have a daughter named Anna who considerably predates his marriage to Mary Gillen.) Children? Siblings? Who knows.

What's very clear, of course, is that his name, undeniably, was QUINN. No questions there.

Visiting a cemetery was a little different than I expected. I was there for genealogy. You know, research stuff. And the next thing I knew, I was feeling profoundly connected to these people, my relatives, being physically in the same place as they are. I said more prayers than I took notes.

It was totally worth it.

January 13, 1914 - Hugh Quinn's Death Certificate

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State of New York

Department of Health of the City of New York

Bureau of Records

Standard Certificate of Death

Registered No. 1053

1. Place of Death

Borough of Brooklyn

No. 1450 Fulton St.

Character of premises: tenement

2. Full Name Hugh James Quinn

3. Sex Male

4. Color or Race White

5. Single, Married, Widowed, or Divorced: married

6. Date of birth unknown

7. Age 46 years

8. Occupation

a. trade, profession, or particular kind of work: engineer

b. industry office building

9. Birthplace Ireland

How long in US? 28 yrs

How long resident in City of New York? 28 yrs

10. Name of Father Hugh Quinn

11. Birthplace of Father Ireland

12. Maiden Name of Mother Bridget Chambers

13. Birthplace of Mother Ireland

15. Date of death January 13, 1914

16. I hereby certify that the foregoing particulars (Nos. 1 to 14 inclusive) are correct as near as can be ascertained, and I further certify that I attended the deceased from Sept 1 1913 to January 13 1914, that I last saw him alive on the 11 day of January 1914, that death occurred on the date stated above at 2 PM, and that the cause of death was as follows: Tabes dorsalis, duration: 3 yrs

Contributory: Acute pulmonary congestion

Witness my hand this 14 day of Jan, 1914

Signature: Alfred W. White, MD

Address 360 Halsey St.

17. Place of Burial Holy Cross Cemetary

Date of Burial Jan 15, 1914

18. Undertaker [illegible]

Address [illegible]

The above is a transcription of Hugh James Quinn's death certificate. (There's also a stamp on the back saying his wife Mary Quinn released the body to the undertakers.) The address given is 1450 Fulton St., which would have been just down the block from where the Quinns were living 4 years earlier, in 1910.

His parents are listed as Hugh Quinn and Bridget Chambers, which conflicts with the information that Uncle Jack gave me, saying that Hugh's parents were William Quinn and Margaret McCandles. According to that, which he took from a birth certificate, Hugh was born February 25, 1868, in Moyarget Upper, Ramoan, Ballycastle, County Antrim (Northern Ireland). That birth date fits just about exactly with the age given here, so I'm not inclined to doubt it.

A Slightly Less Confusing Quinn Family in 1910

By 1910, the Quinns have moved from 332 Bergen St. to 1498 Fulton St. Hugh J. and Mary are now listed as 40, having aged only 7 years in the past 10. They've been married 17 years - that's the same, and gives a wedding date of around 1893, so they were presumably married in the United States, not Ireland. Mary has given birth to 5 children, all still living. They are listed as Nora A. (might Agnes have been her middle name?), 15; Mary J., 13; Helen, 10; Martin J., 8; and Terence, 5.

Hugh now says he immigrated in 1885, though that's really not too far off of the 1886 he said ten years ago. Mary's immigration date is still 1887. Hugh is an Engineer in the industry "Building" and Nora/Agnes works as a Saleslady in a department store.

Also part of the household are Hugh O'Donnell, listed as Hugh's nephew, and Thomas Keane, listed as a boarder. According to Uncle Jack, Hugh O'Donnell was a cousin, a descendant of Martin Gillen, who was born and died in Ireland, living 104 years, from 1825 to 1929. Hugh O'Donnell immigrated in 1906 and has filed his Declaration of Intent to become a citizen (indicated as "Pa," for "First Papers," on the census). Thomas Keane immigrated in 1909 and is an alien. Hugh O'Donnell is working as a Motorman on a Streetcar, while Thomas Keane is a Bartender at a Liquor Saloon.

And that, folks, is the last census record you'll see of the Quinns, except for Molly of course being married to JJ in the 1930 Census. I know that Hugh dies in 1914, but I simply cannot find the rest of the family in 1920, or anyone but Molly in 1930.

A very confusing Quinn Family in 1900

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten the Quinns!



These two images are of the census records of the family and Hugh Quinn and Mary Gillen, Grandma Molly's parents. The family begins at the very bottom of the first page, where are listed Hugh Quinn, 33, who was born in April 1867; Mary Quinn, 33, also born in April 1867; and Nora Quinn, 5, born in December 1894. Nora Quinn, as best anyone can tell, is Aunt Agnes, Molly's older sister. She appears as Nora in all the census records I've seen, and I simply can't figure out why.

The family continues on the next page, where, inexplicably, the next child listed is not Molly, who should be about 3, but a 13-year-old daughter named Anna, who Uncle Jack and Uncle Ted have never heard of. Born in March of 1887, she predates this marriage considerably. (Mary and Hugh say they've been married 7 years.) I wonder whether this was a half-sister? Could Hugh have been married before? It's an avenue I'd like to explore, though I'm not sure where to begin.

Molly doesn't appear on this census record, and, again, I don't know where she could be. We skip right to Helen, who finally offers us no surprises. She's supposed to exist, she's supposed to be named Helen, she's supposed to be about about a year old, and she's supposed to be here. Thank you, Aunt Helen, for being everything you're supposed to be! Helen was born in July, 1899.

Next, in case all the confusion led to believe that maybe these weren't our Quinns, and in case the lovely Helen wasn't enough to convince you otherwise, is a boarder named Mark Gillin. Jack and Ted have referred to both an "Uncle Mark" and to his having a son named Mark, and combined with the fact that he shares a last name with Mary Gillen (Gillin?) Quinn, I'm assuming that this is her brother, Grandma Molly's uncle. He was born in May of 1871, and gives his age as 29.

Mary has given birth to 3 children. (Presumably, these are Nora/Agnes, Mary (Molly), and Helen, not Nora/Agnes, mysterious Anna, and Helen, but I don't really know.) All are living. Hugh says he immigrated in 1886, and Mary in 1887. He is naturalized. Uncle Mark says he immigrated in 1890 and is also a naturalized citizen. Hugh was an Engineer who rented his home, and Uncle Mark was a Porter.

So this census sheds very little light and brings to the fore lots of interesting but confusing questions:

1. Who was Anna?
2. Was Hugh married twice?
3. Where is Molly?
4. Why is Agnes always called Nora?

Anyone have any answers, or suggestions of where to find them?