Tombstone Tuesday - Roches and Rickerts

When I talked to Betty and John a few weeks ago about my plans to go to Holy Cross and go grave-hunting, John said he thought the Roches and the Rickerts were buried there. He said he wasn't sure, but there was a tombstone for Roches and Rickerts in Holy Cross and he assumed it had to be related to our Roches and Rickerts.

I thought that was weird. He just knew that there happened to be a Roche/Rickert gravestone in Holy Cross? It's not a small cemetery - it's impressive to find a gravestone you weren't looking for, even if, as John told me, he did work there during college.

But then, a week and a half ago, as I pulled into Holy Cross and made a left turn, this stone - placed conveniently on the corner and with the last names in big, bold, block letters - screamed at me! "Roche! Rickert!" it yelled. "We're right here!" I pulled over in a hurry and jumped out of the car. They are, without a doubt, our Roches and Rickerts. The Roches are parents Michael and Bridget, and their children, John Roche, Michael Roche, and Johanna Roche Madigan. (That it's spelled "Joanna" here leads me to believe that potentially, she really did use that spelling.) Not listed is Mary, the younger daughter, who died sometime after age 10, which was her age on the 1880 census. The Rickerts are Johanna's only surviving child, Loretta Madigan Rickert (I never had a date of death for her - this gives it as February 8, 1978) and her husband, Joseph J. Rickert, who, according to this, died August 22, 1961.

The inscription confused me for a few minutes - it seemed to be saying that it marked the burial of the Roches and their "dear parents," the Rickerts. That's actually quite the opposite of what's the case, and in reality - as far as I can tell - the monument was erected by the Rickert children (Elizabeth, Fr. Joseph, and Fr. Gene), thus the reference to their "dear parents."

One other interesting absence is that of Johanna's husband, and Loretta's father, Matthew Madigan. Matthew was buried at Calvary, not Holy Cross. No mention, too, of whether their other (at least) 2 children, Josephine and Matthew, are buried here, or whether they were buried with their father, their deaths being much closer in time to his.

I was surprised, initially, to find that Johanna wasn't buried with Matthew. The more I think about it, though, the more it makes sense. She was married to him for less than 10 years. Probably closer to 5. She never remarried. She lost 3 of her 4 children very young. She lived another 30 years raising her one surviving daughter alone - likely very much with the help of her family, with whom she seems to have been close. I imagine Johanna and Loretta being a little like Lorelei and Rory in the Gilmore Girls. Matthew was dead by the time Loretta was 5. Father and husband though he was, what kind of influence might he have had on their lives in those 30 years after his death?

That was my rambling, discursive Tombstone Tuesday post, that I'll try to squeeze in under the deadline so it still qualifies for Tuesday.

Marriage of Loretta Madgan and Joseph Rickert

OR, How I'm So Good at Deduction

First, let me post the transcription of Loretta and Joseph Rickert's marriage certificate:


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State of New York

Certificate and Record of Marriage

No. of Certificate 4084

Joseph J. Rickert and A. Loretta Madigan

Groom’s Residence: 40 4^th Pl.

Age: 28

Color: W

Single, Widowed, or Divorced: S

Occupation: Salesman

Birthplace: Gutenberg, NJ

Father’s Name: Michael

Mother’s Maiden Name: Elizabeth Baker

Number of Groom’s Marriage: 1^st

Bride’s Residence: 75 4^th Pl.

Age: 27

Color: W

Single, Widowed, or Divorced: S

Maiden Name, if a Widow: --

Birthplace: Brooklyn

Father’s Name: Matthew

Mother’s Maiden Name: Joanna Roche

Number of Bride’s Marriage: 1^st

I hereby certify that the above-named groom and bride were joined in Marriage by me, in accordance with the Laws of the State of New York, at St. Bernard’s Church, in th Borough of Brooklyn, City of New York, this 20^th of April, 1915.

Signature of the person performing the Ceremony: James J. Kunz

Official Station: Clergyman

Residence: 651 Hicks St.

Witnesses to the Marriage:

William J. Rickert

Irene A. Deveney

We hereby certify that we are the Groom and Bride named in the Certificate, and that the information given therein is correct, to the best of our knowledge and belief.

Joseph J. Rickert, Groom

A. Loretta Madigan, Bride

Signed in the presence of

William J. Rickert

and

Irene A. Deveney

Now, what I think is so cool about this is that is totally backs up everything I've said lately. Well, two things, at least. Or, almost two things.

Remember when I hypothesized that Elizabeth Rickert's maiden name was Baker, because that was the last name of her nephew William, whose father had been born in the same state (PA) as she had? Well lookie here! Elizabeth's maiden name was Baker! Sometimes, I feel so freakin' smart!

And remember when I hypothesized that maybe Loretta's name was either Anna Loretta Madigan Rickert or Loretta Anna Madigan Rickert? This record, where she signs her name A. Loretta Madigan reinforces that a little more, I think, than all the many references to a Loretta A. Madigan.

Not done with the Rickerts yet!

This is the 1920 Census of what I believe to be Loretta and Joseph Rickert's family. Why aren't I sure? Because of this oh-so-confusing Anna Rickert. Joseph had a sister named Anna Rickert, but she wasn't his wife, of course. This Anna L. Rickert is listed as his wife, and her age, 31, means she should have been born around 1889, which is pretty close to how old Loretta Rickert should have been. (I think she was born in 1888.) Joseph's sister was Anna M. Rickert, and she was his older sister, and should be closer to 40 than to 30. Now, Loretta Madigan Rickert is usually listed as Loretta A. Madigan and/or Rickert, while this Anna Rickert is listed as Anna L. Rickert. Could a Loretta Anna or an Anna Loretta have gone by Anna sometimes and Loretta other times? Maybe she's listed as Anna here because Joseph called her Anna, after her middle name.

After all, everyone knows that Almanzo Wilder called Laura "Beth" from her middle name, Elizabeth.

The thing is, I just don't know. Was Joseph living with his sister instead of his wife, and the lady of the household was accidentally listed as being his wife? Or did he call his wife Anna?

Anyway, the Rickert family, whoever they consisted of (gosh that's bad grammar), lived at 81 Union Street. Joseph is 38, and was born in NJ, with two parents both born in Pennsylvania. He's a salesman though I can't tell in what industry. He was a WWI veteran. Anna/Loretta is 31 and was born in NY. Her father was from Ireland and her mother from New York. (That sure sounds like Loretta's family, and not anything like what Anna M. Rickert the sister's family would have looked like.) Their son Joseph is 2 years and 11 months old, and Eugene is 2 months old. That means Joseph was born around the beginning of 1928 and Eugene was born in the vicinity of November of 1919. Both were born in New York, and, predictably, both of their mothers were born in NY and their fathers in New Jersey. Joseph is listed as being able to speak English, while Eugene is not.

If you skip down a few lines, you see another Rickert family listed at 81 Union Street. This is Joseph's brother August A., his wife Olga, and their two sons August Jr. and Thomas. August and Olga are 33 and should have been born around 1887. August Jr. is 7, born around 1913, and Thomas is 4 years and months old, born around 1915. Olga and August were both born in NY, which would seem to mean that the Rickert family moved from New Jersey to New York sometime between when Joseph was born and when August was born. August's parents, in keeping with Joseph's parents, were born in Pennsylvania, and Olga's parents were German-born. August is a salesman, and it looks like he sells newspapers. He, too, is a World War I veteran.

St. Bernard's Annual Benefit

Quite the performer, actually, our Loretta Madigan. She seemed to do a lot of performing with the Rickert family. Here's the text of the article, from February 19, 1911, when the St. Bernard's Choir held their annual benefit performance:

Men and Women of St. Bernard's
Church Prepare for Show
On Tuesday evening, St. Bernard's R.
C. Church, Hicks and Rapelye streets,
of which the Rev. John M. Scheffel is
pastor, will hold its annual entertainment
and reception at the Kings County
Palace, 120 Schermerhorn street, under
the auspices of the St. Bernard choir,
for the benefit of the church. The evening
programme will be opened with a
"First Part Minstrel" with the entire
choir participating, as follows: Interlocutor,
Daniel Thompson; tambos, Miss
Hannah Todd, Joseph J. Rickert; bones,
Mrs. George Donovan, Daniel F, Sallows,
Michael Galvin, August A. Rickert,
James F. Ryan and Master G. Onken,
and Mrs. Frances Dilberger and
Mrs. August A. Rickert, soloists.
The chorus will be comprised of the
following: Joseph Dilberger, Frank J.
Fannon, William Baker, Peter F. Kestler,
Frank J. Rickert, George Kestler,
William J. Rickert, Frank Kestler, Adam
Wunner, the misses Lillian Harkens,
Amelia Heitzman, Clara Rickert, Lorretta
A. Madigan, Anna Rickert, Lillian
Sallows, Mary Gibbons, Josephine Lesinsky,
Margaret Barret. Immediately
following the minstrels , a specialty will
be rendered by Frank J. Rickert and
Miss Lorreta Madigan, Introducing vocal
and piano selections. The evening entertainment
will conclude with a one-act
farce entitled "Too Much Married,"
which will be enacted by a strong cast,
having as its concluding number, "Carmena,"
rendered by the choir. The production
is under the direction of Daniel
Thompson. assisted by Miss Anna
Kearon.

Apparently the Rickerts were quite the theatrical family. Besides Loretta and Joseph J, the show also included Frank J., Anna, Clara, William J., August A. and Mrs. August A., all Rickerts. I wonder if they were all brothers and sisters (besides Mrs. August, that is), or if they were cousins, if the girls might have been in-laws.

We can tell that Loretta and Joseph J. knew each other for at least 4 years before they were married in 1915. I also love the similarity in names between this production and the production of All the Comforts of Home that the St. Bernard players performed a few years later. The Dilbergers, the Rickerts, the Kestlers, Mary Gibbons, Adam Wunner, Michael Galvin - those are all among the names that show up in both articles. Imagine! They must have been friends!

Were they real people, these ancestors of ours?

We've got an actress in the family!

From the March 23, 1913 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle is the listing of a performance of All the Comforts of Home

Tho dramatic society connected with
the Roman Catholic Church of St. Bern-
ard, Hicks and Rapalyea streets, of which
the Rev. James King is rector, will produce
"All the Comforts of Home," in
Prospect Hall, on Tuesday evening, April
22. The play will he staged under the
direction of Joseph Collins. The cast will
include: James Dilberger, Al Collins,
August A. Rickert. Loretta Madigan, Mrs.
Joseph Donovan, Frank Rickert, Joseph
Nevins, Michael Galvin, Mary Gibbons,
Joseph J. Rickert, Frank Frischman, Anna
Rickert, Amelia Hertzman, Adam Wurmer,
James Hertzman, and George Kessler.

All the Comforts of Home, it appears, was a play written by William Gillette and first produced in 1890.



We see Loretta Madigan, who would have been about 25 years old, is a cast member. What interests me even more is that the cast also includes several members of the Rickert family. While our family information tells us that Loretta Madigan married Joseph Rickett, I recently looked in the Italiangen.org marraige index to see if I could find Loretta.

The index has a Loretta A. Madigan marrying a Joseph J. Rickert on April 20, 1915.

I thought it might have been mistranscribed, but this has me thinking otherwise. I'd imagine our source was mistaken, and Loretta married the Joseph J. Rickert she may have met in the church play.

How cute!

New Madigan children

On the left-hand column of the right-hand page of this 1892 NYS Census record, we find the Madigans. Mary Ann Madigan Mulcahy isn't there; she's already been married to Michael Mulcahy for about 4 years. I expect to encounter them shortly. However, we find lots of new information. One of the later census records of Johanna and Loretta Madigan showed that Johanna had given birth to 4 children, 3 of whom were no longer living. Today, we meet two of them.

The family is listed as parents Matthew Madigan, 51, a "cartman," and Johanna Madigan, 31. From his first marriage (we know this, though it's not evident on the record) are children Margaret Madigan, 19, and James Madigan, 21. From this second marriage are listed three children, Loretta and two others. Loretta is 4, Matthew (Jr.) is 2, and Josephine is 1.

I've encountered clues - that I'm looking to verify - that Matthew Madigan died in early 1893. If the information that Johanna had given birth to 4 children is accurate, either they've already lost 1 child, or she is currently pregnant - or about to be - with their last child.

Johanna and Loretta Madigan, 1900 and 1910

The other day, when I realized I had to correct this post to make sure it reflected an accurate understanding of who died first - Margaret Sullivan Madigan or Matthew Madigan - I also realized that I had never searched for evidence of Matthew Madigan's second wife or the children of that marriage. And they have such beautifully unique names! Johannas and Lorettas are much rarer - and thus much easier to identify - than Margarets and Marys. So I went looking, and sure enough, they popped up easily on the first pages of my ancestry.com search. I'm having trouble uploading the census records of them in 1900 and 1910, so I'll add those to this post at a later date. Johanna is listed as a widow by 1900, so we do know that Matthew Madigan had died by then, and since Loretta was born around 1888, we know that Margaret Sullivan Madigan had died by then. Their birthdates are listed, in 1900, as November 1860 and February 1888, and Johanna is listed as having given birth to 4 children, only one of whom was still living. I wonder whether they were Matthew Madigan's children, or whether she, too, had been married previously. In neither of these censuses are these Madigans living at 85 Luqueer St. They live around the corner, at 75 Fourth Place, which they owned without a mortgage. (So we still have no idea why there were no Madigans or Mulcahys at 85 Luqueer in 1900.) You have to wonder what the relationship of the Mary Ann Madigan Mulcahy to her father's "new family," who lived around the corner. At some point they'd also lived in the same house, I believe, since there are Brooklyn City Directory records of Matthew Madigan at 85 Luqueer in between 1888 and 1900, but Loretta and Johanna apparently moved out when Matthew died, unless he and they had moved out earlier when he decided to give the house to Mary Ann and Michael, which seems more likely to me. When a man dies, his wife doesn't get displaced at the expense of his kids. In 1910, at age 22, Loretta was working as a clerk at an "office." In 1900, when she's 12, neither of them is working.