William and Willie

Well, that should have been obvious. Willie Mulvaney was named after his mother Julia's brother William Toner. Or something like that. Probably. Maybe. Could have been. William was a common name, after all. Is a common name, after all.

I don't know why, but yesterday the dates hit me.

William Toner died January 31, 1899.

Willie Mulvaney's birth is various given as 1899, 1900, 1902, 1900, etc. The first recorded birthdate for him, though, on the 1900 census, is 08/1899. Given that it was recorded mere months after the supposed birthdate, I'm inclined to trust it as more reliable than the rest.

If it is accurate, Willie was born a mere 7 months after William died. Julia was already pregnant with her son when her brother died.

Any doubt I may have had about the provenance of Willie's name is pretty much gone now. I'd love to be able to conduct similar analysis of other ancestral names.


(Some of them are obvious. The eldest Mulvaney son was James, likely named for his paternal grandfather, Patrick's father James Mulvaney. Auntie Mae - Mary - was probably after her maternal grandmother, Mary Cullen Toner. Or the Blessed Virgin. Or both. Thomas for his paternal uncle, Patrick's brother Thomas. But Veronica? Raymond? and what does the J. in J. Harold Mulvaney stand for? (you haven't seen that yet. I got a scanner, so it's coming, I promise.))

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.

April 13, 1933

Here's my transcription of William Mulvaney's death certificate:

A. 58521

State of New York
Department of Health of The City of New York
Bureau of Records
Standard Certificate of Death

1. Place of Death:
Borough of: Brooklyn
No.: 270 Van Brunt St.
Character of premises, whether tenement, private, hotel, hospital, etc: Tenement*
Registered No: 8548

2. Print Full Name: William Mulvaney
3. Sex: M
4. Color or Race: W
5. [Marital Status]: Single
5A. Husband or wife of: [blank]
6. Date of Birth: 1900
7. Age: 33 yrs
8. Occupation: None
9. Birthplace: US
9A. How long in US: [blank]
9B: How long resident in City of New York: Life
10: Name of Father: Patrick Mulvaney
11: Birthplace of Father: US
12: Maiden Name of Mother: Julia Toner
13: Birthplace of Mother: US
14: Special INFORMATION required in deaths in hospitals and institutions and in deaths of non-residents and recent residents: Usual Residence: [blank]
15: Date of Death: April 13, 1933
16: I hereby certify that the foregoing particulars (Nos. 1 to 14 inclusive) are correct as near as the same can be ascertained, and I further certify that I attended the deceased from Jan 1 1930 to April 13 1933, that I last saw him alive on the 12 day of April 1933, that death occurred on the date stated above at 12:10 AM and that the cause of death was as follows: Encephalitis Lethargica, duration: Life.
Contributory: [blank]
Operation?: [blank]
State kind: [blank]
Duration: [blank]
Witness my hand this 14th day of April 1933
Signature: William A. Burke, MD
Address: 377 Sterling [illegible]

17. Place of Burial: Holy Cross Cemetary
Date of Burial: April 15th, 1933
18. Undertaker: Joseph Redmond [illegible]
John J. Redmond 2190
Address: 476-73rd St.

I hereby certify that I have been employed, without any solicitation on my part or that of any other person, as undertaker by Julia Mulvaney - 270 Van Brunt St., the mother of the deceased. This statement is made to obtain a permit for the burial or cremation of the remains of deceased William Mulvaney.
Signature: Joseph Redmond [illegible]
John J Redmond 2190


*A tenement, officially, was defined by the city as a building with 3 or more apartments, and does not necessarily imply the negative connotations that come along with the word. Trump Towers, technically, is a tenement. I can't testify to the condition or nature of 270 Van Brunt, but keep that in mind. (I learned that in class this semester - Museum school teaches you loads of real world stuff!)

So we know that William died at home, and that his death wasn't sudden; if the doctor had been there the day before, they certainly knew something was wrong. I'm very interested in Willie's cause of death. I've looked up Encephalitis Lethargica, and it's not something you were born with. If Willie had had it his entire life, he must have simply acquired it young. (No one's sure what causes it, but there are theories that it's a complication of the flu, or a reaction to a severe strep infection.) It was epidemic, worldwide, in the early '20s, and wasn't identified or named until 1917. I haven't been able to find information on how prevalent it was before the epidemic, but it's been pretty rare, though existent, since them. I'm wondering how he was diagnosed with this illness early enough for it to have been considered lifelong, if it wasn't identified until he was in his late teens. Do we have any doctors in the family? I'd love to know more about the specifics. I also wonder whether it may have been the case that, when Encephalitis Lethargica was prevalent, it may have been "the next big thing" in medicine and was overdiagnosed to encompass other, unidentified and undiagnosed illnesses? The symptoms of Encephalitis Lethargica could include anything from sore throat and double vision to a come-like state, behavioral changes (especially in young children), and progressive Parkinson-like symptoms. Symptoms sometimes resolved and sometimes left people permanently disabled, physically and/or mentally. What we know about Willie, or think we know about Willie, is that at 10 years old, he couldn't speak, and at 20 he could speak, but not read or write. It does seem that what affected him could have been Encephalitic Lethargica, if he were nearly comatose as a child, or didn't have the muscle control to speak, and if these conditions kept him out of school as a child, he may not have ever learned to read or write, even if some of his conditions eventually resolved enough that he was able to learn to speak.

Because Encephalitis Lethargica is rarely seen these days, I can't find information online that offers detailed descriptions of what it actually entails, what life looks like for the victims, or how serious it would have been, or how it could have killed people who had lived with it for years.

What do you think? Does anyone know anything about Willie that might give us insight into his life or his condition?

Information Overload

I'm absurdly busy, have 3 pages of a paper on the Korea Gallery at the Museum of Natural History to write tonight, a twenty-minute presentation to prepare for Wednesday (which I can't start until I'm done with the paper, work, and class tomorrow). Do you ever wonder if our ancestors were this busy?

However, I am very excited to take a break to report that when I got home from my Thanksgiving break, I found 3 death certificates waiting for me in the mail. They belonged to Mary Madigan Mulcahy who died April 11, 1927, William Mulvaney, who died April 13, 1933, and Harold Mulvaney, who died August 26, 1933.

I'm having a little bit of trouble deciphering the handwriting on Mary Ann's and William's (Harold's is typed). I suppose I'm not overly interested in how Mary Ann died, though I'd like to know and will try to figure out what it says. Willie's and Harold's being the more mysterious deaths, of young men, I'm much more interested to know the circumstances thereof. It seems that Willie died of Encephalitis Lethargica, though my first reading of the word doesn't bring quite that. (It looks more like "encefihalitis" to me, but as far as I can tell, that is not something that exists.) According to his death certificate, its duration was "life." I did some cursory googling, and have yet to find anything that clearly states the symptoms of Encephalitis Lethargica and how it would affect young children, but it was not something you were born with, so I doubt it truly lasted for his entire life, though its onset may have been when he was quite young. It also doesn't seem to have affected intellect, but mostly behavior and muscle control, so I'd venture a guess that Willie's inability to speak at age 10, and inability to read and write at 20 were not the marks of a mental deficiency but of a physical or behavioral one that may have, among other things, prevented his attending school.

Harold died at Pier 5, Robbins Drydock, in the East River. He was 28 and had been a Machinist (like his father before him, we know). His cause of death drowning due to an accidental fall overboard. I've heard that there were suspicious circumstances surrounding Harold's death, and what might reinforce that here is that his death was recorded to have occurred at 12:30 AM. That would have been just after midnight. I can't imagine upfront circumstances that would have him at work on the pier in the middle of the night, but I also can't tell from the death certificate whether he died immediately or was possibly pulled from the water only to die some hours later, in which case he could have fallen overboard at 2 in the afternoon and died some 10 hours later at 12:30 AM. It is, I'd say, almost equally likely that, like so many, the good doctor who filled out the death certificate was confused about how AM and PM apply to the times around noon and midnight.

I'll try to transcribe the actual certificates when I get around to it, as well as dialogue about the effects the deaths and illnesses may have had on their (our) families and and try to decipher all of the remaining handwriting (I'm thinking Mary Ann's cause of death may read "pyelonephrosis" which is apparently "an obsolete term for any disease of the pelvis of the kidney"). First, though I've got papers to write! Wish me luck!

1900 Census - Mulvaneys at 270 Van Brunt St.

This census shows Julia and Patrick Mulvaney and their family living at 270 Van Brunt St. in 1900. Patrick says he was born in April of 1863, and is 36; Julia says she was born in May 1869 and is 31 (note that this is in keeping with the age she generally states throughout her life, but not with the age she would be if she were the Julia Toner from the 1860 census we've looked at). This time, they appear to have been married to each other for the same number of years, which is 7, giving them an approximate marriage date of around 1893. Julia has given birth to 4 children, all still living at this point. Both were born in New York, and all of their parents were from Ireland. Their home is rented, not owned, and both can read, write, and speak English. Patrick's occupation is "Machinist." Their four children are John, 6 (b. 01/1894), Grace, 4 (b. 08/1896), James, 3 (b. 08/1897), and William, 1 (b. 08/1899). John shows up on the census only this once; he presumably died young, before the 1910 census, in which he would have been 16. He has been attending school for 10 months, the only one of his siblings to do so so far. Grace's birthdate here is fairly consistent with what is later recorded. Interestingly, though, she continues to be listed as the second oldest on later censuses. Most ages that we see given for James make him 2-4 years older than he is said to be here, giving him a birthdate closer to John's and making him appear to be Grace's older brother, not her younger brother. Willie's birthdate is later listed as being as late as 1902, making him a solid 3 years younger than he should be here.

They have two boarders, who are not the nephews living with them in 1910. These, apparently two brothers, are James and John McGuirre (McGuine?), ages 34 and 31. Both are American-born, and James, too, is listed as a machinist. One wonders if he met Patrick at work, and was offered a place to live, or perhaps was an unemployed boarder for whom Patrick found a job? John is a chair-maker.

UPDATE: While my wonderings above about the McGuirre brothers still apply, they may have been something more than just boarders. I came home this weekend for my mom's birthday, and was looking through the family papers I have at home. Betty and John had sent me photocopies of Julia and Patrick's marriage certificate (9 April 1893 at the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary) and of the certification of Auntie Mae's baptism, also at Visitation Church. Auntie Mae, it says, was born 18 January 1897, and baptized 4 February 1897. (Why she doesn't show up on this census is a mystery, but the birthdate matches what it would be if her reported age in 1910 was accurate.) Her sponsors (godparents) are listed as John V. (or D.?) Murphy and Rose McGuirre (McGuine? - different person, different handwriting, and still I can't tell whether that's a rr or an n). I'm wondering just who these godparents may be - possibly John Murphy is Julia's brother-in-law, father of the Murphy nephews who would later (1910) live with them? Or not. Murphy is an extremely common name, after all. And Rose McGuirre makes me wonder whether the McGuirre men listed as boarded in 1900 were really just boarders. Could they have been relatives or friends who ended up boarding with the family? Did the Mulvaneys just become close enough with the families of their boarders to ask one to be godmother to Auntie Mae? Does anyone know who John Murphy and Rose McGuirre were?

Answering some questions, and raising some more

Given that William Mulvaney is missing from the 1910 census at Van Brunt St., I went looking for him. I found a William Mulvaney, about our William's age, living with Thomas Renehan, his wife Elizabeth, and his step-children (Elizabeth's children?) John and Catherine Loughlin. This William Mulvaney is 10 years old, he was born in NY, and so were his parents, his language is listed as "none," his job as "none," he cannot read or write, has not attended school within the last year, and in the last column, "whether deaf or dumb" there's something written - I think it says "dumb," but I'm not sure. There's no proof that this is our William Mulvaney, but I went to maps.google.com and discovered that William is living with the Renehan family just around the corner, on Conover St., from the Mulvaneys at 270 Van Brunt St. Given that William's inability to read and write at 18 in the 1920 census indicates that something isn't quite right, you have to ask - how many (mentally or physically) disabled William Mulvaneys could possibly live in a given 4 block area?

I asked Betty and John about the possibility, and they said "No one ever spoke about William, or Willie, as they called him, so he may very well have been 'slow.'" Further, it seems that the Loughlin family may have been Julia's sister's family.


Apparently Julia had at least two sisters, and possibly more:

• Louise Toner Deegan, whose husband made buttons and who had no living children
• Another sister who possibly married a Loughlin (According to this census, if we're talking about the same family, her name was Elizabeth.)
• Another sister, who married a man named Murphy. They had 4 children:

1. John Murphy
2. Thomas Murphy
3. Annie Murphy Dowd, who was married to Jack Dowd, a NYPD detective chief
4. Another sister, who married a man named Keene and had a daughter Margaret who became an Urusline nun.

If this is accurate information, it seems to back up the idea that the family of Richard Toner, who we found in Brooklyn on the 1960 and 1970 censuses was, in fact, the family of our Julia Toner Mulvaney. Their daughters were Julia, Mary A., Elizabeth, Louisa, and Judith. Those, it would seem, were our Julia Toner Mulvaney, Elizabeth Toner Loughlin Renehan, and Louise Toner Deegan. Does anyone know what happened to Mary or Judith? The family also had two boys, Samuel and William. Elizabeth Loughlin Renehan was 55 in 1910, meaning she was born in 1855 - her age matches exactly with that of the Elizabeth Toner on the 1860 and 1870 censuses.
What then, of Julia? If she is the same Julia Toner listed in 1860, she was a full 19 years older than the ages she fairly consistently gave on later censuses, and that Thomas Mulvaney had recorded on her death certificate. She would have been in her late 50s when Nana was born, and in her 80s in the pictures posted below. And while it's possible for women to give birth late in life, the thought that a woman who didn't start having kids until she was over 40 could give birth to at least 9 kids (John, James, Auntie Mae, Grace, Thomas, Willie, Harold, Raymond, Nana) in about 15 years stretches the imagination. There were no fertility drugs at the turn of the century! Also unlikely, though, are most of the machinations that could explain how that Toner family ended up with a second daughter named Julia, 20 years younger than the first.
In other words, right now I'm hoping Julia's mother kept a detailed diary throughout her entire life, and that someone stumbles upon it in an attic, and soon!
However, we do see that by 1910, Julia appears to have sent one of her kids to live with one of her sisters, while having two of her other sister's kids living with her. I think it's important to do genealogy horizontally as well as vertically. While it'll be amazing to someday know Julia Mulvaney's great-great-grandmother's name, imagine the significance of her sisters - and brothers, of course, but I don't know anything about brothers - to her daily life, as they lived around the corner from each other, helped raise each others children, went to church together, sent their kids to school together, probably did their shopping and chores and had dinners together.