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.

Mary E. King O'Hara Death Notice, 1949

From the November 7, 1949 edition of the Brooklyn Eagle, via Fulton History:

O'HARA - MARY E. (nee King), of 505 6th Street, on November 5, 1949, beloved wife of the late John J.; dear mother of John, Eugene, Patrick and Joseph. Reposing McCaddin Funeral Home, 24 7th Avenue, until Wednesday 9:30 a.m. Solemn Requiem Mass, St. Saviour's Church, 10 o'clock. Internment Holy Cross Cemetery.

This one will be a new experience for me. Grandma Mary King O'Hara died so recently that her death certificate will have to be ordered from the NYC Department of Health, not the Municipal Archives, like I usually do. (1949 is the dividing line for where death certificates are held.) I haven't let myself spend money for a vital record in months. I'm getting so excited!

John J. O'Hara Death Notice, December 1946

From the December 4, 1946 edition of the Brooklyn Eagle, via Fulton History:

O'HARA - JOHN J., of 505 6th Street, December 3, 1946, beloved husband of Mary E. (nee King); devoted father of John J., Eugene W., Patrick F., and Joseph A. O'Hara. Reposing Henry McCaddin & Son Home, 24 7th Avenue, until Friday, 9:30 am. Solemn Requiem Mass, St. Saviour's Church, 10:00. internment Holy Cross Cemetery.

And as a treat to myself for finishing a paper I had due yesterday, I'm going to let myself order the death certificate! Stay tuned. . .

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."

1920 Census - O'Haras at 303 Vanderbilt Ave

This is the 1920 census of the O'Hara family at 303 Vanderbilt Ave. They are listed as John, 47, Mary, 48 (didn't she used to be younger than he?!), John J., 23, Eugene W., 21, Patrick, 18, and Joseph, 5. John Sr., Mary, and Patrick were all born in Ireland. John and Mary say they immigrated in 1895 and naturalized in 1900, while Patrick is said to have immigrated in 1902, which is presumably the year they returned from their years back in Ireland. John is a hostler at a department store, while the boys are all clerks; Grandpa JJ at a "Prov. Co." (anyone want to guess what that means?), Eugene at a Bank, and Patrick at an "Engr. Co." Joseph, being 5, doesn't have a job. All of them are salaried employees.