Madigan Family, Records of St. Peter's Church

It's been a long time since I've posted. I gave up social media for Lent, and while Facebook use came back instantaneously, too easily - I really wish it hadn't - blogging, with it's content and forethought and effort has been a slower effort. Then I went away on vacation, and hadn't even started blogging again, much less been able to schedule posts for my absence. What blogging I'd been doing had been taken up by Ben's transcription blog, The Gleasure and Harber Letters, but that has lately been slow-to-nonexistent, too. If you haven't yet checked out the letters blog, I urge you to. My husband has perhaps hundreds of letters written to his great-grandfather between the 1890s and the 1960s, and they are an absolutely fascinating look at trans-Atlantic relationships between an immigrant and the family he left behind, not to mention providing some incredible insight into the personalities of the individuals involved.

What I have been doing in the interim is research. I've ordered records from the Family History Library, as well as discovered that there is precisely one repository in New York City that is open at a time when I don't have to be at work, and that is the New York Public Library. And the New York Public Library holds the microfilmed Records of St. Peter's Church, and St. Peter's is where my great-great-grandmother was baptized! So off I headed after work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, when the microfilm reading room is open late. (There's a chance another branch of my family entirely might have also interacted with St. Peter's Church, several decades later, but I haven't gotten to those records yet. I can't go tonight because sometimes the present has to take priority over the past, and we have no food in the house.)

I knew my 2x great-grandmother, Mary Ann Madigan, had been born c. 1868, so I started there and worked my way backwards through marriage records until I found the records of her parents, Mathew Madigan and Margaret Sullivan.

They were married 15 September 1867. Their witnesses were Simon Healy and Hanora Sullivan, who would later be the godparents of their eldest child. A Francis J. Healy was the witness to Mathew Madigan's naturalization several years later, and I'm really beginning to wonder who these Healys were. I've been told (but have no sources for the information) that Margaret Sullivan Madigan had a sister named Nora Sullivan Crowe. If that's true, Hanora Sullivan and Nora Sullivan Crowe are probably one and the same. I did notice that the priest's name was also Healy, so I e-mailed the diocese for information about the him. I got a brief bio in response. While I suppose there might be a relationship to the Simon and Francis Healy - who I don't yet know anything about - there's no immediately apparent connection to the Madigans.

Then I switched to baptism records, and picked up the search again in 1868 (using Mathew and Margaret's marriage record as a guideline, but not a firm one). I found Mary Ann Madigan, born 8 December 1868, being baptized on 13 December 1868:

 Her sponsors were Simon Healy and Hanora Sullivan, just as at her parents' wedding.

I had a good guess for when Mary's younger brother James was born, so I continued forward through the records, and found James M. Madigan, born 1 September 1870, being baptized 4 September 1870:

His sponsors were Simon Cunningham (I have no idea who this is) and Catherine Sullivan. My information (I wish I had sources; instead I have "information") says that Margaret's two sisters were the aforementioned Nora, and Bridgett Sullivan Consodine. Two brother, Conn and James, are also mentioned. I suppose Catherine could be a sister-in-law, a cousin, or an otherwise unknown sister.

I continued working my way through the baptismal records, expecting to find the youngest sibling, Margaret, who was born c. 1873, represented as well, but I was unsuccessful. The question is to figure out why. Where were they?

In 1870, they were living in Manhattan, having James baptized at St. Peter's.
In 1872, they were living in Manhattan, with a NYC Directory putting them at 482 Canal Street, near enough to be attending St. Peter's, though it's not the closest of the Catholic Churches currently in existence in the neighborhood.
In c. 1873, Margaret was not baptized at St. Peter's in Manhattan.
In 1875, they are not listed in the NYS Census in Brooklyn, which suggests the possibility that they were still in Manhattan. (1875 NYS Census returns for Manhattan were lost.)
In 1876, when Mathew was naturalized, his address was given as 85 Luqaar Street, Brooklyn.
In 1880, the Madigans are enumerated at 85 Luquer Street, where they or their descendants would remain through at least 1940.

Sometime between 1872 and 1876, the Madigans moved to Brooklyn from Manhattan. It would seem that it happened after the 1875 NYS Census was enumerated, but if that's the case, where were they living when Margaret was born? Where was she baptized?

Tombstone Tuesday: Here lies Mathew Madigan

Some time ago, I called up Calvary Cemetery to find the grave location of my great-great-great-grandfather, Mathew Madigan, but was told that they had no record of his burial, despite the fact that all indications - in his death certificate and his obituary - were that he'd been buried there. Commenter Mitch Waxman told me that there'd been a fire in the 1890s that destroyed some records, and suggested many useful work arounds, but I tried a different route. Knowing that Mathew's son James Madigan had died just a few years later in 1894, but not knowing where he was buried, I took a shot in the dark. I called up Calvary and asked for the location of James Madigan's grave, providing his date of death, and just keeping my mouth shut about the fact that I didn't actually know whether he was interred at Calvary at all.

I got lucky! Calvary was easily able to provide me with the location of James's gravesite. They were able to tell me that there are 8 people interred at the site, but couldn't tell me who without great expense. And then I got more lucky, and moved into my new apartment to discover that I could see Calvary Cemetery from my house! While I took a field trip down to Calvary the first week I moved in, and found the Madigan grave in just minutes.

 The front of the stone reads
"Erected
to the memory of
Mathew Madigan
Died Sept 11 1892
Aged 50 years
also his wife
Margaret Madigan
Born May 20 1837
Died July 13 1882
Aged 45 years
also Mathew Joseph
Aged 1 year & 7 months"

The back reads
"James
Madigan
Died Oct 9 1894
Aged 23 years
Mathew W. Roche
1907-1908
John Roche
1905-1910"

I had hoped that finding the grave would give me some information about Margaret Sullivan Madigan, but I never imagined I'd find a birth and a death date! I started my afternoon knowing less about her than any other member of the family, and ended up knowing more. Mathew Madigan remarried after Margaret died, and I believe young Mathew Joseph was his son by his second wife, unless he had a son named Mathew who died young in each of his marriages. The stone lists 6 names; Calvary told me there were 8 bodies. I suspect that the last two belong to two other children of Mathew and his second wife Johanna. Both young Mathew and a daughter named Josephine were recorded on the 1892 NYS Census and nowhere else, but Johanna's answers in 1910 to the question "Mother of how many children?" indicated 4 children born but only 1 still living. Loretta was the child who lived to adulthood, and Josephine and Mathew died young, but I believe that the 8th body is that of the still-unidentified 4 child.

I don't know exactly who John and Mathew W. Roche are. Mathew Madigan's second wife was a Roche by birth, but his daughter Margaret was a Roche by marriage, marrying a Michael Roche who may have been a relative of her stepmother Johanna. The two boys may have been Mathew and Margaret's grandsons, the sons of their daughter Margaret, or they may have otherwise been relatives of Mathew through his second wife Johanna.

The other interesting thing to note is that James Madigan's death date doesn't match the date that his sister gave in her application for letters of administration for his estate. According to the probate records, he died 9 Aug 1894. That was the date I gave the cemetery when I called. According to the gravestone, he didn't died until 9 Oct 1894. I don't have his death certificate, but the index at italiangen.org confirms the earlier date. My best guess is that there was simply an error inscribing the stone.

Tile Roof: The Experts Weigh In

An example of a Mansard Roof

Photo © 2005 Jupiterimages Corporation

Joe Griffin had this to say in response to the last post, about the Madigans living in the only house in Manhattan with a tile roof:

"I saw your tile roof post and had to quickly write. About that, I would imagine that the house had a Mansard roof, which would be pretty rare in Manhattan, whether or not is was literally the only one (the Irish do exaggerate, as I hear it). Being a fan of NYC architecture, I have some idea of the way things are and were and Mansard roofed houses would have been pretty common in Brooklyn, they're still common in Staten Island, but Manhattan has not had the space for the types of houses that get those roofs in a long time. Which is to say it probably was rare, and if it had a Mansard roof it was definitely expensive, but short of historical society visits or time travel I can't see how you would ever find out for sure."

To learn the basics about the Mansard roof, check out the Wikipedia page.

"the only house that had a tile roof"

Our "wife of a cousin" information source tells us that Mary Ann Madigan Mulcahy's parents, Margaret Sullivan Madigan and Matthew Madigan, "lived in Manhattan in the only house that had a tile roof." Even assuming accuracy, I have no idea how to go about finding the only house in 1870s Manhattan that had a tile roof. I wish I did, because that would be great to know.

Question: Does having a house with a tile roof imply wealth? Or just having enough tile to roof a house?

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.

1870 Census - Madigans in Manhattan

This may be the 1870 census of the Madigan family. They were still living in Manhattan, and the census on the page prior says that it is enumerating Canal St., between Greenwich and Watt. This is an area of downtown Manhattan right around the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. We've been told that Mary Ann Madigan Mulcahy was born on Lake St. in Manhattan, but I've never been able to find evidence that there is or ever was a Lake St. in Manhattan, so I won't take that as the gospel truth just yet. This record shows what appears to be "Mat" and "Mary" Madigan and their daughter Mary, age 2. I know, I know, it doesn't sound like the right family - but could "Margaret" have been abbreviated "Marg" in handwriting where a "y" and a "g" are nearly indistinguishable? Yes, I'm taking a big leap there, and I know it, and I'm not relying on that information in any way, nor do I suggest that you do. However, having looked over a few of the other pages in this census, it seems that this census taker did make a habit of abbreviating "Margaret" as "Marg." Usually, yes, it was more clear than it is here, but hey, this is the penultimate page of the district. I'm sure he was tired. Also, this "Mat Madigan" is listed as a "carman," and really - how many carmen named Mat Madigan could have possibly been running around New York at one time? Remember that I say this knowing full well that our Julia and Patrick Mulvaney shared Brooklyn with another couple named Julia and Patrick Mulvaney at the very same time, and that Suffern once had a William O'Hara with a son named Kevin O'Hara in an entirely separate family than ours - coincidences do happen. Still, I present this on the possibility that it might be our Madigan family, and we'll see if we can find proof - though what that would entail, I'm not sure. I'll know it when I see it, I guess.

(interesting note, since I paged to the next and last image, that of the last page of the census for this enumeration district, where the census taker tallies the total number of inhabitants: 1246 inhabitants, of whom only a single 1 is non-white (a "colored male"). Imagine that!)

1880 Census - Madigans at 85 Luqueer St.

This is the 1880 census of 85 Luqueer St., showing the Madigan family (though it's spelled Maddigan). Matthew and Margaret both give their ages as 40, giving each an approximate birthdate of 1840. Both say they were born in Ireland, but all of their 3 children were born in NY. Margaret, at 7, has not yet attended school, but Mary, at 11, and James, at 9, both have. According to these ages, Mary was born around 1869, James around 1871, and Margaret around 1873. Matthew's occupation is "truckman," and Margaret is listed as "keeping house." Also listed with their family is 21-year-old Matthew Kelly, who must be a boarder, and who works as a "clerk in store."

What's even more interesting though is several lines further down the page. Also living at 85 Luqueer St., and also a "truckman" by trade, is Cornelius Sullivan, age 30, and his wife Margaret. If we look back to this information that we got from someone's cousin or something or other, we see that Margaret Sullivan Madigan had her siblings listed: Bridgett, Nora, Conn, and James. I have a suspicion - no proof, just a suspicion - that "Conn" is an abbreviation for Cornelius, and that this Cornelius Sullivan is Margaret's brother, working with his brother-in-law Matthew as a truckman. I haven't come across any evidence that Conn actually ever was used as an abbreviation for Cornelius, and Sullivan is a common name. Still, someone who shares a last name with Margaret and is working in her husband's industry while living in the building they own is just too tempting to write off entirely.

85 Luquer St.

Here are a couple particularly interesting pages from the 1897 Brooklyn City Directory:

The first shows a Maddigan, Marg't wid. Matthew h 404 Will'by av - the same address as a Maddigan, Jos P, lockfitter.

I haven't come across any other Matthew Mad(d)igans in the Brooklyn City Directory, so it's possible, but not certain, that this Margaret, widow of Matthew, is our Margaret Sullivan Madigan, Matthew Madigan's wife. And it seems that she's living with a brother-in-law, who would be one of Matthew Madigan's brothers. We don't know anything about Matthew Madigan's family, or whether he had any siblings, but it seems possible now that he had a brother named Joseph who was a lockfitter. Their only son was named James, not Joseph, so it's also possible that she's living with him and his name was taken down incorrectly. Knowing little to nothing about the family dynamics, I would think it more likely that she would move in with her son than with her husband's brother (or nephew, I suppose), but that doesn't mean she did.

The second shows a Mulcahy, Mich'l, liquors, 227 Hamilton av, h 85 Luquer

This is Michael Mulcahy. His home is 85 Luquer St, and his business - in "liquors" - is at 227 Hamilton Ave. (Which is just around the corner, according to google maps.) From 1888-1890 (as well as in several other years), 227 Hamilton is the only address listed for Michael Mulcahy and Matthew Madigan is still living at 85 Luquer. Michael and Mary Ann married right around then (October 2, 1888 is the date I have), so they either lived at/above/behind Michael's bar in the first few years of their marriage; moved in with Mary Ann's parents immediately upon marrying, but chose not to list their home address; or moved elsewhere upon marrying, but chose not to list their home address.

We now have proof, or near proof, that

a) despite not appearing at the address in 1900, the Mulcahys had, in fact, moved in there by at least 1897

b) Matthew Madigan appears to have died between 1890 and 1897

c) Matthew Madigan may have had a brother named Joseph

d) Margaret Sullivan Madigan outlived her husband and was still alive in 1897

UPDATE: When I wrote this, I forgot what we already think we know - that Matthew Madigan, in fact, outlived his wife, as evidenced by the fact that he remarried and had a child with his second wife. Second wife was supposedly Johanna Roche, and their daughter was Loretta Madigan. I've never tried looking for that part of the family. I think maybe I will.

Mulcahy Family Information

This is the information that got me started on my genealogical treasure hunt. My mom got it from Uncle Joe, and he got it from a cousin, and I transcribed what was written exactly, so all references, say, to "my grandfather" refer to the author/Joe, Betty, and Nan's grandfather. At the bottom is my transcription of a newspaper article about Papa and his brothers enlisting in the Army during WWI after their father died. If I can scan the copy of this article that I have at home, I'll upload that, too.

[From Uncle Joe:]
Laurie,
Enclosed is all the information I have on the Mulcahy family. The material which
begins “my grandfather” was written by my first cousin, so Michael Mulcahy is my and Kevin’s mom’s grandfather and Kevin’s great-grandfather. I hope this helps!
Joe

My grandfather
Michael Mulcahy
married Mary Ann Madigan
DOB:
POB: Palas Green, Limerick, Ireland
Died: January 20, 1917, Brooklyn, NY
His brothers and sisters were:
a) James Mulcahy married Molly _______
He came to the US and went to Chicago and became a policeman. He then left Chicago and came back to Luquer St. in Brooklyn where he and his family. He had daughters Margaret and Mary.
b) Patrick Mulcahy (he married Catherine Mahr)
He came to the US and stayed with Michael Mulcahy on Luquer St. in Brooklyn. He worked in Michael’s bar in Brooklyn and was subsequently fired by Michael. Patrick liked to drink and didn’t like to work to [sic] hard. He had the following
known children:
1) Margaret Mulcahy
2) Cathleen Mulcahy
3) James Mulcahy (worked for US [?])
4) John Mulcahy
c) John Mulcahy
Stayed in Ireland.
d) Johanna Mulcahy
Never married. She stayed in Ireland.
e) Catherine Mulcahy
Came to the US and stayed at Luquer St. She then went back to Ireland and lived in Tipperary. It is believed she married a man by the name of McMann.

Michael Mulcahy (my grandfather). His father was James Mulcahy and he married Margaret Ryan. My grandmother Mary Ann [Madigan] Mulcahy used to call my great-grandfather James Mulcahy “The Raine Druid” because he had red hair. Michael Mulcahy owned two bars in Brooklyn which he lost after they changed the beer.

My grandmother (married Michael Mulcahy)
Mary Ann Madigan (Mulcahy)
DOB: 1868
POB: Lake St. Manhattan
Died: April 11, 1927, Brooklyn, NY
Brothers and sisters:
Margaret Madigan (DOB 1872)
James Madigan (Youngest of the three. He never married.)
Her father was Matthew Madigan. Her mother was Margaret Sullivan. They were married in St. Peter’s Church in Manhattan. They lived in Manhattan in the only house that had a tile roof.

My great-grandfather, Matthew Madigan
Was born in Kilrush County Clare.
He was in the trucking business in New York and he also worked for a drug
company. Matthew Madigan married twice. His first wife was Margaret Sullivan.
His second wife was Johanna Roche. From his second marriage they had one child,
Loretta Madigan.

Loretta Madigan married Joseph Rickett and they had three children:
Gene Rickett (priest)
Joseph Rickett (priest)
Elizabeth Rickett (lives in New Hampsire)

Matthew Madigan had problems with the authorities in Ireland, so he went to England where he worked as a policeman for two years before he came to the US. He had no known brothers and sisters in the US.
My great-grandmother, Margaret Sullivan
Was born in Cree County Clare. She had the following brothers and
sisters:
Bridgett Sullivan (Consodine)
Nora Sullivan (Crowe)
Conn Sullivan
James Sullivan
Margaret Madigan, my grandmother’s sister, married _______ Roche and had three children:
1) Marge Roche
2) Frank Roche
3) Margaret Roche

[Also included: copy of newspaper article about the Mulcahy brothers]:

Mulcahy Brothers Enlisted Together
Three of Family of Seven Boys in Government Service
Mother Proud of Sons
Heeded Country’s Call After Father’s Death

Mrs. Michael Mulcahy, of 85 Luquer Street, has already given three out of her family of seven boys to the service of the country. The boys are James A., 27 years old, now in France with the Twenty-first Field Artillery, Battery C, Matthew V., 25 years old, in present at the Gunners’ School at the Navy Yard, and Joseph E., 21 years old, a second lieutenant of the Sixty-seventh Company, Sixth Replacement Regiment, Camp Gordon, Ga. They enlisted together in April, 1917, four months after the death of their father.
All of the boys were born in Brooklyn and all were educated in the schools here. James Mulcahy was graduated from St. Francis’ Parochial School and was employed at the Robins Dock until he left with his company. Matthew studied two years at St. James’ High School and then became a freight tracer at the Grand Central Station. Joseph is a graduate of St. Bernard’s School, and had studied two years at Commercial High when he entered the employment of Bochmand & Co., Twentieth st. and Fourth ave., Manhattan.
Five weeks ago, Mrs. Mulcahy says she received a card stating that James had arrived safely on the other side and she says they all write they are bing [sic] “treated fine.” The family is well known in South Brooklyn.