Deconstructing Hannah (and her will) Part 3

My great-great-aunt Hannah O'Sullivan died on May 6, 1933.  Her will contained 3 bequests of jewelry, and 2 of real estate. 

The sixth bequest was as shown below:

"SIXTH: I give and bequeath to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, in memory of my mother, Hannah O'Sullivan, the sum of Forty (40) dollars."


To learn more about the Society, click here. 


This may not seem like a large bequest, until you compare it to the value of the jewelry she left to her three grand-nieces, Caroline Mann, Elfrieda Mann and Madeleine Egan.  Her jewelry was as follows:


a.  Gold chain      9.50
b.  Gold watch     8.00
c.  Cameo pin      3.00
d.  Ring               1.00

These 4 pieces of jewelry total $21.50, about half of the bequest above.  In 1933 $40.00 had the same buying power as $669.25 in 2011.  The annual inflation over this period was 3.68%,

Click below to access the inflation calculator.

Inflation Calculator

Copyright 2011 Kathleen Sullivan. All Rights Reserved

Mary Scanlon McDermott (1892-1925)

S. S. Cymric

Mary Scanlon, daughter of Maurice and Catherine (Kate) (Griffin) Scanlon was born on April 25, 1892, at Scrag, Dingle, County Kerry, and baptized on April 26, 1892.    She immigrated to the U.S. in 1911 aboard the Cymric, leaving Queenstown on March 29 and arriving in Boston on April 6.  She was going to join her brother John and aunt, Margaret Deveney, at 5 River Court, West Lynn, Massachusetts. Margaret (Griffin) Deveney was her godmother.   The ship's manifest notes that Mary was 5 feet, 5 inches, with a fair complexion, dark hair and blue eyes.  
 

99 White Street, Westfield

The Cymric was a steamship of the White Star Line, built in Belfast in 1898. She sailed between Liverpool and New York from 1898 until 1903. From 1903 on, she sailed from Liverpool to Boston. From West Lynn, Mary moved on to Westfield, where she lived with her uncle, Pat Griffin and his family at 12 White Street. 

In 2009 my cousin, Mary McDermott and I visited Westfield.  The house at 12 White Street was no longer there, it is now a parking lot. Some time between 1920 and 1930, Pat Griffin built a house at 99 White Street, shown above right. This house is still there.  

St Mary's Church, Westfield

Mary married Richard Francis McDermott, the son of Peter and Ellen (Roche) McDermott of Castlewrixon, County Cork, at St. Mary's Church, Westfield in 1916.


Richard and Mary had five children, Richard, born July 18, 1917; David Peter, born May 8, 1919; John Joseph, born January 16, 1921; a stillborn son in 1922; and Mary Scanlon, born May 10, 1925.
   

Bates Street, Westfield

When they were first married, Richard and Mary lived in an apartment at the back of uncle Pat Griffin's house.  Later they lived on Bates Street, in the house at right.
Mary died on May 26, 1925, sixteen days after the birth of her youngest child, from acute mastoiditis.  Her daughter, Mary, was raised by her brother John Scanlon and his wife Nellie in West Lynn, Massachusetts.

Mary Scanlon McDermott

The gravestone, above, was erected by Mary's eldest son, Richard Thomas McDermott.  My cousin Mary and I visited our grandmother's grave in Westfield on our trip.  Mary also gave me the framed portrait of our grandmother, pictured at right.

Even though we never knew our grandmother, we were able to find out a lot about her life, and visit her relatives, Teresa and Michael Brosnan, and Pat and Jan Scanlon, who still live in the Dingle area today.

Copyright 2011 Kathleen Sullivan. All Rights Reserved

John J. McDermott (Part 1)

Main Street, Westfield, Massachusetts

John Joseph McDermott was my grandfather's oldest brother.  I first became aware of him when I found him listed on the ship's manifest of the S. S. Celtic when my grandfather emigrated in April 1906.  He was going to join his brother John McDermott at 155 Main Street, Westfield, Massachusetts.   John's wife, Mary Healey, had died in June of 1905 and John was to be married on April 17 to Annie A (Biglin) McGetrick, widow of Owen McGetrick. 

John was employed by the Westfield Police department from 1902 until 1933.  The picture below is taken from the souvenir booklet printed at the time of the 250th anniversary of the town of Westfield, in 1919.  John McDermott is listed beneath as J. J. McDermott.  He is in the front row, 4th from the left. 
 
John and Mary (Healey) McDermott had four children: Ellen (or Ella) born November 1889, John, born September 1894, Daniel, born January 1897 and Mary (or May) Elizabeth, born June 1901.

In 1936 John and his wife Annie moved to California.  Both of John's sons served in World War I. 




Photo credit: Main Street Westfield, personal postcard collection; Our Police Department  from Westfield's quarter millennial anniversary official souvenir ... Published in connection with the 250th anniversary on the founding of the town of Westfield, Massachusetts, under the supervision of the Souvenir program committee, William F. Lyman, chairman - Plummer, Edgar Holmes, ed , from archive.org

Copyright 2011 Kathleen Sullivan. All Rights Reserved

Deconstructing Hannah (and her will) (Part 2)

Eva  (Evetta) (Councilman) (Staugh) Holm (cont.)

I believe that Eva Councilman of San Francisco,1880, is Evetta Holm of Bergen, New Jersey, 1920. But where was she for the intervening 40 years?

Looking at the 1910 and 1920 census I can see that Eva's husband George T. Holm was born in Massachusetts.  I looked for Eva or Evetta Councilman in the Massachusetts Vital Records.  I found her marriage to George T. Holm, son of Thomas W. and Lucy (Magoon) Holm, living on Auckland Street in Boston and employed as a teacher.  Evetta was living at 180 Chelsea Street, Charlestown (her grandmother's house), daughter of George E. and Helena (Sullivan) Councilman, employed as a bookbinder.  They were married on November 18, 1906.  This was Evetta's second marriage, as she had been divorced.  This probably explains why I couldn't find her in the 1900 census.



Saint Mary's Infant Asylum

I did find two other interesting records in the Massachusetts Vital Records.  On June 22, 1895 Eva Councilman, born at San Francisco, California, gave birth to Regina Councilman at Saint Mary's Infant Asylum.  And on July 20, Frances R. (Regina?) Councilman, daughter of Eva Councilman, died of acute gastroenteritis at the West End Nursery, age 28 days.

I searched the 1900 census for an Eva, married, born 1877 in California.  I found 21 Eva's of the right age, but of those, only one was the child of a father born in Germany and a mother born in Ireland. 

Licking County, Ohio

Eva Staugh, born February 1877 in California had been married to Edward Staugh for 1 year at the time of the census.  They had no children.  Edward was a glassblower, born in Ohio in January 1872.  His father was from Germany and his mother from Ohio.  Edward and Eva lived in Massillon City, Stark County, Ohio.  Eva's father had also been a glassblower in California. 

Edward married for the second time on January 23, 1902 to Anna Wodtly in Massillon, Ohio.  At that time he was divorced.  He and Eva were married 3 years or less.  Because of the connection with a German father, glassblowing and divorce, I am fairly certain this is the same woman. 

By the time her aunt Hannah O'Sullivan's will went through probate in 1933, Eva (Evetta) (Councilman) (Staugh) Holm has not been heard from in 10 years.   They were aware, however, that she was deceased.  Eva probably died in New Jersey sometime between 1920 and 1923.  Her husband remarried and is listed in the 1930 census with his wife, Madge, daughter Marjorie, age 21, and niece Marie, age 22.

Timeline for Eva (Evetta) (Councilman) (Staugh) Holm:

1877, born San Francisco, California
1880, living in San Francisco, California
1895, birth and death of daughter, Frances Regina, Boston, Massachusetts
1899, marriage to Edward Staugh, Licking County, Ohio
1900, living in Massillon, Ohio
1906, marriage to George T. Holm, Charlestown, Massachusetts
1909, birth of daughter, Marjorie C., New York
1910, living on Claremont Avenue, Manhattan, New York
1920, living in Edgewater, New Jersey

Copyright 2011 Kathleen Sullivan. All Rights Reserved

Deconstructing Hannah (and her will) (Part 1)

Evetta (Eva) (Councilman) (Staugh) Holm

  "San Francisco." Engraving  by Charles A. Dana

Last week, June and I spent many hours at the Suffolk County Courthouse looking at probate records. It took awhile, but we finally found the will of Hannah O'Sullivan, our great-great-aunt. 

The best thing about Hannah's will was that since she never married, the will listed all her siblings and their children. We found three people we were not familiar with, George Councilman, Evetta Holm and Marjorie C. Holm. George and Evetta were the children of Hannah's deceased sister, Helena, and Marjorie was Evetta's daughter.

I decided to look for Evetta first. At the time the will was written, in 1933, Hannah had not heard from Evetta in 10 years. At that time, Evetta was living in Edgewater, Bergen County, New Jersey. I found her there in the 1920 census, age 42, with her husband George, born in Massachusetts, and daughter Marjorie C., age 10, born in New York.  Might the "C" stand for Councilman?  George Holm was employed as a physical instructor.

I also learned that Evetta was born in California, her father was born in Germany and her mother was born in England(?).

Since Marjorie was 10 years old and was born in New York, I looked for the family there in the 1910 census. I found them living on Claremont Avenue in Manhattan. All information was the same, except Evetta's mother was shown as born in Ireland. George Holm was listed as an university instructor.

Now I knew from these censuses (censi?) that Evetta was born around 1878 in California.  I also knew from previous research, that her mother Helena (O'Sullivan) (Councilman) Mueller died in Sacramento in 1895.  Helena had also given birth to 2 children, Caroline and Nella Mueller, in San Francisco, and her widower, Louis Mueller, died there in 1911. 

I looked for George Councilman in the 1880 census, thinking he may be Evetta's brother.  I found him, in San Francisco, California, living with his father, George, a glassblower born in Germany, and mother Helena (indexed as Helma), born in Ireland, and sister Eva, age 3, born in California. 

I believe that Eva Councilman of San Francisco,1880, is Evetta Holm of Bergen, New Jersey, 1920.   But where was she for the intervening 40 years?

To be continued......

Photo credit: Pictures of the American City, National Archives (Archives.gov)

Copyright 2011 Kathleen Sullivan. All Rights Reserved

Thacher Court in Boston's North End

Last Friday, June and I visited Thacher Court in Boston's North End.  In 1875, our great-great aunt Mary R. O'Sullivan married John H. McPike.  They lived at 3 Thacher Court.  John's father James lived at #6.  Was Mary's father Jeremiah, living at #2?  Below is a list of the residents of Thacher Court from the 1875 Boston City Directory.

2	Cannon	Patrick,	laborer,	house 5 Thacher court
3	Coleman	Michael,	slater,	h. 3 Thacher court
4	Conley	Mark,	pilot,	house 1 Thacher court
5	Corey	Margaret,	widow,	house 8 Thacher court
6	Coriente	Joseph,	laborer,	house 4 Thacher court
7	Creamer	Bridget,	widow,	house 8 Thacher court
8	Cunningham	Wm.	at gas works,	house 3 Thacher court
9	Dolan	Ellen,	widow,	house 6 Thacher court
10	Doyle	Patrick S.	laborer,	r. 115 E?iot,	boards 7	Thacher court
11	Gallagher	James,	laborer,	house 6 Thacher court
12	Harrity	John,	locksmith,	house 2 Thacher court
13	Kelly	James,	gas works,	house 4 Thacher court
14	McDonough	John,	laborer,	house 2 Thacher court
15	McGann	James,	laborer,	house 9 Thacher court
16	McIntire	James,	laborer,	house 2 Thacher court
17	McPike	James,	house 6 Thacher court
18	McPike	John H.	bookbinder,	7 Williams court,	h. 3 Thacher court
19	Murphy	Thomas,	pork cutter,	house Thacher court
20	Murphy	Thomas J. Mrs.	house 1 Thacher court
21	O'Hara	Edward,	clerk,	house 9 Thacher court
22	Patterson	John J.	stereotyper,	19 Spring lane,	h. 1 Thacher court
23	Pearson	Celia,	widow,	h. 3 Thacher court
24	Reardon	Wm. S.	mason,	house 4 Thacher court
25	Riley	Mary,	widow,	house 9 Thacher court
26	Rogers	Thomas,	porter,	6 Commerce.	h. 6 Thacher court
27	Rooney	John,	tailor,	house 5 Thacher court
28	Sullivan	Jeremiah,	house 2 Thacher court
29	Thomas	Hannah,	widow,	house 4 Thacher court
30	Vergomena	Paul,	laborer,	house 4 Thacher court