Katherine ODonnell and Her Family

Seven years ago I asked for additional information on Kathryn ODonnell (1858-1939). She was a sister of my great great grandfather, Patrick Francis ODonnell (1856-1931).

Kathryn was born in Killybegs, County Donegal, Ireland. By her first husband, Charles Mason, she had two children, Margaret and John. She then remarried to Patrick Kennedy. She died in California in 1939. I had been able to track Margaret's moves, marriage, and child.

Finally fuller stories for Kathryn's son, John Mason, and her second husband, Patrick Kennedy, have come to light!

Spoiler alert: I have not found additional information on Charles Mason, the first husband. His first and only appearance is in the 1885 state census in New Jersey. 

New Jersey State Census, 1885. Bayonne, Hudson County.
Charles Mason, Irish male, age 20-60.
Kate Mason, Irish female, age 20-60.

In the 1900 census, Kathryn was in Brooklyn with her two children but no husband. A missing husband and widowhood either meant that he died or left the family.

1900 United States Federal Census
Brooklyn, Kings County, New York
Katie Mason and her two children, Margarite and John. She worked as a nurse.

Since writing the original article in 2018, indexes of deaths have come online for the State of New Jersey and Kings County, New York. I have not found a good match for Charles Mason. Indexes for deaths in the State of Connecticut do not start until 1897. If Charles died after Kathryn appeared as a widow in the 1900 census, this record could be anywhere.

Using the newspapers now available for searching online, I set out to discover when Kathryn acquired her second husband.

Newspaper article in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
November 27, 1914.
Widow of Patrick Kennedy to inherit his estate.

Patrick Kennedy was born about 1841 in Ireland. He married Ellen Callahan and they had one son, John, born around 1872. Patrick worked as a police officer in New York City. By 1900 he was retired and worked on his land in Connecticut as a farmer.

In 1911, Ellen died. In 1912, John shot his father, Patrick. John was unable to see or hear because of typhoid fever, an infection suffered when he was a child. Yet somehow he was able to purposely carry out this action.

Newspaper article. John Kennedy held in jail after shooting his father,
Patrick Kennedy, in Stratford, Connecticut. 1914.

Patrick was not expected to live. Enter Kathryn. She nursed him from the brink of death.

John Kennedy was sent to the Connecticut State Hospital for the Insane in Middletown, Middlesex County. He died there in 1930.

Patrick and Kathryn married in April of 1914. Patrick Kennedy died on November 22, 1914. Kathryn inherited one-third of his estate.

In 1920, Kathryn was still in Connecticut. She was living in Bridgeport with her son, John Mason. By 1930 she was living in California with her daughter and son-in-law, Margaret and James Joyce.

What became of John Daniel Mason, the son of Kathryn ODonnell and Charles Mason?

Searching newspapers led to the answers- probably. (The last death certificate I ordered from the State of Connecticut took one year to fulfill. Two years and counting for fulfillment by the City of Bridgeport.) John D Mason was buried in Saint Michael's Cemetery in Stratford - the same cemetery as Patrick Kennedy. He died July 31, 1932, age 43 years. "World War . . . Co. C. 319th Inf." is carved on the stone.

An obituary appeared in a few newspapers in Connecticut and Brooklyn. A mother and sister were mentioned but not by name.

Newspaper article 1932
Johnny Mason, dancer, died in alley in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Johnny Mason danced with Lew Dockstader (1856-1924) and George Primrose (1852-1919). Is this the same John Daniel Mason? Throughout his records he listed his occupation as a laborer.

Library of Congress
Primrose & Dockstader's Great American Minstrels

I also found advertisements for a boxer or fighter by the same name.

Ad in newspaper about a boxing fight.
Johnny Mason versus Eddie Mack.
October 30, 1922 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

I was hoping to find pictures of John Mason. He performed with some well-known personalities. Perhaps he was an unnamed background actor in the vaudeville acts.

I will order the death certificate to see if the names of the parents are Kathryn ODonnell and Charles Mason. This could take a year for Connecticut to do.

So that is the story of Kathryn ODonnell's son, John Mason, and her second husband, Patrick Kennedy. Still missing is what became of her first husband, Charles Mason.

A Tedious Courtship

 In the records of the First Presbyterian Church of Morristown, New Jersey is a curious entry for "a tedious courtship of 24 hours." The short courtship was unusual- maybe that is why it was mentioned? What does "tedious" mean in this context?

By Same [Reverend James Richards] January 17, 1806
David Munn, Orange
Miss Phebe Youngs, Malapardis,
"After a tedious courtship of 24 hours."

David Munn, the groom, was from Orange, Essex County. The bride, Phebe Youngs, was from Malapardis, which is now an area within Hanover, Morris County.

Map of Town of Hanover, Morris County, New Jersey. 1868.

The marriage was also recorded at the county level without mention of the courtship.

Marriages in the County of Morris, State of New Jersey.
These can be viewed from home for free via FamilySearch.org.
Film 1314453.

In spite of this unconventional beginning, the marriage endured for 33 years until the death of David Munn.

This union is mentioned in a book from 1907, Vicar Christopher Yonges. His Ancestors in England and His Descendants in America. A History and Genealogy. Three children are listed for David and Phebe. 

-Alson C Munn (died 1841)

-Ira Youngs Munn (1809-1882), married Mary Matilda Forsyth (1836-1920)

-Ruth Munn (1811-1889) married William Denman (1807-1879)

The family relocated from New Jersey to Missouri.

Excerpt from the Youngs Family Genealogy Book by Selah Youngs, Jr, 1907

David Munn served in the military for five years, from 1812 through 1817. He attained the rank of sergeant. He was in the light artillery of Captain John L Eastman's Company. During the Battle of York, War of 1812, he lost a finger. He died in 1839 in his 50s. A military marker sits atop his grave in Ohio.

Certain parts of David Munn's records relating to his military service are available from Fold3 (behind a paywall). Phebe became eligible for a widow's pension under a federal act passed in 1871. The soldier's service needed to have been at least sixty days and the marriage prior to the end of the War.

Act of 1871
Soldiers who served at least 60 days in the War of 1812 could apply for a pension,
as could their widows- if they married before the end of the War.

Phebe applied for her widow's pension under the Act of 1871. She had to prove that she was married prior to the end of the War in 1815. The clerk of Morris County, Richard Speer, copied by hand the lines from Book A of marriages, page 204- the same image above that we can now view on a computer.

Phebe's application to collect her widow's pension for David's service
in the War of 1812.
Number 4835.

The date of recording also had to be included- November 10, 1806- ten months after the event. The time lapse between events and recording of those events must be remembered when we evaluate the accuracy of records. In this case, we have to recordings- one from the county and one from the church, and they are consistent.

Phebe was awarded $8 per month.

Phebe died in 1875. She was buried with her daughter, Ruth (1811-1889), and son-in-law, William Denman (1807-1879), in Illinois.

The Schneider Children plus a Bonus Baby

Joseph Schneider (1892-1945) and Mary Fila (1895-1938) lived in Newark, New Jersey from the 1910's until their deaths. They were buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange.

I did not find a marriage record for this couple. The strategy is to start with the first child and work backwards. Locating birth certificates for all the children was difficult because the surname was spelled a different way for each of the five children: Snajder, Snaider, Shnyder, Schneider, and Snyder.

All five birth certificates were located by sifting through the geographic birth index. In New Jersey, birth certificates for the years in which these children were born are filed alphabetically by year on microfilm in the Archives in Trenton. Instead of spending hours looking at the microfilm, I used the index at home. This index is indexed at Ancestry; however, not all names on the page were transcribed into Ancestry's index. This is a very important consideration when a name cannot be found in an electronic database. Death records helped narrow down the date of birth. All were born in Newark, which also helped immensely.

You can view the New Jersey Geographic Birth Index at The Internet Archive or Family Search.

The couple's first child was Josephine Madlin, born on Leap Day, February 29, 1916. The midwife was K Zamlynska. The birthplace of Joseph and Mary was Austria. He worked as a button maker.

Birth certificate of Josephine Madlin Snajder.
Born February 29, 1916 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.
87 Richmond Street.

The midwife signed her name "K Zamlynska." In the 1920 census in Newark, the birthplace of Caroline Zamlysnki was Austria and she spoke Polish. This could be indicative of the origins of the parents of the baby. Her profession in the census was "none," which is why the city directories are so helpful for finding midwives.

City directory entry for Karolina Zamlynski, midwife.
115 South Orange Avenue in Newark, New Jersey.

Baby Josephine died September 12, 1916 from acute gastro enteritis. She was six and a half months old. She was buried at Holy Sepulchre in a plot where her parents would later join her. Already in this plot was another baby, discussed at the end of this article.

Death certificate of Jozefa Schneider.
Died September 12, 1916 in Newark. 87 Richmond Street.
Cause of death acute gastro enteritis.

The birthdate on the death certificate is February 29, 1916. This is how her entry was located in the birth index, leading to her birth certificate, even though the surname was spelled differently on the death certificate versus the birth certificate.

New Jersey Geographic Birth Index
Josephine M Snajder born February 29, 1916 in Newark.

The couple's second child, Stanislau, was born April 2, 1917. He was child number two, one alive. He was the living child; Josephine had died over six months earlier.

Birth certificate of Stanislau Snaider.
Born April 2, 1917 in Newark.
87 Richmond Street.

The midwife signed her name "Antonia Wakova." This was a feminization of her husband's surname, Wak. In the 1910 census, she was from Bohemia. In 1920 and 1930, she was from Czechoslovakia. No profession was given in the census entries, again making the city directories invaluable for finding this midwife.

City directory entry for Mrs Antonio Wak, midwife.
82-17th Avenue in Newark, New Jersey.

Stanislau became Stanley John. He married and has living descendants. He died October 30, 1988.

The couple's third child, Edward Shnyder was born July 21, 1918. He was incorrectly listed as the second child on his birth certificate.

Birth certificate of Edward Shnyder.
Born July 21, 1918 in Newark.
30 Lones? Street.

In 1936 Edward's surname was modified from Shnyder to Schneider via an official correction to the  birth certificate. These are filed with the birth certificates.

Corrected birth certificate of Edward Schneider, born Edward Shnyder.

Correction to birth certificate of Edward Shnyder,
changing surname from Shnyder to Schneider.

Edward Jacob married and has living descendants. He died October 2, 2001.

The couple's fourth child, Sofie Anna, was born September 26, 1920. This was the only birth certificate to use the Schneider spelling. The first name became Sophie and she married Alphonse Peter Anthony Ulinski in 1939. She died in 1995 in Florida.

Birth certificate of Sofie Anna Schneider.
Born September 26. 1920.
119 Broome Street.

The couple's fifth and final child was Joseph Snyder, born December 11, 1921. He married and has living descendants. He died in 1974 in Alabama.

Birth certificate of Joseph Snyder.
Born December 11, 1921 in Newark.
Beth Israel Hospital.

Baby Josephine, born and died in 1916, appears to be the first child of this couple. They probably married in 1916 or 1915. I found no record in New York or New Jersey. This could be because the names were butchered in the index, or they married in a different state or country.

Another mystery about this couple arises because of a baby buried with them.

In the same plot as Joseph Schneider and Mary Fila is a two-month old baby name Katie Fila. I don't know who this is, but based on the surname Fila and the address- 85 Richmond Street- she is related. Baby Katie died October 17, 1914 at the Babies' Hospital in Newark. The cause of death was enteritis and malnutrition.

Death certificate of Katie Fila.
Died October 17, 1914 in Newark at The Babies' Hospital.
"C. H. S." is Cemetery of the Holy Sepulchre.

The image is of very poor quality. "O.W." is written after Katie's name. This stands for Out of Wedlock. The names of her parents appear to be Stanislaw Floczyiski and Mary Fila, both of Poland. Katie's birthdate is given as August 19, 1914 and her age 2 months, 27 days. Perhaps the month of birth would be more accurate as July. Either way, I did not identify a listing for Katie in the birth index in Newark for this time.

Could Baby Katie have been a child of Marie Fila, wife of Joseph Schneider?

Mother Cadmus or Caddan

Patrick McCabe (1845-1912) and Ann Somers (1845-1904) were born in Ireland. In 1867 they married at Saint Peter's Catholic Church in Jersey City, Hudson County New Jersey. The buildings were reconstructed and expanded over time and are now part of Saint Peter's Preparatory School.

Three questions arise when first encountering an immigrant couple:

Where were they from?

Who were their parents?

Who are their relatives in their new home? 

This information can be found on marriage and death records, when the creator of the record writes down such information. Spoiler alert- nothing more than "Ireland" was on these records for Patrick and Ann.

Marriage records filed with the State of New Jersey for the years 1848 through 1878 are in the form of ledger books and can be (mostly) found on Ancestry. 

Ledger entry for marriage of Patrick McCabe and Ann Somers.
Married July 28, 1867 in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey.
Acces through Ancestry.com collection

Close up of the names of the parents of Patrick McCabe and Ann Somers.
Surnames of mothers were omitted.

The marriage record at the State level gave the names of Patrick McCabe's parents as Ed and Elizabeth. Ann Somers' parents were Patrick and Julia. We need surnames for the mothers.

The records of Saint Peter's Church were copied to microfilm and then digitized; however, you cannot view the images at home. You can view the index- not the images- from home at FamilySearch.org.

Indexed entry for Saint Patrick's Church, Jersey City.
Patrick McCabe and Ann Somers married July 28, 1867.
Film number 1403371.

 

Location and availability of images of Saint Peter's Church records
via FamilySearch

Unlike the record filed with the State, the church record contains the names of the parents- according to this index. A trip to the nearest Family History Center enabled access to the image.

Ledger book of marriages at Saint Peter's Church in Jersey City.
The entry for Patrick McCabe and Ann Somers is on the left page, middle.

Close up of marriage entry for Patrick McCabe and Ann Somers, July 28, 1867.
See below for text.

The text appears to be:

July 28, 1867 

McCabe Patrick, aged 23, son of Edward McCabe and Elizabeth Caddmus,

to Ann Somers, aged 26, daughter of Patrick Somers and Julia Reilly.

Witnesses: Michael Welsh and Delia Rafferty.

Patrick Cody

 

I wrote "appears" because I am unsure of the name of Patrick's mother. The indexer typed "Caddan," but when viewing the entry, the handwriting looks like "Caddmus." Both are Irish surnames.

The added bonus of viewing the church record is the entry for witnesses. Presumably Michael Welsh and Delia Rafferty could have a relationship to either the groom or bride. At this point, I do not know their relationships, but at least the names are not terribly common.

The next source to view names of parents is the death certificate. Ann died in Jersey City in 1904 from apoplexy (most likely a stroke). I copied her death certificate from the Archives in Trenton. (New Jersey death certificates are not online.) Her parents match on both documents: Patrick Somers and Julia Reilly.

Death certificate of Ann McCabe.
Died July 18, 1904 in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Copied at New Jersey State Archives.

In 1912 Patrick died in New York City from chronic interstitial nephritis. I do not know why he moved there. Vital records for New York City are online at the website of the Department of Records and Information Services, but with clarification: 77% of the records are digitized. Deaths in Manhattan 1876-1919 have not been posted to the website as of this writing.

Screenshot of website of New York City Department of Records and Information Services.
77% of historical vital records have been digitized as of January 2025.

Patrick's death certificate is viewable at the Family History Center. It's a poor image. I hope that a cleaner image makes its way online.

Death certificate of Patrick McCabe.
Died August 18, 1912 in Manhattan.

The name of Patrick's mother on the death certificate could be Caddan, but I think it looks more like Cadmus.

Names and places of birth of Patrick McCabe's parents, as written on his death certificate.
Father- Patrick McCabe. Mother- Elizabeth Cadmus?
Both born in Ireland.

Below are both versions of Patrick McCabe's mother. Elizabeth's surname differs a little. The marriage record is the earlier record and should be more reliable than the later record. Patrick was alive at the time of making the marriage record. The informant for the death certificate may have had no personal knowledge of Patrick's parents.

Name of Patrick McCabe's mother.
Top image- marriage record from 1867.
Bottom image- death certificate from 1912.

The marriage and death records were necessary to obtain, but they only get us so far. McCabe is a common surname, perhaps too common to chase with this limited information.

Somers was easier. I located three siblings for Ann Somers in New York and New Jersey, thanks to DNA matches and cemetery records. That is for another article.

The next research move is to view the the baptismal records for the children of this couple. The sponsors could be related. Nine children have been identified so far, born from 1868 through 1884.

Citizenship Lost

When reviewing records from the first half of the 1900s, you may find entries about citizenship that you might think are errors.

For example, in the 1920 census in West Hoboken, New Jersey is the Nelson household. Bessie is listed as "Al," or alien. Yet her place of birth is listed as New York.

1920 United States Federal Census
Bessie Nelson. No year of immigration. Alien. Born in New York.
Husband Harry Nelson. Immigrated in 1908 from Norway; has first papers.
West Hoboken is now Union City, Hudson County, New Jersey.

Bessie was correctly described as an alien in the 1920 census. In 1919 she married Hartwig Nelson, an immigrant from Norway. Under the 1907 federal law known as the Expatriation Act (34 Stat. 1228), American women who married men of a foreign nationality lost their American citizenship. Bessie's legal status became that of her husband- a Norwegian immigrant who was not an American citizen. She was no longer a citizen of the United States, even though she was born and resided in the United States.

Marriage record
Hartwig Nelson (1890-1970) and Bessie M Durling (1892-1969) married May 31, 1919
in West Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey

Note: Bessie listed her place of birth as Warwick, New York. As New York has stopped issuing genealogy records, we cannot obtain this record.

A woman who lost her citizenship had to apply to regain her citizenship- if her husband was eligible to become a citizen. This is why Pearl Maurer petitioned for naturalization in 1927, even though she was born in Connecticut.

Pearl's petition is stamped "Declaration of intention omitted under Cable Act Sept 22, 1922." This law (42 Stat. 1021b) reversed the 1907 law for women who married foreigners after September 22, 1922. Women who lost their citizenship by marrying foreigners between 1907 and 1922 still had to apply for naturalization. Apparently the Cable Act was interpreted to mean that filing a Declaration of Intention could be skipped.

In 1940, The Nationality Act (54 Stat. 1137) eased the repatriation process by only requiring an oath to reestablish citizenship lost because of marriage, as long as the woman had continuously resided in the United States.

At this point in time, any woman who lost her citizenship because of marriage is now deceased, so this is no longer an issue.

For further explanation, please view this video by Amy Johnson Crow.

Nurse Julia Flanagan 1857-1935

Cabinet card of a young woman by Sterry

This cabinet card is a picture of a woman, standing, dressed in clothing typically worn by nurses in the late 1800s. The photographer was Sterry and Company of 520 and 522 Broadway in Albany, New York. In blue ink is written "Julia C Flanagan 1888."

Backside of cabinet card of young woman by Sterry, Albany, New York

This card resides in New Jersey, not Albany, so the search for Julia had to span both places.

The Newark Sunday Call, a newspaper in New Jersey, detailed "The First Graduates of the Training School at the Asylum" in an article dated June 17, 1888. By this time, formal training of nurses as well as changes in the treatment of the mentally ill were creating educational and vocational opportunities. Julia and Agnes Flanagan were mentioned.

Newspaper article about graduates of the nursing school
of the Essex County Asylum, 1888

The training program at the Essex County Asylum lasted two years. Students were paid. Men earned $20 per month and women earned $14 per month. To earn $20, a woman had to complete the entire two year course successfully.

Note: The Essex County Asylum still exists, but is now called Essex County Hospital and is located in Cedar Grove, not Newark.

The Journal of Insanity
Volume 45
View here

The Journal of Insanity also reported on these graduates in October of 1888, though the author was not pleased with nurses receiving training and accolades. "By all means let nurses be trained, but let us not forget the wholesome maxim, Ne sutor ultra credpidam." Julia and Agnes Flanagan were noted for demonstrating their knowledge.

Note: The American Journal of Insanity began publication in 1844. It is still in publication, but under the name American Journal of Psychiatry, which changed in 1921.

1870 United States federal census
Bloomfield, Essex County, New Jersey
Julia Flanigan, age 11. At school.

Julia Flanagan and Margaret Agnes Flanagan were daughters of John Flanagan (1829-1889) and Ann Cahill (1829-1896). In the 1870 census, the family resided in Bloomfield, Essex County, New Jersey.

1900 United States federal census
Albany, Albany County, New York
Julia C Flannigan, age 37, nurse. Boarder.

Julia relocated to Albany, where she worked as a nurse.

Obituary of Julia C Flanagan, died January 7, 1935.

Julia has two memorial pages on Find A Grave. She is mentioned on the family stone in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Find A Grave memorial page for Julia C Flanagan
at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Bloomfield, Essex County, New Jersey.

Julia was buried in Saint Agnes Cemetery in Menands, New York. 

Find A Grave memorial page for Julia C Flanagan
at Saint Agnes Cemetery in Menands, Albany County, New York.

Julia's birthdate is engraved on both stones- September 25, 1858. The memorial in Bloomfield has a note: "born 9/24/1858 on tombstone (incorrect year)".

Neither is correct, according to the birth ledger filed with the state, which is a primary source. On September 24, 1857 an unnamed baby girl was born to John and Ann Flanagan in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Register of births in New Jersey. Book I 1848-1867

Margaret Agnes married Frederick Van Houten  (1864-1922). She may have spent her years working for her family in the home, rather than being employed outside the home as a nurse.

The memorial page for Margaret Agnes Flanagan (1861-1934) originally linked to the wrong husband. Frederick VanHouten (1864-1922), buried in Woodland Cemetery in Newark, is the correct husband for Margaret. Frederick VanHouten (1866-1943), buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Newark, was not Margaret's husband.

Julia, a daughter of Margaret and Frederick, died in 1928 in Saranac Lake, Franklin County, New York. A copy of this death certificate was filed in New Jersey. This is unusual but sometimes happens. If someone resided in New Jersey but died in another state, it is possible that a record exists in New Jersey as well as the location of the death. This is worth a try, especially with the State of New York, since genealogy requests for records have stopped being filled.

New York death certificate filed in New Jersey.
Julia VanHouten died June 4, 1928 in Saranac Lake, Franklin County, New York.