Family Tree Repair: O'Donnell, Part Three

The revision of the ODonnell branch of the family in Indiana tree continues with the acquisition of death certificates.

Here are some pictures of this branch to be shared with the world, courtesy of an ODonnell in Ireland.

Rose and Agnes ODonnell were first cousins of my great grandfather, Frank ODonnell.

Father Charles Carey was the son of Agnes ODonnell.

He edited the book of Father Charles ODonnell's poems.

Using the entries for this branch at FindAGrave.com, I requested the death records for the couple Neil (Cornelius) ODonnell, died 1909, and Mary ODonnell, died 1924, from Howard County, Indiana.  Neil's record was found; Mary's was not.  As I was preparing this article, Ancestry.com published actual images of Indiana state death records with an index.  Mary's state record of death was in this collection.  Neil's was also found, but his name was mangled in the index as "Damerell" instead of ODonnell.

Please note that Mary ODonnell's parents are listed as Peter ODonnell and Margaret Gallagger [Gallagher].

This is consistent with the records of Mary's siblings, Rose and Patrick.

John James ODonnell (1882-1914), a son of Neil and Mary, is featured at FindAGrave with a former date of death of 1930.  The current administrator of his page corrected the year of death to 1914 at my bequest.  John was an acrobat in the circus.  He died in Warren, Warren County, Pennsylvania.  Ancestry.com has a collection of Pennsylvania death certificates and John's match beckoned to me as a quivering leaf in Family Tree Maker.

[This is the second person found so far who worked in the circus setting.  My great grandfather's second wife, Fiorita Lorenze (1890-1969) did "the wire act on a bicycle."]

"Circus acrobat expires.  John O'Donnell of the Wallace-Hagenbeck Shows died in P[ennsylvania]."

A search of the Indiana death certificates reveals one for a man named John ODonnell who died in 1930 in Kokomo, Indiana and was buried at Crown Point Cemetery.  But he was not the John ODonnell who was the son of Neil and Mary.  This illustrates the perils of working with common names.

The online family trees have corrected some errors but not others.

We now know that Mary was herself an ODonnell.

Her mother was Gallagher.

If only New Jersey would place its death records online . . .

NYC Marriage Records: 1908-1929 Application, Affidavit, and License

New York City marriage applications, affidavits, and licenses 1908-1929 became easier to obtain with the recent release of indexes and their subsequent publication online thanks to the group Reclaim the Records.  These documents are separate from the Certificate and Record of Marriage and can be obtained via mail service through New York City Municipal Archives.

About six weeks ago I requested through postal mail the application, affidavit, and license for the couple Robert Paul Shaw (1904-1964) and Jane Louise Sonntag (1911-1975).  They lived at 23 Appleton Place in Montclair, Essex County, New Jersey, but were married in 1928 in New York City.  (This is not unusual.  If you cannot find a marriage in New Jersey, check in New York City.)  Below is the marriage record.

Both bride and groom were easily identified in the images of the index for the year 1928.  The indexes are browsable by year, not searchable with text.

Below are the four pages I received pursuant to my request.

The additional records were ordered because Jane Sonntag's parents are confusing.

Jane's mother was Annabel Birney, born about 1865, probably in Westchester County, New York.  Her parents were Charles Hanfield Birney (1814-1893) and Mary Lennon (1827-19??).

In the 1930 census for Verona, Essex County, New Jersey, Annabelle Day is age 52 and widowed.  With her is daughter Jane, Jane's husband, and their new baby.

Annabel died February 16, 1944 in Montclair.  One death certificate was incomplete and filed under the surname Day with "Sonntag" in parentheses.  The other was completed and filed under Sonntag with "Day" in parentheses.

Annabel's entry in the 1910 census is elusive.  She may have been living with Arthur Sonntag in New York City.

In the 1920 census, Annabelle may be enumerated as Ann I Birney, age 48 and married, residing at 247 West 44th Street in New York City, living and working at a furnished rooming house.  With her is daughter Jane L Birney, age nine years and 1 month.

So what became of Arthur Sonntag, the father of Jane?  Jane was under 18 years old when she married Robert Shaw, requiring parental consent.  On the Certificate of Consent, Annabel B Sonntag wrote, "Father whereabouts unknown for past 14 years."  This makes the 1920 census entry for Ann I Birney more appealing as the correct Annabel.  She may have separated from Arthur Sonntag around 1914, when Jane was a toddler.

Certificate of Consent

New York City Municipal Archives

Various candidates for Arthur Sonntag are under review.  In the New York City marriage index, I do not see any marriages for Annabel Birney.  She may have married twice; first to Arthur Sonntag and then to John Day.  The plan is to check for these marriages in New Jersey, which requires a trip to the Archives in Trenton.

Lillian Winterton (1873-1918)

Lillian Winterton (1873-1918) was a sister of my great great grandfather, William Walling Winterton (1863-1932).  I realized that her burial had not been posted to Find A Grave when I visited Green Grove Cemetery in Keyport, Monmouth County, New Jersey, a few days ago.  The prior post examined Sophia, a sister of Lillian and William.

I wish I had a picture of Lillian herself and not just her gravestone.

Lillian was born in Keyport in 1873 to John Winterton (1831-1890) and Sophia Walling (1835-1906).  Her grave marker is shared with her parents.

In the New Jersey State Census for 1905, Lillian is enumerated with her mother in Monmouth County.

I had her death certificate, but had not posted it to the family tree.  Often we forget to pursue siblings of our ancestors, especially when they had no offspring.  But they, too, influence our family history.

According to Lillian's death certificate, she died at the Home for Incurables in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.  The doctor, Sarah R Mead, attended Lillian from 1909 until Lillian's death in 1918.

A book had a description of this institute for the care of women with incurable diseases.  Lillian's death was caused by endocarditis, myocarditis, and arthritis deformans.  Dr Mead was a visiting physician.

The Home for Incurables at 102 Court Street in Newark was enumerated in the 1910 federal census.  "Ellen Winterton," age 36, was a patient.  This is probably Lillian.

Winterton Ellen, Patient, Female, White, age 36, Single.

By the 1905 New Jersey state census, Lillian's brother, William Winterton, had already moved to Newark.  Perhaps the death of Lillian and William's mother in 1906 necessitated Lillian moving into a facility to care for her physically and since brother William had already relocated to Newark, Lillian moved there as well.

We don't know much about this Aunt Lillian.  We can only have a glimpse of her through scant documents to formulate an idea about her life with "incurable" illnesses and the effect on her and the family.