Sunday's Obituary - Lillian Blanchfield

Easton Express, 04MAY1976

"Lillian Blanchfield

Miss Lillian L. Blanchfield, 85, of 65 Glen Ave, Phillipsburg, died yesterday in Oxford.

Born in Beaver Meadows, Pa., she was a daughter of the late Martin and Anna Boyle Blanchfield.

She was a member of Sts. Philip and James Catholic Church.

Survivors include nieces and nephews.

The funeral will be held at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday at the Finegan Funeral Home, Phillipsburg, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. in St.s Philip and James Church.  Interment will be in the parish cemetery."

Lillian was my great grand aunt.  I don't know much about her except that she was talked of fondly by my mom.  Rest in peace, Aunt Lillian.

Sunday's Obituary - I'm Baaaack!

Marker for Martin, Anna and 2 of their daughters

I've missed you all.  I've missed my blog too, but I'll be honest...this recent move to Colorado kicked my butt.  I'm used to moving.  The military saw to that, but it was so much easier when I was just a little younger and wasn't caring for a desperately sick kitty.  Since I was having such a difficult time getting to my blog I decided to wait until the move was complete before heading back.  So the house is built and the boxes have (almost) all been emptied.  The organizing is mostly done and the kitty is hanging in there, so it's time to get back to it.

During the organization of our office (which is also the place that is still requiring some attention) I started to go through old genealogy papers that I was bad enough to not file and enter into my database when I first collected them.  Bad, but a habit I'm trying to break.  Anyway, I realized that I had several obituaries on the Blanchfield side of my family and not a single one made it into a post! Shameful, but now I'll have posts for Sunday's Obituary for many weeks to come.

I decided to start with the father of this particular collection...Martin Blanchfield.  Martin Blanchfield married Anna Boyle on January 9, 1876 in New York City in Saint Andrew's Catholic Church.  I did blog about their marriage before as St. Andrew's was kind enough to send me a transcription of their marriage sacrament.

Martin and Anna had 12 children:  Mary, Alice, Annie, William, Josephine, Lillian, Catherine, Joseph, and four children that did not survive, but were acknowledged, namelessly in census records.  Their daughter, Alice, was my great grandmother.  The family moved from New York City to the Beaver Meadows area in Carbon County, Pennsylvania.  Most of their children were born in Carbon County (except Mary and Alice), and all except Mary and Alice moved with their parents to Phillipsburg, New Jersey where they lived out the remainder of their lives.

Martin's obituary was published in the "Easton Express" on Monday, May 13, 1935 on page 8...the same day he passed.  The obituary is brief.  Just one short paragraph, but I'll give them credit for squeezing in as much as they could that would help a genealogist:

Easton Express, 13MAY1935, pg 8

"Martin Blanchfield

Martin Blanchfield, aged 75, died early this morning at his home, 65 Glen avenue, from a heart attack after an illness of one week.  Mr Blanchfield was well known and had many friends.  He is survived by two sons and four daughters, William and Joseph Blanchfield, Mrs. Robert Flynn and Misses Anna, Josephine and Lillian Blanchfield.  He was a member of Sts. Philip and James' Catholic Church and the Holy Name Society."

Not too bad for a brief obit.  Church, address, and kids.  No mention of his wife, Anna, so if I hadn't already discovered her death date this would have let me know that she predeceased him.  If only every obituary I needed had this much useful information!

Tombstone Tuesday - James and Anne McCoy

McCoy.  It's a family name, but also a dead end.  I was also a very bad person when I photographed this tombstone and forgot to annotate whether it was from St. Gabriel's in Hazleton or St. Mary's in Beaver Meadows.  Either way it's a family cemetery and I will be retracing my steps the next time I go home and properly annotate the photo.

My McCoy ancestor was Nancy Brown nee McCoy.  I don't know much about her apart from being born around 1845 in Ireland and dying in 1926 in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.  Nancy (called "Annie"...obviously not this Anne) was my 2nd great grandmother.  I have found no immigration records for her and I don't know who her parents were.  I have to narrow down her death date and hopefully a death certificate and/or obituary may provide some healthy leads.

As it is each time I walk past a "McCoy" tombstone in Saint Gabriel's or Saint Mary's cemetery I wonder if they belong to me.  Was this my 3rd great uncle on this tombstone?  I may not know for a long time. I may never know.  You can be sure that I'll be tracking down information on James as well as my Annie the next time I'm home.

The research I was able to do on this James McCoy was that he came to America from Ireland around 1878 and he was born around 1860.  My Annie was born 15 years earlier and was already in America in April 1874 when she married her husband, Neil Brown.  Does this mean that this James isn't a relation of my Annie's?  No, but it's not a strong case.  Perhaps a cousin or nephew?  Sure, maybe.

It looks like, for now, I'll still be staring fondly after all those "McCoy" tombstones.  Perhaps the cemetery will at least be able to give me a month for the burials to help me with obituaries and death certificates.  It's certainly worth a try!

Tombstone Tuesday - Abraham and Mary Turnbach nee Blanchfield

Abraham and Mary Turnbach nee Blanchfield are my great great uncle and aunt.  Mary is my great grandmother's sister.

Abraham was the son of Milton and Bridget Turnbach nee Dugan.  He was born on February 25, 1877 in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.  He died on December 9, 1918.

Mary was the oldest daughter of Martin and Anna Blanchfield nee Boyle.  She was born on November 11, 1879 in New York, NY and died in 1919.

Abraham and Mary had at least 8 children (Milton, William, Robert, Mary,  Elizabeth, Ann and 2 unknown children).  Both Abraham and Mary died so close to each other that the first thought that had jumped into my mind was "Flu".  This would have been during the height of the 1918 pandemic (at least for Abraham).  Sometimes guesses are wrong.

Abraham died in a mining accident.  He did repair work in the coal mines and was electrocuted.  It stated on his death certificate that his cause of death was "Electric shock - came in contact with hot wires."

I don't have Mary's death certificate.  The last time I requested it I received notice of a failed search.  I'll have to try again soon or see if one of my genealogy cousins was lucky enough to get a copy.  I suppose it's possible that she could have succumb to the epidemic, but not knowing when in 1919 she passed does put a bit of a damper on that.

What is sad aside from them dying so close to each other?  Their youngest was only about 4 years old.  Luckily (if there can be luck) their oldest was nearly 20 and the family stayed together.

Abraham and Mary are buried in St. Mary's cemetery, Beaver Meadows, Pennsylvania.

Tombstone Tuesday - McGinnis, Monahan, Fay and Boyle all in one!

John and Alice McGinnis nee Monahan and John and Mary Fay nee Boyle

Normally I don't particularly like tombstones that don't give dates.  I'll have to admit that when I finally found this tombstone for my 3rd great grandmother (Alice Monahan) I was a bit disappointed.  However, what I do like about the tombstone is that it gives both ladies' maiden names.  I found that very unusual.

Alice McGinnis nee Monahan (as I mentioned) was my 3rd great grandmother.  John McGinnis was her 2nd husband.  Alice was the wife of Manus Maurice Boyle (of whom I've previously blogged) who died in the shipwreck of the Royal Charter in 1859.  May Fay nee Boyle was Manus and Alice's oldest daughter (my 3rd great aunt or 2nd great grand aunt...although I'm not as familiar with the second version of expressing it).  Mary's sister, Anna, is buried in Philipsburg, New Jersey.

Finding this tombstone wasn't difficult.  Finding St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Beaver Meadows, Pennsylvania was.  You blink and you miss it even though it's right off the side of the main road!  I had driven by it several times missing it until I was given specific directions!