Tombstone Tuesday - Caroline Lee

A very special thank you to Richard Boyer for permission
to post his photo

I haven't posted on my Lees since August. I haven't really had time since school started up again. When I got a notification from FindAGrave that a photo request had been filled and the kind man gave me permission to post his photo I had to take time out of school to get this post up.

I don't know much about Caroline "Carrie" Lee. She never married and I've posted clippings before of her visiting my Quirk/Lee family in eastern Pennsylvania. Carrie is part of the Pittsburgh Lees that I still haven't been able to fully figure out where they belong in my tree. The best I can make out is that Carrie and her siblings were cousins to the Quirks (grandchildren of Edward Lee). Carrie's father was Thomas Lee, but I have yet to figure out how he relates to my Edward.

Caroline was born on September 11, 1856 in Pennsylvania. She died on October 12, 1922 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Pittsburgh. Her tombstone looks very similar to those of her parents. I'm guessing that they are buried nearby, but I don't know for certain. Carrie died of pneumonia.

Still, I know that they're related somehow. I just haven't unearthed that special bit of information that will solidify the connection. They visited. My family saved an obituary clipping of one of Carrie's siblings. Perhaps a Pittsburgh Lee will find this blog and be able to fill in the blanks. Maybe something else will turn up. Maybe. Maybe. It's best to cling to hope when you're still hitting that brick wall. If you keep hitting it eventually you'll win.

Sunday's Obituary - Sarah Jane Lee nee McConnell

The Pittsburgh Daily Post, 12MAR1902, pg 5

I'm continuing on with my Lee family posts. I've got a number of them in the works and hope that by preparing and sharing them I'll find that piece that links them in my tree. Even if I don't find it now I'm sure it will present itself at some point.

"LEE - On Monday, March 10, 1902, at 4:20 p.  m., Sarah Jane Lee (née McConnell), wife of Thomas Lee, in her 70th year.

Funeral from her late residence, 42 Melrose avenue, Allegheny, on Thursday morning at 8:30 o'clock. Requiem high mass at Church of the Annunciation at 9 o'clock. Friends of the family are respectfully invited to attend."

The Pittsburgh Daily Post, 11Mar1902, pg 3

"Mrs. Sarah Lee

Mrs. Sarah Lee, 73 years old, died yesterday at her home, 73 Melrose avenue, Allegheny. For some time she had been troubled with slight ills, owing to her advanced age, but was not taken seriously ill with pneumonia until Thursday. Mrs. Lee was born in Blair county, near Altoona, and came here about 50 years ago with her parents, settling in Allegheny at the time. She was soon married to Thomas Lee, who survives her besides five children."

Her obituary starts out pretty well, but then it fizzes out. We start to get a lot of information about her early life (although the names of her parents would be nice) and then she's married and has five kids. End of obit. It's like it was hurried. I know her surviving children are Frank, Edward, and Carrie Lee, Gertrude Menges, and Grace Laughlin. I know that Charles isn't mentioned here either but was in the 1880 census and then dropped off the planet. I'm assuming he died, but I haven't found anything to confirm that yet.

Another thing I noticed about the obituary is that it says she was 73 when the death notice says 70 (and her tombstone confirms 70) and it has 73 for her address when the death notice has 42 (and if memory serves me correctly this was the number in her hubby's obit too). It really adds to the sloppiness of the obituary, but I won't complain too much. I'm glad to have one at all!

Wedding Wednesday - David Menges and Gertrude Lee Get Hitched

The Pittsburgh Dispatch, 20SEP1891, pg 12

Well if I ever figure out where to place the Pittsburgh Lees in my family tree I'll have wedding information for David and Gertrude!

"Thrown wide open were the portals of St. Peter's Pro-Cathedral, Allegheny, last Tuesday evening to admit Mr. David Menges and Miss Gertrude Lee, who had decided to enter the matrimonial state. The bride was attended by Miss Annie Walsh, while Mr. Charles Lee, a brother of the bride, acted as best man. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. F. F. O'Shea. A reception was held at the residence of the bride's parents."

Talk about an embellishment of an article! No mention of the groom's parents or siblings nor of the bride's (at least not by name), but the article will give me a wedding date and place...and something else.

There's mention of Gertrude's brother, Charles. Charles wasn't mentioned in her obituary. A good assumption is that he passed away before she did, but he could have been left out in error or due to an unknown family conflict. It does give me another sibling to look for though.

Tombstone Tuesday - Thomas and Sarah Jane Lee nee McConnell

Photo taken by Bill Bodkin and added to FindAGrave by Liz Freeman.

When you've got ancestors with a surname like Lee you don't hold much hope for easy discoveries. You generally get too many results. I've been lucky recently because between the Pennsylvania death certificates going online and subscribing to Newspapers.com I was able to narrow down my search parameters enough to find the death certificates and obituaries for Thomas (past post) and Sarah Jane (future post). In those gems I saw that they were buried in Calvary Cemetery, Pittsburgh, PA. I was not only surprised to find there were memorials for both of them in the cemetery on FindAGrave, but there was a photo for their tombstones.

I was so happy when the memorials were transferred to me for care by Liz Freeman. She really made my day with that. As for the photo credit, Liz was helping Bill Bodkin to get his tombstone photos on FindAGrave and hasn't been able to get in touch with him for awhile. So I thank and credit Bill with this photo and Liz with her help getting it on FindAGrave and I hope that despite his email silence that all is well. Both of their efforts have helped this researcher with a very difficult line in her family tree.

Mystery Monday - Figuring Out my Lees

I previously posted the obituary for Gertrude Menges nee Lee. I said that I knew she had to be a relation...a cousin...because the clipping was in a family scrapbook. Not the strongest way to make a connection, but I was able to discover more on newspapers.com when I searched the Hazleton papers for Quirk and Lee.

The Plain Speaker, 05SEP1903, pg 6

 "Miss Lee, of Pittsburg, is visiting the Quirk family at Jeanesville. Miss Lee has been spending her vacation at Atlantic City."

So I know that one of the Lees, Grace or Carrie, were visiting my relatives. Edward Lee was still alive at this point as well and living with the William Quirk family in Jeanesville. Although I'm sure her main purpose was to have fun with the girls! I did find it amusing that the Hazleton paper also mentioned that she had been vacationing in Atlantic City. I don't know that would have been relevant to anyone reading it, but it does make the blurb a bit longer.

The Plain Speaker, 02OCT1903, pg 6

"Miss Carrie Lee, of Pittsburg, and Miss Katherine Quirk, of Jeanesville, are the guests of friends at Harwood."

Another short and sweet clipping, but I know that Carrie Lee and one of my Quirk relations are visiting someone together. Harwood wasn't really that far away so I'm not sure why this was in the paper. My great grandfather lived in Jeanesville and worked in the Harwood mines so they were close. I'm guessing it made the news because of Carrie Lee being out from Pittsburgh and they included Katherine. Either way it helps me to firm up that connection.

Something else I was curious about after seeing this clipping was that the date was barely a month after the previous. Was Carrie the person visiting in the first clipping and it was just a rather long visit or was is a separate visit? It doesn't matter too much but I was surprised at not even a month passing between the two.

The Plain Speaker, 18SEP1903, pg 6

"The following Jeanesville young people at a party held in Jeanesville last night had their photographs taken by Photographer Heiser, of Hazleton: James Collier, Philip Coll, John Dougherty, Robert Brennan James Martin, Jetta Coll, Katie, Ella, Bessie and Mary Quirk, Katie and Margaret Brennan and Anna Martin and Carrie Lee, of Pittsburgh."

Another page six clipping from The Plain Speaker! I'm beginning to think that this was one long visit by Carrie Lee. I don't know who Anna Martin is though. Perhaps Carrie was vacationing with a friend. I mean a vacation alone isn't all that fun and she was in Atlantic City during this trip. Staying with the Quirks that long or visiting that frequently if it wasn't a long stay does help solidify a connection. It doesn't tell me where to place them in my tree, but it does reinforce that they belong...somewhere.

Give me time. I'll figure out where!

Sunday's Obituary - Thomas Lee

Pittsburgh Daily Post, 26APR1906, pg 12

Last Sunday I shared an obituary for Gertrude Menges nee Lee. In that post I also shared the discovery of her parents' names. As I'm trying to discover the connection between the Lees of Pittsburgh and my Lees of Jeanesville, Pennsylvania I figured tackling her father, Thomas, this week would be a great way to continue.

Searching on Newspapers.com for "Thomas Lee" and narrowing it down to Pennsylvania and the Pittsburgh papers I was able to quickly find a death/funeral notice as well as an obituary.

"LEE - On Wednesday, April 25, 1906, at 5:30 a. m. at the family residence, 42 Melrose avenue, Allegheny, Thomas Lee, in his 78th year.

Funeral on Friday morning at 8:30 o'clock. Solemn high mass of requiem at the Church of the Annunciation, Charles street, at 9 a. m.  Friends of the family are respectfully invited to attend."

Short and sweet and it gives me his death and burial dates and locations to add to my tree...when I can add him to my tree. The death notice was nice, but the obituary was better.

Pittsburgh Daily Post, 27APR1906, pg 4

"Thomas Lee, 78 years old, of Allegheny, is dead at the family residence, 42 Melrose avenue, after a short illness of pneumonia. Mr. Lee was born in the parish of Drumgool, County Cavan, Ireland, and came to Allegheny in 1844, where he had since resided. He was married to Miss Sarah Jane McConnell, who died several years ago. Mr. Lee was a charter member of the Church of the Annunciation, Charles street, Allegheny, and a member of St. Vincent De Paul society, and also of the society's church committee.

He is survived by two sons, Frank and Edward Lee, and three daughters, Miss Carrie, at home; Mrs. James Laughlin, of Washington, D. C., and Mrs. David Mangis (sic). The funeral will be held this morning at 8:30 o'clock. High mass of requiem will be celebrated at the church of the Annunciation, and interment will be made in Calvary cemetery."

The obituary was broken into two columns in the newspaper so I had to merge them together to look all pretty. Some things of note in the obituary was that Thomas and Sarah's son, Charles, is missing. He was in the 1880 census, born between Edward and Gertrude. He also was the best man at Gertrude's wedding to David Menges (that's in a future post). I'm assuming he died before his dad, but I haven't been able to find any obituary yet. There could be other reasons for him to not be mentioned, but death is the most obvious.

Thomas Lee's death certificate

I didn't know that Grace Laughlin and her family were in Washington D.C. This obituary will make it a little easier to try to find them in census records. I don't know if they stayed there or not, but it is a starting point. Also from this obituary I get a better maiden name for Sarah than I did from Gertrude's death certificate. "McCorel" just didn't look right and now I know it was McConnell. I have a possible year of emigration as 1844, but in the 1900 census he lists 1846 which I'm more inclined to believe because my Edward Lee listed 1846 as well. It's not confirmation, but it's one heck of a coincidence!

That last glorious tidbit..."parish of Drumgool, County Cavan, Ireland" is enough to really excite me. My mother had mentioned that she thought some of her Irish ancestors were from County Cavan, but couldn't remember which ones. If this Thomas and Edward Lee are related (and right now I'm thinking brothers) then Edward was from the same place. Now that parrish records for Ireland are going online I may be able to find them. Edward's death certificate listed his parents as "unknown" so I'll have to try to find other records to connect them as brothers.

On Thomas' death certificate I see his parents listed as Michial (sic) Lee and Catherine Brody. Those names aren't familiar to me, but hopefully I'll come across them again in the future as I try to figure this out!

Tombstone Tuesday - I Danced on My Ancestor's Grave

Thank you for adding your copyright to MY photo BillionGraves!

But it was all in the name of genealogy! I swear they would have approved! The dancing was unintentional. I've been stomping on the grave of Edward and Susan Lee nee Philips for years without results...I guess that doesn't sound much better.

OK. Take a look at the photo to your left. Ignore the BillionGraves copyright at the bottom right because that is MY DAMN PHOTO they copyrighted and I'll use it when and where I like! Grrrrr. Oops...sorry...back to my point. So you can clearly see the birth and death years for Edward. For Susan you can only see that she was born in 1821. The death year isn't particularly visible in the photo, but it's there and it says 1883.

This tombstone and those of my ancestors neighboring it are being eaten by the earth. Hazleton was a coal mining community back in it's heyday, but this isn't due to a subsidence. This is due to ants and lots of them! There is apparently one heck of an ant mound (or multiple mounds) right there and it has made the ground too soft for this heavy tombstone. In past years I've visited and tried pressing down the earth (ahem...stomping) with my foot to no avail. This summer my mom and I went out prepared.

I don't know why I hadn't thought of bringing a small shovel with me before. Perhaps I didn't want to look like a grave robber, but this was a hand shovel so there was no chance of anyone thinking that. This time we brought one and gloves. So I went in for what needed to be a quick operation, but there's no such thing as quick when you trod on an ant mound. That's where the dancing came in. I'd lean in and dig at some of the grass and dirt and then I'd be dancing and stomping around making sure that the ants never made it farther up my legs than my sneakers. It took a few tries, but I managed it. I snapped the photo after and made note of the year in case the photo didn't turn out well. I'm delighted I did since it didn't. I'm sure I looked quite odd to the few people in the cemetery that day, but I was finally able to get a year for Susan's death and that made it all worthwhile. Now if the tombstone sinks more or disappears entirely the picture and information will be preserved on BillionGraves, FindAGrave, in my family tree, and on my blog. Susan and Edward would approve!

Sunday's Obituary - Gertrude Menges nee Lee

The other night I started trying to unravel the mystery that is my Lee ancestors. Edward and Susan Lee nee Philips and their daughter Mary Quirk nee Lee are the only Lee ancestors in my tree. One newspaper clipping stuck in an old family album (dubbed "The Quirk Album") made me realize that there were other Lees from that family in the U.S.

Clipping from a family scrapbook

"Mrs. David Menges

Mrs. Gertrude A. Menges, aged 42, wife of David Menges of the Philadelphia company, is dead in he (sic) home, at 2701 Leland avenue, North Side. She was one of the oldest members of the Ladies' Catholic Beneficial association, No. 590, of the North Side and was a member of the Annunciation Roman Catholic church. She leaves her husband and five children, Lee, Vera, Hazel, Edward and Estella Menges; two brothers, Frank Lee, special police officer at Allegheny police station and Edward Lee, general manager of the Lutz & Schramm company, and two sisters, Carrie Lee, and Mrs. Grace Laughlin, all of the North Side."

The first time I saw this clipping in the album I got excited and thought that Edward Lee and my Edward Lee were one and the same. There was no date on the clipping so I figured it was possible. What can I say? I was new to genealogy when I made that deduction and was far too excited at the possible connection. My Lees were in eastern Pennsylvania, not Allegheny county. This was not my Edward.

That didn't dash all of my hopes though because the clipping was in my family scrapbook so it meant something to my Lee/Quirk ancestors. There were only a few news clippings glued into that scrapbook of photos so this being saved meant that it had to be a relation. Not a direct line, but a cousin.

Thanks to newspapers.com I was able to find an article that was 99% identical to the clipping I have. So now I know the date of publication. Mine would have been the same date or within a day or two.

Pittsburgh Daily Post, 01OCT1912, pg 2

There's some great information in this obituary. It may be short and sweet and not mention her parents names, but I've got her siblings and children. I can tell you that if you search for Frank Lee in the Pittsburgh newspapers on newspapers.com you'll find so many articles related to his service as a police officer. Not genealogically relevant, but quite interesting.

Knowing this was published in 1912 tells me that I should be looking in the Pennsylvania Death Certificates for her death record. Maybe her parents will be listed and maybe something will be familiar.

I did just that and easily found her, although there was nothing familiar in the information on there.

Parents of Gertrude Menges nee Lee

Thomas Lee and Sarah McCorel don't mean anything to me, but perhaps they will someday and it's great to have the information. I've got her date of birth now as well as her date of death. So I'll be doing some searching on Thomas and Sarah to see if any connection can be found. If it can't, well I'll keep digging.

Gertrude's death certificate lists her place of burial as N.S. Cath. Cem. I searched FindAGrave for all cemeteries in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania and there was one possible match...Christ Our Redeemer Catholic Cemetery. Why is this a match? Well it was also known as Northside Catholic Cemetery which would explain the "N.S. Cath. Cem." on her certificate and we know from the obituary that she lived on the Northside. There is no memorial for her there on FindAGrave at the time I'm writing this post, but I'll be contacting the cemetery and seeing if she is in there. I might as well ask for her hubby while I'm at it for a matching set. You can be sure that as soon as I get a positive response I'll be creating that memorial and requesting a photo of the tombstone!

So, Gertrude, you and your family are being difficult to place, but I know you belong there somewhere. I'll figure it out. Who knows...maybe some of the Lee descendants from the Pittsburgh area will find this post and be able to help me out!

Sunday's Obituary - Catherine Quirk

Mary and Catherine "Kay" Quirk

I posted Aunt Kay's Funeral Card this past Friday and realized that I had never posted her obituary.  Strange, but true.  I seem to get sidetracked by so many other lines and neat things I find that far too often I find that I've neglected those members of my family tree that should have been blogged about earlier on.  So today, I'm going to share her passing.

Standard Sentinel 24JAN1961, pg 6

"Miss Catherine Quirk

Miss Catherine Quirk, 572 West Green street, this city, died yesterday morning at 10 o'clock at her home following an illness of two months.

Born in Jeanesville, she was a daughter of the late William and Mary Ann (Lee) Quirk.  She had resided in this city for the past 19 years.

She was a member of St. Gabriel's Church and the Altar and Rosary Society of the parish.

Surviving are a sister, Mary Quirk, and a niece, Mrs. Edward Brown, both of this city.

The funeral will be held from the Boyle Funeral Home at a time to be announced.  Friends may call Wednesday from 7 to 10 p.m. and Thursday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 10 p.m."

Standard Sentinel 26JAN1961, pg10

"QUIRK - At Hazleton, January 23rd Miss Catherine Quirk, of 572 W. Green street.  Funeral from the Boyle Funeral Home, 100 S. Wyoming street, Friday at 9 a.m. Solemn high mass of requiem in St. Gabriel's Church at 9:30.  Interment in St. Gabriel's Cemetery.  Friends may call today from 2 to 4 and 7 to 10.  John J. Boyle Sons, funeral directors."

Standard Sentinel 28JAN1961, pg12

"Miss Catherine Quirk, 572 West Green street, who died Monday, was buried yesterday from the Boyle Funeral Home.

Rev. Joseph Akulonis was celebrant of the solemn high mass of requiem in St. Gabriel's Church.  Rev. Edward Haggerty was deason, and Rev. Paul Purcell, sub-deacon.  Interment was in the parish cemetery, where Rev. Haggerty gave the blessing at the grave.

Pallbearers were Edward Brown Jr., James Moran, Thomas Sacco, John Boyle; James Flynn and Edward O'Donnell."

Sunday's Obituary - Edward Lee

Image has been adjusted to remove yellowing

"Edward Lee Passes Away.

Rope Breaks, Car Comes Down - St. Patrick's Day Parade.

(Handwritten - Jan. 19 - 1904)

Edward Lee, aged 81 years, one of the oldest and best known citizens on this side, died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. William Quirk, at Jeanesville last night about 7 o'clock.  The deceased was in perfect health up to Monday.  He partook of his Monday dinner as usual, but shortly after while lying on a couch he was stricken suddenly ill with what looked like paralysis and he was unable to utter a word from the time he was taken ill until he died.  Mr.  Lee was born in county Cabin (sic), Ireland, and emigrated to America about fifty-seven years ago.  He resided in New York and Nesquehoning previous to locating in Jeanesville.  His wife preceded him in death about sixteen years ago.  He was a man who was well liked by every person.  He was very active notwithstanding his advanced age and was a great lover of base ball.  During all of last season he witnessed every game that was played at Park View and was first among the spectators on the ground.  He was a great favorite of the children and often he could be seen with a crowd of little ones about him as they listened to the tales he used to relate.  He enjoyed a large circle of friends and all will be sorry to hear of his death.  He is survived by one daughter, Mrs. William Quirk, with whom he resided for the past number of years."

For those of you that have done Irish genealogy research or are familiar with Ireland, you'll know that there is no County Cabin, but County Cavan.  In Irish Cavan is spelled Cabhán.  You don't really hear the "b" in the pronunciation, but perhaps there was some miscommunication when relaying the information for the obit.  Edward, given the time of his birth in Ireland, would have most likely known Irish.  Spelling wasn't necessarily as important as it became over time and who knows how well Edward was educated.  I could hypothesize for hours, but the bottom line is they got that bit wrong in the obit.  I have no proof that Edward was from County Cavan, but this does give me a starting point when trying to continue his line.

The obituary also gives me an approximation for when he came to America, although still trying to find an immigrant by the name of Edward Lee is no small task.  Knowing that he lived in New York and Nesquehoning before Jeanesville will help as well.  A bit disappointing that no mention of his parents were made or any other brothers and sisters in America or Ireland.  Disappointing, but not surprising.  Almost as equally disappointing is that his grandchildren were not mentioned in his obituary.  They were adults and many were living together.  I blogged about the individual children of William and Mary Quirk nee Lee here.

Image has been adjusted to remove yellowing

This clipping was regarding Edward's burial in Saint Gabriel's cemetery.  It was in a scrapbook (see note below) and was obviously torn.  Not too surprising since it was clipped in 1904.    Not much information here except where he was buried and a bit about the funeral.  Still, it would be nice to have an untorn copy.  Sadly, the local newspapers from this period are gone.  At least in microfilm.  The local library has an enormous gap...which covers almost 2 decades of family members that I really want to know more about.  Next step is to contact the local newspaper and see if they have copies.  Sadly the local paper was bought out a few years ago by a larger non-local company.  Hopefully, they will be as helpful as they had in previous years. Fingers crossed there.

Edward Lee.  One of the first people that I learned about when starting out on my genealogy research over a decade ago, and I never posted his obit.  Shame, shame on me, but better late than never.  Rest in peace to my 3rd great grandpa.

NOTE:  Attached to the inside cover of an old family photo album that was passed on to me were newspaper clippings.  None of the clippings had the name of the paper that they were taken from, but it's safe to say that they most likely came from the local Hazleton area papers (The Standard Sentinel, The Plain Speaker, or the Standard-Speaker).

The Unknown Collection Continues...

This album was passed down from my Quirk ancestors who lived in northeastern Pennsylvania.  Now this photo wasn't taken in northeastern Pennsylvania, but I do know that one of my Quirk ancestors went out to Pittsburgh for the funeral of one Mrs. David Menges.  Mrs. Menges had siblings with the surname Lee and these same siblings came out to northeastern Pennsylvania for Mary Quirk nee Lee's funeral in 1913.  So there is some common Lee relationship out there.  Sadly, I don't have these Lees in my family tree and I've spent years trying to find and figure out who they were and how they fit.

So seeing any of these photographs in my album that were taken in Pittsburgh always makes me wonder if they could be  members of the Lee or Menges family.  As always, I hope that someday, someone may come across my blog and I may finally find out.

The Unknown Collection

Back of photo

Edward Joseph and Charles Hambright

Another photo from my scrapbook of unknowns.  Always hoping for a genealogically connected angel to swoop down and help identify some of these pictures!

What I know about the pictures is pretty obvious from what can be seen on the back of the card.  The boys are apparently Edward Joseph and Charles Hambright and the photo was taken by J.E. Sonnenberg in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, but I don't know what these boys are to my family. Relatives?  Friends?

Now this scrapbook was from a member of my Quirk line and my family is all from the Hazleton area of eastern Pennsylvania and this photo was from Allegheny City in western Pennsylvania.  I do know that there was at least one family member that moved to the Pittsburgh/Allegheny area from this side of the family.  Perhaps there were more?  Did my ancestors move from the Pittsburgh area and then to eastern Pennsylvania?  Possibly, but most likely these relatives moved from eastern to western PA.

I may need to do some research on Joseph and Charles Hambright.  Perhaps they lived close to my Lee relatives.  Always neat to realize that there may be other ways to get through brick walls...and maybe, if I'm very lucky, I may find out who Edward Joseph and Charles Hambright are to my family!

Tombstone Tuesday - Another Brick in the Wall

I've blogged about Dennis Dugan before.  He married Elizabeth "Bessie" Quirk who died shortly after giving birth to their daughter via c-section.  Their daughter was Elizabeth "Betty" Dugan and while I found her in the 1920 census with her widower father, by 1930 Betty is missing and Dennis is remarried.

Even though Bessie, Dennis and Betty are not in my direct line, I have spent a lot of time trying to find out what happened to Betty.  Why?  Bessie was the only other child of William and Mary Quirk nee Lee to marry and have a child.  The other was my great grandfather, Edward, and he had one child that lived.  He too lost his wife and second child shortly after childbirth via c-section. Despite William and Mary having had 9 children they do not have a multitude of descendants.  Part of me hopes beyond hope that perhaps Betty went off to live with another relative by 1930 and perhaps she married and had children.  I've found nothing to prove that...or disproved that, thus far.

I have hopes that someday I can find word of her.  She wasn't mentioned in her father's obituary.  Not a good sign.  There is likewise no grave for her in Holy Saviour Cemetery in Bethlehem, PA.  This is the cemetery that her father, Dennis, is buried in.  If she is buried there, perhaps it is under her married name.  A girl can hope.

I had hoped that Dennis' tombstone might add some additional information or chip a little away from the brick wall that are the Dugans.  Nope.  On one side of the tombstone is merely the surname "Dugan".  On the other "Auer," "King," and "Larkin".  I know his second wife's maiden name was King, and her mother's maiden name was Larkin, but I don't know who this "Auer" is.  Perhaps a clue.  I'll have to call the caretaker back and see if he can give me the names of these unknown people. Until that time, it doesn't appear that any bricks are coming down.  Sometimes I think there's a devilish leprechaun building up the wall instead.  Tricky little buggers, but I'm determined to find the gold at the other side of the rainbow brick wall.

[A very special thank-you to Charlene Teifer Stiffinella for taking the pictures of the tombstone and for permitting me to use them in my blog!]

Tombstone Tuesday - And the Tombstones are Slowly Eaten by the Ground

I've seen pictures of graveyards with tombstones leaning to and fro.  They actually have a unique beauty too them, but as those tombstones lean they are coming closer to the end of their lives.  I have a few tombstones like that in my family.  You can still read the stones very well....at least for the part that is still above ground.

I come from a coal mining town.  I don't know if these graves start to sink because of the labyrinth of mines beneath the city (that's actually a fairly disturbing thought after living there for 20+ years) or if it's just soft soil and lots of rain over the years.  Either way, it's happening and it's hindering some of my research.

As you can see the tombstone for my 3rd great grandparents, Edward and Susan Lee nee Phillips, is sinking and leaning (well maybe you can't tell that it's leaning but take my word for it).  As a result I can see Edward's information just fine (1820 - 1904), but Susan is not so easy to read (1821 - 188?)  It looks like it's 1882, but I can't be sure.  I have quite literally danced on my ancestors' tombstone here trying to trample down the earth far enough to see her death date.  My funny little Irish jig did nothing for my research, but it did tick off a small ant hill that was there (that was not a good experience).  I suppose I could have dug away a bit of the earth to check, and maybe I will do that this year, but I try not to make a habit of walking into graveyards with a shovel.  You tend to get strange looks....

So I suppose what I really need to do is to contact the church and ask what the burial date is for Susan.  They don't always have it and I may only be able to find out when the plot was purchased, but I suppose this is my next step.  Unfortunately for Susan she was a woman that died in the 1880s and the chances of me finding on obituary for her are somewhere between slim and none.  I'm hopeful only because her husband's death 20ish years later (if memory serves me correctly, because my filing system right now isn't) actually was front page news and his obituary called him one of the town's most highly respected citizens.

Edward and Susan are two of my brick walls, but I'll keep chipping away at them and hopefully find out more about them and their journey.

Sunday's Obituary - Mary A. Quirk nee Lee

Photo shows Mary's gravesite shortly after the funeral/before the headstone in St. Gabriel's cemetery, Hazleton, PA

Mary A. Quirk nee Lee was my great-great grandmother.  She was born in November 1846 in Ireland.  I don't have an exact location for her, but it is most likely in County Donegal.  County Donegal was listed on her father's death certificate (although not on hers).  I am making the assumption for now that they didn't move much and that she was likewise born in Donegal.  Unfortunately, it's one of the largest counties in Ireland and I don't have any specific location in the county yet.  Still much to verify or disprove!

She emigrated to the United States in 1850 (still looking for her on the passenger lists) and was married to William Quirk on September, 17 1868 in Saint Gabriel's Roman Catholic Church, Hazleton, PA.  The best I can make out (see earlier post) they had at least 9 children.  Mary died on September 1, 1913 and is buried in Saint Gabriel's cemetery next to her husband, William, her daughter Ella and her mother and father (Edward and Susan Lee nee Phillips).

I wish I knew more about her.  I'm fairly certain I have a picture or two of her in my photo album of unknown people.  I can even venture some good guesses as to which person she is, but since none were labeled, they are just guesses.

Today's Sunday's Obituary is in honor of Mary:

"Died 

QUIRK - In Jeanesville, Monday September 1, Mary A., wife of the late William Quirk.  Funeral on Thursday morning at 9 o'clock from the family residence.  Requiem High Mass at 10 o'clock in st. Gabriel's church, Hazleton.  Interment in St. Gabriels' cemetery.  Cortege by trolley car.  D. Crosby, funeral director."

"The Death Roll 

Mrs. Mary Quirk 

After being ill for the past two weeks, Mrs. Mary Quirk, one of Jeanesville's most esteemed residents, passed away at her home in that town at 1:30 o'clock this morning.  The end came peacefully at the time stated above, with the deceased surrounded by the members of her family.  Mrs. Quirk's pleasant and kind hearted disposition made for her scores of friends throughout this region, who will be grieved to learn of her death. 

The deceased was the only child of the late Mr. and Mrs. Edward Lee and was born in Ireland.  After coming to this country she was married to the late Wm. Quirk, who preceded her in death about 11 years ago.  Her father died at Jeanesville about two years later.  The deceased was a devout member of St. Gabriel's church, this city, where a requiem mass will be offered up on Thursday morning, with interment in St. Gabriel's cemetery. 

The following sons and daughters survive:  Edward of Park View; William, Ella, Kate, Bessie and Mary, all at home."

"Two Large Funerals. 

The funeral of the late Mrs. Mary Quirk of Jeanesville, took place from the family residence where the esteemed lady resided for almost half a century, at 9 o'clock this morning.  The cortege moved by trolley to Hazleton, where a requiem high mass was offered up in St. Gabriel's church followed by interment in St. Gabriel's cemetery.  Many former residents attended the funeral to pay a last tribute of respect to the deceased. 

The funeral of the late Daniel McDevitt of McAdoo, was held from his late home at 9 o'clock this morning.  The esteem in which the young man was held was attested by the scores of people who assembled to pay a last tribute of respect to a departed friend.  A requiem mass [sic] was [sic] offered up in St. Patrick's church followed by interment in the parish cemetery. [No relation to me, but transcribed in case anyone comes looking for him!] 

Attended Funeral. 

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cummisky of Long Island, and Miss Carris Lee of Pittsburgh, attended the funeral of the late Mrs. Quirk today." [I believe it should be "Carrie Lee of Pittsburgh".]

Mary's tombstone is now leaning quite badly

NOTE:  Attached to the inside cover of an old family photo album that was passed on to me were newspaper clippings.  None of the clippings had the name of the paper that they were taken from, but it's safe to say that they most likely came from the local Hazleton area papers (The Standard Sentinel, The Plain Speaker, or the Standard-Speaker).

Wednesday's Child - Susie Quirk

Susan "Susie" Quirk was the 2nd child of William and Mary Quirk nee Lee of Jeanesville/Hazleton area of Pennsylvania.  She passed away on August 13, 1889 at the age of 15 years and 8 months.  I actually found out something rather interesting when preparing this blog.  I have a baptismal certificate from the church for Susie giving her a date of birth of September 22, 1870.  See the problem?  If this was the same Susie she would have been 18 years 11 months if she died on August 13, 1889.

My guess is that there was another Susie.  I had previously requested baptismal records for all of William and Mary's children and what I got was rather surprising.  I received 3 baptismal records for a William Quirk born to these two people.  My guess is that, sadly, all of their William's died as children (except the last one, of course).  I guess William felt it was important to have a child named after him.  Perhaps he was a first born and was passing on his father's name as well.   

What I do know is that Mary's mother's name was Susan.  Perhaps the Susan that was born in 1870 died and Mary really wanted to name a daughter after her mother.  Don't know, but I'll be writing to the church and asking if they can double-check the records!  It's always fun to make these discoveries!

Anyway, I was given an album with some beautiful card photographs (and a few tin-types).  In there I noticed 4 pictures of a young girl.  The pictures were all on the same page and one page away from a funeral card of Susie Quirk.  I don't know who anyone in this album is for sure.  I only know that it's from my Quirk ancestors due to the dozen or so newspaper clippings referring to marriages and deaths of various Quirks.  I like to think these 4 pictures are Susie, but I'll most likely never know.

 

Tombstone Tuesday - Amazing What 100 Years Can Do!

The top photo was taken sometime around 2008 and the bottom one was taken in 1913. The bottom picture is easy for me to date (it came from the "unknown" album I mentioned in an earlier post) because it shows the fresh grave of my 2nd great grandmother Mary Quirk nee Lee (1846-1913). Also in the above picture is her husband William Quirk (1840-1902) to her left, her daughter Ella Quirk (1872-1941) to her immediate right, and her parents, Edward Lee (1819-1904) and Susan Lee nee Phillips (1821-188?) are next to Ella.

What I find interesting when comparing the two pictures is how much has changed. Ignoring my poor angle in taking the top picture I made note of two significant changes:

1) The section marker next to William's gravestone has sunken by an enormous degree, and

2) The circled gravestones are missing in the current picture! Perhaps something happened to them and they needed to be replaced. I wouldn't be able to tell from the picture if they had a flat stone, although it would be worth mentioning that the majority of stones in this cemetery are not flat markers.

You can certainly notice how my ancestors' stones are holding up. I can't tell the year of death for Susan because the stone for her and her husband has been swallowed by the earth to the point of covering it. It appears to be 1882 from the close-up I have, but I need to get documentation from the church still.

Tombstones sinking, missing and leaning. It makes me a bit sad, but must be expected to some degree. This is a coal mining town. Churches have been swallowed up by subsidences before in the Hazleton area! I should be delighted that they are still there at all. The earth eventually reclaims everything when left alone.