Month: July 2014

Both of my grandfathers come from large families: Vincent was one of 7, Robert was one of 9 children. Coincidentally, they each had a brother that died too young, one was Vinny’s brother Gerald.

James Gerald Lucey was the eldest son of James E and Mary (O’Brien) Lucey, born in Rochester, NH on 28 July 1908.

I found a guardianship record for him dated 23 January 1923 on familysearch.org, which is confusing, since his parents were both alive and it seems that his father is being named his guardian. Seems redundant to name a parent as your legal guardian. I recently learned that when a minor is left an inheritance that a guardian has to be established. Since Gerald was only 14, perhaps that’s the situation here. [thank you Heidi Forrester for asking the question on the Transitional Genealogists Rootsweb forum].
His grandmother Johanna (Donohue) Lucey died in March of 1922, perhaps she left Gerald an inheritance? I haven’t found any probate records for Johanna, but I’ll keep looking.

The Poet

Gerald graduated from Rochester High School in 1928. His sister Betty gave me copies of several yearbook pages, including two poems that he wrote. Betty hand wrote “this one won a prize!” on one of them. Betty lit up when she talked about Gerald, you could tell he held a special place in her heart.

The quote on his profile: “Love heats the brain, and anger makes the poet.” is from the Roman poet Juvenal. Paul Whiteman was a popular bandleader in the 1920’s known as the “King of Jazz”.

Poems from students Gerald Lucey, Blanche Davis, Horace Swaine, Annie Phillips, Kenneth Palmer, and Emerson Corson appeared in the Rochester High School yearbook.

In April of 1929, Gerald married Marguerite Hayes, the 18-year-old daughter of George and Nellie (Blazo) Hayes. The Hayes family lived just a few doors down from the Lucey’s on Portland Street.

Gerald was an usher in his cousin Mary Schlenker’s 1932 wedding to Wilfred Roy.

He worked as a Carder at the Gonic Woolen Mills, possibly under the direction of his grandfather James, they likely worked together for a short time before James retired.

Gerald and Marguerite had one daughter, Eleanor around 1933. She married Arthur Belanger Jr in 1953, they had four children.

Just nine years later, on 28 March 1942, at age 33, Gerald died of rheumatic heart disease brought on by rheumatic fever.

This post is 27th in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge series.

Every family tree has someone who “disappeared”, right? I have a few people who seemingly drop off the face of the earth, no censuses, death records, obituaries after a certain point.

My 3rd great-grandmother, Mary (Walsh) Lucey led a fairly well-documented life right up until she didn’t. This is kind of surprising, given that she lived in the mid to late 1800’s in Massachusetts, a time and place when both church and civil record keeping was in place. I’d like to share what I know, in the hopes that someday she is found.

The Early Years in Ireland

There is a Mary Walsh born 6 Aug 1821 in the Parish Registers of the Diocese of Cloyne, parish of Templerobin, Cove, Co Cork, Ireland ¹. The parents listed are Mich[ael] & Mary Thomey, sponsors William Grant and Cath Nagle. I’m not sure if this is the correct Mary Walsh but it was the only one I could find in the area in the timeframe of her birth.

The next record of Mary is her marriage to James Lucey, 10 July 1841, documented in the same parish register as the birth record. The clergyman was P Fuller and the witnesses Jim Callaghan and Mary Sloane.

In April of 1853, a Mary Lucey is enumerated in Griffith’s Valuation on Cuskinny Road (off Bishop Street) in Queenstown²[modern-day Cobh].

In America

On the 12th of November, 1853 Mary arrived in America with her sons John and James³.

In 1855 Mary, along with husband James [the only record of James in the U.S.] and sons John and James are living in Brighton, Massachusetts.

In 1860⁴, Mary lived in the BallardVale section of Andover, husband James is not listed. Her occupation is “washing” and the value of personal estate is $20.

On 24 June of the following year, she married John Hogan of Lawrence, his third, her second marriage. This is the only record where her parents are listed and unfortunately, she only listed one: David Welch⁵ , which doesn’t match the birth record I had found.
I assume that her first husband James died sometime between 1855 and 1861, but I have not been able to find a death record.

In May of 1865 Mary, husband John Hogan and her children James, Mary, Margaret and David were living in South Groveland, Mass⁶. Incidentally, next door lived the Crotty family, including 16-year-old Mary Jane who would later marry James and die in childbirth.

27 July 1870, Mary makes her last appearance in the records⁷. Living in the same house as the 1865 census, but listed as Margaret Hogan with children Margaret and David, no husband listed. John was about 20 years older than Mary, so I assume that he died sometime between 1865 and 70.

Three of Mary’s children, David, Mary and Margaret, stayed in the Groveland area for the rest of their lives. James [my 2nd great-grandfather] moved to Rochester, New Hampshire in 1880. She wasn’t living with any of them in the 1880 census or with anyone else in the area that I can find. I’ve checked every Mary Hogan in the Massachusetts Death Record indexes, none fit.

I’ve searched cemetery records, newspapers, directories, civil records, census records, to no avail. It’s possible that she’s buried in the same plot as her son John at St. Augustine’s cemetery in Andover, MA, but the church has lost the records of who is buried in the plot beyond John. I’ll keep looking, hopefully someday a record will turn up that shows what happened to her. Have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments!

<sup>1. Parish Registers of the Diocese of Cloyne, parish of Templerobin, Co Cork, Ireland, no page numbers, Film Number: P4987. National Archives, Dublin, Ireland. Transcribed by the author 22 Feb 2002.↩
2. “Heritage World Family History Services. Ireland, Griffith’s Valuation, 1847-1864 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: General Valuation of Ireland. Dublin, Ireland: Irish Microforms Ltd., 1978. National Archives, Dublin and Public Record Office, Belfast. Parish: Templerobin. Pg. 66.↩
3. “Boston Passenger Lists, 1820-1943” database. *Ancestry.com.* (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 Sep 2013), entry for Mary Lucy, aboard *Meridian*, Liverpool to Boston, arriving 12 Nov 1853; citing Boston, Massachusetts. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Boston, Massachusetts, 1820-1891. Micropublication M277. RG036. 115 rolls. National Archives, Washington, D.C.↩
4. 1860 U.S. Census, Essex County, Massachusetts, population schedule, Town of Andover, Ballard Vale post office, page 202, dwelling 1368, family 1615, Mary Lucy household; digital images, *Ancestry.com.* (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 Sep 2013); citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 496; Page: 202; Image: 206; Family History Library Film: 803496.”↩
5. Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Marriage Records, 1840-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.Original data: Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911–1915. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. Entry for Mary Lucey and John Hogan↩
6. Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, State Census, 1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
Original data: Massachusetts. 1855–1865 Massachusetts State Census [microform]. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. Town of Groveland, Lines 27-32, Household 311.↩
7. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Year: 1870; Census Place: Groveland, Essex, Massachusetts; Roll: M593_608; Page: 602B; Image: 439; Family History Library Film: 552107. Family 382↩</sup>

This post is 26th in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge series.