I am including my 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks # 12 so you know
who I am so excited to tell about.
WILLIAM MATHERS “The Actor and
Dancer” #12 52
ANCESTORS 52 WEEKS
WILLIAM MATHERS/MATHEWS/MATTHEWS was born in May of 1890 in New York City. His parents were James Mathers and Cecelia
O’Brien.
This person is a
mystery. I found him in the census from
1890 to 1940. William was first living
with his parents in Manhattan and then after 1910 he lives with his
grandmother, until she dies in 1933. He continued to live in that same house in
Richmond Hill, Queens, New York in the 1940’s with his Aunt Katie Morris and
cousin Bunny Morris.
William’s parents,
James and Cecelia, are a mystery also. I
can’t find death records, census records after 1910, directories or cemetery
listings for either parent.
William Mathers worked
in the theater on Broadway, sometimes as a prop man but most times as an actor
as indicated in the census.
My father remembers
him practicing tap dancing in his room on a piece of plywood.
Everyone in the family
I have asked would say “Oh yes Willie was an actor” but no one really knew
anything about him. I have checked for
death records and cemetery listings and have not found him.I looked at some
“Variety” magazines for any mention of him in the theater but never found
him.
At the time of this blog in 2014 that was all I knew about WILLIAM
JOSEPH MATHEWS. This past week I
searched again on Ancestry.com for several people that I have very few
documents for their files. When I
searched for WILLIAM MATHEWS a WW11 Draft Registration card was indicated to
belong to him. I almost passed it by, it
was from Saranac Lake, in upstate New York.
All I ever knew was he lived in Manhattan and Queens most of his
life. He was a Broadway, dancer, actor
and prop man. But I took a look just
because Ancestry hinted it might be him.
WOW! It was
definitely him. He gave his occupation
as actor and his closest relative Catherine Morris in Queens. That was certainly his Aunt Katie Morris with
whom he had lived with since the 1910 NY Census. The only new thing about this Draft
Registration document was that he was living at the Will Rogers Memorial
Hospital in Saranac Lake, New York.
WW11 Draft Registration
Ancestry.com
WW11 Draft Registration Pg 2
Ancestry.com
I did some research on the hospital and found that it was
for people in the entertainment industry who had contracted Tuberculosis (TB). According to several books and articles I
have read on the subject, the clean fresh air was supposed to help cure the
body of TB. They had special porches on
all the houses (which they called cottages) all screened in with long deck
chairs where the patients would lay all day. They were given very healthy food
and when they were feeling up to it they would walk about the town for
exercise.
Will Rogers Memorial Hospital – Saranac Lake
Originally National Vaudeville Artists Home
Gallos,
Philip L., Cure Cottages of Saranac Lake,
Historic Saranac Lake, 1985. ISBN 0-9615159-0-2
Some people might remember being asked at movie theaters to
donate money to the Will Rogers Memorial Foundation to help the people in the
movie and theater occupations. After the
hospital in Saranac Lake closed because of the vaccine for TB, they open
another hospital in Los Angeles for the sick in the entertainment industry.
I called the Town of Saranac Lake Clerk’s office to see if WILLIAM
MATHEWS died up there, but no he didn’t so I thought great he got cured. The Clerk told me to call the Public Library
because they might have some other documents about the hospital or WILLIAM
MATHEWS. The woman at the library was
very helpful and looked through a lot of documents on the history of the
hospital and the cottages. She also
didn’t find any indication he died in Saranac Lake. She did find a patient card from the hospital
indicating that WILLIAM JOSEPH MATHEWS did indeed have TB in 1946. The Draft Registration was in 1942, so he was
in the hospital for 4 years that I know of.
REPORT
OF A CASE OF
TUBERCULOSIS
FULL
NAME
William Mathews
PRESENT
ADDRESS Will
Rogers Memo.
Former
Address
94-39
111th St.
Richmand
Hill, L.I.
Age—55
occupation
_stage__hand__
Incipient?
Advanced? Far Advanced?
T.B
Pos. Present P-3 Plus Absent
Has
patient been instructed as to disposal of
sputum
and all other means of prevention ?
yes
Saranac
Lake, N.Y.___6/24/1946
Geo
Wilson
M.D.
Attending
Physician
I found all this information within a couple of days (after
looking for him for 30 years) but still didn’t know when or where he died.
JAMES J. MATHEWS
Father of William Joseph Mathews
In the meantime, I have been working on WILLIAM JOSEPH
MATHEWS’ father, JAMES J. MATHEWS. JAMES
was my Grandfathers brother. My Grandfather was WILLIAM JOSEPH MATHEWS born in
1883. I finally found JAMES J. MATHEWS
death certificate. He died in 1931.
Death Certificate#520 17 January 1931
James J. Mathews
Family History Library Film #2169985
I noticed on the document that he is buried in ST. JOHN’S
CEMETERY. I was very happy because the
cemetery has a web site and database to find exactly where the person is buried
in the cemetery. I searched on web site
and he didn’t show up. I called the cemetery
and after several tries the women finally found him under MATTEWS instead of MATHEWS. So I asked her if there was anyone else
buried with him. I always ask but most
cemeteries want you to pay for the internment list. This woman was wonderful. She said a WILLIAM JOSEPH MATHEWS was buried
with him and he was buried April 27, 1953.
What luck! The father
and son are buried together in St. John’s Cemetery. They are buried in Section 25 Row M Grave 99. The plot was paid for by JAMES J. MATHEWS’S second wife ANNIE.
I then searched for JAMES J. MATHEWS marriage certificate to
ANNIE. They were married in 1920. The very important information on the
certificate to me was the line that indicted JAMES was widowed. I have never been able to find his first
wife, mother of his son, WILLIAM JOSEPH.
I found them in the 1900 census and then she isn’t in any after
that. I was wondering did she die or did
they get divorced and she remarried.
This death certificate gives me information so that I can, I hope, find
her death certificate.
Marriage Certificate#4285 1 October 1920
James J. Mathews & Annie Keehn
Family History Library Film#1644063
I am very excited about these documents and
information. The only thing left to get
is the Death Certificate for William Joseph Mathews. It will take a while I have to send to the New
York City Health Department for the document.
I wonder if he did get cured of TB and died of something else or was it
the TB. When I do receive the document I
will blog about the information on the certificate.
