52 Ancestors 52 Weeks – In the Courthouse

Blogger Amy Johnson Crow has challenged us with writing about an Ancestor once a week for the year 2019.  She will give us prompts to get us started.  This week's prompt is In the Courthouse.

My father-in-law, Thomas N. Murphy had a cousin named Ellen (Nellie) McDonald Fitzgerald. Ellen married Michael Fitzgerald and they had a son Gerald. When my husband and I were first married we took a ride with his mother, Mary Glessoff Murphy out to Port Jefferson, New York.  It was and still is a very cute town with many shops and places to eat.  While there my mother-in-law said that Aunt Nellie had a house right up the street and she pointed it out.

Many years later when I was working on the genealogies of the Murphy and McDonald families I wondered if I could find out anything about that house in Port Jefferson and Aunt Nellie living there.

I went to the Suffolk County Courthouse and looked for the deeds of the houses on the street in Port Jefferson.  By this time, I wasn’t exactly sure which of the houses on that street was the one Aunt Nellie lived in.  I had to look through several different reels of film, first to find the lot number for each address, then the actual deed itself.  I think I checked every house on the street and the neighboring streets but didn’t find her name on any of the deeds.

I think she probably rented the house each summer. She did live in Brooklyn her whole life and probably wanted a cooler place for the summer.

That was my experience in the Courthouse.

52Ancestors 52Weeks – Family Photo

Blogger Amy Johnson Crow has challenged us with writing about an Ancestor once a week for the year 2019.  She will give us prompts to get us started.  This week's prompt is Family Photo.

The Tierney Family Photo.

This family photo came into my possession after my grandmother died in 1980.  My grandmother, Isabel C. Tierney Moore is the girl in the middle in white.  I was told by her son, my uncle, John Moore that the women seated on the right is my grandmother’s Aunt Kitty. Aunt Kitty never married and didn’t have any children of her own.

This photo would have been taken sometime late 1900 or 1901.  The girl on the right in white was born August 1898 and looks to be about 2 or 3.

The two girls dressed in black in the middle, left to right are Frances (Frankie), and Mary (May).  The three girls in white from left to right are Rosalie, Isabel and Alice. These are the sisters that I grew up knowing.  I have not been able to find names for the girl in black on the left and the two boys on the right. The only boy in the Tierney family was John and he died in 1896.

Aunt Kitty (Katherine Delaney) was in the photo because her sister, Margaret the mother of the girls died in February 1900 and the father died in 1901.  She took over the care of all the children.   I do know that Aunt Kitty’s other sister Alice died in 1896 so possibly these are some of her children too.

I am always asking relatives if they know any more about the picture.  It is the only one that I have of my grandmother as a child and would love to know more about it.

52 Ancestors 52 Weeks – Love

Blogger Amy Johnson Crow has challenged us with writing about an Ancestor once a week for the year 2019.  She will give us prompts to get us started.  This week's prompt is Love.

This week the challenge is Love, but being it is the week for Valentine’s Day I will write about Valentine Glessoff Zito.

Alfred Zito & Valentine Glessoff

Valentine’s birthday was 27 June 1907, so not on Valentine’s Day.  She was born in Newark, New Jersey. Were they just thinking she was their Valentine and professing their love for each other? Or was it a family name? Valentine’s parents, Ivan and Alexandria were both born in Russia.

The name Valentyna is a popular Slavic name for girls, meaning healthy and strong.  I believe this was why they named their second girl Valentine (Americanizing the name).

Valentine was my husband’s Aunt, sister to his mother Mary.  Valentine lived a full and happy life.  She married Alfred Zito (Freddy) in 1929 in Brooklyn. They had one daughter, Jacqueline born in 1945.  Valentine was called Aunt Val or DeeDee by her nieces and nephew.  When her sisters started having grandchildren, they also called her DeeDee.  She was a second grandmother to all the grandchildren.  She would come to visit and play games, swim in the pool, cook and reorganize cabinets and closets.  She was always busy.  She worked for many years for the Town of Oyster Bay in the Clerks office and was very involved with the Republican Party of Nassau County.  Valentine’s daughter, Jacqueline married in the 1980’s when Valentine was in her late 70’s.  Jacqueline and her husband George then had 2 sons.  They were the love of Valentine’s life.  She spent every spare minute of her day with the boys and I am sure they returned the love.

Valentine lived until she was 94 and enjoyed every day of it.  She died 20 January 2001 in Hicksville where she lived for over 50 years

52 Ancestors 52 Weeks – Surprise

Blogger Amy Johnson Crow has challenged us with writing about an Ancestor once a week for the year 2019.  She will give us prompts to get us started.  This week's prompt is Surprise.

This week’s challenge is Surprise.  Many years ago, I searched and found the Mother’s name of my husband’s grandfather.  Thomas J. Murphy’s mother was Honora Quinlan.

One of the first things I check when I am looking at a new family is the Census Records.  The records put the family together at a particular time and place.  I knew Thomas J. Murphy was born about 1877 from family and then his death certificate.  The 1880 Census would be the first census he was enumerated.  I found the family in 1880 in Brooklyn at 517 Court St.  The family consisted of John, the head of household, his wife Nora (short for Honora), Mary, Patrick, Thomas and Maggie.  Also, in the household was Mary Quinlan, mother-in-law of John.  This was how I found the maiden name for Honora/Nora.

I then found Honora’s siblings, Jane, Margaret and Michael.  Many years later more documents became available on-line.  The wills of people who died in Brooklyn were digitized and I started checking everyone to see if they had a will.  I wasn’t going to check the Quinlan’s or Murphy’s at first figuring they were not a rich family, but I checked anyway.  I found the will of Honora’s sister Margaret from 1904, (she never married so was still Quinlan).  This was a surprise at first that someone in the family had a will at all.

The most surprising thing about the will was that she left her estate to her sister, Honora, and her BROTHER, Alexander!   Not once in all the years and documents I had found, did it mention this brother. Margaret’s sister Jane died 8 years before her so was not mentioned in the will. Her brother Michael also died before her in 1879.

It pays to check out all new databases you never know what surprises you will find.