MORE DISCOVERIES IN THE MATHEWS FAMILY - WILLIAM JOSEPH MATHEWS #12 AND JAMES J. MATHEWS

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

94-39 111^th 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.

THE CONCLUSION OF THE STORY OF TRISTRAM JAMES MOORE aka JAMES TRISTRAM MOORE

Since the last blog on my Grandfather’s brother, TRISTRAM JAMES MOORE (aka JAMES T. MOORE), I have received documents to show the new information I have found on his life and death.

The following is the WW 1 Draft Registration for JAMES TRISTRAM MOORE in 1917. This document proves that he did come up to New York at the time my Grandfather came to New York.

 

WW 1 Draft Registration Card

The new information I found is the marriage record for JAMES and his wife, EDITH.  As I mentioned in the last blog, he was living with her and her parents in the 1930 census so I was able to find her maiden name.  I received the marriage certificate which confirms my information.

Marriage Certificate #4285 October 1, 1920 (FHL Film#1644068)

I know it is hard to read but it indicates the groom as-

JAMES T. MOORE age 30, single, a mechanic, born in USA.  His Father is TRISTRAM and Mother JENNIE COUNTS. It is his first marriage. 

The bride is EDITH WRIGHT, age 21, born in USA. Her Father is, THOMAS and Mother, NELLIE BAKER. It is her first marriage also.  The marriage date is February 24, 1924.

The next document I have is JAMES TRISTRAM MOORE’S WW11 Draft Registration dated April 27, 1942.  Apparently, he is not living with his wife at this time.  I wasn’t aware that he had married so I wasn’t surprised he was living with his sister.

WW11 Draft Registration dated April 27, 1942 (Ancestry.com)

The final document I have for JAMES T. MOORE is his death certificate.

 

Death Certificate #1749 September 7, 1946

 (FHL Film#2208992)

This also is very hard to see. 

It indicates that JAMES TRISTRAM MOORE died September 7, 1946 at the Halloran General Hospital in Staten Island, New York.  The document states that he was living at the address in Staten Island for 3 months before being admitted to the hospital.  It is indicated that he is separated from his wife, Edith.  The cause of death was Bronchial Pneumonia.  I am very sure this is the right person because the information is given by my Grandfather, JOHN N. MOORE and it indicates he is JAMES T. MOORE’S brother. 

I have been looking for this brother of my Grandfather for many years.  This just proves that you can never give up.  Keeping searching the records and one day the information you are looking for will finally be uncovered.

Crashed Through One of My Brick Walls

While searching for the siblings of my grandfather, John Moore, I finally broke down one of my brick walls.

I do know the names of the siblings, Ann Wilhelmina, Mary, Elizabeth (Bessie) and Tristram.  They were all born in Savannah to Tristram and Genevieve (Jenny) Counts.  I know that when my grandfather left Savannah and came to New York he brought the whole family except his father.  His father had deserted the family around 1901.  The family came to New York sometime between 1910 and 1918.  I found the family in the 1910 census in Savannah and then I find my grandfather getting married in 1918 in Brooklyn.

I know a lot about my grandfather’s sister Mary.  She married William Cosgrove and had a son named John Cosgrove. Unfortunately, Mary and William divorced.  My grandfather promised to help his sister and nephew out. The other two sisters never married and took care of their mother.   I know the family lived together in Brooklyn for many years, except for my grandfather and his wife and children.  What I didn’t know was anything about my grandfather’s brother.  No one ever talked about him or do I have any pictures with him included.

I have been looking in all records trying to find something, anything about his life.  The databases on-line are always getting updated with new information and I always put in his name to check.  Well, this week, I was told about a database on FamilySearch.org that was updated and I check for the death of Tristram Moore.  I found the death record for James T. Moore with the parents of Tristram and Jenny Moore.  Apparently, he switched his middle name to his first name.  It also gave the birth date that I had for him.  The death date was September 10, 1946. The index for the document also indicated he was married and his wife’s name was Edith.  What a find!

I looked in the 1940 census and didn’t find him but the 1930 census had James and Edith living with her parents, John and Nellie Wright in Manhattan.  The census indicates they were married for 6 years.  I then looked at the index for marriages in Manhattan and found the marriage for James and Edith Wright, on February 24, 1924.

I will be sending for the actual documents to see if there is any more information than on the index.