Genealogists: I'm stuck - do you have any suggestions?

Question

I'm really stuck on this one ancestor and I'm not sure what I can do next to find her parents. If anyone would like to take a look and offer some suggestions, that would be awesome! Here's the deal:

Mary J. Devereux/Deverix

Born: c1840 in Ireland

Died: 1892 in Chicago

Married: James Ryan on 12 Oct 1860 in Troy, Rensselaer Co, NY, St. Mary's Catholic Church

Her death certificate and obit don't tell me anything. The only clues I have to go on are these:

Her marriage record from the church lists the witnesses as a William Burke and a Hannah Devereux.

Her family bible lists the death of a Julia Devereux who died in 1904. I found this Julia on the 1900 census in Chicago; she was born c1855 in NY, was single in 1900, living with a Catholic priest as his housekeeper. Her obit and death certificate don't list any parents or relatives; no funeral home record; and she was buried in a single plot purchased by the priest. Can't find her on any earlier census.

Answer 1

When I get hung up on a line, I'll resort to general old public- domain histories and genealogies. Sometimes it helps, especially if she was tied to an important family who did something worth writing about.

Go here, do a search, then select "Full View" and start putting in search criteria. You might stumble across something useful that will lead you in the proper direction. All the "Full View" books can be downloaded in PDF format for free.

http://books.google.com/books

Good luck...

Answer 2

www.ancestry.co.uk

Mary Deveraux

Born: 1840--Ireland  

Died: 10 October 1892--Chicago, Illinois  

     Married:

James Ryan  (Alternate wife listed: Ellen Slattery B:Nov 1838 in County Limerick, Ireland)

His Birth:  1840 --County Tipperary, Ireland  

Death:  06 May 1889 --Chicago, Illinois  

    CHILDREN:

Anna "Annie" Ryan

B: 1861

D:12 May 1914 --Chicago, Illinois

      

Anna "Annie" Ryan married:

Joseph O'Leary

Birth:  06 Feb. 1856 --Chicago, Illinois  

Death:  13 Jan 1897 --Chicago, Illinois  

(Parents:  John O'Leary  &  Ellen Slattery. NOTE--His mother listed as "alternate wife" for JOHN RYAN, Anna's father)

Anna & Joseph's daughter:

Anna May O' Leary

Born: 28 Jun 1891--Chicago, Illinois  

Died: 1956--St. Petersbury, Florida  

       Married:

Edward Lional McGrath

Birth:  28 June 1893 --Chicago, Illinois  

Death:  Aft 1927 --St. Petersburg, Florida  

(His Parents --Thomas John McGrath,   1869-1915  &

Mary Baker,  1874-1930 )

World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

Name: Edward Lionel McGrath

City: Chicago  

County: Cook  

State: Illinois  

Birthplace: Illinois;United States of America  

Birth Date: 28 Jun 1893

Race: Caucasian (White)  

Roll: 1613655  

DraftBoard: 56  

Age: 23

Address: Greenview Avenue, Chicago

Occupation:  Owner/President of National Portable Building Co., Inc.--North Clark Street

Claimed exemption from the draft because of "Wife and child"

Tall height; medium build; blue eyes; light brown hair (not bald)

Their son:

Edward Lionel McGrath Jr.

B.22 May 1915 in Chicago, Illinois

D: 06 June 1991--Lake Havasu, Arizona

(Hope I found the right one)

Answer 3

One problem I have always had was how people that took Census Records in the 1800's did it.  I would recommend looking at various spellings evening having others attempt to pronounce the name out loud and listen to what you hear or do it in reverse where people write what they hear you pronounce without correcting their spelling.  Cause it could an important part.

Now Most church's keep detailed records so I am surprised by that one.  But also you might need to look to Castle Garden in New York for possible arrival records as well as other resources.  I found an excellent resource about a Newspaper called the New York Herald.  It have Birth, Death and Marriage Index for the time period of 1860 to 1880.  The complier was a man named James P. Maher.

Hope this helps some.  Also look for the 1871 Census as well in New York, the had to redo the census in 1870 cause of issues (missed a ton of People)

Answer 4

I think you're on to something with the shortened "Devrix".  While working on my family tree, I found /many/ changes.  Think of them in phoenetic spelling, consider the fact that being true immigrants with accents, and debateable education, they could have been easily misunderstood when stating their names for the census, etc.

When working on my family tree, my rule is to be very open and rule out nothing until I've found the right answer.  So while it's in progress, you have an "assumptive" family tree.  Once you have a comfortable number of branches, then prove them.  In the end, no proof means you've got nothing, so look at every facit possible, then in the end, make sure you can back it up.

I hope you get it figure out, and have lots of fun in the process!