Carrolls and Mulveys and Irish, Oh, My!

This weekend I made more discoveries on one of my Irish lines.  Using a combination of burial information from my trip to the Family History Library last February and some New Jersey vital records, with a few census records thrown in, I think I've captured a picture of another generation back, to my 3rd great grandparents.

I started with the information on who was buried in plot G L 13 at Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City, NJ.  This is where my great-grandfather James Carroll was buried in 1911.  According to the Holy Name Cemetery records, the plot was owned by Michael and Elizabeth (Mulvey) Carroll, James' parents.  Looking through the records of all who are buried in that plot, I found some previously unknown relatives, and a number of names I did not recognize at all.  So, time to sort them out!

The first person buried in this plot was William Carroll.

Burial - Carroll, William - 1897 - FHL Film 1411752

The plot was purchased on May 14, 1897, by Michael and Elizabeth Carroll, and that was the date that William, their 12 year old son, was buried there.  The next burial in that plot appears to be Michael Carroll himself, on April 3, 1900, at age 42.  Michael's death record indicates that he was a widower when he died, implying that his wife Elizabeth Mulvey Carroll passed away sometime between the purchasing of the cemetery plot in May of 1897 and Michael's death in April 1900.  Why there is no record of her burial here is mystery for another time!

The next burial was that of 7 month old Catherine O'Brien in July 1907, daughter of Thomas and Nellie.  Since up until this point, there have been no O'Briens in my tree, I started with the theory that Nellie was a Carroll.  So I searched for marriage records for Thomas O'Brien and Nellie Carroll around 1906 or earlier.  And what do you know - Thomas Francis O'Brien married Ellen Elizabeth Carroll, daughter of Michael Carroll and Elizabeth Mulvey, on February 11, 1906.

So now I have learned that James had a brother, William, and a sister, Ellen (Nellie).  In 1900, both parents are deceased as is his brother, so instead of looking for James Carroll, son of Michael and Elizabeth, I need to search for James Carroll and sister Nellie in the 1900 US Census.  And I find James, born November 1876, which matches the birth date on his death record, in the 1900 US Census with sister Nellie, born September 1880, as nephew and niece in the household of John Callery and his wife Catherine.  Callery here is not a misspelling of Carroll - the census record has distinct last names for niece and nephew compared to head of household.  And that implies that John's wife Catherine is the blood-related aunt, either a Carroll or a Mulvey.  So, it's back to the marriage records, in search of John Callery's marriage.  In 1876 he married Catherine Mulvey, daughter of James and Catherine Mulvey.  And so, James and Catherine Mulvey are my 3rd great grandparents!