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!

Finding Grandma

Today's primary mission: Finding Grandma! My father's mother, Margaret Carroll Jordan, passed away when my father was a young boy. Dad never knew where she was buried, and his father didn't want to talk about it. Dad knew that his older sister had attempted to find their mother's gravestone many years before with no luck. So how was I to accomplish this mission that the previous generation could not?

Well, back in 2011, I requested a copy of my grandmother's death certificate from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (acquiring this document was another adventure!). The certificate stated that she was buried on June 1, 1949 at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Totowa, NJ, so that's where I headed. Since I did not know what plot I was looking for, my first stop when I reached the cemetery was the cemetery office.

The woman behind the desk was super helpful when I indicated I was trying to find my grandmother, and quickly located the burial card for the last name and burial date - which was not for Margaret Jordan, but Mary Jordan! But now I had a location: Section F, Lot 49, Grave 4. To my surprise and delight, I was also provided with the original burial book to view, where the information was first recorded.

Original Burial Book

Again, she was listed as Mary, but the address of 145 Springfield Ave was correct for 1949 - although the book listed it as Jersey City instead of Rutherford - but this was still a confirming bit of evidence. And a new piece of information was provided, one that had been purposefully blanked out of the death certificate (part of that other adventure) - my grandmother's cause of death, heart disease.

I asked who else was buried in the plot, in search of more clues. My grandfather had three wives, and my father knows he is buried in St. Mary of the Lake Cemetery in Lakewood, NJ, and not with my grandmother, his first wife. The card for Section F, Lot 49 was produced...and contained three names I'd never heard of, all with the last name Kelly! Were these more family members to hunt down?

Burial Card for Section F, Lot 49, Graves 3 and 4

A mystery to pursue at a later time, as now I had a grave site to visit. My hostess gave me a map of the cemetery and directed me to Section F.

I proceeded on to Section F, and about an hour later, another mystery was solved. Now I know why my aunt could not find my grandmother in the cemetery when she searched - THERE IS NO HEADSTONE. Not for my grandmother, or any of the Kellys she is buried with. Section F may contain many graves, but it is rather lacking in markers.

Section F

This evening I returned home to my parents' house, where I presented all my findings of the day to my father: where his mother was buried, what she died of, why his sister could never find her grave. And he was able to shed light on one of the new mysteries - he knew who the Kellys were. Getrude Kelly, the other person buried in grave 4 with my grandmother, was my grandmother's best friend, who passed away in 1976. Grave 3 contained her parents - Gertrude's father had died in 1946, which is why the family had the plot. Best friends together forever!

Gertrude Kelly and Margaret (Carroll) Jordan