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The Thumb's Christmas

  Our daughter, Anne, was a prolific artist when she was young. Our refrigerator door was full of her drawings, paintings, and school artwork. She liked to create little books, too, as she was also a natural storyteller. One Christmas when she was about eight years old, Anne wrote and illustrated a Christmas story for her little brother, James. If memory serves, she drew her inspiration from a book she had recently gotten from the library by illustrator Ed Emberley. He wrote and illustrated The Great Thumbprint Drawing Book . In it, Emberley showed how to make a variety of animals and people using a thumbprint as a starting point. The creations are simple and charming. It's amazing what you can do with a blog of ink and a few black lines. It's art that's accessible to anyone. Anne's story is called "The Thumb's Christmas," and is based on our family. There is a thumb with glasses (Anne), a thumb with little hair (toddler James), a thumb with a mustache (Ji...
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ANN KELLY

Headstone for Ann McAndrew(s) at Calvary Cemetery, Cleveland.1

31 Days of Writing Family History Challenge

January 19, 2022:   Paternal Great, Great Grandmother #2  - Ann Kelly (Abt. 1840-1925)


by Nancy Gilbride Casey

Focusing on Ann Kelly McAndrew is a bit difficult this morning as I am excited about a find: I believe I have discovered what happened to Ann's missing daughter, mentioned in yesterday's post.

It appears that Barbara McAndrew, born on 7 September 1878 but missing in Patrick's will in 1892, died in 1882 at the age of  3. I happened across a death record on the website Find a Grave for a "Child McAndrew," with a father "Pat. McAndrew" named and a residence on Rockwell's Hill in Scranton—the McAndrew's known residence in 1880.2

It's a sad yet gratifying discovery. Child mortality back in those days was much greater than it is today, where an illness like pneumonia could take a child or adult quickly, and when there was no intervention to be had. The pages of Scranton death records are filled with children dying by convulsions, scarlet fever, whooping cough, pneumonia and other illnesses. Still, I am glad to know what became of Barbara, as the whereabouts of the rest of Patrick and Ann's children had previously been established.

But backing up to Ann Kelly: As with Patrick, Ann's early years are not known until she appears in 1870 residing in Scranton.3 As with most women in the time period, she would have not left many records behind. Church records have established the births of her children where she is named, but until Patrick died, little would be found. 

With Patrick's death, Ann began to appear in city directories (precursors of yesterday's "yellow pages" or "phone books"), where she would be listed as Patrick's widow. She is last found in Scranton's directory in 1911.4

By 1920, Ann is living on E 146th Street in Cleveland. In fact, several of Ann's children also moved to the Cleveland area, including her daughter Margaret McAndrew Gilbride. Eventually several of Ann's children would make the move to the city on Lake Erie, and set up housekeeping in the same Collinwood neighborhood our family knew so well.5

Cousin Tom once mapped out all the known Gilbride/McAndrew residences in Collinwood, shown in blue markers below.6 It is clear that families truly stuck to the same neighborhoods; this is a custom evident with these same families in Scranton as well.

Ann died on 16 November 1925, and is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Cleveland.7 She is buried with her son-in-law, Thomas McGarry, husband of her daughter Bridget. It is also interesting to note that while in Cleveland, the surname which began as McAndrew in Scranton, sometimes became McAndrews, with had an added "s."

Ann's death certificate noted a tantalizing clue to her family origins: her birthplace is listed as "Mayo, Ireland."8



NOTES

1 Photo of Ann McAndrew(s) and Thomas McGarry headstone, Calvary Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio, photogrpher: T. Gilbride, 2017; private collection of T. Gilbride [address for private use], 2022.

2 Board of Health of the City of Scranton, Return of a Death, Death Certificates Vol. 4, 1882, Female McAndrew, 19 March 1882, father Pat. McAndrew; "Record of deaths, 1878-1905 in the City of Scranton, Pennsylvania," database with images; FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9YG-R91L-K : accessed 19 Jan 2022); FHL film 007700813, Image 2040. 

3 1870 United States Census," database, 1870 U.S. Census, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, City of Scranton, Third Ward, p. 35, dwelling 249, family 250, Patrick McAndrews household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4278801_00139 : accessed 30 Jan 2019); citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 1368.

4 R.L. Polk & Co., Scranton Directory, 1911 (Scranton: R. L. Polk & Co, 1911), p. 443; database and images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/2979924 : accessed 19 January 2022).

5 1920 United State Federal Census, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, population schedule, ED 492, sheet 11-B, Cleveland City, line 54, Ann McAndrews, age 78; database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/76434082:6061 : accessed 19 January 2022); citing NARA microfilm publication T625, Washington, D.C.

6 Tom Gilbride [e-address for private use] to Nancy Casey, email, 16 Aug. 2017, "more photos." Emails privately held by N. Casey [e- and street address for private use].

7 Ancestry, Find a Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/154466622/ann-mcandrew : accessed 19 January 2022), memorial 154466622, Ann McAndrews (1840-1925), Calvary Cemetery, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio; gravestone photo by tgilbride, 2017.

8 State of Ohio, Department of Health, Division of Vital Certificates, Certificate of Death #68240, Ann McAndrew, 16 Dec 1925; citing Probate Court, Cleveland.

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