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Immigrant Ancestors and WWII Alien Registrations

Image: rawpixel   It never occurred to me that my immigrant ancestors who did not naturalize after they came to the United States would be considered aliens. But an Ancestry hint for my great-grandmother Catherine Cassidy Baker tipped me off to this fact and a new Ancestry collection as well. The Alien Registration Act of 1940 required any non-citizen entering and living within the U.S. to register within four months at a local post office. 1  The process included completing a questionnaire consisting of 15 questions and to be fingerprinted. This requirement allowed the U.S. government to know the whereabouts and activities of the resident aliens, including where they worked, what sorts of clubs or organizations they belonged to, etc., in an effort to stem any anti-American activities. It was also intended to protect individuals from suspicion or harassment from others who might have learned of their status as a non-citizen. In a statement upon signing the ...
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MARGARET MCANDREW

Margaret McAndrew Gilbride 1


31 Days of Writing Family History Challenge

January 9, 2022:   Paternal Great Grandmother #1  - Margaret McAndrew (1870-1955)


by Nancy Gilbride Casey

I've always had the sense that my great grandmother Margaret McAndrew—who was married to yesterday's subject John Joseph Gilbride—was a tough cookie. The way my Dad talked about his grandmother, that she was widowed in 1937 and had to make ends meet, that she owned several houses in and around our Cleveland home on E. 147th Street, along with a few snippets from newspaper accounts, all paint that picture.  

Margaret was born in Scranton, Luzerne, Pa., on 7 November 1870, to Patrick McAndrew and Ann Kelly.2 She married John on 7 October 1896, also in Scranton.3 By 1920, they were living in Cleveland.4

In between these times, a few incidents brought her to the attention of Scranton newspapers.

In the delightfully titled 1913 article, "Polish Wedding Causes Trouble," Margaret took objection to being "...called an Arabian," while watching a neighborhood Polish wedding.

Yes, it is as confusing as it sounds! 

When happening upon the wedding festivities, Margaret's son Clarence noted his neighbor dancing with "the Polanders."

"If I were an Arabian I would go in there myself and dance," volunteered Mrs. Gilbride."

"Oh, you Arabian?" playfully called Mrs. Gallagher," (the neighbor).

"Mrs. Gilbride resented these remarks. She said she was no Arabian and wouldn't permit anyone to say she was."  The exchange continued until, in Margaret's words, "There were some words spoken..."  Mrs. Gilbride took this grievance to the neighborhood alderman, who ultimately dismissed the case.5

In 1916, she laid charges at a school board meeting against her son Harold's teacher, a Mrs. Nora O'Malley, stating that he, "...had been treated badly by his teacher for some time," and "suffered indignities," to the point that she refused to send him to the local elementary school. She instead attempted to send him to another school, but was refused admittance by the school janitor, and then took her grievances to the school board. (In the end the squabble was referred to the educational committee, based on the revelation that the dust up was likely precipitated by a neighborhood quarrel - the ladies were neighbors.) 6

In 1937, Margaret lost her husband John, just 42, after a tragic explosion in Cleveland's Aetna Rubber Plant.7 After her husband's death, Margaret owned several houses on E. 147th Street; perhaps rental income kept her afloat in the ensuing years. Or, perhaps she received some sort of settlement from Aetna.

All in all Margaret strikes me as a woman who brooked no nonsense, who did what needed to be done, and who was the glue that kept her family together after her husband died.


BONUS PHOTO: John and Margaret McAndrew Gilbride, and Joseph J. Gilbride.

John, Margaret and my Grandpa Joseph Gilbride, 1936.8

NOTES

1 Photo of Margaret McAndrew Gilbride, photographer/date/location unknown; private collection of T. Gilbride [address for private use], 2022.

2 B.S. Shuta, transcriber, Holy Rosary Church (Scranton, Luzerne, Pennsylvania), Baptismal Register 1860-1887, p. 59, entry for baptism of Magaret McAndrew, b. 13 Nov. 1870; transcribed from digital images, "Teresa M. McAndrew Memorial Catholic Record Collection," Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical Society, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

3 Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Marriage records, No 15064, Gilbride-McAndrew, 1896, Register of Wills and Orphans Court; image, "Marriage License 1885-Present," Lackawanna Public Inquiries (http://www.ic-access.com:8300/pgms/rvimain.pgm?RQSTYP=RVIVIEW&RQSDTA=MAAAHAHV&LIB=LPARVDDM&Deltyp=P&host=www.ic-access.com& : accessed 1 Feb 2019);

4 1920 United States Federal Census, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, population schedule, supervisor district 19, enumeration district (ED) 942, sheet 12B, dwelling 190, house 224, 916 E. 147th Street, John Gilbride, age 44; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4384964_00593 : accessed 8 January 2022); citing NARA microfilm publication T625 ; image 24 of 51.

5 "Polish Wedding Causes Trouble," The Tribune, (Scranton, Pa.), 15 August 1913, p. 3, col. 4; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/48274582/ : accessed 9 Jan. 2022).

6 "School Board Hears Charges from Mother," The Tribune, (Scranton, Pa.), 25 April 1916, p. 1, col. 3; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/49597769/ : accessed 9 Jan. 2022).

7 "Boiler Explosion Fatal to Worker," The Evening Independent (Massillon, Oh.), 23 July 1937, p. 11, col. 4; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26418949/boiler-explosion-fatal-to-worker/ : accessed 9 January 2022).

8 Photo of John, Margaret and Joseph Gilbride, 29 September 1936, photographer/location unknown; private collection of R. Firestone [address for private use], 2022.

 

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