Friday's Photo: Bridget "Delia" Murray, County Clare to Iowa

Bridget "Delia" Murray

Source: Bridget Delia Murray, photograph, n.d.; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Mary Fahey, Iowa, 2000.

Bridget "Delia" Murray was a daughter of James Murray and Celia Linane (also seen as Cecelia Linnane) of County Clare, Ireland. [1] Bridget "Delia" Murray boarded the U.S.S. Etruria on 15 October 1899, in Queenstown, Ireland, and arrived in New York City on October 22nd. Delia's ticket was paid for by her sister, Mary Murray and she was going to stay with Mary in Dubuque, Iowa. [2] In 1900, Delia was working in Dubuque as a servant for the William Peabody family. [3]

Joseph F. Kingsley and Bridget "Delia" Murray

Source: Murray - Kingsley Wedding, photograph, 1908; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Mary Fahey, Iowa, 2000.

Delia married Joseph F. Kingsley, a widower with three children, on 11 August 1908. [4] Children living in their household in 1910 were Samuel A., Eugene W., and Susie M. Kingsley; all children of Joseph and his first wife, Lillian Gear. [5] Delia and Joseph had one child, Cecelia Mary Kingsley. [6] Joseph, a retired streetcar conductor, died in 1938 after a fall from a ladder. [7] Delia died on 25 March 1970 and is buried in the Resurrection Catholic Cemetery in Dubuque.[8] 

Delia was an older sister of Susan Murray Quinn, my husband's grandmother. When Delia left Ireland, her youngest sister, Susan was three years old. Delia never returned to Ireland to see family but did see her sisters, Ellen Murray (Sister Columbkill), Sarah Murray Meehan, and Katherine "Kate" Murray McGing as they visited Delia in Iowa. [9]

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Diana

© 2021 

1. mkf74285, "Fahey Family Tree," public tree, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/119439030/person/322005198837/facts accessed 10 July 2021). Also, National Library of Ireland, "Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI", digital images, National Library of Ireland (https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000634164#page/75/mode/1up :  accessed 15 June 2021), New Quay Parish (County Clare), Diocese of Galway, "Bapt  Oct 5 1854–Dec 30, 1880," page 75; digitized from NLI microfilm 02441 / 05.

    2. "New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9TH-4SSX-V?cc=1368704&wc=4X1L-QPD%3A1600492313 : 1 July 2021), Roll 88, vol 149-150, 22 Oct 1899-26 Oct 1899 > image 32 of 664; citing NARA microfilm publication T715 and M237 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

    3. 1900 U.S. Census, Dubuque County, Iowa, population schedule, Julian, ward 4,  enumeration district 108, page 6, dwelling 101, family 116, William H. Peabody household; digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4119847_00564?8: accessed 21 June 2021); citing NARA microfilm publication T623.

    4.“Wedded at St. Patrick's,” Dubuque Times Journal, 11 August 1908, p.3, col. 5; database and images, Newspapers.com (https://access.newspaperarchive.com/us/iowa/dubuque/dubuque-times-journal/1908/08-11/page-3/ : accessed 16 June 2021).

    5. 1910 U.S. Census, Dubuque, Iowa, population schedule, Dubuque, ward 4,  enumeration district 129, page 13A, dwelling 9, family  9, Joseph F. Kingsley household; digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/31111_4328297-00144? : accessed 8 June 2021); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 402.  Also, Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/211813760/lillian-b.-kingsley: accessed 9 July 2021), memorial page for Lillian B. Gear Kingsley (unknown–4 Jun 1905), Find a Grave Memorial ID 211813760, citing Resurrection Catholic Cemetery, Dubuque, Dubuque County, Iowa, USA ; Maintained by daveat1910 (contributor 47196943).

    

    6.1920 U.S. Census, Dubuque, Iowa, population schedule, Dubuque, ward 4,  enumeration district 140, page 4B, dwelling 76, family 82, Joseph F. Kingsley household; digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4300690_00530? : accessed 8 June 2021); citing NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 488.  

    7. “Dubuquer Dies in Ladder Fall,” Dubuque [Iowa] Telegraph Herald, 1 November 1938, p. 1; database and images, Newspapers.com (https://access.newspaperarchive.com/us/iowa/dubuque/dubuque-telegraph-herald/1938/11-01/ : accessed 16 June 2021).

    8 . Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/148363544/bridget-delia-kingsley : accessed 9 July 2021), memorial page for Bridget Delia “Delia” Murray Kingsley (15 Aug 1882–25 Mar 1970), Find a Grave Memorial ID 148363544, citing Resurrection Catholic Cemetery, Dubuque, Dubuque County, Iowa, USA; Maintained by Mr. Badger Hawkeye (contributor 46542485). 

    9. Email from Mary K. Fahey, (Iowa) to Diana B. Quinn, 4 June 2021; held in 2021 by Quinn (Virginia Beach, VA).

Find More Than Names and Dates at Ellis Island.org

One of my favorite places to visit in NY, Ellis Island, reopened last month. It was damaged last year, on October 29th, by Hurricane Sandy. Read about the damage by clicking here. According to the blog, Heartbreak & Hope: Stories of Ellis Island, visitors will have access to the main building and the wall of honor. More areas will reopen as repairs are completed.

Not one of my ancestors immigrated through Ellis Island. However, my husband's paternal grandparents and  several of their brothers and sisters immigrated from Ireland and arrived, first, at Ellis Island. 

You can find so much more than names and dates when reading ship manifests at Ellis Island. org. While looking for my husband's Murray family, I found physical descriptions, addresses, family names and relationships. 

My husband's grandmother, Susan Murray, came to the United States, through Ellis Island, on September 4, 1921.  She was the last of the six Murray sisters who came to the United States. She and three other sisters came through Ellis Island.  Susan arrived on the S.S. Carmania from Liverpool. She named her father as J. Murray, her age as 22, her place of birth as New Quay, and her final destination was the home of her sister, Kate Murray, in Westchester, New York. 

Catherine "Kate" Murray, who later married Peter McGing, sailed from Queenstown, in Ireland, on the S.S. Carmania on April 12, 1911 and arrived on April 19, 1911.  Her age was listed as 19 years. Her destination was NYC and she was going to stay with her sister Ellen in New York. She was 5'5'' with a fair complexion, fair hair and blue eyes.  Kate’s last residence was listed as Burren and she listed her father, James Murray of Burren, County Clare as the nearest relative in Ireland. 

Ellen Murray, age 17, arrived in the US on April 17, 1908 from Queenstown aboard the S. S. Mauretania.  She was 5 feet 7 inches tall with a dark complexion, black hair and brown eyes.  She states that she was planning to stay with her sister, Sarah Murray at 428 St. Nicolas Ave., NYC and that she had previously lived in Burren, County Clare.

Sarah Murray was 20 years old when she arrived at Ellis Island in NY from Queenstown aboard the Ivernia on May 6, 1903. She could read and write and her occupation was listed as servant.  She stated that she would be going to Dubuque, Iowa to live with her sister, Delia Murray, at 1428 Lockes Street.  I don't know if Sarah ever went to Iowa as by 1908, she was living in NYC. 

Diana

© 2013

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Sources

Ellis Island Museum Photo taken by Diana Quinn (2003).  

Ellis Island - FREE Port of New York Passenger Records Search. (n.d.). Ellis Island - FREE Port of New York Passenger Records Search. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from http://www.ellisisland.org/default.asp

Friday's Photo: Confirmation Revisited

Last week, I posted the above picture of a boy at his confirmation. I determined that the picture might be Francis Meehan, child of Sarah Murray and her husband Edward Meehan who lived in NYC. 

I cannot positively identify this as Francis as this could also be a neighbor or a another family member. However, as it is a Quinn/Murray family picture, I assumed that it was taken in NYC. 

Mary and Helen Quinn
Taken at Mueller's Studio

After posting this photograph, I noticed a faint photographers engraving. It was not legible and even a scanning and enlargement did not reveal the name. Scanning the reverse side and playing with the scan revealed the studio as Mueller's on 3rd Ave. I know that Mueller's was at 2196 3rd Avenue in NYC as there are at least two other family pictures taken at that studio within that same time period. Mueller's studio was just blocks from the St. Paul Church and the Meehan home. 

If there are any Meehan's reading this blog, I would love to have your input! 

Update (22 April 2024): Helen Quinn, the little girl on the left in the above photo, has positively identified this photo. The boy is Jackie O'Brien, the child of Nora Quinn and Jack O'Brien. Nora was the first cousin of Helen's father, John, and my husband's grandfather, William (Willie). Helen remembered the photo hanging on a wall in Nora's home. 

Diana

© 2013

Friday's Photo: Confirmation

This confirmation photograph belonged to my husband's parents. My father-in-law said that it was a cousin of the Quinn/Murray family, but was not sure who. I enlarged the photograph until I could see the ribbon. The confirmation took place at St. Paul's Church in May of 1927. The boy would have been born in about 1920. It is difficult to tell the exact day. I thought the 13th or the 18th, but neither are Sundays. Were confirmations always on Sundays?

Edward Dawson, son of Margaret Quinn and Harold Dawson was only two years old in 1930.

Patrick and James McGing, sons of Kate Murray and Peter McGing were also too young.

Mary Quinn Meaney and her husband, Lawrence had a son, William, who would be the correct age. They lived in Louisville, Kentucky where there is a St. Paul Church, but the age of the church is unknown.

The most likely candidate is Francis Meehan, age 9 in 1930, son of Sarah Murray and Edward Meehan. In 1920, Meehan family lived on at 218 117th Street in NYC, just down the street from a St. Paul Church at 113 East 117th Street.

Diana

© 2013

Friday's Photo: Three of the Murray Sisters

This old Polaroid photo was sent to me in the 1990s by Paddy and Theresa Moylan. The three older women, from left to right, are Catherine "Kate" Murray McGing, Sarah Murray Meehan, and Susan Murray Quinn.  I can't identify the man in the picture, but was told that the woman next to him was Theresa Moylan. 

Does anyone recognize the man? Does anyone have pictures of Kate and Sarah when they were younger. 

Diana

© 2013

Sunday’s Obituary: Mary Murray Kingsley

Mary Murray Kingsley

Mrs. Mary Kingsley

    

Mrs. Mary Kingsley, 75, 362 W. Locust Street, died Wednesday morning at Mercy Hospital after an illness of four weeks.

Friends may call after 7 p.m. Thursday at the Didesch Funeral Home from where services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday to St. Patrick’s Church.  Burial will be in St. Philomena Cemetery, Asbury.  The Rosary will be recited at 8:15 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

Mrs. Kingsley was born 75 years ago in County Clare, Ireland.  She came to Dubuque from Ireland 59 years ago. She was a member of St. Patrick’s Church and of its Rosary Society. She was a daughter of the late James and Cecelia Linane Murray and was married to the late William Kingsley in October of 1899.

Surviving are one daughter, Mrs. Frank (Sarah) Wiedner and two sons, William Kingsley and Joseph J. Kingsley all of Dubuque, six sisters, Mrs. Joseph (Delia) Kingsley Dubuque, Mrs. Edwin (Sarah) Meehan, Mrs. Peter (Katherine) McGing,  and Mrs. William (Susan) Quinn all of New York, NY and Sister M. Columbkille, Order of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Columbus, Ohio; one brother, Patrick Murray, and one sister, Julia {Moylan}, both in Ireland.

Dubuque Telegraph – Herald,  May 26, 1955

Mary left Ireland prior to her younger sister's birth so never met Susan Quinn. Mary Murray married William Kingsley and her sister Bridget (Delia) married Joseph Kingsley, William's brother. For more about Mary, click here to visit my web pages. 

Diana

© 2012, copyright Diana Quinn