Awhile back I wrote about a flat plaque in the ground at Holy Cross Cemetery that simply said "Wm. McDermott, "66-W T James". It turned out it actually said 66-W ST James, a grave location. (I still have no idea why it's located in the St. Mary's section.) In that grave are buried William b. 1857, Daniel b. 1859, Hannah b. 1861, and 16 y/o Mary McDermott b. 1888. Mary was born in 1888 and died in 1904. I've requested death certificates for all of the people in that grave. Does anyone know how long after the check is cashed I might get the records from NY? The check was cashed about two weeks ago but so far I haven't gotten any papers. We believed Mary might have been the daughter of Daniel and Hannah BUT we've found info on familysearch that makes us question everything. familysearch.org has a death record for Mary McDermott born 1888, father John McDermott, mother Hannah McLoughlin. Parent ages are not given. Mary died on the right day and is buried in Holy Cross. That confused everything because the father's name wasn't right. Today we found another death record. This one is for "McDermott", male child of Daniel McDermott and Hannah McLoughlin, born Dec 1883. But Daniel is listed as 34 y/o and so born in 1849 instead of 1859 and Hannah is shown as born in 1853 instead of 1861. One of the problems I've had with my family has been birthdates. They changed their ages all of the time! I've even found one of them in a census using a strange name! Her name was Bridget but there she was with her husband and her children as Lucy! We can't find any of these folks anywhere else. Only William McDermott of the correct age is found in the NYS 1892 census with his sister and her husband (both verified family members) in Brooklyn. The above William didn't die until 1898. Mary 1888-1904 should be *somewhere* but I can't find her with a family member. The only Mary we found is in St. Josephs Home for Orphans in the NYS 1892 census. Is it possible to find more information about the children in St. Joseph's? When did they enter the orphanage? Parent's names? Does anyone have any advice pertaining to the various people above? I can't find Mary in any birth records. Is there a way to find out about the male McDermott born in 1883? Where would he have been buried? Is there another way to look for these folks? The sister William is with at the time of the 1892 census probably came to this country in about 1880 from Moville, Ireland. I recall someone saying that you have to ask for more than just a death certificate. Is there more available for that time period? How do I ask for other paperwork? Any help or ideas greatly appreciated! Kathy

Hi Kathy, This doesn't sound like a brick wall as you haven't turned over every possible stone yet. You requested the certificates around a holiday, so it may take longer, but you should have them soon. They should answer a few questions. On Familysearch I've seen wrong names of fathers before. In the case I was searching, the father noted was the father's brother. I think the two brothers belonged to the same Catholic parish, which is where the Baptisms were originally recorded. You should cross reference what you find on FS with Ancestry.com. You might just figure that every document is a clue, not sealed in stone. As you research deeper on each ancestor the predominant facts will surface. Every researcher has difficulties with birthdates. It isn't that your family members lied. For example, with the census, even a neighbor might have provided the information to a census taker. If a child was small for his age, "someone" may have guessed that the child was younger. What county was St. Joseph's Home located in? Every record in NYC depends upon the county first. People ask questions on the Brooklyn list about all counties. If you go into the archives for Rootsweb to the "Orphanges" list you will find more answers to your questions. Some "homes" no longer exist but have nuns residing there that can access records. Where did you send for the Death Certificates? That's probably the same place you'd request Births and Marriages. Good luck with your research. Barb -----Original Message----- From: ktzndgs via <nybrooklyn@rootsweb.com> To: nybrooklyn <nybrooklyn@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sat, Apr 25, 2015 6:47 pm Subject: [BKLYN] my brick wall Awhile back I wrote about a flat plaque in the ground at Holy Cross Cemetery that simply said "Wm. McDermott, "66-W T James". It turned out it actually said 66-W ST James, a grave location. (I still have no idea why it's located in the St. Mary's section.) In that grave are buried William b. 1857, Daniel b. 1859, Hannah b. 1861, and 16 y/o Mary McDermott b. 1888. Mary was born in 1888 and died in 1904. I've requested death certificates for all of the people in that grave. Does anyone know how long after the check is cashed I might get the records from NY? The check was cashed about two weeks ago but so far I haven't gotten any papers. We believed Mary might have been the daughter of Daniel and Hannah BUT we've found info on familysearch that makes us question everything. familysearch.org has a death record for Mary McDermott born 1888, father John McDermott, mother Hannah McLoughlin. Parent ages are not given. Mary died on the right day and is buried in Holy Cross. That confused everything because the father's name wasn't right. Today we found another death record. This one is for "McDermott", male child of Daniel McDermott and Hannah McLoughlin, born Dec 1883. But Daniel is listed as 34 y/o and so born in 1849 instead of 1859 and Hannah is shown as born in 1853 instead of 1861. One of the problems I've had with my family has been birthdates. They changed their ages all of the time! I've even found one of them in a census using a strange name! Her name was Bridget but there she was with her husband and her children as Lucy! We can't find any of these folks anywhere else. Only William McDermott of the correct age is found in the NYS 1892 census with his sister and her husband (both verified family members) in Brooklyn. The above William didn't die until 1898. Mary 1888-1904 should be *somewhere* but I can't find her with a family member. The only Mary we found is in St. Josephs Home for Orphans in the NYS 1892 census. Is it possible to find more information about the children in St. Joseph's? When did they enter the orphanage? Parent's names? Does anyone have any advice pertaining to the various people above? I can't find Mary in any birth records. Is there a way to find out about the male McDermott born in 1883? Where would he have been buried? Is there another way to look for these folks? The sister William is with at the time of the 1892 census probably came to this country in about 1880 from Moville, Ireland. I recall someone saying that you have to ask for more than just a death certificate. Is there more available for that time period? How do I ask for other paperwork? Any help or ideas greatly appreciated! Kathy ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NYBROOKLYN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Charles Van Covern was my great grandfather. He died on his 70th birthday on Jan 29,1917. I have a copy of his obituary, but I do not know what newspaper it came from because it is cropped very closely. In the obituary it mentions that he was a member of the Arion Society. I know this is a German singing society, but I would love to connect him to it.  I thank you in advance for your help. Ghyll ( JILL )