Look Again

My recent monograph on the Nunn family begins at the time Joseph Nunn and Catherina Kurtz arrive in New York Harbor and pass through Castle Garden. I located who I believe to be Joseph and Catherina on passenger lists and have the ships’ names listed in the manuscript. Their fascinating story unfolds from there.

I now want to search Joseph’s roots in Germany, a process I have been too timid to tackle before.  Attendance at our German SIG has provided the incentive needed to start that process. I have begun to locate and sort out the many German resources.

Although I checked FamilySearch.org many times during the development of the monograph, the site did not have anything new on this family line. As I begin another chapter in the story, I looked again.

Look again. New to the site is Joseph’s death certificate information!!!!  Up to this point I did not have a death date for him, though I suspected it was sometime in May 1900.  Actually, Joseph Nunn, harness maker, died 28 May 1900, was buried 30 May 1900 in St. Michael’s Cemetery, East Elmhurst, New York.

A Google search for St. Michael’s Cemetery told me the cemetery is in the borough of Queens and is one of the oldest religious cemeteries in New York. It is owned and operated by the Episcopal Church. I thought, there must be another St. Michael’s cemetery, as surely Joseph would have been buried in a Catholic cemetery.

Look again. After searching for other St. Michael’s Cemeteries in the Metropolitan New York area, I went back to St. Michaels and read further.  I learned the cemetery was purchased in 1852 by the Rev. Thomas McClure Peters, and it was his intention to provide “a final dignified resting place for the poor.” Parcels of the cemetery were assigned to area churches and institutions for these burials.

It now made sense why Joseph was buried there. I sent off an email request for information on Joseph’s burial and asked if there was anyone else – his children – buried in the section for the poor.

My family continues true to form, however, and although FamilySearch.org has Joseph’s death information and the birth of his many children, no images are available!

But, I will . . . Look again.