The Family of Margaret Conlon

From left, Maggie (Conlon) Doyle, Patrick Doyle and ?

Margaret (Maggie) (Conlon) Doyle is my paternal great grandmother. She is someone whom I know little about. I am now revisiting this family and hope I can find the link between Edward Conlon and Maggie.

Edward’s daughter, Mary (Mae) b: abt 1902 was always introduced as my grandmother’s cousin. Mae spent her two week summer vacations with us in Upstate New York while visiting my grandmother Mary Agnes (Doyle) Nunn. I’d also met Mae’s brother Lawrence, and knew about George and Edward Conlon.

From left, Mary (Doyle) Nunn and Mae (Conlon) Harrington

 Yesterday I searched the 1905 New York State census and was surprised to find another child in the family—Anna b: abt 1903. Their parents, Edward Conlon b: abt 1873 and Mary (O’Donnell) Conlon b: abt 1873 and family lived in Manhattan.

Edward reports in the 1910 Federal Census that he is a widower working as an oiler in a powerhouse. A brother named Lawrence, age 31, is living with him.

During previous research I’d found the sons Edward and George Conlon living at the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum for Boys in the Bronx District #35 in 1910. The orphan asylum was located on Sedgewick Avenue and Kingsbridge Road.

Where are Lawrence, Mae and Anna? What happened to the mother and where is she buried. These questions remain to be answered.

In 1915 Edward, George, Lawrence and Mae are boarding with the John and Bridget Conlon family on Wallace Street, Bronx, New York, and then by 1917 the Conlon children still minus Anna are living with Patrick and Maggie (Conlon) Doyle at 164 East 97^th Street in Manhattan.

I’ve come up blank on finding information on Mae’s marriage to John Harrington, his death, and burial. I have Mae’s funeral card with the date of 11 September 1983, but no indication of church or funeral home. I know Mae Conlon and John Harrington were married between the time the census was taken in 1930 and 1935. I’ve looked through the Reclaim the Records index of New York marriages for the Bronx, but now wonder if they went to Manhattan to get married in the same church as my grandparents, St. Lucy’s. That’s my next step.

My challenge is to connect Maggie b: abt 1865 and Edward b: abt 1873 so I can add this branch to my family tree.

And then there is Thomas Conlon living with the Doyles in 1910. Ah, the Irish cousins.

Conlon Family

The San Diego Genealogical Society provides random acts of genealogical kindness and for a small donation will do lookups for those searching in their geographic area. So while I wait for the obituaries of Belden and Mildred Mohrman, I did some work on the Conlon family.

The Mohrmans and the Conlons are not related. But they are part of the monograph I am ready to publish on my grandfather Harry J. Nunn.  Or at least I hope the Mohrmans are!  I hope these obituaries will lead me to descendants who will know enough about Mildred to ascertain whether she was our “Aunt Millie” aka Emilie Nunn b: 1897 and Harry’s sister.

The Conlons are cousins of Harry’s wife, Mary Agnes Doyle.  The cousins are Edward, George, Lawrence and Mae Conlon.  I have found this family difficult to research.  I do not know the parents’ names or what happened to them. To find the answer to that question I wrote to the New York City Department of Records for Edward’s birth certificate and received the dreaded “Not Found” letter.  I may have to break down ($$) and request Mae’s birth certificate.

Something happened between Mae’s birth in 1902 and 1909 as in 1910 Edward and George are shown living in the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum for Boys, Sedgewick and Kingsbridge Road in the Bronx. 

I cannot find Mae or Lawrence during this time. By 1920 Edward, George, Lawrence and Mae lived with the Doyles in their Manhattan apartment. 

In 1940 Mae is married to John Harrington, Lawrence lived in an apartment on East 101^st Street and Lexington, working for the Sanitation Department. Edward married Elizabeth E. [Unknown] b: 1894. Edward worked as a civilian clerk for the police department, and George lived with Edward and Elizabeth working for a delivery company as a helper on their trucks.

And so while waiting for my obits I was able to add a little more detail to the story of the Conlon family even if many questions are yet to be answered.

I guess that is what genealogy is all about – there is always more to be done.