St. Joseph's Home Franciscan Sisters on Facebook!

I just learned that the Franciscan Sisters in Peekskill, New York (formerly St. Joseph's Home) have a Facebook page!

Visit them at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Franciscan-Sisters-of-Peekskill/113565338676429

My St. Joseph's Home blog posts consistently have the most views, and the most comments. I am so glad the Sisters are reaching out to the many people whose lives they have touched over the years.

St. Joseph's Home, Peekskill, NY Heritage Day and Alumni Picnic

I just received notice from Carman Velez about the upcoming Heritage Day activities on April 25 and the July 11, Alumni Picnic.  

Here is the notice:

We are having a Mass at 11 AM, followed by Lunch & memorial of our deceased Sisters & a celebration for us all has been planned. 

Please RSVP by this Saturday -April 18th to Carmen M. Velez 646-271-7787 or 212-982-8474 ,

so we have enough BREAD to go around.

WE are so grateful to God that our paths have crossed both at St. joseph's Home and Kennedy Home

and look forward to welcoming all of you; I understand Sister Connie Gaynor( Sr. Joan) will be able to be here with us!

AND don't forget  ---- Hold the date--- on July 11 for the Alumni PICNIC. 

**If you would like to remember your favorite Sister or Group Mother,

you may want to light a candle that burns by the Tabernacle,or

supply the alter wine or bread; or

have a Mass offered... feel free to do so; we are accepting your OFFERINGS.

suggested donation $10.00. Any DONATION WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!

The Lord has always been very marvelous in sustianing his loved ones

in MERCY and LOVE. we never have to doubt HIS gracious and generous LOVE.  

God Bless each and everyone of you and your families!

Love,

Sister Anne Mattthew/thanks to & through Carmen

Any donation would be deeply apreciated.

CHECKS written payable to:

Franciscan Sisters

250 South Street

Peekskill, NY 10566

St. Joseph’s Home/Peekskill – Searching Eddie and Kathy Brown

The March 2011 blog post on St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill, New York continues to receive the most views and comments. Although my grandfather and his siblings were there in the early 1900s, many residents of that home in the mid 1900s are now searching for friends made at that home.

A recent comment posted was directed at Carmen Velez, who had commented earlier.  The request was for information on Eddie and Kathy Brown.  I passed the request to Carmen followed by an informative phone conversation with her last evening.

Carmen explained that when children got to the eighth grade, the nuns tried to place the children with local families so they could attend public school in Peekskill, or the children were sent to the Kennedy Home in the Bronx, St. Vincent’s, or group homes in the city until their schooling was finished. 

“Volunteer” families were also enlisted to take St. Joseph Home children over weekends.  Sometimes this created a strong bond between the children that to today, as in Carmen’s case, still remains.

In 1995 Carman organized the first alumni reunion for St. Joseph’s and Kennedy Home residents. That reunion was held in New Rochelle, New York. In 1996, 250 people, residents of those two homes from 1929-1979 were in attendance.  Her database of alumni continues to grow and now each year the first Saturday in April, the reunion is held on the grounds of St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill.  If you want to keep apprised of the alumni events, join their Yahoo! group.

To answer the question on Eddie and Kathy Brown, they are not part of the alumni network, though not due to lack of Carmen’s dauntless search for them.  Carmen remembers there were four Brown children, and she has a photo of herself with Eileen, Patrick, Eddie and Kathy Brown.  Carmen doesn’t know what happened to them, though wonders if they went to a family that could take the four children.  If anyone would like to speak with Carmen I can forward her phone number if you send me an email.  You can also connect with her at the Yahoo! group website.

Actress Rosie Perez was a resident of St. Joseph’s Home and she has recently written a book about her growing up years that includes her time in Peekskill.

I applaud Carman and her brother Fran for their work on keeping the St. Joseph's Home alumni group growing. This should indicate to the Sisters that their archives are valuable and should be kept for future family researchers. 

Kate and Carl Preiss

Kate Nunn was born 21 December 1893, the fifth child of Joseph and Catherina Kurtz Nunn. The family lived at 2030 First Avenue in New York City.   Kate was 6-1/2 when the city’s Outdoor Poor arrived to take her and her siblings upstate to St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill, New York.  The home was paid $2.00 a week for her keep.

I have it on good authority that Kate married Carl Preiss. I don’t know when.  I also learned that Kate died at a young age in childbirth, or possibly a miscarriage.  Kate and Carl lived in the Bronx.

So far I have been unable to find this couple on a census or any other database.  I would love to connect with any Preiss family that might have further information on this couple.

Elizabeth Nunn Siebert - Our Heroine

Elizabeth Nunn Siebert
abt 1946
One year before she died of pneumonia

It was June 1900 and the Nunn family, who lived at 2030 First Avenue, New York, was struggling. Katherine, the mother, had just given birth to her ninth child, Charles Casper, born in May. Her husband, Joseph, died in early June 1900.[1]  Katherine’s mental and physical health was frail, and thirteen-year-old Elizabeth was left to care for the family while attending to the final accounting of her father’s harness making business. It was a losing battle. On June 12, the City of New York’s Department of Public Charities arrived at 2030 First Avenue and took the children, with the exception of Elizabeth and infant Charles Casper. The children were placed with the Sisters of the 3^rd Order of St. Francis St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill, New York. Elizabeth might have stayed with the Louis family who lived in the same building, and would have needed help with their large family.

And so it is Elizabeth who holds the answers to my many questions about this family. It was she who cared for her siblings when her parents no longer could; it was she who at the age of thirteen managed her father’s affairs and came out with $300 – an amount she entrusted to her neighbor, Mrs. Louis.

Elizabeth married Louis Siebert on 25 June 1905,[2] and as soon as they were married, Elizabeth “Lizzy” Nunn Siebert began the process of having her siblings released from St. Joseph’s Home and placed in her care. 

The story goes on as this feisty, devoted young woman made sure she brought her siblings safely back under her wing.  At the age of 18 she sued her neighbor, Mrs. Helene Louis for the $300 Lizzy gave to her in 1900 for safekeeping.  Of course the money was gone, probably paying for rent, food and clothes for Mrs. Louis’ eight children. Lizzy won the lawsuit, and the article made the 19 April 1905 New York Times.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever see a picture of Elizabeth Nunn Seibert. But thanks to my newfound second cousin, Jeanne, Elizabeth’s granddaughter, I now have a photo.  Thank you!!

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[1] 1900 U.S. Census, New York, NY, Population Schedule, Manhattan, ED 905, P. 2B, “Joseph Nunn,” digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.Ancestry.com); accessed 7 Nov. 2012. NARA 1900, T623, 1854 rolls.  In this census, Katherine states she is a widow, age 59. The family name is listed under “Joseph,” probably the census taker didn’t understand the last name of “Nunn,” and when pressed for a name, Katherine, in her health state, gave her husband’s first name.

[2] Marriage Certificate number #14058.

A New Year; A Fresh Start

This was a year of transition for us, moving from Newtown, CT to Fredericksburg, VA, and getting settled into our new environment.  Luckily our genealogy files arrived intact, and are housed on shelves in our lower level Hobby Room.  Between unpacking and finding my way around town, I was able to finish the Hardenbrook monograph, and immediately began a monograph of the Tucker family. I made great progress transcribing my great-grandmother’s (Jessie Tucker Agard) diaries, not verbatim, but just jotting down the important vital record information, and other details of importance.  From those diaries I learned about her sister, Addie Tucker’s illness and death that provided an important emotional element to the monograph. 

As the year ended I was successful in getting volunteers from the Field Library in Peekskill to assist in filling genealogy requests from the archives of St. Joseph’s Home.  I am so thankful to Rev. John Higgins for his willingness to keep these archives open.

And speaking of St. Joseph’s Home, I have not given up on my Nunn family line. I just know that someone from the Eberhard family will answer my call.

And there is much to be done in 2013.  I have old photos, lots of them, different sizes, shapes, and conditions.  Sometimes a particular photo will come to mind when I am writing a blog. But where is it? I paw through many archive envelopes, each time telling myself I have to take the time to get all these photos better organized.  Many years after my father died I found his box of slides. Lying on top were yellow lined pages with the number of the slide slot and a description of the slide.  Thanks, Dad, for a great way to organize those photos.

I still have a box of material on the Shepard family that I should delve into again and continue that research.  That box hasn’t been open in almost two years.

And, I need to continue verifying citations of previous work and putting them into the correct format.

I think that's enough for a start in this new year.  I wish everyone much success in their genealogy journeys. 

What Happened to Kate?

Permit of Admission of Destitute Child - Kate Nunn

I have been distracted from verifying sources (read: tedious) for the Hardenbook monograph I hope to finish soooon, to provide additional information I have on St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill, NY. So I am taking the opportunity to post the form I was sent by the Franciscan Sisters archivist on my grandfather’s sister, Kate (or Katie) Nunn.  This family continues to be very elusive. I put them aside with the hope that sometime in the future information will be forthcoming. I post this so that those who had relatives at St. Joseph’s during this time can see what the form looked like.

Kate Nunn was born 21 December 1893, the sixth child of Joseph and Catherine (Kurtz) Nunn. The family lived at 2030 First Avenue in New York City. On 12 June 1900 the Department of Public Charities took Kate and her siblings from the parentless home and the children were sent to St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill, New York.  The City of New York paid $2.00/week for her care.

On May 11, 1906, Sister Margaret of the Missionary Sisters Third Order of St. Francis received the following letter:

Dear Sister Margaret:

    This will be handed to you by the sister of Katie Nunn, an inmate of your institution who has applied at this office for her discharge, and after a careful examination we find she is in a position to provide for her support at home, and is willing and anxious to do so.

    I would therefore recommend that said child be discharged from your Institution to the custody of her sister, Mrs. Siebert and thereby relieve the City of her care and maintenance.

Frederick E. Bauer

Supt. Out-Door Poor

Enter Elizabeth “Lizzie” Nunn Siebert, Kate’s older sister, who upon getting married and winning a law suit against her neighbor, then made application to retrieve her siblings from St. Joseph’s Home.  Kate was discharged into Elizabeth’s care on 14 May 1906, and lived with her sister in the Bronx through 1920. It is after that when I lose Kate. 

St. Joseph's Home - "One of the Oldest Childcare Centers in the Country"

St. Joseph Home Complex 1965

I find it interesting that whenever I check my blog stats, consistently the most visited posts are the ones I did on St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill, New York.  If I still lived in that area, I would be inclined to do additional research on the home and the children it housed in order to assist other genealogists.

Our research field trip to Peekskill in 2010 included a visit to the Field Library. I called ahead to make sure that the Local History Specialist was available to give us access to the Colin T. Naylor Archives where the files on St. Joseph’s Home reside.  Down in the archives I was able to browse through the files and copy whatever I needed. I copied an article written by Radford Curdy from the Peekskill Evening Star dated Friday, December 3, 1965 on the 100^th Anniversary of the Franciscan Sisters arrival in America. The article featured the above photo. 

It was Mr. Curdy who wrote that St. Joseph’s Home was “one of the oldest childcare centers in the country.”  He reports that the Franciscan Sisters order began in 1857 in Gemona, Italy; in 1865 the Franciscan Friars requested teachers for the German parish of St. Francis of Assisi in New York City.  Three sisters of the Franciscan order answered the call and arrived in New York in December 1865. The need for teachers and childcare expanded during this time, which prompted the order to purchase the Townsend Estate in Peekskill. The property had a wonderful location as it overlooked the Hudson River.

The sisters first opened a boarding school for girls, Our Lady of Angels Academy. That academy was moved to Highland Falls, later into Ladycliff College, in order for the facility to house more children, male and female and become known as St. Joseph’s Home. 

When St. Joseph’s Home opened in 1879 it had 25 children; by 1899, just a year before my grandfather was there, the home housed 1,100 children.

I thank Mr. Curdy for his article and Franciscan Sister M. Jane Thomas Gorman for her March 1, 1947 Fordham University Dissertation for the history on St. Joseph’s Home.

Please see Carmen Velez’ comment on my March 10, 2011 blog post on St. Joseph’s Home if you wish to connect with other St. Joseph’s alumni.  There is a Facebook page and alumni events listed. 

Joseph Charles Nunn

One of my grandfather’s brothers was Joseph Charles Nunn. Joseph was born 23 August 1895 in Manhattan, New York. On June 12, 1900, just short of his 5^th birthday, officials from the Department of Public Charities Outdoor Poor placed him along with his other siblings in St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill, NY where payment for his care was $2.00 per week. His physical condition was “good,” though he had “something” on the back of his head. His mental condition was “good.”  Joseph was discharged on August 25, 1910 and placed with Mr. C. Finnerty of Peekskill, NY.

 Joseph Charles Nunn’s Draft card (1917) states he is 21 years, living at Gallows Hill, RD #2 Peekskill, NY. He was a farm hand at Gallows Hill in Cortlandt. He reported poor eyesight.  In 1920 Joseph worked for Theodore Shaw, manager of a private estate. Joseph worked as a laborer on this dairy farm in Philipstown, Putnam County, New York.  By 1930, Joseph was a farm laborer on a farm on Logans Hill Road, Harding, Town of Morris, New Jersey.  I have had no luck tracing Joseph any further.  I am not sure if he stayed in New Jersey or returned to work on farms in New York.  I would love to hear from anyone having further information on Joseph Charles Nunn.  

Wedding Wednesday - Family Lines Continued

Not a thought was given to the rich family history being united on this wedding day.

From left front row: Carol Agard Nunn, Mary Nunn Maki, Ray Maki, Kathryn Cutter Maki, Elmer Maki; from left back row: Ed Nunn, Merritt and Maude Hardenbrook Agard, Mary Doyle Nunn, Emil Maki; behind Ed is Martha Cutter.

When my mother-in-law passed away on May 4, we inherited her remaining photo albums, scrapbooks and journals.  Going through her albums, my husband pulled out our wedding picture and said, “Except for us, everyone else is gone.”  That statement confirmed for me why we work so hard on researching and documenting our family lines.

What we didn’t know on our wedding day was:

·      Ray’s grandfather’s name wasn’t originally Maki; it was Tenkula. Emil Tenkula emigrated from Finland in 1904 to escape serving in the Russian army. He came to the U.S. through Canada and worked in the Hibbing, Minnesota mines where he changed his name to “Maki” to make sure he got his paycheck. It was there he met Eva Nara.

·      Merritt Agard’s mother, Jessie Tucker Agard’s ancestors go back to Rev. John Lowthropp who was jailed at Newgate prison in London for religious reasons. Upon arriving in the new world abt. 1634 he documented much of Barnstable’s early history and his Bible resides in the Sturgis Library there.  The founding member of the Agard family was actually Esther, wife of John. She was six months pregnant when she arrived on the shores of Massachusetts in 1683. John died just upon or before arrival.  Esther arrived in New England just seven years after the horrible and deadly King Philip’s War.

·      Carol Agard Nunn wanted to be a dress designer. That dream was set aside to get married, raise three children and operate what became a renowned Ithaca, NY area restaurant.

·      Ed Nunn’s father, Harry, was not an only child, but had ten siblings and tragic growing up years. Information on this family, as well as St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill, NY can be found in earlier blogs.

·      Mary Doyle Nunn also wasn’t an only child, but had several siblings, with only one living any length of time. She was Winnie Doyle; at this time I have no information on Winnie.

·      Maude Hardenbrook Agard’s father’s family emigrated from Germany to Amsterdam to New Amsterdam. Then to New Jersey, and on to Seneca County, New York. I am researching the Hardenbrook family line now. 

·      My husband produced a monograph of the Cutter line back to Elizabeth Leatherhead Cutter who arrived on our shores abt. 1640. He says with a name like “Leatherhead,” he doesn’t need to go back any farther. I think the name is intriguing and I bet he will be researching the Leatherhead line before too long.

We are excited that our family lines are so steeped in history; consequently our research honors each one of these family members who honored us by their presence at our wedding.  Happy searching – you never know what you will find!

St. Joseph's Home - Peekskill, NY - Nunn Children

I have noticed a number of views on the blogs I did regarding St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill, New York, so I thought I would expand on that information and add more photos.

In June of 1900 the Nunn family, who lived at 2030 First Avenue, New York, was struggling. Katherine had just given birth to her eleventh child, Charles Casper, born in May 1900. Her husband, Joseph, died in early June 1900. Thirteen-year-old Elizabeth was left to care for her siblings while attending to her father’s business. It was a losing battle. On June 12, 1900 the City of New York’s Department of Public Charities arrived at 2030 First Avenue and took the children, with the exception of Elizabeth and infant Charles Casper. The children were placed with the Sisters of the 3^rd Order of St. Francis St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill, New York. Elizabeth might have stayed with the Lewis family who lived in the same building, and who also had a large family. Baby Charles died in September of that year. The mother, Katherine, was admitted to the Manhattan State Hospital on June 26, 1900 for dementia. She died there seventeen years later on May 12, 1917 of Typhoid Fever. It is possible Katherine is buried on Hart’s Island, NY.

“Charity is the very center of Catholicism,” states the dissertation of Sister M. Jane Thomas Gorman FMSC.[1] During the mid-1800s, the Catholic Church reacted to the numbers of children throughout the country that no longer had family support. Catholic children were being placed in non-Catholic institutions, which threatened the core of their Catholic heritage.

St. Joseph's Home, Peekskill, NY
November 2010

In 1879 the New York Department of Public Welfare requested the Franciscan Missionary Sisters accept orphans at their property located in Peekskill, NY on the banks of the Hudson River; St. Joseph’s Home was born. The home took in destitute or orphaned children ages two to sixteen. 

On July 24, 1880 the first boy was admitted, and by 1899 St. Joseph’s was like a miniature city housing 1100 residents. The school offered traditional education courses, technical training, sewing, household arts, shoemaking, carpentry, baking and gardening. Travis Point, on the Hudson, provided bathing accommodations.  For chores done, the children received a daily salary of 12 cents; one cent fine for not doing their lessons was imposed. “St. Joseph’s was one of the first institutional schools to be placed under the New York State Regents.”[2]

St. Joseph Dormitory

In 1932, while chaplain at St. Joseph’s Home, Fr. Michael McGuire wrote the New Baltimore Catechism that was published in 1942.

Chapel at St. Joseph's Home, Peekskill, NY
November 2010

The school celebrated its 100^th anniversary in 1979; an arson fire destroyed the buildings and the school was taken down in January 1980. 

In 1904 the home housed a total of 1,009 children, 711 of which were from New York City. By 1905, residents numbered 1,056, with 787 from New York City. The 1905 New York Census for the Fifth Election District Peekskill, NY St. Joseph’s Home shows the Nunn children in residence:

Emma Nunn   age 6

Emilie Nunn   age 8

Joseph Nunn  age 9

Katie Nunn    age 12

George Nunn  age 13

One hundred ten years separate me from when my grandfather walked these grounds of St. Joseph’s Home. Visiting there provided me with a better understanding of his growing up years. And if he only knew – maybe he does – that I found him a century later.

St. Joseph's Home - All Saints Day 2010

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[1] Gorman, Sr. M. Jane Thomas, Fordham University Dissertation by. Tertiary Franciscan Missionary Sisters Sacred Heart, 1946 on St. Joseph’s Home, Peekskill, NY, April 15, 1946. Report at Westchester County Archives.

[2] Gorman, Sr. M. Jane Thomas, Fordham University Dissertation. 

Harry Nunn - Mary Nunn Maki - 110 years later...

Today I stood on the grounds of St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill, NY where my grandfather, Harry Nunn and his siblings were sent in 1900. How different it must have been for these children who had only known the streets around 2030 First Avenue in New York City.  I imagine the surrounding forests and wide Hudson River would have been scary for a ten year old. I can only hope that Harry and his siblings thrived under the care of the sisters there.  The children had to go through a quarantine period, getting all the proper medical care before joining the 1,000 children at the school. But once there, they were integrated into a family style setting. Individuality was encouraged and the sisters did everything possible to safeguard each child’s “inherent right to his personality.”  I felt very close to my grandfather today, and now know why he turned out so well.

St. Joseph's Home, Peekskill, NY

In the 1905 NY Census viewed at the Westchester, NY Archives, I found five of my grandfather’s (Harry Nunn) siblings at St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill, NY – Emma Nunn, Emilie Nunn, Joseph Nunn, Katie Nunn and George Nunn. There, also, I found a 1946 doctoral dissertation by Sister M. Jane Thomas Gorman, FMSC on St. Joseph’s Home.  I learned from that dissertation that this home began in 1879 when the New York Department of Public Welfare requested the Franciscan Missionary Sisters accept orphans at their property in Peekskill, NY. During the mid-1800s many children lacked family support.  By 1899 St. Joseph’s was similar to a small city housing 1,100 residents. The nuns at St. Joseph’s offered traditional education, becoming one of the first institutions to be placed under the New York State Regents, as well as technical training, carpentry, sewing, shoemaking, etc. According to the “Notice of Discharge, Transfer, Home, or Death,” document, Harry had been placed on a farm in Middletown, N.J. on May 12, 1904.

In 1979 an arson fire destroyed the buildings, and the school was taken down in 1980. However, the Franciscan Missionary Sisters continue to have a small office in Peekskill, and therein are where the records of the Department of Public Charities Out-Door Poor children are kept. I am forever thankful that the Sisters keep these archives safe and shared the documents with me. 

 Harry Nunn - 1950s