GenealogyBlog

I’m trying to identify this image. The photographer is the Gale Studio in Bristol, Connecticut. It is most likely a group of Doyles from Bristol. Here are some questions I have about the photo.

• When was the photo taken?
• Who is in the photograph?
• What is that item pinned to the woman’s dress who is sitting?

If you can help with any of these questions, I would love here a reply.

This week’s blogging prompt is the State of Pennsylvania. Blog about an ancestor or your families connection to Pennsylvania. If you don’t have any connections to Pennsylvania, find a Pennsylvania resource useful for genealogy research to highlight and write about. This week’s prompt runs from 1/13/2013 – 1/19/2013. If you choose to follow along, I would appreciate a mention to the Hidden Genealogy Nuggets website.

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I have a few connections to Pennsylvania. One of the closest links is through my great aunt Ella Josephine Doyle.

Ella Doyle was the seventh of twelve children of John and Esther Doyle. She was born on 6-Nov-1885 and was baptized in the Roman Catholic parish of Kiltoghert in Leitrim County Ireland. Esther’s father died when she was just about 12 years old. She set sail on the Majestic and arrived on Ellis Island on May 29, 1902 and moved to Bristol, Connecticut.

She married Daniel Edmond Salmon on 23-Feb-1909 in Bristol, Connecticut. Below is a copy of the wedding announcement.

By the 1910 United States Census Daniel and Ella moved to Waterbury, Connecticut. By 1920, the couple moved to the Bronx, New York where they were enumerated in the 1920 census along with two of their children, Leona and Daniel. They were living at 5 Whitlock Avenue. By 1930, the family moved to Philadelphia, PENNSYLVANIA where they were enumerated in the 1930 United States Census. At that time, they were living at 462 North Sixty Fourth Street, which they owned and was valued at $8,000. At the time of the 1940 United States Census, they are still living at the same address in Philadelphia. By that time, their daughter Leona had married Thomas Bergin. Thomas and Leona Bergin were living with Danial and Ella. There are two different Ella Salmon’s in Philadelphia in the 1940 census, so it was important to look at both to make sure it was the right Ella.

Daniel and Ella celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary on February 23, 1959 at Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She died on 24-Jul-1971 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Here’s a photo of Ella (Doyle) Salmon

Here’s a photo of Daniel and Ella’s Children

Children of Ella Doyle:
1. Leona Mary Salmon

2. Donald Edmond Salmon

3. Margaret Mary Salmon

Sources:
1. 1901 Ireland Census: Carrickslavan, Gowel, Leitrim, household of Ester Doyle
2. 1910 United States Census: Waterbury Ward 1, New Haven, Connecticut; Roll: T624_140; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 464
3. 1920 United States Census: Bronx Assembly District 3, Bronx, New York; Roll: T625_1133; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 175
4. 1930 United States Census: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 2120; Page: 24A; Enumeration District: 451
5. 1940 United States Census: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T627_3723; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 51-1114
6. www.ellisisland.org
7. Information recorded by my father William Alfred Sanders about Daniel and Ella Salmon.
8. Photos in possession of the author’s family, Jim Sanders, Oxford, CT
9. Various newspaper clippings
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A few Pennsylvania Genealogy Links
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• Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania

 

• Historical Society of Pennsylvania

 

• Pennsylvania State Archives

 

• Pennsylvania State Library: Genealogy and History

 

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Search for your ancestors in Pennsylvania Newspapers at NewspaperArchive.com

Pennsylvania Newspaper Archives at Genealogy Bank
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Here in the United States, all of our ancestors at one point or another traveled to this land of opportunity and ethnic diversity. Some may have come over on the Mayflower. Others perhaps came here during the early stages of this new nation. Still more perhaps came through Ellis Island or even later. What was their journey like?

Both of my maternal grandparents James Francis Fox and Margaret Nora Doyle came through Ellis Island. For those of you who aren’t aware www.ellisisland.org has most ship manifests available for free on it’s website. That is where I was able to obtain all of the following information about my grandparents.

• James Fox set sail on the Cedric from Queenstown on May 14, 1911.
• He arrived at Ellis Island on May 22 1911.
• He was born in Ballinamore, Ireland.
• He was 5/10″ tall with a fair complexion had brown hair and blue eyes.
• He was traveling to she his sister at 163 High Street in New Britain, CT.

• Margaret Doyle set sail on the Baltic from Queenstown on Oct 6, 1911.
• She arrived at Ellis Island on Oct 13, 1911.
• She was born in Carrickslavin, Ireland.
• She was 5’4″ tall with blue eyes.
• She was traveling to see her sister Kate Doyle at 22 Holy St in Bristol, CT.

There are more facts which can be obtained from the ships manifest on the Ellis Island website so search for your ancestors who may have come through Ellis Island today. To me these are just facts and figures but what was the journey on the ship like? There’s a great book called Ellis Island Interviews by Peter Morton Coan. It was published in 2004 by Barnes and Nobel Books.

Here are some very brief quotes from people who were interviewed who came through Ellis Island.

• Page 88 “…the S.S Cedric. All five of us were in one room with two wooden bunk beds. There was no porthole. We traveled in third class….”
• Page 112 “The S.S. Baltic was beautiful. I didn’t want to get off. I didn’t want to get off because I loved the blue waters….”

Reading interviews of some people who came on the same ship your ancestors came on gives to a glimpse at what their experience was when traveling to America.

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