Can anyone find Margaret McHardy, nee Bennie?

[Jang]

I've just obtained a NZ probate, dated 1922, which left a bequest to a sister, Margaret McHardy, nee Bennie, of Weehawken, New Jersey. She was born about 1847 in Lanark Scotland. I can't find a marriage for her in Scotland so I don't know her husband's name.

Can anyone find her (and her husband/family) in the US censuses please?

Many thanks :-)
Jan

[Jacquie in Canada]

I found this entry for a Margaret MacHardy:

1920 US Census - Bronx Assembly District 8, Bronx, New York

Peter MacHardy, head, 42, widowed, immigration year 1906, naturalized 1910, born Scotland, parents born Scotland, teacher agent   
John A MacHardy, son, 18, single, immigration year 1913, naturalized, born Scotland, parents born Scotland, stenographer for railroad
Margaret MacHardy, mother, 71, widowed, immigration year 1913, alien, born Scotland, parents born Scotland

This is the only Margaret McHardy/MacHardy I could find on the 1920 census but after doing a few searches at ScotlandsPeople I don't think this Margaret's maiden surname was Bennie.

Jacquie

[Jang]

Thanks Jacquie, I think this could be my Margaret - the age is about right. I know she was alive in 1922 and living in New Jersey.

The immigration years are interesting - it looks like her grandson immigrated at the same time she did but after her son - seems odd. Does ancestry have the immigration records?

Many thanks
Jan

[murphy60]

Hi Jan,  A couple of things ----  not sure if anything works or not but thought I would put them out there just in case   


1916 and 1917 New York City Directories have the following listing:
McHardy Margt  (wid Geo)  h722  Home


1900 New York City  Lexington Ave.
Margaret McHardy  age 49 b. Jan 1851 Widow  b. Scotland  Parents:  Scotland   Immigration 1895 In US for 5 Years    Says 0 children born/0 living   Occ:  Trained Nurse    She is a boarder along with other nurses.

1910 New York City on West 4th Ave (I think)
Margaret McCardy age 61 [1849]  Widow b. Scot Parents: Scot   No children born/living  No Immigration date given   Living on Own Account  as a Lodger with the Cornell  family.


lissa

[Jacquie in Canada]

Thanks Jacquie, I think this could be my Margaret - the age is about right. I know she was alive in 1922 and living in New Jersey.

Jan

I don't think the census entry is your Margaret. I should have explained more why. My only excuse is it was really, really late where I live at the time I posted that and I wanted to go to bed. 

I found a WWI draft registration for the Peter MacHardy who Margaret was living with and found a date of birth in 1877. I did some searches for his birth at SP but couldn't find anything. I then found a marriage registration for Peter and on it he lists his father as John McHarg and says he uses the name McHardy as a professional name. The mother's maiden surname on the marriage didn't look like Bennie to me but the writing wasn't clear. I have now followed up on that and found his birth registration as Peter McHarg and his mother's name was Margaret Kenyon, not Bennie. Sorry.

I can't find any Margaret McHardy/MacHardys that were born in Scotland about 1847 +/- 5 years on the US census except for that one entry already mentioned. I even tried searching for entries in New Jersey without a surname in case there was a mistranscription but nothing close came up in the results.

I did a number of searches of the passenger list databases at Ancestry and couldn't find any Margaret McHardy/MacHardy entries that matched.

Jacquie

[Jang]

Hi Lissa M,

Thanks for the directory entries - this Margaret sounds promising. :-) In the will, bequests were left to Margaret, her sister Agnes (a widow) and two brothers - the only single members of the family. The other (married) brothers and sisters received nothing. It's almost like they were being taken care of. :-)  I'll see if I can find a marriage to a George McHardy.

Thanks again
Jan

[Jang]

Hi Jacquie,

Thanks for the explanation - using a "professional" name sure can lead one down the garden path. It does seem odd that there's no other Margaret McHardy in the census - perhaps she was somewhere else on census night.

Would you mind having a look in 1900 or 1910 for the Margaret McHardy that LissaM found in the directories? If she emigrated in 1895 she might be living with her husband.

Many thanks
Jan

[Jacquie in Canada]

Would you mind having a look in 1900 or 1910 for the Margaret McHardy that LissaM found in the directories? If she emigrated in 1895 she might be living with her husband.

Many thanks
Jan

I couldn't find any entries that matched the information in any census years at Ancestry from 1850 onwards in the US, UK or Canada.

Jacquie

[murphy60]

Hi Jan,   let me clarify,

1916 and 1917 are directory listings.

The 1900 and 1910 information I gave you are not Directory listings --   those are the Census Entries for those 2 years.  The US census period is every 10 years on the "10".   I do not know for sure if the Margaret widow of George in the Directory Listings is the same as the Margaret in 1900 and 1910  but  I do think it is the same Margaret in each census entry.   Did that make sense  

I looked very quickly for Margaret in 1920 and she didn't jump out --   will look again later and see if she can be found.

lissa