1930 census and birth Thomas Gardner O'Loughlin BACKGROUND ARTIST TOM & JERRY

[smileygirl]

Hi there can anyone please help me I think I'm going mad! I was told my Great grandfathers brother John O'Loughlin went to America and his son was the famous background artist Tom O'loughlin. I looked in his biography and apparently he was born ; THOMAS GARDNER O'LOUGHLIN ON 24 DEC 1923 IN OHIO ILLINOIS.
HE DIED 26 OCT 2007 IN SONOMA CALIFORNIA.   I have managed to find his social security death index but no matter how I spell the names I can't seem to find him in the 1930 census or the bmd index!!!!!

If someone out there can pull it off I would be eternally gratefull.  I can't trace back to Ireland until I find this . Thanks hopefully  Mary.

[avm228]

Hi

Will have a look.  I don't think he can have been born "Ohio Illinois".  The SSDI shows that his SSN was issued in Ohio, though that doesn't mean he was born there.

Marriage records suggest he was in California by the late 1960s.

You may find that the moderators ask you to amend your post to remove identifying material given how recent the death was.

Anna

[shellyesq]

There is apparently a town named Ohio, Illinois.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio,_Illinois  Maybe that's it?  Where did that information come from?

I'm unaware of any comprehensive site for Illinois birth records, so I'm not sure where it is that you're looking.  There's information about ordering birth certificates here, if he was in fact born in Illinois:  http://www.idph.state.il.us/vitalrecords/genealogical_faq.htm#2

Do you have Thomas' parents' names, so we can look for them on the 1930 Census? 

[shellyesq]

I think we need to start from the beginning here.  Where were your great-grandfather and his brother from?  Do you have their dates and place of birth?  When was the brother last seen in his homeland? 

The only information I see on random websites referencing Tom say that he was born in Ohio, not Illinois, but no sources are given, so that may well have been taken from the Social Security Death Index saying that his Social Security number was issued in Ohio.  I wouldn't put a lot of stock in that.  If you were so inclined, you could order his original Social Security application, which would list his parents, as described here:  http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rwguide/lesson10.htm  However, it costs $27.

[smileygirl]

Hi thanks for messages everyone!
I looked up the website for ordering the social security death details and was really dissapointed it said it could take months to get a reply. 
Sorry I don't know the name of the MOTHER but his father is John O'Loughlin from Rosenallis, Mountmellick, Laois, Ireland. So it should say on the 1930 census that Thomas Gardner O'Loughlins father was born IRISH FREE STATE. I was looking at the births marriages and deaths on Ancestry .co.uk  but couldn't find it on there either. That is where I was checking the census also. I tried to find his father on the ships but there was so many John O'Loughlins that I couldn't tell which one was him as I don't know which year he left or his exact dob. His brother Michael was born c1857 and was the eldest child of three brothers so he would have been born sometime after that date. Most of the ships records in 1880's don't say where in Ireland the person is from which doesn't help me very much. I don't know the name of his wife either. I googled Tom O'Loughlin for his biog and it gave the dob and dod but no parents names and just information about his work.I wasn't sure if Gardner was a middle name or part of a double barrelled surname. I found one Thomas O'Loughlin who was the right age of 6 on the 1930 census as it was Apr and he wouldn't have been 7 until Dec. But unfortunately he was a negro and the one I'm looking for is definately white. The Negro Thomas was born in New York not Ohio. I thought that knowing the unusual name and the exact date of birth and place would make it easy to find. How wrong can you be?

[shellyesq]

I think you'll find that any government agency in the US will probably take over a month to reply to request for vital records, etc.  Immediate results are pretty rare in the world of genealogy outside of the internet.

Are you certain that John left in the 1880's?  If not, there's an OLoughlin family in Boston, Massachusetts in the 1930 Census with father John J., age 38, b. Irish Free State, immigrated in 1910, naturalized, a food salesman;  wife Mary E., age 36, b. Irish Free State, immigrated in 1912, naturalized;  son Thomas, age 7, b. Massachusetts, parents b. Irish Free State;  and 5 other children. 

[smileygirl]

Hi there thanks for the info. Still not thinking it's the right Thomas O'Loughlin you found on the census for me now as I have found out some more information from my Auntie in Ireland.  Apparently my Grandads brother Lar Loughlin  who lived in  America for most of his life in New York has met Tom O'loughlin while he was living there and they were 1st cousins ! Unfortunately he died in 2002 after spending a long retirement in Ireland so I can't ask him about it!!!

This is what I now know (3rd hand information) John O'loughlin married a girl from Meelick possibly maiden name or Conroy but she couldn't remember for sure and she thought they married in Ireland before travelling to America. They only had the one child a boy named Tom O'Loughlin and when he was young they both died not sure of what? Anyway we think he was brought up by his mothers sister. She also thought that he never married . I did find two weddings and a divorce for Thomas G O'Loughlin in California so maybe she got that bit wrong . It may have been that they had no children as his first wife was 35 when they married and the second wife was 45. Also she did say that she thought he was the son of John O'Loughlin and not the Grandson so maybe that's why he died when Thomas was young , he may just have been old when he had him .   

If he did have any children and any of them read this please join this free website and send me a private message and I would love to get in touch thanks Also if anyone has a photo of Tom O'loughlin the background artist please also contact me as I can't find one anywhere and I know  a  lady who  has a photo of him when he was in his twenties and she would really like to see a picture of him taken in his later years Thanks. ;Do

[shellyesq]

Since you have a date of death for him, the least expensive course of action may be to try to find an obituary, which may list survivors that you could contact.  The Social Security Death Index lists his last residence as Healdsburg, Sonoma Co., California, so I would recommend looking in that area.  There's a way to make a request from the Sonoma library here:  http://www.sonomalibrary.org/ref/faq-obit.html

[smileygirl]

I have contacted the Library in Sonoma just waiting for the post to deliver it now . It could be a while.