Right I’m going to have to do some serious going over things with a fine toothed comb but Slattery looks to be the front runner.
249 East 84th Street is the clincher. This is Joseph’s and Margaret’s address in the 1905 census and also the address my GGrandfather (James O’Neil) who’s mother was Joseph’s 1st cousin gives on various shipping manifests whilst working as a cattleman between NYC and Liverpool. I also have probate files from 1916 which give the address as 248 East 84th Street.
I’m going to work out the Slattery lineage and see how it works on my tree. In the meantime I’ll need to re-consider the 1874 marriage record from Newburyport. Now I have had strong leads in the past which have turned out to be coincidence and ultimately wrong but I somehow can’t (at the moment) let this drop. All opinions greatly accepted but reviewing the evidence again…
Firstly Dickers isn’t that common a surname so it’s not like we’re dealing with a Smith or a Jones.
Where the marriage specifically agrees with my records is as follows:Joseph E. Dickers middle initial included which my Joseph was (possibility this is Eugene).
Born In Yorkville, NY. Now I only know my Joseph was born in NY but Yorkville could refer to the neighbourhood in upper east NYC from 79th St to 96th St within which all the addresses I have for my Joseph fit (East 83rd, 84th, 85th St).
Parents were given as William and Catherine Dickers. My Joseph’s parents were William Dickers and Catherine Beechinor.
Wife was given as Margaret Collins. My Joseph’s wife from 1880-1919 was Margaret (
).
However lets balance the above with the innaccuracies:It says Joseph was age 19 so born 1855. This agrees with the early census 1870 and 1880. But it differs with the later census 1900=(b1857), 1905=(b1859), 1910=(b1859), 1915=(b1863), and death record 1919=(b1859). I’ve no problem with the at most 8 years difference recorded over 49 years.
It says Margaret Collins was born 1852 in County Cork (parents John and Ann). From the census (1880-1915) Margaret’s birth range is from 1856-1860 and birthplace is always NY. Again this is only an 8 years difference at most (1852-1860) but the birthplace is an issue. However I have proven records for some of my ancestors where the birthplace is wrong so not uncommon.
And then there’s the anomaly:I can offer no suggestion as to why Joseph was in Newburyport, Massachusett - all his other records are in NYC.
So do I write off the marriage record or is there another explanation?
Anyhow leave this with me folks. I’m going to do some digging and post back what I find and think. Thanks for the replies - I’ve got plenty to work with at least.
