East 14th Street, New York in 1880s

[Erato]

Number 273 East 14th St. is currently located between 2nd and 3rd Avenues at the boundary between the East Village and Gramercy neighborhoods.  Of course the numbering system may have changed, but this is probably fairly close to its location in 1880 to 1900.  The East Village was a working class area inhabited by many European immigrants.  Gramercy was and is an upscale neighborhood.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Village,_Manhattan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramercy_Park

[loobylooayr]

Thank you Erato,

Because I cannot find Jane on 1900 Census or find a death for her , I have no idea what happened to her. I was trying to establish what kind of neighbourhood she lived in to give me a clue of her position in life with her second husband William Harris.

Looby

[Erato]

Unfortunately, William and Jane Harris are common names.  Do you have birth dates or occupations for them to help narrow the search?  Have you found them on a passenger list?

[loobylooayr]

Hi again,

Jane Harris was born Jane Dorman circa 1845/46 at Leswalt in Wigtownshire Scotland.
I do not know where or when she married William Harris - the newspaper article says they have been in US from July 1880 and they came from England (I suspect William Harris was English)  Therefore I can't locate them on 1880 US Census as they may not have been in the country  . I have no knowledge of any occuptions.

Harris was her second husband (if indeed they were married) - Jane had previously been married in 1868 in Stranraer, Wigtownshire to Michael Murray and had a son Thomas with him also in 1868. 

They left their son with her mother to cross Atlantic either to USA or Canada - what happened after that to Michael Murray? I don't know. I assume he died - but he may not  - they could have separated.  Jane's son never joined her in USA.
The last Census I have Jane on is the Scottish 1861 - she is 15 and no occupation is listed. Being a rural area , she would most likely have been involved in agricultural work.

Thanks for you interest and help


Looby   

[Erato]

Okay, I'll keep looking.  I'm a little confused, though.  Did she cross the Atlantic with Michael Murray or with William Harris?

[loobylooayr]

Hi Erato,
From the information I have from a descendant of her son Thomas Murray - Jane and Michael Murray migrated to USA or Canada without him and he was raised in Scotland with his grandmother. Thomas is on the 1871 Census in his widowed grandmother's household in Wigtownshire and I can't find Jane & Michael Murray in Scotland on this Census.

The newspaper article seems to suggest that Jane and William Harris migrated in July 1880 to New York.

Now whether Jane had never left North America and has been there since circa 1870 or whether she returned to either Scotland or England with or without Michael Murray,  I have so far not been able to ascertain. I can't find a marriage to Harris anywhere.

Any other info I could find is a bonus. Jane is a bit of a mystery.

Looby

[Erato]

No luck so far.  For what it's worth [which is precious little], there is a tree at FamilySearch which says that Jane died in 1895  -  there is no source for that 'fact' and no location or precise date for the death.  And the tree does not mention William Harris or any time spent in the United States or Canada.

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/LK44-CXR

[Jomot]

There is a newspaper article in August 1887 about The Railway Murder saying that the police wanted to interview Jane again but were unable to locate her as she had abandoned her lodgings leaving two months rent unpaid

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01mw5/

[Jomot]

Several newspapers also give Jane's address as 273 Fourth Street, including this one:

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01mw6/