Help... Elusive in Philadelphia/NY

[crb83]

I'm trying to find some records to fill in a 10 year gap.  It starts in Yonkers, Westchester, NY with the McLain family

1870 census...
Henry McLain, 38
Anna McLain, 27
Henry " 4
Alice " 2
Cornelia  2 mos.

between the 1870 and 1880 census, Henry McLain died, Anna re-married a George Beal, moves to Philadelphia.  George Beal died in Jan. 1879 in Philadelphia of which i have the record, and Anna moves her kids to Brooklyn NY

1880 census...
Annie Beal, 37
Henry 14
Alice 12
Cornelia 10

It took a while moving backwards for me to figure this out since no one in my family knew of these events or that our last name was originally McLain.  I'm trying to find any directories, passenger lists, a marriage record between George Beale & Annie McLain, even a death of Henry McLain but Yonkers had almost no record-keeping at that time.  George T. Beal's death states he is 59 and born in England

Thanks to anyone that can help!
Chris Beal

[murphy60]

Hi Chris,

Brooklyn Directory Listing for 1888, 1889
Annie Beal, widow George   Address:  145 14th 
Same address as the 1880 Census listing
 
From the 1870, Henry and Anna are both b. in Ireland.  The children are all b. in NY  so that would put their immigration year around 1866, correct ??   
Took a quick look and didn't find a Passenger Record for Henry around this time.   
Any thoughts on if Henry and Anna married before they immigrated and came over together  or did they meet/marry in the US ?? 
Any clues on Anna maiden name?? 

Was Henry likely to have been a House Painter when he immigrated ??   
Is the dau "Lucia" age 2 in the 1870  a census error for the "Alice" you mention ??

In 1880, "Cornelia"  is indexed and actual appears to read "Cornelius" and is a son age 10.    Enumerator's error or is there another son to be traced forward?

Do you have any of them in 1900 and beyond ??  Anna in a later census may give more detail about her immigration year and if she came just before her 1st child was born  or at an earlier time.

Looked for George Beal/Beale in 1870 did not see one in NY or PA. But if he was married then w/ a family and then widowed, may be hard to id him.  Any other info on him like his profession ??

All clues may be helpful to the search 

lissa

[crb83]

Thank you Lissa,

Henry & Anna married in Ireland on 9/11/1865, her maiden name was Ellis.  I was able to confirm it on Alice Beal's 1887 marriage cert. it said her parents names were "George Beale & Anna Ellis"

Henry & Anna's emigration was 1866-67 but i was never able to find a passenger list.  I always thought their first son was born in NY but it turns out he was born in Ireland as I found his birth record 6/29/1866, but why everything says he's born in NY i'll never know, but im guessing he came here when he was a few months old, so late 1866 would be my estimate.  The Cornelia/Cornelius and Lucia/Alice are both name errors.  I even found Cornelia going by the name of Camelia and Camilla.

Anna died in 1891 of pneumonia at 145 14th st., Cornelia died in 1895 of Meningitis.  Alice married, was widowed, and married again, dying in Brooklyn in the 30s but i couldn't find her death record.  Henry G. Beal (b. 1866) is my great-great grandfather and never passed any info to his only son, in fact he might not have even known he was born a McLain if Henry died closer to 1870 like I think he did.

The only George Beals I found myself in the 1870 census were married with alot of children.  Is it feasible that one of these could be my George Beal if he was widowed? I dont know what would become of all of his children.

As for George Beal's job, his death record says he is a clerk, but I dont have access to any Philadelphia directories.  I suppose the 1875 NY or PA census would help me out alot but I wouldn't know where to look within the census.

[murphy60]

Hi Chris,   boy!! roadblocks everywhere.   Know the feeling!

Will work on this further tomorrow. 
There are 1/2 term state censuses for NY anyway  but I don't know if they are complete.

I found a George Beal (Wool Merchant) in Eastwick in 1870  w/ many children also but he is still there in 1880 (relocated to Manhatten) with same wife.    Possible  if your George Beal had children they were on their own by the time he was widowed and remarried Annie.

[murphy60]

Not much luck,

Only Philadelphia Directory I found is for 1890  ---  there is a George Beal, Pipefitter,  this would have to be a son or other relation.  If you have an address for George in Philadelphia I can recheck if in 1890 there is still a Beal at that location.  A longshot.

Pennsylvania Census 1772-1890,  only one hit
1840 George Beal  in Somerset Co., Turkeyfoot Township  --  he's 89 yrs old and on the Pensioners List 

Checked newpaper source I subscribe to, no hits for George or Annie in either NY, PA for this time period.  Newspaper sources are never complete in their coverage.

Nothing of interest popping up in the 1870 Census.

 

[crb83]

Thank you very much Lissa, I appreciate it.  I exhausted so many resources myself, i guess there's things I wont be able to find out.  Another branch of my family was like this too, every time there was a census they happened to be on the move somewhere 

Thanks again!

Chris

[shellyesq]

This may be a long shot, but I found something on the Westchester County Archives site (http://www.westchestergov.com/wcarchives/) under the Personal Name Index for Court Records that said "McLean, Ann 1875 Yonkers Miscellaneous : Licenses".  The spelling of the surname is slightly different, but thought it might be something.

On the Westchester County libraries website (http://www.westchesterlibraries.org/node/158), it says that the Yonkers Public Library has city directories from 1860-1922, but many years are missing.  Maybe you could try e-mailing them & seeing what they actually have?  I live in Westchester Co., so I might be able to check them for you at some point if they have something in your timeframe.