Donald Matheson (Daniel Mathewson) - New York.

[Agneshill]

Hello, this is my first post, so hopefully I've found the correct area of the forum!

I've been trying to trace three of my ancestors who emigrated to New York.
They were children of Duncan and Helen (Kennedy) Matheson of Lochcarron, Ross-shire, Scotland..............

Helen - b. 15 Nov. 1840 - d. 1896 (NY)
Donald - b. 15 Sept.1843 - d. 1887 (NY)
Roderick - b.15 April 1845 - d. 1889 (NY
Last heard of in UK Census for 1851 - Lochcarron,Ross-shire.

I searched the US Census for 1880 and a family has appeared in Manhattan...

Daniel Mathewson - widower - 35 - stonecutter - b. Scotland
Ellen          "             sister         38                        b. Scotland
Rodrick       "            brother      32   stonecutter - b. Scotland
Frederick    "             son           13                      - b. England
Ellen           "            daughter   12                      - b. England
Katherine   "            daughter     6                      - b.England

I don't think I'm stretching credulity too far by assuming they are the same family,but despite all my efforts I cannot find any more mention of them in subsequent Census years. I cannot find their entry into the States as I don't have a date for their emigration or their ship.
My only other clue is that my mother told me about her cousin (K)Catherine who was a teacher in New York and lived in Gramercy New York.

Apologies for the length of my first post but any help would be appreciated!

[shellyesq]

Do you know if K/Catherine married or remained single?  Gramercy is a section of Manhattan, so that's close, although it wasn't the area where this family was living in 1880.

There are some vital records' indexes for New York City at www.italiangen.org.  Also, there are some New York State census records and other vital records at www.familysearch.org.  I didn't have any luck finding anything on your people there, but they might be worth a look.

[shellyesq]

Found these that I thought might fit with this Roderick -

1884 New York City directory
Matheson, Roderick, mason, home 107 E. 108th

1888 New York City directory
Matheson, Roderick G., cutter, home 107 E. 108th

1889-90 New York City directory
Matheson, Roderick, cutter, home 235 E. 106th

[Agneshill]

First of all, thanks very much for your lightning response!

I've had a look on the NY City Directories and noted the relevant pieces. I tried various combinations with the other siblings with no success.

Do you know if K/Catherine married or remained single?  Gramercy is a section of Manhattan, so that's close, although it wasn't the area where this family was living in 1880.

I don't think Catherine was married. I never heard my mother talk about any family. I do remember that Catherine would ask my mother to send some money, so she probably fell on hard times!

I wondered whether NY would have some sort of registration records for teachers and if so, where would I get hold of them?

[Agneshill]

Despite the brick wall I found myself up against a few months ago, I'm back on the track of my, so far elusive, branch of the Mathe(w)son family!

On my more recent research through the Italiangen.org site, (thanks to Shellyesq for the direction), I was able to find a death note for a Daniel Matheson which may fit the bill..............

"Matheson, Daniel/age 43y/(death) November 15 1886/Certificate#582182/Manhattan/soundexM325."

Before I apply to the New York Health Dept. for a copy of the death certificate I would like to know how much detail is usually shown so I would be able to establish whether or not I have the correct person. With UK death certificates we get details of parents etc.. Is it the same with US certificates?

[shellyesq]

I think it depends on the record.  Some transcriptions of New York death records are available at www.familysearch.org, but I didn't see one for this Daniel.  I did a search for people named Smith (just to pick a random name) who died between 1885 & 1887:  http://www.rootschat.com/links/0gs7/ - you can see that some do list parents' names and others don't. 

[Agneshill]

Thanks for your reply.

As you say, the Familysearch results vary a lot!

In the meantime, I have emailed NYC.gov/records to ask what depth of information is shown on their standard death certificate, but having read on other message boards that it sometimes takes some months for them to reply, I am not confident of having an early response. I am still hoping that somebody here who has already gone through the process may be able to throw some light on whether parents of the deceased are shown. Anywhere online that I could see a sample of a NY death certificate?

Thanks.

 

[maggbill]

Hi there,
I have been lucky enough to obtain a couple of death records for someone who died in New York in 1890'ish.  The death certificate is quite extensive, and include place of birth and names of mother and father - but unfortunately it looks to be quite a regular occurence for lots of the detail not to be filled in... mine in fact were blank in parents box...  So,  it is really pot luck.  I must also say that I initially tried to go through the NY City Archives to obtain record - but their website and my credit card details did not seem to want to work together!  Ended up getting cert via Familysearch microfilm system - waited a few weeks, but local LDS volunteers very helpful and friendly.  Good luck!

[Agneshill]

  Ended up getting cert via Familysearch microfilm system - waited a few weeks, but local LDS volunteers very helpful and friendly.  Good luck!

Thanks for that.

Can you explain how you go about getting a certificate from Familysearch microfilm system? I've had a look on their site but just cannot see/get a link.