1017 Halkett Ave, Braddock Pa

[llij]

Hello,

 The above address was given as  future destination, on the arrival  in New York of Richard William John Sutton, in March 1913.
Could someone tell me whether the 'Pa' is likely to be short for park, or Pennsylvania please?
Unfortunately, I'm not at all familiar with the various districts in the USA.
Does a Halkett or Hackett Avenue still exist in Braddock?

Kind regards
Jill  (Sussex UK)

[aghadowey]

Pennsylvania can be abbreviated as Pa., Penna. or Penn. There's a Halket Ave. in Braddock, Pennsylvania- just outside Pittsburgh. If you go to Google Maps and put in Halket Ave. Braddock Pa you'll see it's not far from the banks of the Mononghala River (parrallel with Braddock Ave.). Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be covered by Streetview but you can see a bit of the area.

Added- meant to say that it no longer looks like a residential area and when you see the area you'll understand why Streetview didn't cover that particular street.

[llij]

Thanks for that.

Yes, I do see what you mean. Not a particularly pleasant residential area!
Makes me wonder what the motive was for going there.  I shall dig more deeply.
I shall now look for likely 'Sutton' relatives.
Any street directories on line, I wonder?

llij

[johnnyboy]

Hi Jill: Braddock, Pennsylvania is an old steel making town. Perhaps the best thing is for you to read about Braddock on Wikipedia. Here's a link to the article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braddock,_Pennsylvania

To see 1017 Halket St., Braddock, I suggest that you use Bing Maps. For the best view, switch to Bird's Eye view and make sure the Show Labels box has a check mark.

Halket St. seems to have given way to industrialization. The large area just to the right of 1017 Halket St. is the Edgar Thomson Works of United States Steel Corp. Unlike so many of that company's mills, the Edgar Thomson Works is still in operation today.

Unfortunately, the town of Braddock has fallen on hard times. It has lost 80% of the population that it had in the 1920s, when it was a boom town.

I looked up Richard W. Sutton on the Ellis Island website and found four results for him.

Unless there are two men with the same name: He originally came in 1912 and his destination was McKeesport, Pennsylvania, which is a few miles upriver from Braddock. He listed his mother Mrs. R. Sutton, 43 Cambridge St., Loughborough, as his nearest relative in the U.K. His

He said he was going to an aunt in McKeesport. Her name looks like Buckston. Unfortunately, I could not read her name very well because the entry has corrections written on to it. But see Mrs. Lupton below.
His birthplace is listed as Loughborough

In 1912 or very early 1913 Richard apparently sailed back to the U.K.

He returned to the U.S. on March 1, 1913. Originally, he was listed on one manifest page as a U.S citizen. That was corrected and he was listed on another manifest page as born in the U.K. His occupation is bricklayer. For his relative in the U.K. he gave an uncle, Robert Sutton, Quorn(?), Leicester.

In 1913 or early 1914 he must have returned to the U.K.  On    April 18, 1914 he returned to the U.S. His destination is Greensburg, Pennsylvania, which is about 20 miles east of Braddock. His occupation is bricklayer. He says that he has no friends or relatives in Europe. He lists an aunt,  Mrs. Lupton of Broadway, East McKeesport, Pa. as his relative.

John 

[llij]

Hello John,

Thanks so much for all that lovely information!
On further investigation, I think your comment that there may be another Richard W Sutton, is correct.

A timeline for my Richard goes as follows;

1885 birth Dublin
1901 on census Charleston Ave, Dublin
1914 Marriage to Agnes Grace Douglas
1924 Dept with wife Agnes and sister in law to
        12 Gamelin Street, St Malo.
1925 Return to Dublin
1927 Emigration from Liverpool to Montreal (occupation
        gardener). Father R Sutton, Dublin.

I have unsuccessfully tried to find him after this.

Many thanks to you
llij