Really stumped

[EdCan]

Thomas McMahon supposedly married Lois Augusta Vester 1909 Blenheim Ontario Canada. Can not find marriage cert. Date comes from family. On 1930 census Lois living in L.A states she entered US in 1905. There is a death cert for an Infant McMahon 15 Sep 1910 Seattle with parents Thomas Mahon and Louise Vesta(Vester?) Lois A Mahon shows up as a widow living in Los Angeles in 1930/40 and dies there 19 Nov 1951. Absolutely nothing is known of Thomas. Can not find them on a US census 1910/20.
Are there any Seattle City Directories for period 1910 - 30 that could show how long they lived there? I realize Thomas could have died almost anywhere during that 20 yr period.

[shellyesq]

Thos. & Lois A. McMahon are in the 1913 Seattle city directory and were living at 106-2127 2d. av.

There are some Thomas McMahons in the 1923 city directory, but not sure if any are him - http://distantcousin.com/Directories/WA/Seattle/1923/Pages.asp?Page=0987

[jorose]

http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/
 shows a Thomas Byron McMahon m. Lois (C) Erven or Ervin in 1905 - just wondering if this is the couple found in directories.  They are found in 1910 here:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MGJ4-PQ8

Could this be the other Thomas and Lois 1910 in Ophir, Alaska?
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MPZ2-X9J

[shellyesq]

I guess that Ophir matches the information on the other thread:

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=664713.0

[EdCan]

I would say that the 1910 census for Ophir are the correct people. it appears that they went from Alaska to Seattle then dead end. I was looking for them in the lower 48. I did not see an address on the 1910 death cert.

[jorose]

Google "Lois Augusta McMahon", there is a court record (PDF, can't seem to link to it)

"Lois Augusta McMahon. I was born in 1869 and am 54 years. Wife of decedent."

Unfortunately the actual document appears to be a 1000 page unsearchable scan, but I found a text version here:
http://archive.org/stream/govuscourtsca9briefs1746/govuscourtsca9briefs1746_djvu.txt
In 1923, Lois gave evidence as the widow of Thomas.  They had been married for nine years, three months, when he died and she had known him a year before they married.  They had lived in Alaska, but were about to move to Wyoming to go into business.  It seems he might have died aboard the Princess Sophia, a steamship, travelling between Alaska and Seattle, in September 1918, and was buried in Seattle in  Lakeview Cemetery.

He possibly had a son from a previous relationship living in Tacoma (she didn't know the details), and his mother was in Michigan.  She lists his family as she knew it:

A. To the best of my knowledge, Mr. McMahon was survived by his mother, but she was not informed of his death. His father is dead. He had four sisters, Anna, Lizzie, Mrs. McElroy and
Maggie, and five brothers, William, John, Joseph, Malachai and Charles.

Another, brief mention here:
http://archive.org/stream/govuscourtsca9briefs1741/govuscourtsca9briefs1741_djvu.txt


More about the sinking of the Princess Sophia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Princess_Sophia

[ShaunJ]

Lois Augusta Vester born 20 October 1869 to George Vester, hotel keeper of Blenheim, Ontario and wife Harriet Pickering. Birth originally registered as Lewis Augusta and corrected later by brother Amos B Vester.

[jorose]

Ah, think I might have found Lois in 1920, misspelt:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MHNR-B6T

On Thomas' side, I think I can find a number of Thomas' relatives on  familysearch, parents Francis and Mary (Mulcahy or variants), and this is probably them in 1880 with Thomas aged 18:

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MWS9-DL9

(Malachai's middle name was Patrick).

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M3FF-DQZ
 - this may be Thomas in 1900.  Note that "home" is listed as Arlington, Washington, and he was married.

There is at http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov a birth in Arlington in 1895 for a boy (unnamed), legitimate son of Thomas McMahon, b. Lindsay, Ontario, 33, and Minnie Whitney (or Whiting?), b. Bay City, Michigan, aged 29.   He was Minnie's fourth child.

Possibly in 1900:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MMPR-9Y7

Minnie was married "0" years to Mr Adam, four children, four living - the three Girow/Gerow kids and "T E McMahon".

Minnie Whiting m. John A Gerow in 1883 in Michigan (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NQ3T-XYP )
John Albert Gerow remarried in Washington in 1898 (Washington Digital Archives)
William C Adams and Minnie Whiting married in 1900 in Washington (Washington digital archives).

"T E McMahon" may be this fellow in the 1920 census:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MHN3-KFX
(I think age of wife is wrong here, see below)
marriage:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FLFB-B43
possibly his wife with family in 1930 showing a grandson:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XCQX-MP7
Washington digital archives has her death in 1932 as Eva May McMahon

This would fit with Lois' testimony that her late husband had a son in Tacoma.  It appears that this marriage did not last very long, so it's not surprising that Lois didn't know much of the detail.

It is possible that Minnie remarried at least once more and died as Minnie Belle Ryburn in Washington :
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N3B9-VQM
With husband in census in 1940 and 1930:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K9S4-1MV

I still can't find either of Thomas' marriages - to Minnie (possibly under either Whiting or Gerow or ) or to Lois.  I wonder if either marriage took place in Alaska - records don't seem to be online.

[EdCan]

Very well done jorose. Much appreciated.

Lois states in transcript of investigation she was married 9 yrs 3 mths at time of sinking. Marriage took place in Fairbanks. So much for family history. I have to wonder if the Infant death in 1910 may very well not be theirs. Hard to say.
Again thanks. Lots of avenues for investigation

Ed