Owen Jones and Catherine Williams

[jstjones]

Hi Shellyesq!  Thank you immensely for your suggestions. I apologize for the delay in responding. I got very busy with work and home for a few weeks and had to put this research on hold. The Elmira census records for Catherine are definitely her as she was living there with my grandfather and granduncles, despite her calculated birth year varying from 1866 to 1870!

The death certificate you found is almost certainly my GGF. We know they lived in Parsons and that he was a stone mason. I have found corroborating census records from 1900 and 1910:

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M3Q3-DQ3

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MG4G-TCB (Note: Owen was misread as Alvin)

I had no idea when he died (or how - but now I do! Thanks to you) but it all adds up. After Owen died in 1913 as the result of an accident, Catherine and her sons moved north, where you found them in the 1915 census.

The good news is that we now have more vital clues:
1) The Certificate of Death lists Owen's parents as: Owen Jones and Annie Evens (or Evans) both born in Wales.
2) In the 1925 census Catherine self-reports being born in "North Wales" so that narrows things down a bit for her but it should not imply that Owen and/or his parents were also from there.

I have yet to find any evidence to indicate that Owen and Catherine knew each other before they each came to America. Some documents infer that they both immigrated in 1886 or 1887 but not necessarily together. We do know that they married 26 JUN 1889 in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. His residence is recorded as Parsons, PA and hers Miners, PA.

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VF9V-44Y

Interestingly both of their birth dates are recorded on the Marriage License with just the year, as if neither knew the day or month. And these are 1861 for Owen and 1866 for Catherine which puts them each a year or more older than many other inferences.

Anyway, I really appreciate the additional information you have provided!

Thank you!!

John Jones

[shellyesq]

You're quite welcome!

I think Catherine later remarried.  On www.fultonhistory.com, if you search for the exact phrase Catherine Jones Cahill, a death notice and obituary from 1951 come up.  Her sons' names seem to match your Catherine.  This appears to be her in the 1940 census - https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQ5K-TNF  A 1940 Elmira city directory gives an address for Catherine Jones, widow of Owen, at 432 Pine St., which matches the census record.

[shellyesq]

This looks like Catherine's burial - http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Cahill&GSiman=1&GScid=66781&GRid=99726800&  You could make a request on that site for a photo of the gravestone.  Occasionally, they contain personal detail.

I have less experience with immigrants from Wales, but I find in researching Irish immigrants from that time period, that fluctuation in date/year of birth is pretty common.  It may be possible that they didn't know their exact date of birth.  I thought it was interesting that the date of birth given for Owen on his death certificate was Oct. 6, which was also the date of his death, but his age was listed as 49 years, 0 months, and 2 days.  Either he died on his birthday, someone calculated the age wrong, or perhaps someone just randomly picked a date to fit his age.

It might also be worth noting on Owen's death certificate that his birthplace was listed as Wales Old.  I don't know if that has any particular meaning.

[jstjones]

Shellyesq! You are fantastic! Once again I am wowed! I had no idea that my Great-grandmother had remarried. And the fultonhistory site is fantastic! After looking at the obits for her I found four articles about my dad. One announcing his marriage to my mother, and another 19 months earlier announcing his engagement - to another woman! Again, I had no idea! There was even a photo of her, and one of my mom too. They both look great! Then I found some other articles about my grandmother. Very interesting. So I can't thank you enough for enlightening me. I don't know if there is a way to send a PM on here but if there is I can provide more details.

[jstjones]

Over the holidays I met with my second cousins and their father told me that our greatgrandfather Owen H. Jones was from Caernarvon. Hopefully that will help narrow it down a bit.

[keyboard86]

Welcome back, the only likely/possible marriage in the time frame and location is the Owen Jones to Ann Evans June qtr 1856 Carnarvon 11b 843 EDIT ( Not this one)! although their are other possibles in Anglesey.

A possible for Owen jnr in 1881census:-

Owen Jones 19 occ Stonemason Journeyman b Bethel, Caernarvonshire he is boarding at North Penrally, Caernarvonshire
Census ref RG11/5568/47/4

Keyboard86

PS what was the middle name for your father and his  brother/sister i.e. "H"

[jstjones]

Hi Keyboard86! That's great question about the middle names that each start with H. My dad has passed, but when I was a child I asked him what the "H" stood for and he said "nothing, it's just H" and he always wrote it with no period after that. I don't know if that was also the case for his brother and sister, or for his father for that matter. Since may father is William H Jones, Jr. it stands to reason that his father was also William H Jones (Sr.) with just H for his middle name. However, he (my grandfather) had a brother named Hugh so if the H did stand for anything my guess would be that, at least for the males. For my aunt Glenna, who has also passed, I have no clue unless it too is just "H". But now that you have reignited this question I will reach out to my cousins to see if they know better.

Thanks!

[jstjones]

@Keyboard86:
BTW, it's also interesting to note that in the family you found earlier (see above) the middle name or initial for every one of the seven children (including three daughters) is "H"! Now that I have confirmed that the shire is Caernarvon I would be wondering if the 1891 U.K. census was in error by still showing Owen in the household, but because I have also since found his death certificate indicating different parents I can't even make that leap.

[keyboard86]

Hi again, no I do not think the 1881 family I showed contains your Owen, in 1891 he is still with his parents Hugh/Mary and his occupation is still a Slate Quarrier.

The 1881 Owen I showed above is a more likely option due to the occupation bearing out his role in the USA?

It is finding him in 1871 which I have been having a great deal of trouble with eg with parents Owen & Ann!
Keyboard86