Katherine Matheson - Teacher in New York.

[Agneshill]

Can anyone point me in the direction of where I could find records of Teacher Registration in New York around the 1900s.

Katherine Matheson was born in 1874 in Washington (or Pennsylvania) and from family anecdotal evidence it is very likely that she taught in New York as she was last heard of in Manhattan at the 1880 Census. I haven't found anything of her since the Census and I feel that if I could search the Teacher Registration I may be able to get past this brick wall.

Thanks.

[shellyesq]

So people can see the prior threads talking about the Matheson family:  http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=534997.0

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=640107.msg4870780#msg4870780

I'm not aware of any teacher registration lists for New York.  If she was a teacher, she may have shown up in city directories listed as such.  Do you have death dates for her mother or siblings? 

[Agneshill]

Hi Shellyesq,

Thanks for providing a link to my earlier posts once again.

Since last posting about this family, I have been successful in finding the following information......

Father - Daniel Matheson - died 15 November 1886, Manhattan.
Mother - Ellen (McDonald) Matheson - died 3 December 1879 - Washington D.C.
Uncle - Roderick Matheson - died 13 January 1890 - Manhattan.(Buried along with his unmarried brother Daniel in St Michaels, N.Y.)
I have found both Daniel and Roderick in various annual directories in D.C. and N.Y., but of course they only show the head of the family and not others living in the same household. So I don't know if Katherine was living with them or not. It would be helpful if, upon getting a job, she set up home on her own.

Much to my frustration I have absolutely no information about the children of Daniel and Ellen i,e., Katherine (according to 1880 N.Y. census born in England in 1874, but as both parents were in U.S. by 1871, I am taking this as a mistake by the enumerator!), and Frederick John (born Manchester, England 6 September 1866).

I have found the third child,daughter Ellen (born Edinburgh 14 May 1868), married to a Frank Birdsall in Manhattan on 25 November 1891 and traced her line to Texas. Unfortunately that member hasn't any further information about Katherine or Frederick John.

I thought that when a person qualified as a teacher they would have been registered in some form or another. Failing that, if I could find a list of Teacher Training Colleges, I could try them.

Thanks for your help.

[shellyesq]

Was there an obituary for Ellen? 

[shellyesq]

I found something potentially interesting on www.fultonhistory.com.  If you search for the exact phrase Catherine B. Matheson, there is a mention of her being in charge of a tea given in honor of retiring staff members of Manhattan High School for Women's Garment Trades in 1941.  This entry about the school - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Trade_School_for_Girls - says it moved to East 23rd Street in 1906-1907, which would likely put it in the Gramercy area.

A few years back, I read a very interesting article about old records from the school being found and the pupils researched, which can be seen here - http://www.rootschat.com/links/01e2j/ 

[shellyesq]

Oh, bummer, it looks like there's a younger and married Catherine B. Matheson who was a teacher:  http://www.rootschat.com/links/01e2k/

[Agneshill]

Was there an obituary for Ellen?

Here's the record of Ellen's death in Washington D.C.

[Agneshill]

Was there an obituary for Ellen?

Here's Ellen's Obituary.

[Agneshill]

I found something potentially interesting on www.fultonhistory.com.  If you search for the exact phrase Catherine B. Matheson, there is a mention of her being in charge of a tea given in honor of retiring staff members of Manhattan High School for Women's Garment Trades in 1941.  This entry about the school - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Trade_School_for_Girls - says it moved to East 23rd Street in 1906-1907, which would likely put it in the Gramercy area.

A few years back, I read a very interesting article about old records from the school being found and the pupils researched, which can be seen here - http://www.rootschat.com/links/01e2j/

It's great to get these links, Shelly.
Very often it just nudges one to another line of research.

Incidentally, I remember my mother telling me that in the Fifties, Katherine sent her one nylon stocking in each of two Airmail letters as they were non-existent in the U.K. at that time.

Later on, Katherine must have fallen on hard times as I think she asked my mother to send her some money. Would there been some sort of Social Security available in the Fifties?