Week Two

I have found Michael Cavanagh in the 1880 US Census with his parents Thomas and Marcella and siblings Arthur, Elizabeth, Thomas and Mary. Thank Goodness for Marcella's unique name!

The Thomas Cavanagh (spelled Cavanah) family was living at 236 Bond St., in Elizabeth, NJ as follows:

Cavanah, Thomas, male, 40, wife, married, Boat Man, b. Ireland, both parents b. Ireland
Cavanah, Marscella, female, 40, married K[eeps] House, b. England, both parent b. Ireland
Cavanah, Arthur, male, 22, son, single [no further information, and the name is crossed out. Does this mean that Arthur is not a child of Thomas or Marcella, or that he had died within the year?]
Cavanah, Elizabeth, female, 20, daughter, single, b. NY, father b. Ireland, mother b. England
Cavanah, Michael, male, 19, son, single, Laborer, b. NY, father b. Ireland, mother b. England
Cavanah, Thomas, male, 17, son, single, Laborer, b. NY, father b. Ireland, mother b. England
Cavanah, Mary, female, 11, daughter, single, b. NJ, father b. Ireland, mother b. England

Although other children on this page are identified as having attended school within the year, there is not indication that the children in this family attended school.

The fact that Mary was born in NJ, while the other children were born in NY gives an indication that this family may have moved from NY to NJ between 1863 and 1869. The family should be in NJ in the 1870 census, and should be in NY in the 1860 census.

I need to find out what happened to Arthur!

Well, what would have seemed an easy search of the 1870 US Federal Census on Ancestry.com turned out to be a bit trickier than first expected. I was unable to find a Thomas Cavanagh b. 1835 (within 5 yrs) in Ireland with the above family in NY or NJ. I then tried the children, still no luck. I finally just put in Mary for a first name, left the last name field blank, narrowed the place search to the last place I found the family in 1880, which was NJ, Union County, Elizabeth and put in a birth place of New Jersey, birth year of 1869 with a 2 year range. I came up with 171 results, but quickly spotted a Mary Canena which looked possible. Sure enough, she was the daughter of Thomas and Moisella Cavena. I made sure to add an alternate name to this family so that others may be able to find them more easily than I was!

Thomas and Moisella's Post Office address was Elizabeth Port, dwelling 504, Family 538 in Elizabeth, NJ. Here are the details:

Cavena, Thomas, 37, male, white, Boatman, b. Ireland, both parents of foreign birth
Cavena, Moisella, 35, female, white, K[eeps] H[ouse], b. England, both parents of foreign birth
Cavena, Arthur, 12, male, white, b. NY, both parents of foreign birth, attended school within year
Cavena, Elizabeth, 10, female, white, b. NY, both parents of foreign birth, attended school within year
Cavena, Michael, 8, male, white, b. NY, both parents of foreign birth, attended school within year
Cavena, Thomas, 6, male, white, b. NY, both parents of foreign birth, attended school within year
Cavena, Mary, 2, female, white, b. NJ, both parents of foreign birth


So, it would appear that Arthur was a son of Thomas and Marcella, and not an error made by the census taker in the 1880 US Federal Census. I wonder whether he was not living in the household? Could this explain why his name was crossed out?
I did a quick search on Arthur Cavanagh, b. 1868 in NY, living in NJ, but found no matches. I'll have to do more digging later.

Next I looked for the Thomas and Marcella Cavanagh family in the 1860 US Federal Census, assuming that they would be in NY. Once again, although there were several Thomas Cavanaghs that came up in my initial search, there was none that matched the family information I have for him. I then searched on Arthur Cavanagh, (using a soundex search, of course!), b. within 2 yrs of 1858 in NY, living in NY. No matches. Then I tried just Arthur, no last name, b. within 2 yrs of 1858, in NY, living in NY. This time I got over 1,000 matches, I scrolled through all the last names beginning with Ca, then checked Co, then checked Ka. Sure enough, there was Arthur Kavanagh, son of Thos and Marcel Kavanagh, with a 5 month old Elizh Kavanagh in the household. This was my family. It's interesting that the soundex for Cavanagh does not bring up Kavanagh!

Thomas and Marcel Kavanagh were living in District 2, Ward 4, of New York City, they were enumerated on pages 136 and 137, in dwelling number 183, family number 672 as follows:

Thos Kavanagh, 27, male, Labor, b. Ireland
Marcel Kavanagh, 24, female, b. England
Arthur Kavanagh, 3, male, b. NY
Elizh Kavanagh, 5/12, female, b. NY

Next step, try to find Thomas and Marcella in the 1850 US Federal Census. This should be interesting, because according to the 1900 US Federal Census, Thomas immigrated to the US in 1870. There is no immigration information listed for Marcella. Apparently Thomas immigrated prior to 1870, as we find him in NY in 1860. Also, in the 1900 US Federal Census, Marcella indicated that she had 8 children, 5 of which were living at the time. Who were those other 3 children? Was Arthur one of them? Regardless, if this information is correct than I am missing the names of three children.