Earlier Information
Much of my earlier information on the James Connell and Annie Cawley family came from information provided by Helen Rose Connell Magner, the sister of Irene Connell Willig.
This document names the 4 girls and 1 boy that survived: Irene Mary Connell Willig, Thomas Joseph Connell, Kathryn Rita Connell Frame, Helen Rose Connell Magner and Clara Mary Connell Maloney.
It also mentions that James Connell and Annie Cawley had 4 girls and 1 boy that died in infancy, including 2 sets of twins, but no names were known.
Furthermore, it states that James and Annie moved to Hammond, Indiana, in 1902.
Although the 1902 date seemed reasonable, the documents that I could find showed that they lived with their 4 oldest surviving children in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1900. Annie stated that she had 4 children, 4 still living. Since they have only been married 7 years, it does seem reasonable that no children have yet died in infancy.
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| Ancestry; 1900 U.S. census; Scranton PA; James Connell. |
Note that both of James' parents and Annie's father were all born in Ireland.
The next record that I have for the family is in the 1910 census, in Hammond, Indiana. Clara has since been born, so all 5 living children are in the household. Annie now states that she had 10 children, 5 still living. So this means that all 5 infant births/deaths occurred between 1900 and 1910.
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| Ancestry; 1910 U.S. census; Hammond IN; James Connell. |
Death Certificate for Gertrude
While eating breakfast one morning, and of course doing genealogy, I stumbled across a death certificate for Gertude Connell in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. At first, I dismissed it, thinking that James Connell was a common name and what was he doing in Allegheny County. But as I looked more closely, I realized this had to be one of their children that died as an infant.
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| Ancestry; Death Certificate; Allegheney County PA; 27 Apr 1906; Gertude Connell. |
Parents are given as James J. Connell, born in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, and Annie Cawly, born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Since this is where 'our' James and Annie were born, this clinched it!
So what were they doing in Allegheny County? The death certificate says that Gertrude died at 3027 Stayton Street, Allegheny (city), Allegheny (county), Pennsylvania. When I googled the address of 3027 Stayton, it was clear that it was located in Pittsburgh.
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| Google Maps; 3027 Stayton, Pittsburgh, PA. |
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| 3027 Stayton in Google Maps today. |
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| Yellow is Allegheny City. |
Evidently, Allegheny City, in yellow above, was where James Connell and his family lived. In 1907, about a year after Gertrude's death, Allegheny City was annexed by Pittsburgh.
So why was James Connell living in the Pittsburgh area? Likely because his brother, Thomas Connell, lived there. Thomas Connell married his wife, Mamie Miller, on June 19, 1900. At the time, both were living on Home Street, in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. In 1910, Thomas Connell was living at 2813 Becker Street in Pittsburgh.
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| Google maps; Pittsburgh addresses for James Connell and Thomas Connell. |
So what about Gertrude? She was born April 5, 1906, and died 22 days later on April 27, 1906, at 2:30am. Cause of death was inanition, with secondary cause being cardiac exhaustion. Inanition is severe malnutrition. It was listed with some frequency as a cause of death from about 1900-1914. Although sometimes listed as death from starvation, it includes deaths caused by a disorder of the digestive apparatus that prevents proper feeding. Other comments note that starvation probably occurred in the uterus, referred to as uterine growth retardation.
According to the death certificate, Gertrude was buried the day after her death in Calvary Cemetery. The undertaker was Thomas Payton, 30 McClure Avenue, who lived a mile away from James Connell. There are multiple Calvary cemeteries in Pittsburgh, but it seems likely that she was buried in Calvary Catholic Cemetery. This is a huge cemetery and she is not yet listed in Find A Grave or Billion Graves.
I attempted to find other Connell children that may have died in Pittsburgh, especially since Gertrude may have been a twin, but I have not been able to find such records.
