Helen Moriarty Murray

Do you remember that we have found Michael Moriarty marrying Gobnet Sweeney back in Cahirdaniel in 1850? 

Later in Loughane, their daughter Mary Moriarty married a neighbor, and her daughter married Patrick Breen's uncle Mike Breen. 

Michael and Gobnet's son James Moriarty went to Trinity College then married and taught school in Annascaul on the Dingle Peninsula.

I know nothing about their son Michael Moriarty.

Daughter Margaret Moriarty emigrated to Newport and married a neighbor from home - Michael Dwyer who worked on the Old Colony Line. Margaret had a boarding house on Thames Street.

Con Moriarty also left Loughane for Newport - Margaret probably paid for his ticket. Con worked in a Grocery and Liquor Shop for many years, married, and bought a boarding house that his wife Elizabeth ran. Con adopted his younger sister's children when Helen died young.

But who was this Helen Moriarty? Again, just like the others - except for the Schoolmaster - my family knew nothing about them until I got in touch with the Schoolmaster's family. They gave me some basic information to run with - in particular that Con adopted the two children.

When I eventually saw Con’s niece, Helen M. Murray, living with him in 1910,  I knew I had the correct family - they belonged to us! 

I tried looking for Helen M. Murray in the 1900 U.S. Census for Rhode Island on www.ancestry.com. I was excited to find a Murray family in Providence, Ward 1, Rhode Island. Helen M. is 2 years old and was born in November 1897. Her birthplace is Rhode Island. Her father is 28 year old Joseph Murray from Ireland – his father was from Ireland and his mother was from England.  Joseph immigrated in 1890 and is an alien – he does not appear to have filed citizenship papers. He is working as a gardener. Young Helen’s mother is 30 year old Ellen Murray. Ellen was born in November 1869 and emigrated from Ireland in 1885. She has been pregnant once and that child is alive. Joseph and Helen both can read, write, and speak English. They are renting a house at 34 (?) Amory Street. The McElroys are also renting at # 34 – so it must be a two family house. 

Could this be our family? The age for little Helen jives with the 1910 U.S. Census. But our Helen Moriarty was baptized 20 August 1868 – this census lists her birth date as November 1869. We will see again and again that dates are not always accurate – we also have to look at other information to learn if we have found one of our ancestors. We know from Reverend Moriarty’s letters that Helen Moriarty from Loughane married Joseph Murray. We know from the 1910 census that their daughter was Helen M, and her age in this census jives with the 1910 census. Although Reverend Moriarty thought Joseph was older than young Helen, the 1910 census showed us that Helen is the oldest. So putting all these pieces together, I believe we have found our family. 

Based on the 1900 census record for Helen M Murray, I found the S.S. Baltic, which left Queenstown and docked in New York on 3 April 1886 with 16 year old Ellen Moriarty from Sneem on board. The dates are a tad off - Ellen emigrated in 1885 according to the census - but we have seen that several times already. Ellen was traveling with a couple of other young people from Sneem – Pat Downing and a Fitzgerald. This could be our Helen Moriarty!

She is on the 17th line - below the Houlihan family and Pat Downing.

The S.S. Baltic was built in 1871 for the White Star Line by Harland and Wolfe in Belfast. This ship building company was owned by Thomas Ismay. The ship could hold 166 first class or saloon passengers and 1000 steerage passengers. Both Harland and Wolfe and Thomas Ismay will sound familiar to anyone interested in the Titanic.  Later in 1888 it was the first White Star command for Edward J. Smith who went on to command the Titanic.

According to http://www.oceanliners.us/white_star_cunard_po/baltic_white_star.html:

"The Baltic was lost at sea in 1898 after striking a submerged wreck in mid-atlantic. All souls aboard were saved when by Providence the American Line steamer SS St. Louis happened upon the foundering vessel in stormy seas during the middle of the night. In a divine act of grace the storm clouds dissipated and allowed a full moon to shine upon the scene during rescue operations."

To complicate things a little, I did find an Ellen Moriarty - 22 years old - working as a dishwasher in Providence in 1885. Who is she? Is this our Ellen? Maybe we will never know.

On www.familysearch.org, I found 27 year old Ellen Moriarty’s marriage to 24 year old Joseph John Murray on 26 January 1897 in Newport, Rhode Island. Joseph was born in 1873 – his parents were Michael Murray and Ellen Rhodes.  Ellen was born in 1870 – and here we go! – her parents were Michael Moriarty and Abbie Sweeney. 

LDS batch #109532-2, system origin: Rhode Island EASy, Film #2188896. 

I’ll have to try to get a copy of the marriage certificate – both civil and religious.

So then I tried looking up their daughter, Helen M. Murray, in the Rhode Island birth records – I found Helen Maria Murray – she was born 16 November 1897 in Providence - her parents were Joseph Murray and Helen Murray.

LDS batch #105514-7, system origin: Rhode Island-EASy, Source#1822783, reference #192. 

I’m going to try to get a copy of her birth certificate from the Rhode Island Archives. 

I could find nothing about Joseph C. Murray, Jr. until he and Helen were adopted by Uncle Con Moriarty. We’ll have to keep on looking. 

From the 1900 census, I looked for Joseph J. Murray in Rhode Island Street Directories - there was nothing before 1894. But I found an entry for Newport in 1895 – Joseph Murray, laborer, boarding at Howard House on Merton Road. I’m not sure if this is our Joseph Murray.

I did look up Howard House at 16 Merton Road. George W. Howard has the house there, and he is a gardener. I wonder if Joseph was working with him as well as boarding with him?

I had no luck trying to find a Rhode Island Census for 1895 for Joseph Murray. And I didn’t find Joseph Murray in either Newport or Providence in 1896, but I think I found him in Providence in 1897 – working as a gardener with a house at 34 Amy Street. (So that means it was Amy Street in the 1900 census that we already saw and not Amory.) I wonder if George Howard taught him a trade, and Joseph went out on his own. The same listing is in the directories for 1898 through 1902. I wonder why he moved to Providence?  

So he was in Providence for about 8 years - from at least 1895 through 1902. There is nothing for 1903 through 1910 in Providence – unless Joseph changed occupation and address. So what happened to him? Here is the 1901 listing.

I'm thinking back to the 1902 Newport Directory that reported that  Michael Dwyer, engineer, had removed to Providence - remember that he is Margaret Moriarty's husband. I wonder if something happened to Joseph, and then Margaret and Michael went to Providence to help Helen's family. 

But wait a minute, I found a listing in 1904 and 1905 for Joseph Murray working as a gardener and living at 26 Bath Road in Newport - this is now Memorial Boulevard.  Below is 1905. But look a little closer - this is Joseph R. Murray - I wonder if he belongs to us?

The 1905 Rhode Island Census has a listing for this Joseph Murray - family #130 with 7 in the family. It looks like he is a lodger at  28 Bath Road in Newport's Ward 4. He was born January 16, 1866 in Ireland - he is 39. He is married. He has lived in the United States for 12 years - all of those in Rhode Island. He has lived in Newport for at least the past 12 months.

Page 2 shows that his parents were born in Ireland. Joseph is naturalized and is a registered voter. He can read and write English. But wait a minute! This says he is a carpenter! The directories listed him as a gardener. So what does this mean? He has not been out of work during this census year. He is a Roman Catholic. I wonder who filled this out? It says a family of 7 - I thought that might be our 4 and the landlord's 3 - but that is a guess.

The same census has a listing for 4 year old Joseph Murray in Family #130 at 28 Bath road in Newport. He is also a lodger. He was born on September (?) 17, 1900 in Newport. He has resided the last 12 months in Newport.

Young Joseph's father and mother were born in Ireland. He is Roman Catholic.

There was also a listing for an Ellen Murray - family #130 - 7 in family - at 28 Bath Road in Newport's Ward 4. Ellen was born on February 18, 1869. She is the mother of two children - both are living. She was born in Ireland. She can read and write English.

The second page gives her date of immigration as 1896 - she has been in the Untied States for 9 years and in Rhode Island for those 9 years. She has been in Newport for at least the last 12 months. Her parents were born in Ireland.  She has no occupation. She is not the widow of anyone who served in the Civil or Spanish Wars; she receives no pension. She is Roman Catholic.

And to conclude this family in the 1905 Newport census, I found a listing for 7 year old Nellen Murray - could that be Helen? Maybe they called her Nelleen - little Nell. Family #130 is at 28 Bath Road. There are 7 in this family - she is a lodger like the others. She was born Nov. 12, 1898 in Newport.

Nellen Murray has lived in Newport the last 12 months. Her parents were born in Ireland. She is Roman Catholic.

On www.ancestry.com, I looked up 28 Bath Road in Newport in both the directories and the census. I found 3 other people listed: 

William H. Rankin is a conductor for the Street Railway and has a house at 28 Bath road. In the census, he is listed as head of the family # 129 with 2 in the family. He is 22 and was born in Massachusetts.

John Cappuccelli makes and repairs boots and shoes at 28 Bath Road, but I couldn't find him in the1905 census.

Mattie Edwards is the widow of Benjamin Edwards and has a house at 28 Bath Road in the directory, but in the 1905 Rhode Island census she is living elsewhere. She is a 37 year old mother of 3 - she is "colored" - and works as a cook. She and her parents were born in Virginia.

Edward Farrell, a baker, has a house at 28 1/2 Bath Road.

I want to think the Murrays above are our family but .... what about that 7 persons in family # 130?

I found a listing on www.familysearch.org for Joseph Murray who died in Providence, Rhode Island on 15 December 1905. He was 30 years old - born 1875. His father was Michael and his mother was Margaret. What happened to him I wonder? But this doesn't seem to be our Joseph - his mother was listed on the wedding certificate as Ellen Rhodes - not Margaret. Also I just found another listing for this death that gives Margaret as his wife's name. So two obvious strikes - plus he seems a little young.

Indexing Project (Batch) Number: 109377-1, System Origin: Rhode Island-EASY, GS Film Number: 1906750, Reference ID:    p 228.

I just (17 August 2013) found, on www.familysearch.org, a death listing for 36 year old Ellen Murray. She died 18 November 1906 in Providence. Her birthdate is November 1870. She is listed as married to Joseph Murray. Her parents were Michael Moriarty and Deborah Moriarty. What could have happened to her? 

Indexing Project (Batch) Number: I09336-0, System Origin: Rhode Island-EASy, GS Film number: 1906751, Reference ID: 

p 231.

I just found out (August 20, 2013) how to order a death certificate from the Rhode Island Archives and mailed a request for Con Moriarty's and his sister Ellen's death certificates. Hopefully in a couple of weeks there may be a little more information. I'm still researching as I am posting these blogs! It never ends!

So now we have learned something about Ellen Moriarty, but we also have more questions. I haven't found any more information about Ellen's children - Helen Murray Nichols and Joseph Murray.

We know that Helen and Joseph Murray were living with Uncle Con Moriarty in the 1910 U.S. Census - and it says he had adopted them. I wonder how long that process would take?

They remained at the Cleveland House until about 1932 - Helen had worked for a short while as a stenographer while Joseph had joined the Navy and later worked as a machinist. I presume Helen helped Ellen Moriarty with the boarding house. 

But I can find nothing more about them after 1932. This is for another day.