Catherine

Few of us, I think, would know the courage and desperation involved in ripping up your roots in one country, and sailing away to another country to begin life anew, yet thousands and thousands of Irish people did so in the 1800s.  Certainly, the misery and oppression in Ireland during that time provided ample incentive to leave.  For most who came, however, they found not streets paved with gold, but gutters strewn with garbage, freedom to succeed yes, but also freedom -- and ample opportunity -- to fail.  They found that they had merely traded rural destitution for urban squalor.  One can only guess at the toll it took on individuals.

My trip to the cemetery had opened up a haunting mystery: why was my great-great grandmother Catherine buried in an unmarked grave in the same cemetery where my great grandfather Jeremiah had purchased a significant family plot with impressive headstone?  Why was Catherine living alone at the time of her death, and why was she buried seemingly with no wake and no ceremony?

The first small clue came from the 1880 federal census.  There, I located Cornelius living with two of his children -- Jeremiah and Anna -- at 98 Summit Street in Brooklyn

After the column where he is described as "Father", there is a "D" marked.  According to the key, this "D" meant that Cornelius was divorced.  One could surmise that something pretty serious happened between Catherine and Cornelius, because Irish Catholics were not prone to divorce.  One could also surmise that it was Catherine who was alienated from the family, since Cornelius was living with his children and Catherine, it seems, was on her own.  There is also the added piece of interesting information that in the 1886 City Directory, Catherine identifies herself as the widow of Cornelius.

I found some tantalizing possibilities in The Brooklyn Eagle.  The Eagle was a daily newspaper that published from 1841 to 1955.  All editions from 1841 to 1902 have been digitized here, and are searchable by keyword.  When I searched on "Catherine Mahoney", I found the following articles:

August 18, 1859

October 12, 1860:

June 10, 1862:

August 31, 1869:

Now, there is no solid evidence that any of these Catherine (or Kate) Mahoneys was my ancestor, or even if any or all of these articles are about the same woman. It is true, however, that several of the incidents are very similar, and at least two occurred in or near the Brooklyn neighborhood where my great great grandparents lived later in life.

So, if one or more of these articles is, indeed, about my great great grandmother, one could probably construct a reasonable scenario which might lead to divorce.  One might also speculate if the (in)famous Mahoney temper might have been passed down through the genes of Catherine.

It is, alas, all speculation, and the mystery of Catherine will probably remain locked away from view forever.

But how I wish I could somehow find the key.