Proof Argument for Sarah Sackley Marrying a Flanagan 52 Ancestors Week one

Frances Ellsworth

May 2012

Proof Argument for Sarah Sackley Marrying a Flanagan

The Problem

There was a Sarah Flanagan tombstone in the Sackley Family plot at the Calvary Cemetery in Evanston, Cook County, Illinois.  The Family lived in Chicago from 1849 to present day.   No one of the present day family knew who she was.  

 Background

Sarah Flanagan was not on the Chicago Death index.  The assumption was she lived and died in Chicago, since she was buried there.

Findings

The 1870 and 1880 Federal Censuses of Illinois revealed John and Margret Dyer (from family records) Sackley had a daughter Sarah born in 1867 in Illinois. [1] [2]

A search of the 1900 – 1930 census records of Illinois did not reveal a Sarah Flanagan in Chicago. 

A death certificate of a Sarah Flanagan in Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, who died on 20 Oct. 1911, was found.  [3]

A marriage of a Sarah Sackley to a Michael J Graham was listed in the Chicago Herald 12 Oct 1890.[4]

Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index, 1871-1920, Sadie Sackley married Michael J Graham on 8 Oct 1890 in Chicago, Illinois. [5]

The 1900 Federal Census of Illinois showed Michael Graham enumerated with a Sarah in Chicago, Cook, Illinois along with 4 children[6]

 The Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index, 1871-1920 revealed Michael J Flanagan married an Annie Dyer on 14 Sep 1892 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois.[7]

  The 1900 Federal Census in Cook County, Illinois showed a Michael J Flanagan enumerated with an Annie and 4 children. 

Michael J Graham’s death was found in the Cook County Deaths, 1878 – 1922.[8]

The marriage of Michael J Flanagan and Sarah Graham was 14 Aug 1907 in the St. Peter's Catholic Church, of Chicago, Illinois.[9]

The 1910 Federal Census of Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, revealed a Michael J Flanagan was enumerated there along with a Sarah from Illinois and 10 children.  The ages of the children were close making it puzzling, but the census said she had 10 children and 10 were living, which is how many were enumerated with them.  The age of 18 was given for Michael at age of marriage.  Sarah did not have an age listed.[10]

Summary:

The two marriage records proved Sarah Sackley married first Michael J Graham in 1890 and second Michael J Flanagan in 1907. 

The death record of Sarah Flanagan gave father as John Sackley and mother’s maiden name as Dyer and revealed the remains were removed to Chicago.  These were Sarah’s parents and the proof of being buried in the cemetery in Chicago.  

The death information and burial are consistent with the initial known facts.  The children found with Michael J Flanagan and Sarah on the 1910 Federal Census would have been a combination of his and her children.  

Conclusion

The Gravestone in the Sackley family burial plot for Sarah Flanagan was that of  Sarah Sackley daughter of John Sackley and wife of Michael J Flanagan

Attachments Marriage and Death Certificates.

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[1] Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line].; Census Place: Chicago Ward 14, Cook, Illinois; Roll: M593_207; Page: 592A; Image: 455; Family History Library Film: 545706.

[2] Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line] Census Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Roll: 194; Family History Film: 1254194; Page: 479D; Enumeration District: 128; Image: 0702.

[3] Ancestry.com and Ohio Department of Health. Ohio Deaths, 1908-1932, 1938-1944, and 1958-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.Original data: Ohio. Division of Vital Statistics. Death Certificates and index, December 20, 1908-December 31, 1953. State Archives Series 3094. Ohio Historical Society, Ohio.

[4] Genealogybank.com 1890-10-12, Chicago Herald [database on line] http://www.genealogybank.com/gbnk/doc/v2:11B564E4D0 “Loves Banner Week Scores of Interesting Weddings Cupid Sending a Procession of Charming Brides”

[5] Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index, 1871-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2010. Illinois Department of Public Health records. "Marriage Records, 1871–present." Division of Vital Records, Springfield, Illinois.

[6] Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004, Census Place: Chicago Ward 9, Cook, Illinois; Roll: T623_253; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 220.

[7] Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index, 1871-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2010. Illinois Department of Public Health records. "Marriage Records, 1871–present." Division of Vital Records, Springfield, Illinois.

[8] “Illinois, Cook County Deaths 1878-1922,” images, FamilySearch, 2010; from Illinois Department of Public Health. “Birth and Death Records, 1916 - present." Division of Vital Records, Springfield. FHL microfilm. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah., film roll 004004381, image 1629

[9] "Illinois, Chicago Catholic Church Records, 1833-1900," database, FamilySearch; (http://familysearch.org); from the Catholic Bishop of Chicago, Illinois. FHL microfilm, 203 rolls, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, Page 189, number 9.

[10] Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.  Census Place: Toledo Ward 7, Lucas, Ohio; Roll: T624_1207; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 0088; Image: 878; FHL Number: 1375220

  

 

Excerpt from image above.

Wordless Wednesday, Wondering Where and When.

William Steve Sackley B1867 in Chicago.  I think this is a theme photograph taken in Chicago. There isn't any marks on the side or back to prove this.  I am guessing this is in the early 1900's maybe 20's.  Terrible at identifying clothing times. This isn't the first time a Sackley Photograph has stumped me. Click here to see the post.

Sometimes We Need a Different Perspective

As we were facing a possible flu pandemic last year, it never occurred to me to look into the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic as a possible cause of family deaths.

The other night, I was doing my usual probing in the newest records on FamilySearchlabs.org  when I came across one of the sons of  our Heimbach family.  Joseph Frederick Heimbach had died in Chicago in Nov 1918.  His diagnosis was Lobar Pneumonia. Influenza was put in parentheses as a secondary cause.
(A reminder you can click on the images to make them larger)





 Just prior to that in June, Joseph's brother-in-law, Edward Ellsworth, (our ancestor) had died of Myocarditis secondary to Hypostatic pneumonia.

According to Librarian Ann Maggio of Chicago,  "The virus made its first appearance in March of 1918 when, in Fort Funston, Kansas, over 200 soldiers complained of flu symptoms and nearly 50 died from the disease.
Health officials hardly took notice at the time, and the U.S. had other things on its mind: fighting World War I
the virus popped up in other pockets around the country that spring, it seemed to disappear as quickly as it came.According to newspaper reports from the period, for the week ending September 28, 598 new cases of Spanish Influenza were reported in Chicago and 176 deaths."

...the flu was 'officially declared an epidemic in Illinois in October of 1918'.
This particular article reappears quite often in the East St. Louis Journal during the fall of 1918.

As a matter of fact it wasn't until October of 1918 that it is even mentioned in the Chicago Times.

This is an excerpt from Jan 1919 Chicago Times: 









The majority of the news during Spring of 1918 until October 1918 was focused on WWI.  Even with the large death tolls, the only focus it received was to say for prominent people, funerals were not public.  It was sad to note that many did not even have a funeral because of the epidemic.

I  feel the Helena Heimbach Ellsworth must have been a very sad lady to have dealt with the death of,  first her husband, then her brother within a 5 month period.  She must have been a strong person.  Her daughter in law, remembered the time because she was in the hospital having her son, our ancestor, at the time Edward died.  She was worried about her baby's health.

I think both men were victims of the flu.  Edward seems to be one of the popped up and disappeared pockets. 

Other than giving an accounting of the huge number of fatalities as a result of this virus, there has been little information documented, with the exception of the military where it appears to have started, and epidemiology statistics.

My First Attempt at Madness Monday

I have a family from England. It starts out with William Sackley who married Dianah Mason.
I find Dianah and child William in Nova Scotia on a christening record.
I find a Stephen Sackley in Carlton Ontario, Canada in 1820 military records.
A son Henry in 1890's biography said they came to the US in the early 1840's.
In 1855, I find Stephen and our ancestor John in Chicago state census.
My dilemma is I want to prove Dianah as the mother of John. She married William in England. John lists his mother as Irish. The possibility is maybe Dianah was Irish, or Dianah died and William remarried in Carlton, which was settled by a large Irish group. In all the information, the father is named in a sister's biography, but the mother's name is never mentioned. Why is the father's name more important than the mother I wonder. Maybe I just needed to know who the father was first to be able to zero in my search, Maybe. My next endeavor will be to try and find land records in Canada or New York where they came over. They were teamsters when they came to Chicago. Now I wonder, do I just leave this on my blog or do I submit Madness Monday somewhere on Geneabloggers?