Passaic, New Jersey information please

[Alien]

My great grandparents William (born 1847) and Margaret Shaw left Glasgow for America and are in the Passaic, New Jersey 1880 census. By 1891 Margaret and her children are back in Glasgow. I have been unable to trace them on the crossing either to or returning from America.
Does anyone know how I’d find William’s death or burial records if he died in America, and also my grandmother’s birth certificate as she was born in Passaic New Jersey?

[SarahND]

Hi Alien,
If you know your grandmother's birth date, you should be able to get a copy of her birth certificate from the New Jersey Dept of Health:

http://www.state.nj.us/health/vital/tips.shtml

If you don't care if it is "certified" (i.e. valid for legal purposes), click on the genealogy link at the bottom of the page and you can get them cheaper.

William's death will be a bit more difficult, as they will not search if you don't know the date. In the 1891 census, was Margaret a widow?

All the best,
Sarah

[SarahND]

Hi Alien,
Wow, they were just off the boat in time for the 1880 census! I found them arriving in New York on 1 June 1880. The whole family plus brother John and his two children. The reason you couldn't find him is that the page was folded over the first part of his name and it was indexed as ??m Shaw

Best wishes,
Sarah

[SarahND]

Now here's an interesting development: Was your William's son William born 18 April 1872 in Glasgow? A William Shaw, warper. born that date and place applied for a U.S. passport in 1920, stating that his father had lived in Paterson, NJ up until 1905. He doesn't say if he was deceased or not... He says he is going back to Scotland to visit his sick mother. Does this fit with what you know about the family? Was Margaret still alive in 1920?

All the best,
Sarah

P.S. If it is your William, there is a photo of him on the passport app

[Alien]

Sarah,
Thanks so much for your help. Yes this is the family.
My gt grandfather was William Shaw, his wife Margaret Henderson and their children born in Glasgow before leaving for America are
Janet 18 August 1870
William Henderson Shaw 18 April 1872
David Shaw18 April 1874
Thomas Shaw 1878
John Shaw 1879
Jane Gray Shaw* my grandmother born in America
James Shaw born in New Jersey
Robert Shaw born in Carlisle England
In 1991 Margaret is back in Glasgow with her children. On 13 May 1892 she married John Howatson.
She then has another child Elizabeth Howatson born 1896
She died in Glasgow on 24 January 1936.

Unfortunately I don't have the exact birth date for my grandmother.

[SarahND]

Hmmm. That's interesting about her remarrying in 1892.

William Shaw, weaver, appears at 231 Clay in Paterson, New Jersey in the years 1890-91.
He appears at 74 Madison in the 1891-2 directory
And at 76 Beech in the 1892-3 directory

Unfortunately, those are the only directories that Ancestry.com has up for Paterson.

Try as I might, I cannot find him in the 1900 census, even though his son says he is there...

So now one has to wonder... did they actually get a divorce?

The plot thickens...

Regards,
Sarah