Providence, RI question for Marilyn

[marilyn morning]

Communities had to deal with epidemics of highly infectious diseases like whooping cough and inflenza so they had to get these children buried quickly without seeming hard hearted!

This must be how they began the tradition of burying the poor babies together and its just carried on through the years.

I have 3 Morning children buried in somewhere in Pine Grove Cemetery in Massachusetts. The cemetery has no idea where

Marilyn

[speleobat2]

Marilyn,

Early on in this discussion you mentioned a relative who was a nurse at the hospital in the area of the streets where the Clerihews were living. Tonight, I was checking things getting ready for my trip north and did another wildcard search for Cler?h???. I noticed a listing for the 1910 Census for Lessie M Clerihen. My grandfather's oldest sister, the nurse, was Jessie M Clerihew so I pulled up the image and sure enough it was her. She was living at 37 Parade St. with 5 other nurses, all listing "hospital" for place of occupation! The other five were Catherine A Roso, Georgia Johnson, Sara F Devine, Annie Raftery, Margaret Ohala. Do any of those names sound familiar to you or maybe your mother? Their ages ranged from 19 to 36.

Just when you think you've found everything.... !

Carol

[Russell]

Hi Carol and Marilyn

Just keep going, the pair of you. This has developed into a fascinating saga where, with extra effort something new keeps popping up.
I was intrigued by the mistranscription of Jessie and when I looked at the other names if they were similarly mistranscribed it would be effectively an Irish ancestry flat they shared.
Catherine Rossie
Georgia Johnston
Sarah Devine
Ann Rafferty
Margaret O'Hara.

Just a thought.

Russell

[speleobat2]

I got to thinking about some of those names and had to have another look so I just went back to the original image. The head of the household, Jennie C. Roso was a nurse as was the second person listed Sophia A. Grant. They are the first of the 6 nurses. The last two I listed, Annie and Margaret were a cook and a waitress at the hospital. Richard Clark was a janitor at the hospital and also living at this address. The first two are listed as "head" and "partner" making me think that they may have owned the house and rented out rooms to fellow employees?

If you look closely, Margaret is in fact an O'Hara, not an Ohala and Roso could also be Ross! I've never heard of Raftery as a name so it probably really was Rafferty. Given my own typing I can't complain too much about the transcriptions! Several of these individuals were Canadians. Maybe with roots in Ireland?

As for the saga, move over Star Wars!

Carol

[marilyn morning]

I noticed a listing for the 1910 Census for Lessie M Clerihen. My grandfather's oldest sister, the nurse, was Jessie M Clerihew so I pulled up the image and sure enough it was her. She was living at 37 Parade St. with 5 other nurses, all listing "hospital" for place of occupation! The other five were Catherine A Roso, Georgia Johnson, Sara F Devine, Annie Raftery, Margaret Ohala. Do any of those names sound familiar to you or maybe your mother? Their ages ranged from 19 to 36.

Hi Carol,

Another interesting discovery! Gosh I wish my great Aunt Lil was still among us, because she'd be the one to ask. Lil was born in 1910, so it would have been another 20 + years before she would become a nurse. My mum wasn't born until the mid 1930, but I'll ask her for sure. I was born 40 + years later, so needless to say I don't know any of these woman.

But I'll ask my sister who works for Rhode Island Hospital, if they have an archive department? Wait until she hears what year I'm looking for.
I can hear her now, "You've gotta be kidding me"

My sister's grand father in-law was a Doctor at Rhode Island Hospital around the same time and I know she was able to obtain some info on him, but he also donated a bunch of $ to the Hospital, so I'm not sure if that's the reason she was so lucky?

I'm almost 100% positive that I passed by Parade Street, when I was taking those pictures from a few weeks ago, so the address is located in the same vicinity thats for sure. Back then a trolly car would have run up and down Broad Street and Elmwood Avenue and its most likely that these woman walked to the end of the street and then took the trolly car into downtown Providence to Rhode Island Hospital.

There was another Hospital in this area called Cranston General, but its closed and I have no idea what year it opened in Rhode Island? Well I could do a google but its late.

I did ask my mother if she ever heard of "City Hospital" and she said yes, but she couldn't remember where it was so I didn't push her for more. Without scrolling back, I believe City Hospital was where baby Clerihew was born?

I agree with Russell that Margaret Ohala is most likely Margaret O'hara.
I've never heard of the last name of Ohala.

Carol have you checked the street directories on Ancestry for Jessie, sometimes the directories list where a person worked, oh and does Jessie show up in the 1920 census?

I'll add 37 Parade Street to the list of photos that I need to get sometime down the road.

Regards
Marilyn

[SarahND]

I've never heard of the last name of Ohala.

I know a well-known linguist by that name, so I tried a google to see how common it is... Nearly all of the 95,000 hits that come from that name are references to either him or his wife I keep trying to pare it down with -linguistics, -phonology, -phonetics, -berkeley, etc. and am still having trouble getting to anyone else. A certain number of Hawaiian sites come up, so it is probably a Hawaiian word also? I believe it must be an Irish name, although obviously not a common one. Ancestry doesn't get many hits for that name.

Cheers,
Sarah

[scotmum]

I've been following this thread with much interest too, as it is fascinating. And guess what, I have another potential nurse from Providence, Rhode Island:

Rachel Viola Cavanagh

In the 1925 Providence Directory, an entry under Cavanagh reads:

Rachel V nurse R I Hospital res do


Her father, Thomas John, emigrated from Ireland in the late 1800's.
I've managed to follow a bit on her brother, Benjamin A Cavanagh ( he ended up living near the hospital, I think, at 129 W Cliford), but don't know what became of Rachel/Viola, other than a possible entry for her in the 1927 Providence Directory as:

Rachel V teacher Manton-av school res 974 Broad

[speleobat2]

Hi scotmum and everyone,

Following these names and trying to figure them out is almost like working with codes!

The 1910 Census actually lists three addresses for the nurses right next to each other--33, 35, and 37. Jessie is at 37 Parade in the 1910 Providence directory. In 1912 she has moved to 25 Oak and is listed as a nurse.

On the 1907 passenger's list, Jessie is listed as a nurse in a private sanitorium. By the 1920 Census, Jessie has moved to Dayton, OH with her sister Isabella Clerihew Taylor. Isabella's husband John F. Taylor was a tool designer for the auto industry employed by a company in Dayton.

This current search all started last evening when I was double checking their father's death certificate. I'm headed north in two weeks to try to find his gravesite near Dayton. On rereading the DC, I discovered that he had only been in Dayton for 3 months before he died so I started rechecking the records for Isabella and John and discovered that they had been in Dayton since about July of 1917. I'm guessing that Jessie and Dad joined them in about February of 1919. My grandparents would already have moved to the Detroit area by then as my father's sister was born in Detroit in July of 1918.

Another Irish connection and mystery: "Uncle" Alexander Longmuir who's house everyone landed in after reaching the USA married an Irish woman named Eleanor according to the census records. I have not been able to find out her last name but on her Rhode Island death record her next of kin #2 is Angelina Longiaru which sounds Italian to me, but I'm betting is a mistranscription of an Irish name.

Russell, do you want to make a guess at that one?

Carol

[marilyn morning]

"Uncle" Alexander Longmuir who's house everyone landed in after reaching the USA married an Irish woman named Eleanor according to the census records. I have not been able to find out her last name but on her Rhode Island death record her next of kin #2 is Angelina Longiaru which sounds Italian to me, but I'm betting is a mistranscription of an Irish name.

Hi Carol,

Give me the details on Eleanor's death entry and I'll send for her DC. Maybe her maiden name will show up?

Regards
Marilyn

[speleobat2]

That would be great, Marilyn!

The record shows:

Name: Eleanor Longmuir

Death Date: 20 Dec 1921

Age: 58 yrs

Alexander Longmuir is Kin 1 and Angelina Longiaru is Kin 2. They had one child as far as I've found--a daughter named Eleanor. She married Ralph H. Lord and was still alive in 1930.

The census records have Eleanor--Alexander's wife--born in 1867, but if the 58 yrs on the death record is correct, she would have been born in 1863.

Carol