John P. McColgan A Mystery Solved

Note: This is a copy of the report that I sent to the descendants of Mary Jane and John P. McColgan with whom I was in touch in 2004. It provided an account of the final search to learn of his life following the death of his wife and departure from the family 88 years previously. R. J. T.

It was a long journey but we have finally located John P. McColgan. As most of you are aware, theirs was a tragic love story with John having left his home in Scotland to follow Mary Jane to the Manayunk section of Philadelphia. They married at Holy Family Catholic Church in Manayunk and lived on nearby Baldwin Street for a while before moving to a house that John Built in New Jersey. It was in that house that Mary Jane died on February 10, 1915. Her young son John was with her in the kitchen while she was baking when she began hemorrhaging. Although a neighbor and a doctor came to the house they could not save her. Mary Jane was just 29 years old.

John tried very hard but unsuccessfully to keep the family together. He went as far as bringing his sister Isabella from Scotland to care for the children. When that didn't work out he placed the children in orphanages in Merchantville, New Jersey about 1916 and left the area. Over the years his children and descendants developed numerous theories as to what happened to him and his whereabouts. His brother in law John Tinneny went as far as going to Scotland in an unsuccessful attempted to locate him.

John Patrick McColgan Courtesy of the McColgan Family.

Several years ago I provided Debbie Chennowith with a couple of leads to check out from the social security administration, which she did. One of them turned out to be John who was identified as having died in February 1964 with his last residence being 25 Lockman Avenue, Staten Island, New York. No further information was developed.

On Saturday, January 10, 2004, I traveled to New York City for a meeting at the firm for which I consult. I went up from sunny South Carolina a day early to see what additional information I could ferret out in the 88 year old mystery of John McColgan and his whereabouts. By the way, New York City set a record for cold last week and even had 6 inches of snow – much to my discomfort and dismay.

I arrived at LaGuardia Airport at 9:00 a.m. and grabbed a taxi to the Lucerne hotel where I tossed my bags in the room and took the 79-block subway ride to the foot of Manhattan and took the ferry to Staten Island. Once on Staten Island I met a very good friend, Sheila-Anne, a genealogy colleague and resident of Staten Island. We had worked together via the Internet for years and developed a friendship but hadn’t previously met in person.

Sheila drove us to 25 Lockman Street where we saw the house mentioned in the social security records as being John’s residence when he made his social security application. I knocked on the door and no one answered – didn’t blame them it was 7 degrees outside. We walked the street a bit until someone came out of one of the houses and asked him if he knew of any neighbors that lived there in the 60s and earlier. He said no. We went to the Baptist church 3 houses down from 25 Lockman and were greeted by several black ladies who said they knew nothing of the neighborhood in the 60s. So I asked them where the nearest Catholic Church was. They said the next street over and several blocks up – so we headed off to Saint Michael’s and met the very nice housekeeper who let us in to review the original records of births and marriages. After an hour we had drawn a blank so we asked her to let us into the church – which was beautiful. We got a church bulletin, said a brief prayer for John and the family then I asked Sheila-Anne if there was a neighborhood newspaper – not the big NYC papers. She said there was the Staten Island Advance. We went to the big library on Staten Island in the hope that they would have back copies – and they did have them on microfilm. We located the Feb 1964 film and reviewed each week's edition day by day and bingo the last day of the month we found 2 obituaries on John one the small standard version and the other a bit longer with more details.

In the obituaries we learned several important points:

That he had viewings on each of 2 days and a Requiem Mass. (This told us that there was someone in the area who helped with his affairs and that he had friends).

The name of the cemetery where he was buried: Saint Peter’s Cemetery, Staten Island.

The name of the parish that he was in: Saint Michael’s 211 Harbor Road, Staten Island. (Which is the church we had visited earlier in the day).

No immediate family was mentioned. (Which helped us answer the question – Did he ever marry after leaving New Jersey?)

We learned that he was a boat builder and carpenter as he had been as a young man in New Jersey and that he last worked at the Saint George Coast Guard Base in the New York Harbor.

Finally, the obit indicated that he had been in the area probably since he left New Jersey.

By this time it was about 3:30 Saturday afternoon. Next we drove across the island to Saint Peters Cemetery. When we got there we found the place was very well kept with literally thousands of headstones – but the office was closed. So I asked her to call them Monday while I was in meetings and see what they had regarding John. Specifically: Who paid for the lot and made his arrangements? The section, lot and gravesite number? Was there a headstone? Who else was in the grave with him? And any other available info.

Sheila did good -- from the cemetery records we learned:

That the lot was purchased by Mary Kielty.

That the grave is located in the NTW Section #53, Plot 17, Grave 6.

That John is the only person in the plot and that there are 3 vacant graves.

That there is a headstone.

Sheila is buying a disposable camera and will take photos of the headstone and the 92 Lockman residence and maybe the church and send them to me and I will forward them to Debbie or Joe.

The address of the cemetery is:

     St. Peter's Cemetery

     52 Tyler Ave.

     Staten Island 10310-3127

Midweek I called the funeral home and a real nice lady named Elizabeth volunteered to help find the files in the attic after she finished work. The next day she faxed me the record.

From the Funeral home we learned that:

John lived at 92 Lockman Avenue Staten Island at the time of his death – not 25, which we formerly thought was the case. Although he had lived at the 25 Lockwood Avenue previously.

That he had lived in New York for approximately 50 years (All of which appears to have been on Staten Island and most of the time in or close to a Kielty household).

He was listed as a widower and his wife’s name was unknown.

His parents names were listed which verified he was our John since we had already known of them.

His father is listed as being from Scotland and his mother from Ireland (Her native country may not have been previously known).

It was indicated that he was not a military veteran.

Cause of Death ASHD (Heart Disease).

The source of information on John’s death was provided by Mary Kielty of 92 Lockman Avenue.

James Castellano of 240 Arlington Avenue, SI, NY 10303 was listed as his executor (We checked and found numerous Castellano’s but none at that address). That he had an estate indicated that he most likely died with some property and resources.)

He had an estate attorney: Norman C. Morse of 25 Hyatt St., SI, NY 10301. We subsequently learned that the attorney is still alive and recently turned the practice over to his daughter.

That the attorney had paid $1,039.80 to the cemetery for the burial by check on 7/21/64.

Last Thursday I tracked down the grand-nephew of Mary Kielty and learned:

She was widowed years before John’s death.

Her husband’s name was James.

She was a very devout Catholic and attended daily Mass at Saint Michael’s.

She would have been the kind of person who would provide assistance to her neighbors “She was always helping someone.” per her nephew.

When asked if he had ever heard of John - the nephew said no that he was in high school when Mary died and he was only in his late 40s now.

I asked if her residence at 92 Lockman Ave was a boarding house and if John could have been a boarder? The nephew said no that it was and remains a public housing project and in the 60s it would have been for low and middle class people.

I asked the nephew if he knew of any of his other relatives who may have more and older information about Mary and he said he probably had as much as any of them.

I asked if she had any children and he said that she didn’t.

(Note: I am not 100% convinced that the 92 Lockman Ave. residence was always public housing and this could be further checked out.)

Sheila Anne did some additional checking on the Kielty connection and found:

The 1930 Census shows the Kielty family living at 92 Lockman Ave. Here is the census info:

Kielty, Thomas J - Head of Household - Age 37.

Katherine - Wife - Age 37.

Edward – Son - Age 12.

Alice – Daughter - Age 7.

Margaret – Daughter - Age 1 ½ .

Thomas J Kielty was the owner of 92 Lockman Avenue. (Need to check out – if public housing he didn’t own but was just head of household).

Thomas was a steam fitter - United Electric Co.

His birthplace was listed as New Jersey   Note: Interesting – I wonder if he knew John in NJ – They were about the same age, both had lived in New Jersey and were in related trades.

Race: White.

Suggestions for Further Research

Contact the funeral home and see what records they have – see web site for contact information.

Attempt to contact the executor or his family for estate information.

Contact the law firm – they are local and have been there for several generations and should have records.

Verify that 92 Lockman was public housing in the 1930s and 1960s.

Comments:

Had an idea at Mass this morning – Some of you may wish to have a Mass said for John at Saint Michael’s. If so, the following info may be helpful:

Mass stipends in New York are $15.00 for an announced Mass and $5.00 for an unannounced Mass.

Saint Michael’s Catholic Church, 207 Harbor Road, Staten Island, New York 10303, Phone: 718-442-1688

I am available should you have any questions about this information.

Without the assistance of Sheila-Anne throughout a very cold Saturday and the week - we would have none of this information. You may wish to send her a brief thank you.

Finding John and this information about him after all these years has been a challenging and rewarding task.

I hope you will continue gathering and sharing information on him and other members of the family.

       Love to each of you my cousins – and thanks for letting me help.

Richard J. Tinneny, 2 Baker House Court Columbia, SC 29223 rtinneny@aol.com

Related Images



                        25 Lockman Ave., Staten Island, NY.                92 Lockman Ave., Staten Island, NY .

Saint Michael’s Roman Catholic Church, Staten Island, NY. The church that John attended and from which he was buried.



                Lockman Avenue, Staten Island, New York. The street on which John lived out the last 48 years of his life.

Rich Tinneny at John P. McColgan’s grave in Saint Peter’s Cemetery, Staten Island, NY. Taken the day the remains of John were located and the 88 year quest for his whereabouts was solved.