After finding 53-year old Mary Walsh with her daughter, 23
year old Hanorah Walsh, and three boarders at 436 West Second Street in the 1900 census, I attempted
to trace this Mary back in time through Boston city directories [1].
The 1899 directory listed a widow named Mary at the same
address (436 W. Second) whose husband’s name had been Edward [2].
The goal in tracing Mary through city directories was to find out when this
Edward died.
There was another widow named Mary Walsh who lived for some
years at 344 W. Second – and in 1900 there was a widow of Edward named Mary
Walsh at 342 W. Second [3].
In fact, there were several Mary Walshes and Welches in the
directories and I want to examine each one, but the following table refers only
to the Mary at 436 W. Second, who likely moved there from 379 W. First, and to
379 W. First from 387 W First (my reasoning for these moves is discussed below
the following table and is partly based on Edward’s year of death and street address
at the time of death).
I did not check every variant name of Welch for each year, and
did not include in the table every year I searched, but a larger picture of
the Mary at 436 W. Second emerged without having done so: [4]
Year
|
Surname
|
Description
|
1899
|
Walsh
|
Mary,
widow of Edward, h. 436 W. Second
|
1892
|
Welch
|
Mary,
widow of Edward, h. 436 W. Second
|
1891
|
Directory
not available
|
|
1890
|
Welch
|
Not at
436 W. Second
|
Welch
|
Mary,
widow of Edward, 379 W. First
|
|
Welch
|
Thomas, laborer, bds. 379. W. First
|
|
1889
|
Welch
|
Mary,
widow, h. 379. W. First
|
1888
|
Directory
not available
|
|
1887
|
Directory
not available
|
|
1886
|
Welch
|
Mary not
listed at 436 W. Second or 379 W. Second
|
Welch
|
Edward,
laborer, h. 387 W. First
|
|
Welch
|
Edward
(E. Higgins & Co.), 378 W. First,
h. 387 do.
|
|
1885
|
Welch
|
Edward
(Higgins & Welch), 378 W. First, h. 387 do.
|
Mary, widow of Edward, may have lived at 436 W. Second from
around 1891 or 1892 to 1900 (we know that a Mary Walsh and her daughter Hanorah
were listed at 436 W. Second in the 1900 census, and we know that Hanorah was
the name of Edward’s daughter in the 1880 census) [5].
In 1890, I found one Mary Welch, a widow of Edward, and one
Thomas Welch, a laborer, who boarded with her at 379 W. First [6].
Mary Walsh is also found at this address in 1889 [7].
At this point, it is important to note that Edward, husband
of Mary, could have died between 1886 and 1889 (it is clear that Edward was
alive in 1886 but that Mary was a widow by 1889).
I searched for his death record and found an “Edmund Welch” who
died 6 March 1888 at 379 W. First,
at the age of about 53. This places his birth year about 1835. His occupation
was “roofer,” and he was born in Ireland to parents Thomas and Mary [8].
It is likely that between the years of 1886 and 1888 the Edward
at 387 W. First moved with his wife Mary to 379 W. First, and that Mary moved
from 379 W. First to 436 W. Second after Edward died.
It is also important to note that the Higgins & Welch
roofing business at 378 W. First may have been right across the street from 379
W. First, depending on how the houses/buildings were numbered.
It is also worth noting that a Thomas Welch had been a
member of the household of the older Mary Welch, the widow, in the 1870 census [9].
Notes:
[1] 1900
U. S. census, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, population schedule, Boston, Ward
14, enumeration district 1354, Sheet 6B, dwelling 69, family 141, line 51, Mary
Walsh household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com :
accessed 26 March 2014), citing FHL microfilm 1,240,682; citing National
Archives microfilm publication T623, roll 682.
[2] “U. S.
City Directories, 1821-1989,” Massachusetts, Boston, 1899
database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com :
accessed 26 March 2014), entry for Mary Walsh, p. 1609; citing The Boston
Directory, 1899, Sampson, Murdock, & Co.
[3] I do
not yet have an established set of directory years for the Mary Walsh at 344 W.
Second, but for the Mary Walsh in 1900 see “U. S. City Directories, 1821-1989,”
Massachusetts, Boston, 1900, database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com :
accessed 26 March 2014), entry for Mary Walsh, p. 1661; citing The Boston
Directory, 1900, Sampson, Murdock, & Co.
[4] All of
the Boston, Massachusetts directories that I searched can be found in the “U.
S. City Directories, 1821-1989” database at Ancestry.com
(http://www.ancestry.com :
accessed 26 March 2014), citing The
Boston Directory, 1885-1899, Sampson, Murdock, & Company. Page numbers for each table listing are noted
here: (1899) 1609, (1892) 1404, (1890) Both Mary and Thomas 1332, (1889) 1304 ,
(1886) 1197, (1885) 1127.
[5] 1900
U. S. census, Suffolk Co., MA., pop. Sch., Boston, Ward 14, ED 1354, sheet 6B,
dwell. 69, fam. 141, Mary Walsh. See
note 1. Also see 1880 U. S. census,
Suffolk County, Massachusetts, population schedule, South Boston, enumeration
district 685, p, 20, dwelling 99, family 223, line 34, Edward Welch household;
digital image, Ancestry.com(http://www.ancestry.com :
accessed 24 Marcy 2014), citing National Archives microfilm publication T9,
roll 557.
[6] “U. S.
City Directories, 1821-1989,” 1890, database, Ancestry.com, entries for Mary Welch and Thomas Welch.
[7] Ibid.,
(1889) 1304.
[8] "Massachusetts,
Deaths, 1841-1915," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NWCR-DVM
: accessed 27 Mar 2014), Edmund Welch, 06 Mar 1888; citing Boston,
Massachusetts, p90 n2070, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 960239.
[9] 1870 U. S. census, Suffolk County,
Massachusetts, population schedule, Boston, Ward 12, p. 195, dwelling 849,
family 1429, line 29, Mary Welch household; digital image,Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 24
March 2014), citing FHL film 552,146; citing National Archives
microfilm publication M593, roll 647.
