Mary Corrigan--Confirmation

Another letter just arrived from Mt. St. Benedict Cemetery in Bloomfield, CT, containing the answers I’ve been waiting for since the first of November.

The manager of the cemetery wrote to let me know that the Mary Corrigan who died 20 April 1880 and was buried in section B of the cemetery was indeed buried in Peter Corrigan’s lot (Section B, Lot 119). This means that she is also the Mary Corrigan who lived at 88 Walnut with Peter and who died 20 April 1880.

The Connecticut State Library was kind enough to send her tombstone inscription, which is recorded in the HALE COLLECTION:

"Corrigan, Mary, born at Co. Westmeath, Parish Tobber Clare, Ireland died April 20, 1880, age 37" [1]

Mary’s death registration states she died of consumption – a wasting away of the body – particularly from pulmonary tuberculosis.

The manager also wrote that Peter bought the lot on 2 April 1880. He may have done so not knowing exactly when Mary would die, but certain that she would. OR he may have purchased the lot to bury someone else. OR there might be some copying error -- wherein 2 April was supposed to have been 20 April.

Lawrence Carrigan died of "phthisis" (pronounced TIE-sis) -- a synonym of consumption -- one year later in 1881. And Peter himself died of pulmonary tuberculosis eleven years after Mary.

A lot of people died of TB, but at this point I'm wondering if Lawrence is buried at Mt. St. Benedict Cemetery as well.

I may soon find out. I have just ordered FHL microfilms 3320 and 3321, cemetery inscriptions from the HALE COLLECTION for the towns of Hartford and Bloomfield, and I can't wait to get scrolling.

NOTES:

[1] The inscription is included in a list of cemetery inscriptions for the town of Bloomfield, CT, that were copied November 1934 under the supervision of Charles. R. HALE, State Military Necrologist. The HALE Collection is housed at the Connecticut State Library, but available on microfilm through the Family History Library. Charles R. Hale, “Charles R. Hale Collection [of Cemetery Inscriptions and Newspaper Notices of Marriages and Deaths]” (1933-34), at the Connecticut State Library, Hartford.

Mary Corrigan at 88 Walnut

A couple of months ago I used the index of the database “Connecticut Deaths and Burials, 1772-1934,” on FamilySearch.org to create a table of Mary Carrigans/Corrigans who died in Connecticut during the 1870s and 1880s.

I checked my list just now to see if there were any Marys who died 20 Apr 1880 in Hartford (see end of previous post) because I had hoped to find burial information.

I was happy and, to be honest, a bit surprised to find two listings of Marys who died 20 Apr 1880:

Corrigan, Mary – born 1843, aged 37, death place: Bloomfield, Hartford, CT (Film # 3109, Ref 59)

Corrigan, Mary—born 1843, aged 37, death place: Hartford, CT (Film 3320, Ref 69)
Are these two Marys the same individual? The thought has crossed my mind.

The thought that Bloomfield may possibly be the burial place rather than the death place has also crossed my mind. If so, why Bloomfield unless there were previous or present ties there?

And what about Hartford? Did the indexer simply forget to list the town of death for the second Mary? Did the indexer mean the town of Hartford in Hartford County? Or just Hartford County? Which Hartford is it?

The microfilms associated with both Marys are from the Hale Collection. Film 3109 is a surname index of “deaths and inscriptions.” Apparently the film contains some burial inscriptions. Film 3320 contains: “Cemetery inscriptions of Beacon Falls, Berlin, Bethany, Bethel, Bethlehem, Bloomfield and Hartford.” Apparently this film contains all cemetery inscriptions. This may prove my point that Bloomfield may possibly be the burial place rather than the death place.

Curious-er and curious-er.

I’m curious to see how and why each Mary is indexed and what other information may be found on each film. Part of the Hale Collection is online, but none of the cemetery records for Hartford are and only two cemeteries in Bloomfield have been indexed in Hale.

In the mean time, I will do a brief, brief search for Corrigans in Bloomfield censuses. Will I find Patrick and Mary, the parents of the Mary who lived at 88 Walnut? Hmm. I will also check Find A Grave and other sites to see what Corrigans are buried in Bloomfield Cemeteries.