Yesterday I posted about Bridget Barrett nee Farley's obituary. Her parents were Hugh and Alice Farley nee Fagan. Bridget's obituary alerted me to two brothers who survived her: Owen and James. So I went looking for them and lost Bridget in the process. Let me do my best to explain.
The only census records I have Bridget in are the 1880 and 1900 US Federal Censuses. She's already married to Patrick Barrett. I wanted to find her with her parents and siblings. I didn't. I found her siblings with Hugh and Alice. She just wasn't with them and she was young enough to be.
I went one step backwards to the 1870 Census and found her parents with all four of her brothers.
Seeing a child called Owen and another Hugh was odd. I was always told that the two were interchangeable. Perhaps not. I never found a death for Hugh, but he wasn't alive at the time Bridget died. Nor was William who died in 1891. Where's Bridget though? She would have been about 15 years old in 1870. Yes, it's possible that she was off on her own at this time, but not a foregone conclusion. The other item of note was that James was born in Washington D.C. That's different than the rest and can help me identify if I have the right or wrong family as I look at other records.
So the next thing I did was jump to looking for a death record for James. According to Bridget's obituary he died after her and Pennsylvania's Death certificates for that time are on Ancestry. I found it without issue and guess what? He was born in D.C. This census is right. Bridget just isn't there. So I went back to 1860 when Bridget would have been about 5 years old. I found Hugh and Alice as well as James. Still no Bridget and still with James being born in Washington D.C. Could it be another family with all the same names? Sure. The ages are correct too though and with James being 8 months old in the census (and in D.C.) I'm fairly certain this is the right family.
Where was Bridget? She was significantly older than James. About five years and everything I found says she was born in Ireland like her parents. Did they leave her there when they came to America and sent for her later? Her husband, Patrick Barrett was born in Ireland too, but I don't know if they were married in Ireland or in America. In the 1900 US Census it has Patrick and Bridget both coming to America in 1865, but Bridget would have been only 10 years old. They wouldn't have been married, but maybe the families knew each other? Or maybe them arriving in the same year was just a coincidence. They weren't married in 1870 though. The 1900 census has them marrying in 1872. It could be wrong.
The only Bridget Farley I have been able to find in the 1870 Census is a domestic servant in a wealthy household in Hazleton. She's 20 though and that's five years too old. She could have lied about her age to get the job. People do it all the time, but me rationalizing it, doesn't make it so. I've found some Patrick and Bridget Barretts in Scranton (same county, but not overly close to Hazleton). Neither really fits well enough for me to call it though.
So it's possible that Bridget could have already been with Patrick by 1870 or working on her own...or somewhere else. I don't think I'm solving this mystery today. What I can do is check for that marriage record and see if I can find something that will clear up at least their marriage date.
One last bit of intel on the family is a small clipping for the death of Bridget's mom, Alice Farley nee Fagan.
The death location for Alice is Humboldt. From what I've seen the Farley are buried in either Woodside Cemetery (St. Ann's Parish) or St. Gabriel's. While the funeral notice here says that they all live in Humboldt, Patrick and Bridget didn't to the best of my knowledge. They were in Hazleton in 1880 and 1900. It's a small(ish) thing though. Regardless I'll be looking for a marriage record from both churches.
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