Jackson genealogical brick wall

Ye socks who despise my family history related posts may tune out now.

Today, I managed to chip away at a longstanding brick wall in my research on our Jackson forebears, if ever so slightly.

In the 1850 Census of South Brunswick (Middlesex County), New Jersey, yours truly discovered the following family enumerated on page 386:

Jackson, John, age 45, laborer, real estate valued at $200, born in New Jersey.
Jackson, Catharine, 35, born in Ireland.
Jackson, John, age 1, born in New Jersey.


These are definitely my ancestors who subsequently settled at Princeton, New Jersey.


But, I can't trace them back any further.


The only other clue I have is Catherine's maiden name, and it's not much of a clue as it is given variously as Rourke, Roarke, O'Rourke, and O'Roarke.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Breathe! We're 25% thru this nightmare!

Yours truly is wondering, given last night's results out of Massachusetts and the earlier reverses in New Jersey and Virginia, if our esteemed "leader" would revise the letter grade he so humbly awarded himself on the Oprah show. ("B")

What is blowing my mind this morning is the level of criticism he is receiving from liberals.

Folks at Human Rights Watch and the ACLU aren't happy with him. And, the anti-gun Brady Campaign went so far as to give him a big fat "F" for his first year's work.

All I can say, ye socks of whatever political stripe, is that this maladministration is like a kidney stone. And, this too shall pass!

Hope and change, y'all! ;)

RIP, Mary Fitz

My first day back to work after the blur that was the holiday season, and it has to start off with some sad news from one of my New Jersey kin . . .

My Grandma G's cousin Mary Fitz (more properly Mary Elizabeth Irving FitzGerald) died in her sleep on New Year's Day. She was 86 years old.

Mary Fitz was born 11 September 1923, a daughter of Alex Irving, youngest son of my English emigrant ancestor "Honest Bob" Irving. (Yours truly is a great-grandson of Alex's sister Lil Irving Norton.)

My grandmother often told me stories about how she would babysit for Mary Fitz and her siblings after their mother's untimely death. Babysitting in those days apparently involved taking the kids to see the "picture shows."

Anyway, Mary Fitz grew up to attend Seton Hall University and worked as a public health nurse for many years in Jersey City.

I have several letters that she sent me over the years, each containing tidbits of family history.

She was a passionate promoter of literacy, and was named Literacy Tutor of the Year in 1997 by the Literacy Volunteers of America.

Mary Fitz didn't actually become Mary Fitz until late in life, when she married a Canadian fellow named John T. FitzGerald. He preceded her in death many years ago. They had no children. She was also preceded in death by her brother George Irving. Her sister Anna Mae Ness survives, as do numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Visitation will be Thursday at the McLaughlin Funeral Home on Pavonia Avenue, Jersey City, on Thursday. Funeral Mass will be offered at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church on Friday at 10am, with interment to follow at Holy Cross Cemetery.

Happy Birthday, Grandma G!

Yes, ye socks, it was on this date back in 1919, that a baby girl was born into a large Irish Catholic family in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Hard to believe that was 90 years ago today!

The world has changed an awful lot since then. And, yet, a lot of things were the same as they are today.

When my grandmother was born, an over-reaching Congress ushered in a disastrous new era of Prohibition.

And, the Nobel Peace Prize was foolishly awarded to the Democrat who was then occupying the White House.

To be sure, Woodrow Wilson was a more deserving recipient than the current occupant. At least he had forced thru the Treaty of Versailles.

I mention those two particular historical tidbits in the context of this birthday remembrance, because they both would have significant influence on the life of that baby born 90 years ago.

First of all, her father Tom Norton was good friends with a fellow named Joe Tumulty who just happened to be the private secretary (chief of staff) to President Wilson. Tom also began a very successful rum-running business the year his youngest daughter was born, the success doubtless due to his political connections. All of the fond memories she would have of making frequent trips to Manasquan on the Jersey Shore were actually designed to camouflage her father's illicit operation.

And, secondly, the well-intentioned but poorly-crafted Treaty of Versailles would eventually spark the Second World War--the seminal event of my grandmother's generation.

But, I doubt the Nortons of Jersey City were considering the impact of history on their lives on that cold winter day ninety years ago. I'm sure they were just excited about welcoming a new member to the family in time for the busy Christmas season.

Just for kicks and giggles, a list of other folks who were also born in 1919: writer J.D. Salinger; 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney; baseball legend Jackie Robinson; musicians Tennessee Ernie Ford and Nat King Cole; actor Jack Palance; Argentine first lady Evita Peron; mountain climber Sir Edmund Hillary; and reformed segregationist George Wallace. Interesting generation, no?!

As American as Apple Pannini . . . er . . . Pie

The lunch hour found yours truly at Citrus Restaurant on North Orange Ave.

A little ritzier than my typical lunchtime haunts, to be sure.

One of the specials was a pannini whose innards included slices of the proverbial forbidden fruit . . . about as close as I was likely to get to apple pie on this Election Day 2009.

Of course, the politics of the day was covered in the lunchtime conversation.

I believe the general consensus is that Virginia and New Jersey will switch back to the GOP column, at least as far as their governors' mansions are concerned.

But, that's about where the consensus ends.

Whether or not one chooses to read anything more into this off-off-year election results is none of my business.

If you really want a tough choice, try to figure out what more peculiar pannini ingredient the folks over at Citrus might try to inject into the lunchtime menu . . .

On this day in 1885 . . .

my great grandfather Thomas Joseph Norton, Sr., was born in Jersey City, New Jersey.

He was the eldest son of Irish immigrant Patrick Norton (recent arrival from Ballyforan in County Roscommon) and the former Margaret Conner.

Tom was a gifted athlete at Fordham University, who often competed at Madison Square Garden in New York City; and qualified for the US Olympic Track and Field Team in 1904.

Unfortunately, his disciplinarian father wouldn't let Tom forego his college studies to attend the 3rd Olympiad out in St. Louis.

Bad news for Tom was good news for his many descendants. By not heading out to Missouri, he struck up a romance with my great-grandmother Lil Irving.

They were secretly wed in Jersey City on 26 February 1905, which caused quite a stir . . . even rated a feature article in the New York Times.

Anyway, I digress.

Happy 124t Birthday, Tom!

Turning my Jackson research on its ear!

For many years, I have based my research on the Jackson side of the family on an old hand-written family tree my grandmother had included in my Aunt Roberta's baby book back in 1943.

Now, it appears that her information may have been faulty!

That's the bad news.

The good news is a recently-discovered death certificate in Trenton, New Jersey, has opened up new avenues of research for me.

And, you know how much we genealogical socks love new avenues of research.

If you'd care for the gorey details of my findings to date, drop me an email!