Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Wedding Wednesday- Margaret McCarry and Arthur Kirk


Awhile ago I found out that Grandpop McCarry's younger sister, Margaret, had moved to California after their Father died. I found this out with a hint on Ancestry for Arthur Winfield Kirk's family. They had this photo with the label, "Arthur Kirk and 2nd wife Margaret McCarry." I was excited to find what had happened to her. So I ordered her death certificate from California. There was all the matches. She was the daughter of Patrick McCarry and Margaret O'Connell. She was born 1 Jul 1881 in New York.  She was Grandpop's sister!

I wondered what had led her to California from Philadelphia, PA. The last census I had for her was 1900. She was the informant on her father's death certificate in 1914 so that was the last contact I had for her. The information I had from the Kirk Family tree was that they were married 18 July 1923. Her death certificate showed that she had been a housewife for 41 years when she died in 1964. It also showed that she had lived in California for 44 years at the time of her death. So she had been there for 3 years before she married Arthur. I had no occupation for her. I wondered what she was doing out there and how she and Arthur met. I contacted the owner of the Kirk tree on Ancestry to see if I could get some answers. They never replied. Finally last month I ordered their Marriage Certificate from California. It came on New Years Eve. Excitement again! Well it didn't tell me much more than I knew already. It did tell me that she was a 42 year old single woman marrying for the first time and she was a dressmaker. There was no street address given for her, but they were married by a Catholic Priest. It did not list the church they were married in. Yesterday I sent an email to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles hoping that their archives might be able to help me there.

Chipping away at the mysteries!!!! Happy New Year!!!!!

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