Several weeks ago I visited the final resting place of Mary Tierney, my Great-Great Grandmother. After receiving her Death Certificate from the New York City Archives, I was able to determine that she was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Queens, New York. Unfortunately when I arrived, I found her plot, but there was no gravestone. I was hoping that there would be a gravestone with markings to fill me in on some missing pieces of the Tierney clan puzzle.
So in desperation, I requested an Internment report from Calvary Cemetery. It was a bit expensive, but I think well worth it. Much to my surprise, I received it in just two weeks time. So, the Internment report solved several Tierney mysteries for me.
The first mystery solved was the date of death for James Tierney, Mary’s husband and a coachman around New York City. According to the Internment Report, he was buried on February 6, 1888 at the age of 53. Based on Census records, I figured he had died between 1880 and 1900, but that left a large margin of error. But it does make perfect sense since the last known record of him was the 1880 Census of him living in New York City. Based on the date of burial, it’s a safe bet that he died in the first week of February 1888. So, working backwards, that places his Date of Birth in Ireland sometime around 1835. Armed with that info, I have requested his Death Certificate from the New York City Archives. Let’s see what that brings back.
One thing that has puzzled me for some time is the 1900 Census Record for Mary Tierney. It indicates that she had eight children but that only four were alive as of 1900. I knew one, my Great-Great grandfather had died in the late 1890’s, but who were the other three? My Uncle who started this genealogy project knew of the five children and my census records research confirmed the five, but no others. But the internment report solves this mystery. So based on the internment report and other research I have performed, here are the eight children of James Tierney and Mary Sproul Tierney.
Francis Tierney (b. 1852, d. July 1855)
Francis was the first child of James and Mary Tierney and the first of the mystery children. He died before their second child was born at the age of three. I do not know the cause of death yet.
Thomas Tierney (b. November 1856 in New York, d. September 1918 )
Thomas, their second child, I believe went on the marry Mary Jane Kinneary. They had 5 children; James, Mary, Simeon, Irene and Eleanor. Thomas lived in New York City for all of his life.
There may be living relatives of this branch somewhere between New York and South Carolina. I know Eleanor went on to marry an architect by the name of Edward Schneider and had move to Fayetteville, North Carolina sometime after 1930. They had at least one daughter, Eleanor who was born in New York City.
According to the several census records, Thomas was employed as a shipping “Clerk”.
James F. Tierney (b. abt 1858, d. November 4, 1896)
James is my Great Grandfather. He had seven children; Frank Noel, Mary, Gertrude, Grace, James, John and Isabelle. He died in Brooklyn, New York at the age of 38 after a attack of appendicitis. James was employed at Arnold Constable in New York City.
The two children of Isabelle Tierney Lewis, Jeanne and Lloyd had several children, well establishing this branch of the Tierney legacy.
Mary Jane Tierney (b. abt 1858, d. April 1859)
Mary Jane is another of the mystery children. She died at the age of one in 1859. Again, I do not know the cause of death yet.
John L Tierney (b. April 20, 1864 in New York, d. December 21, 1907 in San Francisco, CA)
John moved to San Francisco sometime between 1880 and 1900. Once out there, he married Isabella E Daugalada, also known as Belle. She is of Chilean decent. I have numerous letters from him to his nephew, Frank Tierney. They wrote about business and the family on a regular basis. John and Belle survived the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake. They had no children. He was a salesman. In May 1907, he developed a “Gastric Ulcer” and never quite recovered. He died just six months later in San Francisco. I have ordered his death certificate from the State of California and expect is shortly. Hopefully it will tell me where he is buried.
Frank A. Tierney (b. Septermber 24, 1864 in New York, d. June 12, 1936 in Brooklyn)
Frank was a decorated 32-year New York Police Department veteran. He spent several years in Chinatown, heading up the move against the gangs there. Unfortunately, he encountered some political trouble in 1918 with Police Commissioner Enright who took the opportunity to demote him. It seems that although he was in and out of some minor trouble through his career, he was generally well respected and liked. He retired as a Captain on December 31, 1928, ending his career managing the Miller Avenue Precinct in Brooklyn.
Frank was married to Theresa A. Ryan and had three children; John, Raymond and Frank. It is from this branch of the Tierney clan that I found my most recently discovered third cousin, Raymond A. Tierney. This branch of the Tierney legacy is well established also.
Joseph Tierney (b. abt 1867 in New York, d. November 1922)
Joseph was known to my Uncle as “the black sheep of the family”. He appears to have always played by his own sets of rules and was a big gambler. He surprised his brother John with suddenly deciding to marry Anna Patkay 1907 at the age of 39. In a letter to Frank Noel Tierney, his nephew, Joseph asked him to be his best man, but not before advising him which horse to bet on at the races.
Joseph died just 15 years after marrying Anna. He is buried with my Great-Great Grandmother at Calvary Cemetery, but there is no sign of Anna. As of now, I do not know what happened to her or whether they had any children. I suspect that they did not have any children though.
Ann Tierney (b. abt 1871, d. February 1873)
Anna was the third of the mystery children. She died at just two years of age. The cause of death is not yet known.
Posted: December 28, 2008
