Bridget Morris or Bertha Morris, or Bertha Walls?

John90582

I found online records about my family ancestors, posted by Maureen Agnes Spotts-Pilla to genealogy.com in February 2002. Maureen was seeking answers about the Morris family and listed what she knew, including her grandmother; sister of my grandfather, Neil.

Maureen listed her grandmother as Bridget Morris, born 14/05/1875, married William Francis Stewart, and they had one child, Agnes Anna Stewart (Maureen's mother).

I entered Bridget's basic information, as supplied by Maureen, under reference GTYM-KNX.

FS suggested possible matches to Bertha Morris, who fits the same husband, WFS, and child, AAS. Granted, she may have been known as Bertha, but surely Maureen, being a genealogist herself, would know that, this being her GM, too. I do not know Bertha's reference, sorry.

Another possible match is Bertha M Walls, reference L8M2-TFB, however the birth year is given as 1889 and birth place in Philadelphia, PA, when I think she would have been born in Ireland.

In one of these records, sorry cannot remember which one, there were Census records, one of which including a visiting brother-in-law, to William, Patrick, over from Ireland. Yes, there is a Patrick listed by Maureen as a brother to Bridget and Neil. The only other clue Maureen gave is that Patrick junior died in Conneticut.

Sorry, I am new at this caper. I do not know if I began with the right information, but I'm placing faith in Maureen knowing who her GM was. I do not know if her Bridget is the same person as your Bertha(s).

I will take whatever assistance I can get. Thank you, John (name removed)

GFre

Hi John! A few things that I saw…

Buried in the same cemetery as Agnes, there is a Bertha and William F Stewart:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24409810/bertha-stewart

It might be worth looking through the other Morris burials in the cemetery to see if any of them are connected to the family... I did see that Maureen made Agnes' Find a Grave page, and I think that her nephew or niece manages her memorial. Possibly, they may be able to tell you more about Bertha and if that was her nickname or middle name…

Also, I think that the Bertha Walls connections are erroneous, as Agnes' attached birth record says her mother was 'Bertha Morris' not Walls.

This marriage record may also be helpful, as it aligns with the May 14th birth date. It also has her residence at the time, which may provide some clues:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-63KS-6S4?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AQ29M-RW1D&action=view

Anyway, I hope something in all of that proves helpful!

GFre

Hi again @John90582! A couple things to add…

I don't think the William Stewart attached as Bridget/Bertha's husband is correct, as it looks like that William was married to someone else.

Also, I looked at the PA death indexes using the years on the headstones, and found the (hopefully correct) corresponding names and dates:

Bertha Stewart: Died in Philadelphia on February 16th, 1935

William F Stewart: Died in Philadelphia on August 13th, 1960

Ashlee C.

@John90582 Mod note: Community is a public online forum. For your privacy, your post was edited to remove a name that is not part of your username. Please see the Community Code of Conduct for more details.

John90582

Hi @Gfre Thank you very much for your research and for straightening out a few crossed wires. I will definitely look into the records you found. I am hesitant, though, to reach out to Maureen's family, coming across as a distant relative as I am.

@Ashlee C. Sorry about the faux pas. Thank you for your kind words.

MandyShaw1

It sounds as if Maureen was your second cousin, which doesn't sound remote at all to me. Your relatives may well be really happy to hear from someone who wants to collaborate with them on improving your overall family records. I'd go for it.

GFre

I'm happy to help, John! 🙂

It looks like the nephew who left flowers on her memorial page is part of a historical society, which I'd take as a good sign for collaboration... I'm actually about to reach out to my 4th cousin today, so I understand the hesitancy. In my experience though, most people on genealogical sites, even like Find a Grave, are receptive to working on the tree, but it's up to you.

I did want to let you know that I found Bertha's death certificate on Ancestry. It confirms Patrick Morris and Anna McCullough as the parents, the suspected February 16th, 1935 death date, and burial at Holy Cross Cemetery.

https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=bertha_stewart&birth=1875_ireland_3250&death=1935_philadelphia-philadelphia-pennsylvania-usa_15153&birth_x=1-0-0_1-0&death_x=0-0-0&father=Patrick_Morris&father_x=1_1&gender=f&mother=anna&mother_x=1

Hope that helps!

John90582

@GFre and @MandyShaw1 Thank you both for continuing to assist me.

I may decide yet to get in touch with Maureen's family. When I first saw Maureen's post, I wanted to get in touch with her, but sadly then discovered that she had passed away, at a young age, too. Would that make me 3rd cousin to one of Maureen's nephew, or another connection? I really should have a family tree dictionary to identify all the crossed and colour-coded string lines I have in my head.

Thanks again, Good People.

Kind regards,

John

John90582

I did make an approach to the nephew, August, a week ago, through the email address on his historical Facebook. No response yet, but there could be many reasons why, including I sent my email to a dead letter office. For other context, I found a 7th cousin on WikiTree that I did email and we have been in contact with each other. Seventh cousin? I did not know such concepts existed.

GFre

@John90582 Oh, hey, good for you! :) Yes, there's many reasons a response could be delayed, including that the email is no longer in use. I once messaged someone about my tree and got a response six months later! I'm glad that your 7th cousin may be able to help you out as well. It does seem a strange concept, but it's a cousin, nevertheless! 😀