My grandfather’s mother, Elizabeth Brennan was born in 1871 In Scranton ,Pa. her sister, Margaret wa
I thought if I found Elizabeth’s Marriage Certificate it would show her parents names , but she was married when she was 23. I have been told it is impossible to find
birth certificates before 1876. How
do I find these parents?
Best Answer
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Hi Ted, So this is my idea about the parents of Elizabeth Brennan who married William Joseph Green.
1st: Elizabeth's death record lists Scranton as her place of birth. Her marriage record lists Schuylkill County as her birth place. It is not known who gave the information for the death record but Elizabeth probably gave her birth place information on her marriage record. Therefore I believe Elizabeth was born in Schuylkill County and not Scranton which is in Lackawanna County.
2nd: You mention Elizabeth had two sisters, Anna born about 1873 who married William Joseph O'Shaughnessy and Margaret born 1865 who married a McClain. In previous posts I posted the death record and obituaries for these two sisters. Anna's death record lists her death date as 4 April 1952. It does not list the name of her husband but her obituary does list William J. O'Shaughnessy. This indicates to me this is the correct Anna sister of Elizabeth. Anna's death record lists James Brennan as her father. No mother is listed on the death record. Since Anna's father is James and she is the sister of Elizabeth, Elizabeth's father should be James as well.
3rd: You mention Margaret, the other sister, married a McClain. I believe I found Margaret's death record which lists her birth year as 1858 and not 1865 as you stated. The record also lists Margaret's father as James Brennan. The same name as Anna's father. The death record also lists Schuylkill County as Margaret's place of birth. Margaret's mothers maiden name is listed as Flanigan. Margaret's obituary lists her husband as John A. McClain.
Based on the death and obituary records I then searched the 1880 census Schuylkill county for a Brennan family with a father James Brennan and children: Margaret born 1858, Elizabeth born 1871 and Anna born 1873. I did find a family which matches. Living in Blythe Township is the following:
James Brennan (b. 1830)
Margaret Brennan (b. 1832)
Michael Brennan (b. 1864)
Thomas Brennan (b. 1867)
Alice Brennan (b. 1870)
Elizabeth Brennan (1872)
Anne Brennan (1874)
Martin Brennan (1876)
Ages are not exact in census records and there are an Elizabeth and Anne listed who do match approximately the birth dates you mentioned. You mentioned previously there were too many children and you did not recognize the other names. Trust me, when I started my own research there were many individuals I did not recognize. In the 1910 census the mother Margaret lists she is the mother of 8 children and 4 are living as of 1910. I believe you probably never heard of some of the individuals because they died at a fairly young age. The one child missing is Margaret. Remember her death record listed 1858 as her birth date so let's believe that for now and take it as true. by 1880 Margaret is old enough to be on her own so I checked the 1870 census and found the following again in Blythe Township, Schuylkill:
James Brennan (b. 1835)
Margaret Brennan (b. 1835)
Margaret Brennan (b. 1859)
Mary Brennan (b. 1863)
Michael Brennan (b. 1863)
Thomas Brennan (1866)
Alice Brennan (b. 1869)
Again, ages are not exact but the names are the same from the 1880 census so this is the same family and there is a Margaret who matches the approximate birth date. At this point I believe the parents of your Elizabeth are James Brennan and Margaret Flanigan and that Margaret was born or is from Schuylkill County and not Scranton. But, there is one more find which I think put everything together. Remember there is a child Alice listed in the 1870 and 1880 census. Alice married Hugh Campbell and she died in 1934.
4th: Alice (b. 1869) would be the sister of Margaret (1858), Elizabeth (1872) and Anna (1874). I had previously posted the death record and obituary for Alice. Alice's death certificate lists her parents as James Brennan and Margaret Flanigan. This matches what appears on Margaret's and Anna's death information. Most importantly is Alice's obituary which lists her surviving sister Mrs. O'Shaughnessey who resides in Philadelphia. This would be Anne O'Shaughnessy who died in 1952.
By looking at census, death, obituaries and marriage records for various members of the Brennan family I have determined Elizabeth's parents are James Brennan and Margaret Flanigan and that she was from Schuylkill County and not the city of Scranton which is in Lackawanna County.
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Answers
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@Shearer/Souder Shearer/Souder
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FYI
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'Heads Up' ...
.
'FamilySearch',
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as such, those 'State' Abbreviations for the states in the "United States of America" are not always recognised by all.
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I am "Tagging" this (General) 'Question' of yours in this "Community.FamilySearch" Forum, to two (x2) specific 'Groups' in the Forum being:
(1) "United States Genealogy Research";
(2) "Pennsylvania"; and,
in the hope that, the members of those groups may be able to answer/assist you.
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Both those Groups are "Public", which you can join, if you wish.
.
Brett
.
By the way ... from "Down Under"
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@United States Genealogy Research
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This is a possible family in Scranton. Eliza Jane (Elizabeth) has an older sister Maggie (Margaret) and a younger sister Katie (could be a middle name).
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Here is the same family in a Ancestry Family Tree. The Owner is Gale White
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This did not work. A Parrish in Scranton gave my mother this information years ago but then I found a 1900 Census that showed Lizzie was born in March 1871 not June 1870 plus this family showed more children in The 1880 Census. Thanks for trying to help.
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One idea might be to search for them at the address they lived at. Scranton families lived for generations in the same homes, in the same neighborhoods. You might find addresses in census records, their death records, etc. Put the address in the keyword area of the search box, and the city, state. This works great in city directories on Ancestry.
You might also look for their friends or neighbors in the census and then look at the census pages around them to see if the surname was misspelled for the Brennan family.
Try the Delayed Birth Records collection for Pennsylvania on FamilySearch. You are unlikely find an actual birth record for them as the state did not require them until the early 1900s. Church records may help, and you may want to revisit the information with your mother received with current church staff just to make sure.
Good luck.
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Do you know what section of Scranton they lived in? An address? I am local, and the churches here at that time were very ethnic. The Irish went to the Irish church, Germans to the German Church etc. (in fact that lasted well into the 1980's) And every section had abundant churches (and bars). North Scranton, South Side, West Side, Petersburg, East Scranton, Minooka, Bulls Head, Tripps Park, The Flats etc.
Who did Margaret marry? Did any of the extended family remain in Scranton until death? (aunts, uncles)
Also, there are little suburbs of Scranton that also had lots of Brennan's. We found a descendant of a lost relative who had thought his family came from Scranton, but actually lived in the next town. People here may often say Scranton, when in reality we live in one of the towns or boroughs. Everyone has heard of Scranton (The Office) but few people know where Peckville, Moscow, Scott, Dunmore or any of the small towns are.
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Thank you all for helping with this question. Good teamwork.
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Thank you Tim and anyone else for all this great information. Unfortunately, I got quite a bet of bad information from my mother,who had asked me to work on this Family Tree. Now after I process all this information I will start looking for more problems. My mother and my grandfather, Manuel Green. For Cardinal Francis Brennan (1894-1968). My grandfather said the Cardinal who was from Shenandoah,Pa. was his first Cousin. Unfortunately my relatives did not have any records on this and when I contacted the
Cardinal’s living family they said they were not familiar with a Manuel Green. So now what I will look into is my new great grandfather’s family and see if one of his brother’s is Cardinal Brennan’s grandfather.
Thank you again for all your help and don’t be surprised to hear from me about Cardinal Brennan’s family. Subcere,y, Ted Shearer
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