The River Running
"Immigrants: we get the job done" -- Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Mary Connors and Patrick Heath
Patrick Heath was born in Brooklyn in June 1863, the youngest son of Margaret Gallagher and William Heath. The 1862-1863 Brooklyn City Directory lists Margaret as a widow who runs a boarding house at 63 Pearl Street, which would have been in Ward 2.
By 1865, the family had moved to Ward 6. In the 1865-1866 directory, Margaret Heath's address is given as 4 "Jiffany" Place, probably a typo for Tiffany Place. In 1875, they were at 589 Hicks Street and in 1880, at 113 Harrison Street (now Kane Street). By 1880 Patrick was working in a tobacco factory. In fact, Patrick's obituaries were to state that he started working for the Lorillard Tobacco Company at the age of 11 or 13, ie, in 1874-1876. He may or may not have received some help in getting the job from his sister Bridget's husband, Edwin Ross Hearn.
Patrick married Mary Anne Connors in 1883-1884. Mary had been born in Brooklyn in June 1864, the oldest daughter of Irish immigrants Annie Cunningham and Charles Connors. In an interesting coincidence, Mary's maternal grandmother was Catherine Heath.
Patrick and Mary had four children:
In the 1892 New York State Census, the family was enumerated in Ward 22, ED 29. This is reasonably consistent with the addresses for Patrick J Heath, bookkeeper, in the 1890 and 1895 Brooklyn City Directories. In 1890 he was listed at 87 16th Street, about 2.7 km south of 113 Harrison. In 1895 he was listed on the other side of the street at 70 16th Street.
By 1900 the family had moved back across the street to 65 16th Street. By 1905, however, they'd made a much larger move up to 180 Prospect Street, four blocks from the address where Patrick's family had been living when he was born. Anna had followed in her father's footsteps and was working as a bookkeeper. Charles was working as a horseshoer, and Joseph as an office boy. Also living with the family was Mary's younger sister, Julia Connors. Mary was the oldest of the Connors family and Julia was the youngest, so Julia was only a year older than Anna. She was working as a packer of medicine.
Mary's mother Annie Cunningham Connors also seems to have moved in with Mary and Patrick some time between 1905 and her death on February 21, 1909.
By 1910 the family had made what was by their standards an epic move of 8.0 km south to 618 East 3rd Street, a far different landscape that featured detached houses instead of blocks of apartments. The house that now stands at 618 East 3rd was built in 1910. It may well have been built by or for Patrick and Mary.
Julia Connors was gone by this point, but Mary's niece Mary Corkhill had moved in. Mary Corkhill was the daughter of Mary Connors Heath's sister Josephine Connors Corkhill. She was to live with Patrick and Mary for the next ten years, until she married.
In the 1910 census, Patrick describes his occupation as clerk for a manufacturing company. I know that the company was Lorillard Tobacco. Anna also described herself as a clerk, but for a tobacco company. Was she working for Lorillard too? Charles was working as an iron worker for a railroad, Joseph as a chauffeur for a private family and Edward as a driver for a butcher.
Edward passed away on May 19 or 20, 1912. He's buried in the Heath family plot in Holy Cross Cemetery.
Some time between 1910 and 1915, Charles married Elsa Ollry. By 1915, the young couple living in Brooklyn, but separately from Patrick and Mary. Sometime between 1917 and 1920, they moved to Chicago.
However, the house didn't remain empty for long. Some time between 1915 and 1920, Mary's nieces Julia and Helen Corkhill joined their sister Mary at 618 East 3rd Street. This may have been connected with their mother Josephine's death on December 6, 1916.
I couldn't find a WWI draft registration for Joseph Heath, but his obituary mentioned that he'd served in WWI. He may have enlisted instead of waiting to be drafted.
By 1920, Patrick was still working for Lorillard. Anna was working as a bookkeeper for a chemical company. Joseph was still a chauffeur for a private family. Mary "May" Corkhill was working as a telephone operator. She married Guy Christo on September 13, 1920.
Some time between 1920 and 1928, Patrick, Mary and their family moved three blocks to the building at 203 Avenue F, which had been built in 1920. (It's now the home of Congregation Lev Someach.)
Patrick passed away on September 27, 1928. According to the obituary published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on September 30, he had "never recovered from an attack of illness at work two years ago." The Eagle also stated that he was 65 years ago and had been "connected" with the P Lorillard Tobacco Company for 54 years. The obituary published in the Brooklyn Standard Union on October 1 agreed with the age of 65 but stated that he had been employed by Lorillard "for fifty-two years as a bookkeeper." It almost sounds a bit as if Patrick had started at Lorillard at the age of 11 and been promoted to bookkeeper at 13. Patrick was buried in the Heath family plot at Holy Cross Cemetery.
Mary, Anna, Joseph and the two younger Corkhill sisters were still at 203 Avenue F in 1930. Anna was working as a clerk for a paints and oils company. Joseph was still chaffeuring, while Julia Corkhill was working as a clerk for an insurance company.
Charles, Elsa and their infant daughter Mary moved back from Chicago in 1931. The Kingston Daily Freeman reported on March 14, 1931, that "Charles Heath and mother of Brooklyn motored to this village [ie, Rosendale] on Thursday last and spent the week-end with Mr. and Mrs. John Ollry. On Friday Mr. Heath and mother and Mr. and Mrs. Ollry motored to Albany and met Mr. Heath's wife and daughter, who had come from Chicago." Elsa and the infant Mary spent the summer with Elsa's parents in Rosendale before moving to Brooklyn permanently, probably in late August or early September.
The two younger Corkhill sisters left Mary Connors Heath's household at about the same time. Julia married Harry Walters in or about 1933, while Helen married Charles Olson on January 14, 1933.
By 1935, Mary, Anna and Joseph had moved 5.5 km to the house built at 451 82nd Street in 1905. According to the 1940 US Census, Anna was working as a clerk for a tin supplies company while Joseph - who now sported the middle initial A - was a chauffeur for an auto supplies company. He appears to have changed jobs by 1942. When he registered for the WWII draft (as Joseph Anthony Heath), he said he was working for Atlantic Basin Iron Works, which built and repaired ships - including ships for the US Navy during WWI and WWII.
Joseph passed away on May 19, 1943. The death notice published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle the following two days mentions that he was a veteran of WWI. Mary passed away three years later, on May 5, 1946. Both Joseph and Mary are buried in the Heath family plot in Holy Cross Cemetery.
Anna is not buried in the family plot. She may or may not be the Anna Heath born on November 17, 1884, who died in Brooklyn in January 1973 according to the US Social Security Death Index.