When Obituaries Get It Right (And Sometimes Wrong)

In building my Broderick family tree, I have relied upon obituaries to fill in many of the blanks. Recently, with the discovery of my 3rd Great Grandfather Michael Broderick's obituary, I contacted my fellow Broderick researchers (and DNA matches) to ask them a question:

Is it possible that Marcus ("Mark") Broderick (1838-1912) pictured below with his son Marcus (1868-1945), was not my 3rd great-grandfather Michael Broderick's nephew, but rather his son?

Photo source: American cousin T.S.: Broderick Father and Son: Marcus Sr. and Marcus Jr Taken about 1895 in Holland, Ottawa Co., Michigan, USA

It was important that I hear from T.S. (name withheld for privacy reasons) because he was directly descended from Marcus and it was T.S. who shared the wonderful photograph above and so much more of his Broderick research with me since 2010. 

It was especially important that I hear from T.S. because I had previously shared the obituary for Marcus' wife Aurelia (Armitage) Broderick (1843-1926) to which T.S. responded immediately, "That obit is wrong in many ways ..."

Clipped from: The Kenosha News  Kenosha, Wisconsin 01 Apr 1926, Thu  •  Page 15

"That Obit Is Wrong"

T.S. is regarded by many fellow Broderick researchers (and DNA matches) as the expert on this line of Brodericks.

So when T.S. said that the above obituary had errors, I believed him. T.S. was mostly referring to the fact that Marcus Broderick Sr. did NOT die "forty years ago" (c1886) as stated in the obituary, and T.S. had proof!

"That obit is wrong in many ways.  It mentions survived by three sons.  The third son died in 1870.  Find attached an article from the Milwaukee Journal dated 10 Oct 1909.  I also have records of him (Marcus Sr) living with family in Michigan mid 1890's.  He (Marcus Sr.) is also in the 1900 census as a boarder.  Something must have happened.....  He is in Minneapolis early 1900's.  Sad story, I'm afraid."

Marcus Broderick's (1838-1912) story is not entirely clear, however, when Aurelia (Armitage) Broderick reported on the 1900 Kenosha, Wisconsin census that she was a widow, she definitely was not a widow.

 

T.S. provided me with a newspaper clipping from the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal (October 21, 1909) wherein a seventy year old Marcus had just spent twelve days at the Emergency Hospital and had puzzled police because he  could not give any account of himself.

Marcus could recall his sons, one a telegraph operator from Kenosha, Wisconsin and the other, his son Marcus (pictured with him above) who was living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at the time.

 

Marcus' clothes were reported to be of good quality (although old) and he also told authorities that he was once a farmer.

T.S. did finally locate the death information for his great grandfather:

"Don't know if I gave this to you but I have my great grandfather, Marcus Broderick's death info.  He died 9 April 1912 in .... Dunning in Chicago, Cook County, IL.  I wish I knew more of his story."

That Obit Is Right

I was relieved to hear back from T.S regarding my newly found obituary for Michael Broderick (1801-1889) where I learned:

"About twelve years ago, he was deprived of his great comfort by the death of his beloved wife Margaret. He was then under the ever careful attention of Mrs Martin Broderick.

Surviving him are his two sons, Martin and Mark, and Mrs. Cavinaw of Detroit. Also fourteen grandchildren, and one great grandchild."

I was aware of Margaret (McNally) Broderick's death (1798-1875) and the fact that he had a son named Martin. I was NOT aware of the son Mark or daughter Mrs. Cavinaw.

I wrote immediately to T.S. and other Broderick researchers and DNA matches who all held that Marcus parents were Patrick and Margaret (O'Laughlin) Broderick and asked if there was any proof (birth record, baptismal, marriage or death record) of who Marcus' parents  were and, if not, could it be that Michael and Margaret (McNally) Broderick are the rightful parents.

From T.S.:

"I think you are on to something..... With Marcus (Mark) being mentioned as a son of Michael in the obit, then my Marcus is most likely the son of Michael.... I am ready to change Marcus parents to Michael and Margaret."

This was music to my ears. With T.S. endorsement, I changed my information on Marcus who was no longer a distant cousin but was now my 2nd great-granduncle. He would have been my great grandmother Mary (Broderick) Moynahan's (1869-1960) uncle.

2nd Great Granduncle & 2nd Great Grandaunt

This meant that I now had a "new" 2nd great granduncle and 2nd great grandaunt and the charts below show my research findings so far.

But first, Michael and Margaret (McNally) Broderick had another known son who was NOT mentioned in Michael's 1889 obituary. 

His name was Patrick and he was born in County Clare Ireland around 1835 and died in Sandwich West, Ontario in May 1860. He was "son of Michael", only twenty-five years old and was buried on the third of May at Assumption cemetery with Michael Broderick, Martin Broderick and others present.

Marcus Broderick and Auriel Armitage had between 10-12 children. I am missing the third son mentioned by T.S. who died in 1870 and several others in my tree below.

Many of Marcus' children eventually moved to Florida like Marcus Jr who moved to West Palm Beach thirteen years prior to his death in 1945 (He had lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin prior working as a carpenter). His obituary stated that his two sisters were also in Florida (Mrs. William Leslie and Mrs. Mary Olin) and a daughter (Mrs William Van der Linde)

Marcus' daughter Phoebe married Francis Henry O'Hare and ancestry has confirmed several DNA matches on this branch of our Broderick tree.

Frances (Broderick) Smith was the last living of the siblings. She passed in 1981 in Kenosha, Wisconsin at the age of 92. Her husband Calvin had preceded her in death in 1933 and it was noted that she was of the "Spiritualist religion". (They had no children)

The daughter mentioned in Michael Broderick's 1889 obituary remained in Michigan after marrying a Noah Cavinaw. Cavinaw is a variant spelling of an Irish surname Cavinaugh however, in Noah's case, it appears that this is not the case. Noah descends from french ancestors according to many reseachers connected to this branch of the family tree but not yet confirmed with records on my tree.

The surname "Cabana" has appeared in DNA results on ancestry

Mary and Noah had six known children all remaining in Detroit, Michigan and Essex, Ontario (the Dumouchelles) areas.

Mary (Broderick) Cavinaw died in Detroit, Michigan in 1894 and was a member of Wayne Commandery No. 2 (part of the Knights Templar a Catholic military order founded in 1119)

Detroit Free Press Detroit, Michigan 21 Jul 1894, Sat • Page 5

 

I have only begun researching our newly found 2nd great- grandaunt Mary (Broderick) Cavinaw and I am curious if she named her son Martin after her brother, my 2nd great grandfather Martin Broderick.

Mary's son Martin (1865-1952) was an M.C.R.R. engineer starting to work for the railroad at 18 years old.

CLIPPED FROM  Detroit Free Press   Detroit, Michigan  30 Aug 1935, Fri  •  Page 16

 

 

Obituaries can be an excellent source of information and they can also get some of the facts wrong. Its important to verify facts using multiple sources including fellow researchers and DNA matches.

I am very thankful for the research of T.S. and others and for the collaboration of many Broderick DNA matches on ancestry.ca.