My Grandfather Thomas Scanlon

I have been trying to find any information on Thomas Emmett Scanlon(recent confirmation of his exact name was obtained) for several years. He is my mothers father and supposedly died when she was very young. We know very little about him... which is why I haven't been able to find much information about him at all or determine if he did actually die.

This is what I know as fact and what my mother was told about her Father.

He married Minnie Lucille Wilty (Bayles) in Omaha, Nebraska in 1927
His name on the marriage license (my mother has the original) is written as: Thomas E. Scanlon.
Now, my mother was always told his middle name was Sean. I'm assuming the middle initial on the marriage license is an error. (Now know middle initial is NOT an error)
Thomas and Minnie had Patricia Alice around 1929, she was born in Chicago.

Thomas worked for the railroad.
He is listed as living in Nebraska on the 1930 census record with Minnie, Pasty(my mother) and Goldie Simpson. They were apparently living with my Great Grandmother, Goldie Simpson(Minnie's mother).
On this record it lists his birth place as Georgia. I believe this to be incorrect. My mother has always said he was born in County Cork, Ireland.
My mothers listing is incorrect on this census record. Her last name is listed as Simpson and it should be Scanlon. We were told by a local librarian that there are many mistakes in census records.
After my Grandmother left Thomas she moved back to Iowa with my mother. The story of his death is this: A friend of Thomas Scanlon came to my Grandmothers sisters home in Iowa to let the family know that Thomas had died. My mom was still pretty young, but she does remember being told. So, I'm guessing she was between 3-5 years old.
There was never a funeral, death certificate (that we know of) or anything else you would expect after someone dies. Patricia is his child, so I don't know why the railroad would not have tried to contact the family... if that was the practice then.

My mother was recently sent a letter found by an distant relative of a friend of my Grandmothers. It was written before Minnie met Thomas. But, the post mark is Kansas City with the address of the hotel she was staying in. The date of the letter is 1927 only a few months before the date on the marriage license of Thomas & Minnie.
I found an old map on line and if I am correct, the street address of this letter places that hotel within a few blocks of the railroad station. I am wondering/guessing if this is how Minnie meet Thomas in the first place. It is simply a guess, we don't know when, where or how they met.

The name Thomas Scanlon seems to be a very common Irish name. I don't when he came to this county. If he came as an adult, child or infant. I don't know his parents name, if he had siblings or anything else that would help me locate him. I'm frustrated and feel at a stand still.
I have a copy of the only photo we have of Thomas posted on deadfred. I will also add it to my page on this site.

My mother has always wondered if her Father actually did die... She has searched for him off and on most of her life. She wondered if maybe he went back to Ireland...not sure why she thought this... Obviously he would not be living at this point if he didn't die.
I would really like to be able to give her some facts/answers about her Father and that line of our family to put her mind at rest.

I do have a family tree on line through myfamily. com. It is a free site and links to ancestry every time I make changes or add to the tree. I don't have a paid ancestry account so I have used my local library and the free on line services when time allows me to research.

Any help, information, suggestions, etc., would be very much appreciated.

Thank you!

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Heather on November 17, 2009 at 11:51pm

The Omaha City Directory films I ordered came in last week. I went out today to start my search. I didn't find any listing for Thomas or Minnie Scanlon in 1926, 1928 or 1929. 1930 wasn't on the film, it's not available. I did find Minnie listed alone in 1931. I plan on going back to make sure I haven't missed anything.
Since Thomas Scanlon wasn't listed and Minnie was listed alone, I'm assuming that means they were already separated. I didn't find Thomas Scanlon listed alone in 1931 in Omaha... if he was still living there he should have shown up, shouldn't he?
Now I don't know if I should move on to the Chicago Street directories or what my next step should be. I haven't had a chance to call Omaha about divorce documents between Minnie and Thomas as of yet. I hope to do that this week or early next.

Permalink Reply by GeneJ on November 18, 2009 at 7:03am

Hi Heather:

Good stuff.

You wrote, "I didn't find any listing for Thomas or Minnie Scanlon in 1926, 1928 or 1929. 1930 wasn't on the film, it's not available. I did find Minnie listed alone in 1931 ... I plan on going back to make sure I haven't missed."
Are you able to post a copy of the page where you found Minnie in 1931? Was Goldie listed in that directory?
If you haven't yet, hope when you return this week you'll make a copy of the city directory pages for each year that contain the Scanlon (various spellings), Bayles, Simpson and Wilty and King entries? (In other words, copy those pages even if the names you are looking for didn't appear; depending on how many "King" pages there are, you may want to copy only those relevant to given names "H." For the other surnames, would imaging you'd want all the surname listed entries.)

As above, was Goldie listed in any of those directories?

In 1931, was Minnie living at the same address as 1930 census (see the census, she was living at 2114 Chicago St., 3rd floor) Where was Minnie living in 1931? Did the city directories include street listings as well (so that you can also look up residents by street address). If so, are you able to look up the residents at 2114 Chicago Street in 1929 and 1931?

You wrote, "...divorce documents."
Great. Those documents would typically report known addresses. Those documents also present one more opportunity to confirm Thomas' full name or middle initial.

Exciting! --GJ

Permalink Reply by Heather on November 18, 2009 at 10:17pm

I was able to copy the page Minnie was on. It came out pretty dark, but I will scan it and try to lighten it up a little. I honestly didn't think to copy pages with the last names... since I didn't see who I was looking for. Thanks for suggesting I do so! I also ran out of time, the center is only open until 1:00 PM on certain days. The hours in general are pretty limited, at least for my schedule.
I haven't been back yet, won't be until Monday and that is uncertain.

Minnie was not at the same address, she is listed at 610 N 21st, Apt 9. And I couldn't find Goldie listed at all! I did search by Surname and by street address. I also tried looking through occupations...but that seemed to only list the business owners or service providers.

Permalink Reply by Heather on November 30, 2009 at 2:54pm

I have a case# now for the divorce decree and have requested a photo or email copy. I am to call back tomorrow around noon.
I hope to get back out to the city directories in the morning or tomorrow evening.

Heather

GJ,
Have you heard/received any information from Mr. Rosenberg?

Permalink Reply by GeneJ on November 30, 2009 at 3:14pm

Hi Heather:

Getting close, aren't we.

I have not heard back from Mr. Rosenberg. Hope my new computer arrives on Wednesday. If I haven't heard from him by Friday, I'll send a follow up note.

BTW, you mentioned that your mother issued a delayed birth certificate at some point. Assuming you have a copy of that record? What does it report birth location? --GJ

Permalink Reply by Heather on November 30, 2009 at 3:33pm

I have confirmed this with my Mom, she does have a copy and it does state that she was indeed born in Chicago, IL.

I now also have a scanned copy of her 1st communion/confirmation document. If the parish is still in existence maybe they would have some documentation on the parents?
I also just noticed that the document lists her communion as May 10 or 16 1936, then her confirmation as 12/8/1939. Is it possible to have these two activities happen in two separate States? Mom seems to think they both happened in Des Moines, Iowa.

Permalink Reply by Heather on November 21, 2009 at 8:02pm

I'm attaching the photo copy of the street directory listing Minnie Scanlon. It's not a very clear copy

Attachments:

Omaha city directory, Minnie Scanlon listed.tif, 11.4 MB

Permalink Reply by GeneJ on November 23, 2009 at 8:10am

Heather,

Thank you for providing the additional information. Will the city directory films remain available for a little longer? It would be nice if they were still handy after we track down the divorce documents.--GJ

Permalink Reply by Heather on November 30, 2009 at 3:18pm

I believe they keep them for 30 days... my time is running short. If I don't get through all of them I may ask to see if they would consider holding them one week extra, due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Permalink Reply by Heather on December 26, 2009 at 1:18am

City Directories provided no information for Thomas E. Scanlon. Found Minnie, she seemed to have moved every year or so. I have several additional addresses for her.

I also received a copy of the divorce decree between Minnie and Thomas. His middle name is Emmet, not Sean. The location of Thomas E. Scanlon is listed an unknown, therefore a notice was posted in the paper. Dated of filing was 1931, finalized around 1933

Not sure where to look next....

Permalink Reply by Heather on December 26, 2009 at 1:36am

Now my confirmation of middle name for Thomas is in question again. According to my mothers birth certificate.... his middle initial looks like an S not an E! B.C. states he was born in Chattanooga, TN, that he was 32 at the time of my mothers birth. Only thing that seems consistent is birth place of Patricia is Chicago, Cook County, IL and he worked as a Chef for the railroad, but doesn't list which one.