I found this little personal ad while digging around in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle last week. It ran on October 29, 1869 (p. 3) and I wondered about the man who had written it, and whether he ever did meet Mary again - and why he wasn't certain of her last name. I am not sure why Lawler put the ad in the Eagle, since none of the parties appear to have any obvious connections with New York or Brooklyn.Montello, which was not incorporated as a town until 1904, is in Elko County, Nevada. It was a division point for the Southern Pacific Railroad. It has about a population of about 200 now, and never had more than about 800 residents at most (that was in the 1920s). Pat Lawler worked for the Central Pacific Railroad, the part of the Transcontinental Railroad which ran from Caliornia to Utah.
J.F. Lawler, Agent for the Central Pacific Railroad, was living in Carlin, Elko County, Nevada in 1870 and is most likely the "Pat" Lawler of the ad. J.F. Lawler was age 23 in 1870, and was born in Ireland [1870 US Census, Carlin, Elko, NV; #93/32, Series M593, Roll 834, p. 29].
I didn't find any Mary Brown/Coffey or Mr. Berry who could be identified as the right individuals. There were 27 male heads of household named Berry in San Francisco, in the 1870 census, but none had a Mary Brown or Coffey in their household. She may well have been a domestic servant who was no longer with the Berry family in 1870.
18 First Street was the home of Jackson House General Liquors in the early 1850s; this was listed in the 1852-3 city directory, at the wonderful San Francisco Genealogy site.
Do you think that Mary ever saw this? If so, do you think she ever wrote to Pat Lawler? It seems strange to post this in a Brooklyn newspaper, unless he had reason to believe she was in Brooklyn (which does not seem to be the case). So it seems unlikely to have brought a response. In addition, I don't know whether she would have cared for the description of her heavy eyebrows and the scar on her face, so perhaps not.
12 comments:
How intriguing--with all the makings of a good mystery. Where is Sherlock Holmes when we need him?
Patricia - Off playing the violin, I suspect. I could use his help quite often! :)
"Heavy eye brows" -- I love it!
He certainly studied her thoroughly to write that description!
Susan - I'm sure she did too :)
Jayne - He certainly did...I wish I knew more about this story.
I find it interesting that the last name candidates, Brown and Coffey, are both so similar in what they represent color-wise. Brown is brown and coffee is brown.
It makes me wonder if the last name was a nickname, possibly referring to the color of the woman's skin.
tim h - I never thought of that. Hmm - actually when I checked the 1870 census, there were several people called Brown or Coffey and the latter especially (though some of the former too) were Irish. I was thinking that perhaps she had married or had a stage name...
I guess Irish Coffey is more than a cliche'd drink.
tim - That's very good! lol
I love reading old newspaper clippings like this. They give such a wonderful glimpse of life and society from times past. Reading these kinds of clippings is almost like taking a trip in a time machine. Thanks for posting it!
Stephanie at the Irish Genealogical Research blog
Stephanie - It is indeed. You described it perfectly. I am thinking of rewriting my blog description (somehow0 to reflect how much I love these little hidden bits of everyday history...
The assertions about brown coffey and irish coffee are interesting. But you are assuming Pat is a man when it could easily have been a Patricia.
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