Sisters? Bathsheba & Sarah

 

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of utilizing the FAN club to make connections between families in my research. Pun intended.

The FAN Club, a term coined by genealogist Elizabeth Shown Mills, is researching  the friends, associates and neighbors of your research subject. Our ancestors often married the girl or boy next door or witnessed their marriages and christenings.  Here is one example from my family research. 

Are Sarah Williams Scannell and Bathsheba (AKA Martha) Williams Cassidy sisters?  The FAN Club helps us discover many important clues that can reveal relationships and solve research riddles. 

Leaving the port of Londonderry, Northern Ireland on the Caledonia, John (b. 1784) and Margaret Williams (b. 1789) arrived in New York on 15 June 1839.  Accompanying them are their six children: 

James       born 1815         age 24 on arrival             cabinet maker

Bessy        born 1817         age 23                           dressmaker

Rose         born 1817          age 23                           dressmaker

Margaret    born 1819         age 21                           dressmaker

Sarah         born 1821        age 19                          dressmaker

Bathsheba    born 1824     age 16                          dressmaker

On 1 Jun 1841 Bathsheba Williams married George Cassidy at the Forsyth Street Church in lower Manhattan.  

(With the exception of her death certificate, in all further documentation for Bathsheba, she is referred to as Martha. Is this a common nickname? An Americanization of her name?  I do not know. Another topic for discovery)

In 1850, George and Martha Cassidy were living in ward 18/district 2 of Manhattan.  Also living in this household are William b.1845 and Betsey b. 1840 and John Williams, a 60 year old carpenter born in Ireland. George Cassidy's occupation on this and all future census is Soda Water Manufacturer. While this census does not identify relationships, William and Betsey are indeed the couple's children and I have since proved that John Williams is indeed Martha's father.  

The 1855 NY State Census identified George and Martha, along with William and Elizabeth as living in Ward 14, Enumeration District 1. John Williams is no longer a member of their household and has yet to be located on the 1855 NY Census.  

Michael Scannell b. 1821 and his wife Sarah b. 1825, are also living in Ward 14, ED 1 with their family: Margaret 7, Sarah 5 and Michael aged 1.Michael Scannell's occupation is listed as Soda Water. Considering traditional Irish naming patterns, their daughter Margaret could potentially named after Margaret Williams. 

On 4 August 1858, George Cassidy, now a widower, married Mary H. Powers. The couple would go on to have eleven children over 14 years, of which only four survive to adulthood.  

By 1860, Sarah Scannell was a widow, a dressmaker and still living in Ward 14, ED 2.  Her daughter Margaret is no longer in the household, daughter Sarah is ten and son Michael is six.  

George and Mary Cassidy's daughter Teresa married Michael Scannell at the Basilica of St Patrick's Old Cathedral on 20 December 1881.  Michael is the son of Michael Scannell and Sarah Williams.  

Michael Scannell Jr.  is also in the soda water business.  

Michael Scannell and Jennie Cassidy are listed as godparents on the baptismal record of George Schuler b 28 March 1876. The infant son of Henry Schuler and Elizabeth Cassidy, he was baptized on 4 April 1876 at St, Gabriel's Church.  

Upon the 1882 death of Mary Powers Cassidy, Michael Scannell was designated executor of her probate.  

The 1900 US Census located Michael and Teresa Scannell living at 239 Bleeker Street. Rounding out their household his Teresa's sister Maggie (Margaret) Cassidy, and Michael's niece Sadie ( Sarah).  She is the daughter of Michael's sister Sarah and John Fleming, now both deceased.  

Teresa Cassidy Scannell died November 1900.  Michael Scannell and Sadie lived together until his death in 1928.  

Further Study required

I would like to obtain more biographical information on Sarah Williams Scannell. I would also like to learn where in Ireland her husband Michael is from. Could the Scannells, the Williams and the Cassidys all be from the same area? 

I will work on obtaining the death records for all of the Williams siblings and their mother Margaret.  I already have death records for John Wiliams and Bathsheba Martha Cassidy and was able to obtain burial records for them both from the helpful greenealogists at Green Wood Cemetery.  

Exploring details about the friends, associates and neighbors of our ancestors can reveal clues to their connections and family relationships.  While in need of more research, the Williams, Cassidy and Scannell families were clearly allied across generations.