By any other name

I had difficulty finding much information on my second great-grandfather John CALDEN.

I suspected it would be difficult because I was not confident in how to spell his surname. Was it “Calden,” or “Caldon?” What other variations are possible? Moreover, I did not have neighborhood or occupation information to corroborate.

In addition to approximate surname spelling, what I did have was:

• John had a daughter named Mary (my great-grandmother);
• Mary’s married name was O’LAUGHLIN; and,
• they eventually lived in Buffalo.

As mentioned, John fathered Mary. In turn, Mary’s daughter Harriet O’LAUGHLIN gave birth to my mother. So, as I said, John Calden is one of my second great-grandfathers.

For Buffalo, the 1880 Census included John CALDON, living at 370 Catherine [sic] Street, with four children—including a daughter named Mary (age 18) , who would be about the right age to be my great-grandmother. The other children were: Jeremiah (22), Henry (16), and James (14). Currently, I do not believe that 370 Catherine Street is a Buffalo address, but 370 Katherine Street is only about one mile from the home of my great-grandfather Patrick O’LAUGHLIN, Mary’s future husband. So, this neighborhood would make sense! This John CALDON is a fifty-one year-old widower, born in Ireland. John reported his occupation as dock laborer.

Working backwards from this lead, in 1870, I found John CALDEN in Buffalo’s First Ward. That last vowel had changed, but the children’s names (James, John, and Jeremiah) indicated this might be my man. He is forty years old, and born in Ireland. Margaret CALDEN is reported as John’s wife. A decade earlier, the 1860 Census had a similar entry for John, Margaret, James, John, and Jeremiah CALDON. [The only oddity across these Census records is the son James. It appears that there may have been two James—one born about 1854, and another born around 1865. For the moment, I am inferring that the older James passed away in the early 1860s, and the next son became his namesake.]

Buffalo City directories also had several apparent relevant entries. In both 1881 and 1897, John CALDON is listed at 370 Katherine. An earlier, 1874, entry has the same name at 129 Catherine [sic] Street. Under the CALDEN spelling, there is a John at 140 Elk St., and 242 Elk St., in 1867 and 1869, respectively. Unfortunately, in each case, the occupation is stated as laborer, which is not very unique, and no family information is available. Although there is not sufficient evident to prove that these entries are all for my ancestor, these Elk and Katherine street addresses certainly could fit the pattern of a family moving through the first ward.

All together, the above is not a poor research showing, but some of the data is inconclusive, and the trail went cold.

One day I was pursuing the Fulton Post Cards web site, and entered the CALDEN name. I got a hit! Unfortunately, the PDF was difficult to read, but my mother [thanks, Mom!] acquired a clear copy from the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. On page 11 of The Buffalo Express, Thursday morning, June, 22, 1905, we found:

Citation for Judicial Settlement

The people of the state of New York, to Catherine Callinan, Mary O’Loughlin, Margaret Callinan, Anna Callinan, John Callinan, William Callinan, Mary Wallace Callinan, James Callinan, if he be living, and if dead his widow, heirs-at-law and next of kin, executors, administrators, assignees, devisees and grantees, if any there be, all of whose names, ages and places of residence are unknown and cannot after due diligence be ascertained, and all persons claiming to be such persons or corporations interested in the estate of John Callinan, otherwise known as John Calden and John Callanan, late of the City of Buffalo in the county of Erie, state of New York, deceased, as creditors, legatees, next of kin, widow.
You, and each of you, are herby cited, notified, and required to be and appear before the Surrogate of said County of Erie, at the Surrogate’s office, on the 31st day of July, 1905, at ten o’clock in the forenoon of that day, then and there to attend the judicial settlement of the account of John Major as executor of the will of said deceased. And that if any of the above named persons are infants, that they then and there show cause why a Special Guardian should not be appointed to appear, represent and act for them in the proceeding for such judicial settlement.
In testimony whereof, we have caused the seal of our Surrogates Court to be hereunto affixed.
(L.S.)
Witness Hon. Louis W. Marcus, Surrogate of our said County of Erie, at Buffalo,
N.Y. this 9th day of June, 1905 LOUIS B. HART
Clerk of the Surrogate Court
The account to which this proceeding relates is now on file in the office of the Surrogate and may be examined by any person or corporation interested.

John Callinan, otherwise known as John Calden and John Callanan? This might be the missing link.

The Mary O’Loughlin [sic] mentioned could well be my great-grandmother. As noted earlier, Mary defiantly had bothers named John and James.

In 1860 and 1870, we saw that John wife was named Margaret. Could that be the Margaret mentioned in the notice? From the 1880 Census, I was sure that Margaret, the wife, died before 1880, but perhaps John remarried. However, if this is my man, why was Jeremiah not listed?

The names Catherine, Anna, William are new to me though. Given that hers was the first name listed, my guess was that Catherine might have been John's second wife. Just a guess though.

Armed with these aliases, I took another pass at some of my sources. John CALLANAN was there!

The 1890 Buffalo City Directory shows John CALLANAN residing at 370 Katherine Street, and employed at the King Iron Works. Additionally, the 1900 Census lists John and Katherine CALLANAN at the same Katherine street address. (Apparently reinforcing my earlier guess regarding the “Catherine” mentioned in the above legal notice.) Katherine’s birth date appears to be July 1854; compared to John’s June 1827. The Census records that the couple has been married for sixteen years, which implies they were married around 1884. It appears consistent with a second marriage

The 1900 CALLANAN records also give new insights regarding immigration. John’s entry indicates he arrived in the USA in 1848 (at approximately age 21), and Katherine arrived in 1867.

I still do not know: what became of Katherine/Catherine, Jeremiah, James, or John’s namesake son. Nor have I identified Anna, William or Mary Wallace Callanan. The above legal noticed helped fill in some of the blanks. Still, I am not sure why a judicial settlement would be required. From what I can tell, John was a laborer, who could not read or write, and rented his home. Why would it be difficult to settle his estate? Moreover, the biggest question—why the aliases?

Very interesting, I think.