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Hard as Nails

Henrietta “Nettie” Ella (Frith) MacLean Abell

This will be one of the more difficult pieces to write because I’m not sure there will be much “balance” in it. I’ve heard a lot about Nettie over the years and to be honest – most of it was not complimentary. Craig Walker referred to his grandmother as a “mean old broad” and admitted to being afraid of her as a child and avoiding her as an adult. He told me that Nettie could hold a grudge forever and had an opinion about everyone and everything. My mother Shirlee agreed with Craig’s assessment. My grandmother Margaret, who never had an unkind word about anyone, referred to her mother as “difficult.”

Henrietta “Nettie” Ella Frith was born in 2 Mar 1875 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. She was the third child of George Richard Frith (1849-1903) and Henrietta F. Brimlow (1847-1884). While they were recording births in Brooklyn as early as 1866, I have not yet found a record for Nettie.

There has been some discussion about whether her name was Henrietta or simply Nettie. Nettie is the diminutive form of the name and most of her documentation is in that name. My belief that her birth name was Henrietta is based on two specific records. The 1 Jun 1875 New York State Census¹ enumerates the Frith family in Brooklyn as:
George age 25,
Henrietta 25,
Ruth 2,
Henry 4 months.
It is probable that the census worker used the Henr. abbreviation in his notebook and simply wrote Henry instead of Henrietta when filling out the master sheet.

The second item is the 1 Jun 1915 New York State Census when she is enumerated as Henrietta.² This would have been her first official record after her husband died and she gave her full name. However, Nettie most likely chose to use the diminutive and it’s the name her family used for her.

Nettie’s mother died in 1884 when Nettie was only nine. She told her granddaughters that she had a vivid memory of her mother lying in the casket with a stillborn infant in her arms. My mother and her cousins were unnerved by this story at a very young age.

Nettie married her first cousin George Edward McLean on 12 July 1893.³ The news article about their secret marriage being discovered due to her fit of jealousy is revealing in its own way. Very early on, Nettie appears to be a woman who went after the things she wanted. She moves from Brooklyn to North Hempstead, Long Island (then Queens County) after her marriage to George.

Their first child was a stillborn boy born 19 May 1894.⁴ He was interred in the McLean family plot. Their next three children were daughters: Susan (Susie) Wynn born 20 Mar 1897,⁵ Margaret Frith born 22 Apr 1899,⁶ and Ada Mae born 25 Aug 1901.⁷ There is a five-year-gap and then the two boys appeared: Edward Frith born 29 Aug 1906,⁸ and Welling Seeley born 1908.⁹ The family was enumerated there together on 16 Apr 1910.¹⁰ Life appeared to be good as they own their home and have a servant to help in the kitchen. Margaret could not recall a time growing up when her mother did not have some type of domestic help.

George passed away 25 Mar 1915,¹¹ and his mother Susan Winn (Frith) McLean (Nettie’s aunt) passed on 21 May 1915.¹² Nettie was now on her own with five children. Oldest daughter Susie married John T. Kelley the following year. John Kelley, born 18 Jul 1888 in Brooklyn ¹³ was a fireman on the Long Island Railway and not approved of by Nettie. He died 28 Oct 1918¹⁴ of the Spanish Influenza (I’m awaiting the death certificate for confirmation of this family story) and was buried in the McLean family plot in Roslyn Cemetery.

Sometime between 1915 and 1920, Nettie chose to change the spelling of her last name to MacLean. The family story was that Nettie was sure the “Mac” spelling denoted the Scottish and the “Mc” spelling was for the Irish. According to my sources, Nettie appeared to feel the Irish were less than desirable and wanted to make sure that everyone knew they were Scottish. This was a common misconception that was making the rounds in the early 20th century, but those of us who do genealogy know that spelling means nothing. This is the only branch of the family that made the switch in spelling. It was a source of confusion in the research for some time.

Stay tuned for Part II –

Footnotes:
1. Brooklyn, Kings, Ward 16, E.D. 1, p. 41, line 42, George Frith; digital images, Ancestry(accessed 14 May 2014). Cit. Date: 14 May 2014.
2. New York, population schedule, No. Hempstead, Nassau, New York, p. 17, dwelling 47, line 36, McLean, Henrietta; digital images, Ancestry(accessed 12 May 2014). Cit. Date: 12 May 2014.
3. Marriage Record, Certificate of Marriage Brooklyn #3969, 12 Sep 1893, George Edward McLean and Nettie Ella Frith, witnesses: Norman and Cordelia Edith Roscoe. FHL Film #1,523,044. Cit. Date: 26 Apr 2014.
4. Roslyn Cemetery (Letter from Dominick Tarantino, Manager, Roslyn Cemetery, Roslyn, NY dated 24 Mar 08. List of people in McLean plot #61, Section Old Chart, with Name, Date of Internment and Age (if known)), Cit. Date: 10 Apr 2008.
5. State of California, “Death Index, 1940-1997,” database(accessed 10 May 2014), State of California, “Death Index, 1940-1997,” database(accessed 10 May 2014), Susan Wynn Griffin, SSN 545421305, b. 20 Mar 1897 NY, d15 Sep 1993, Santa Clara, mother maiden Frith, Father surname MacLean. Cit. Date: 10 May 2014. Cit. Date: 10 May 2014.
6. New York Department of Health, birth certificate (1899), Margaret McLean; New York State Dept of Health, Albany. Cit. Date: 19 Jun 2008.
7. Ancestry.com, Social Security Death Index, 1935-Current, Number: 103-14-4866; Issue State: New York; Issue Date: Before 1951.
8. Ancestry.com, Social Security Death Index, 1935-Current, Edward F. MacLean, 091-03-1366, b. 29 Aug 1906, d. 29 Feb 1988. Cit. Date: 10 May 2014.
9. Roslyn Cemetery (Letter from Dominick Tarantino, Manager, Roslyn Cemetery, Roslyn, NY dated 24 Mar 08. List of people in McLean plot #61, Section Old Chart, with Name, Date of Internment and Age (if known)), Cit. Date: 10 Apr 2008.
10. 1910 U.S. census, population schedule, No. Hempstead, Nassau, New York, enumeration district (ED) 1123, p. 2A, dwelling 22, family 22, Mclean, George E.; digital images, Ancestry (accessed 12 May 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll T624 995. Cit. Date: 12 May 2014.
11. Roslyn Cemetery (Letter from Dominick Tarantino, Manager, Roslyn Cemetery, Roslyn, NY dated 24 Mar 08. List of people in McLean plot #61, Section Old Chart, with Name, Date of Internment and Age (if known)), Age 47 years 6 mo 15 days. Cit. Date: 10 Apr 2008.
12. New York death certificate 84 (1915), Susan Wynn MacLean, died 21 May 1915, Port Washington, Nassau, New York.
13. “World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” database and images, Ancestry (http://www.Ancestry.com : accessed 9 May 2014), John Kelley, July 18, 1888, Electric Railway Conductor; U.S., World War I Draft Registration Crds, 1917-1918.
14. Roslyn Cemetery (Letter from Dominick Tarantino, Manager, Roslyn Cemetery, Roslyn, NY dated 24 Mar 08. List of people in McLean plot #61, Section Old Chart, with Name, Date of Internment and Age (if known)), Age 30. Cit. Date: 10 Apr 2008.

General Genealogical Posts, McLean/Frith/Brimlow/Brown

Union Cemetery in Brooklyn 1851-1897

Unburying Your Dead

One of the more frustrating aspects of genealogy is attempting to locate a death date and burial location for your ancestor. You know your ancestor is dead, and you know that his/her death occurred between 1870 and 1880 since there is census information on the individual in 1870 and a widowed spouse in 1880. But death records were not common in the 19th century. Finding a cemetery list naming your ancestor is just as exciting as finding a maiden name for your fourth great grandmother. We’re all hopeful that there’s a tombstone to provide us the full dates of births and death, and maybe even what damn county or shire in England, Scotland, or Ireland they came from. But in most of my families, cemetery information and tombstones have been scarce.

Now, imagine you’re lucky enough to discover which cemetery your ancestor is in, only to learn they aren’t there because that cemetery no longer exists. And, not only does it no longer exist, the records are missing.

Case in point, Union Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Union Cemetery was created in 1851 on 10 acres in the Eastern District of Brooklyn. In brief, the cemetery was founded by two churches – one from New York City and one from Brooklyn. The New York church sold its share to the Brooklyn church in 1875. Then in 1897, the Brooklyn church decided to sell the land after the burial site was full. Over 30,000 burials had occurred on the site, and all those bodies needed to be relocated. Families were given the choice of arranging for relocation themselves or letting the contractor hired by the church relocate the bodies. All bodies not claimed by a family were relocated to a ten-acre plot within Cedar Grove Cemetery in Flushing. This task was accomplished within a sixty-day period from December 1897 through January 1898. According to newspaper articles, single boxes was to be used to hold the contents of each grave, and the remains were then reinterred at Cedar Grove in corresponding order along with associated monuments. The burial occurred in numbered plots matching the order of removal.

But that’s where the recorded trail takes a giant dump. [Read more…] about Union Cemetery in Brooklyn 1851-1897

McLean/Frith/Brimlow/Brown

Peter Charles McLean’s children

The children of Peter Charles and Margaret (Swasey) McLean:

1. Charles Edward McLean was born in 1830 in New York City, New York. He’s first found by name on the 1850 census with his parents in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Kings, New York.¹ The 1855 New York Census provided his birth county.² He is on his own in the 1860 census.³ Charles went with his sister-in-law Susan W. (Frith) McLean to bring his younger brother Peter B. home from Philadelphia in 1862.

He first married Sarah A. Burger (1838-1867) prior to 1865. He is found with wife Sarah and her parents John A. Burger (1809-1887) and Jane Eliza Fairweather (1817-1908) on the 1865 New York State Census in Brooklyn. Sarah died in August 1867 and was interred in Green-Wood Cemetery on 22 August.

On 2 Dec 1868 in Brooklyn, the 37 year-old Charles, married 20 year-old Isabella Marie Brown. According to the marriage record, Isabella was the daughter of Jacob M. and Margaret (Miller) Brown.⁴

Charles, like the rest of his family, was a painter and grainer. He appears in many of the Brooklyn city directories from 1867-1889. He lived the remainder of his life in Brooklyn. He and Isabella had five children together, three of whom are known.
George F. McLean (1871- ?)
Harriet August McLean (1873-22 Oct 1945) m. William Wood (1869-?)
Cordelia Bruce McLean (5 Oct 1881-21 Jan 1969) m. John Watson Moore (1873-1940)
He died 25 Dec 1891 in Brooklyn.⁵ Charles was interred in Cypress Hills Cemetery.

Isabella Marie (Brown) McLean was born 19 July 1846 in Hackensack, Bergen, New Jersey. She had one sibling Freeman Poole Brown (1849-1925). Her mother died sometime after the 1850 census and while her father and brother were easily located, Isabella proved difficult. It is possible that she was sent to live with her mother’s family while young. After Charles’s death, Isabella moved to Huntsville, Madison, Alabama, with daughter Cordelia and her husband. She died there on 18 January 1922 and was interred in Maple Hill Cemetery. Her stone has her name as MACLEAN and it is probable that it was placed well after her death as it matches the stones of her daughter and son-in-law.

2. Peter Byron McLean (1832-1895) – previously discussed.

3. Washington McLean was born about 1836 in New York City and can be found with his parents and siblings on the 1850 and 1860 census.

In about 1862, he married Mary Elizabeth Brown. Mary was born about 1842 and is the daughter of David H. Brown (1818-1900). Washington worked as a painter and wallpaper hanger. He’s first found in the 1865 Brooklyn city directory⁷ at 236 Grand and remains at the address until the 1880s when he relocates to 285 Grand. 236 Grand is a 3-story brownstone and appears to be both business and home, but 285 is a single-story brick business. In 1890, his residence is listed as Port Washington in Queens, and that is where he passed away on 27 Nov 1891.⁸

Mary apparently continued to run the business with her son David for a short time as she appears in the 1892 and 1893 city directories.⁹ In 1898, she provided a deposition for her sister-in-law Susan W. (Frith) McLean in the matter of her widow’s pension. On the 1900 census, Mary stated she had a total of five children, three of whom were still living.¹⁰ (David, Margaret, and Ann). Mary died 11 Jun 1930 in Port Washington, Nassau, New York.

Washington and Mary had five children, four of whom are known. David Charles McLean (1863-1934) m. Adelaid B. Demarest (1863-1940); Margaret Rebecca McLean (1865-1945) did not marry; Anne F. McLean (abt 1872-aft1930) did not marry; John McLean (abt 1879-bef 1900) did not marry.

4. Nathaniel Bruce McLean was born 10 Aug 1838 in New York City and died 17 Aug 1860 in Williamsburg of nervous exhaustion. He was buried in Union Cemetery.¹¹ His obituary appeared in the New York Tribune on 20 Aug 1860.¹²

“McLEAN- At Williamsburgh, on Friday, August 17, Nathaniel Bruce McLean, aged 22 years, youngest son of P.C. McLean.”

5. Sarah Amelia McLean was born in 1842 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Kings, New York. She can be found there with her parents and sibling on multiple census records. According to the 1870 census record Sarah was a music teacher; she and her father resided with her older brother Peter B. and his family.¹³

On 23 Jan 1873, she married John Milton Page (1840-2 Mar 1931) in Brooklyn. John Milton Page was born in Maine, the son of Madison and Louisa (Small) Page.¹⁴ John served in the 40th NY Volunteers (Mozart Regiment) during the Civil War and was wounded at Bull Run.¹⁵

Sarah died in Brooklyn 24 Nov 1912¹⁶ and was interred in Green-Wood Cemetery. Her obituary in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle was brief.¹⁷

John eventually relocated to Rockville Center in Nassau County where he remained until his death on 2 Mar 1931. His obituary appeared in the New York Times on 3 Mar 1931.¹⁸

He and Sarah are both interred in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn.¹⁹ I have requested photographs of her tombstone.

They had two known children: Margaret R. Page (abt 1874-2 Dec 1935) did not marry, and John Wallace Page (27 Sep 1879-Jan 1964) m. Josie Mary Baldwin (abt 1882-Dec 1952). They had 2 known children: John Wallace Page, Jr. and Marjorie Page.

1. 1850 U.S. census, population schedule, Williamsburg, Kings, New York, p. 469B, dwelling 1508, family 2100, Peter McLean; digital images, Ancestry (accessed 10 May 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll M432 522. Cit. Date: 10 May 2014.
2. 1855, New York, population schedule, Brooklyn Ward 14, Kings, New York, p. E.D. 2, dwelling 832, line 6, P.C. McLean; digital images, Ancestry(accessed 10 May 2014). Cit. Date: 10 May 2014.
3. 1860 U.S. census, population schedule, Williamsburg, Broooklyn, Kings, New York, p. 679, dwelling 196, family 276, Chas E. McLean, age 29, Painter; digital images, Ancestry (accessed 10 May 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll M653 772. Cit. Date: 10 May 2014.
4. Kings, New York, Marriage Records, 1952, Charles E. McLean-Isabella M. Brown, 2 Dec 1868; FHL microfilm 1,543,776. Cit. Date: 2 Aug 2010.
5. “New York, New York, Death Index, 1862-1848,” database, New York, New York, Death Index, 1862-1848 (accessed 8 Jun 2014), Charles McLean, age 61, died 25 Dec 1891, Kings, Cert #20929. Cit. Date: 8 Jun 2014.
6. “New York, New York, Death Index, 1862-1848,” database, New York, New York, Death Index, 1862-1848 (accessed 8 Jun 2014), Isabella McLean, age 70, died 3 Apr 1920, Kings, Cert.# 9408. Cit. Date: 8 Jun 2014.
7. City Directory, 1865 Brooklyn, New York : McLean, Washington, paints & paper, 236 Grand; digital images accessed 10 May 2014. Cit. Date: 10 May 2014.
8. Newspapers, Abstract from the Long Islander, McLean, Washington, died 27 Nov 1891, Port Washington, LongIslandGenealogy.com. Cit. Date: 6 Jun 2014.
9. City Directory, 1893 Brooklyn, New York : McLean, Mary, paints & paper, 285 Grand; digital images accessed 10 May 2014. Cit. Date: 10 May 2014.
10. 1900 U.S. census, population schedule, No. Hempstead, Nassau, New York, enumeration district (ED) 716, p. 6B, dwelling 105, family 117, Mary E. McLean; digital images, Ancestry (accessed 11 May 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 1079. Cit. Date: 11 May 2014.
11. Kings County, New York, death register August 1860 no. Page 111, Line 372 (17 Aug 1860), Nathaniel B. McLean; FHL microfilm 1,378,817. Cit. Date: 2 Aug 2010.
12. Newspapers, New York Tribune, Monday, 20 Aug 1860, p. 8. Cit. Date: 29 Apr 2014.
13. 1870 U.S. census, population schedule, Williamsburg, Ward 14 Brooklyn, Kings, New York, p. 180A, dwelling 281, family 582, Peter McLean; digital images, Ancestry (accessed 10 May 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M593, roll M593 955. Cit. Date: 10 May 2014.
14. Kings, New York, Marriage Records, 119, John A. Page-Sarah A. McLean, 23 Jan 1893; FHL microfilm 1,543,909. Cit. Date: 2 Aug 2010.
15. “John M. Page Dead at 91.,” The New York Times, 3 Mar 1931, online archives (Ancestry : accessed 11 May 2014). Cit. Date: 11 May 2014.
16. “New York, New York, Death Index, 1862-1848,” database, New York, New York, Death Index, 1862-1848 (accessed 10 Jun 2014), Sarah Page, age 70, died 21 Nov 1912, Kings, Cert.#21579.
17. “Deaths – PAGE,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 24 Nov 1912, p. 72, col. 2; digital images(accessed 11 May 2014). Cit. Date: 11 May 2014.
18. “John M. Page Dead at 91.,” The New York Times, 3 Mar 1931, online archives (Ancestry : accessed 11 May 2014). Cit. Date: 11 May 2014.
19. John M. Page, Find A Grave Memorial# 27428513.

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Henrietta “Nettie” Ella (Frith) MacLean Abell

Unburying Your Dead

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