3. The Plot Thickens

Where to look next? It was time to check the census records for Youngstown. I found records for my great grandfather, John Mullen Sr., and his family in all the census years from 1900 through 1950. 

In 1900 he was living with his wife, Catherine, and two sons, Raymond C. (4) and John A. (6 months). They lived in a rental house on Foster Street in the Brier Hill neighborhood of Youngstown. My great-grandfather was 29 and said he was born in Scotland, along with his parents. He listed “engineer” as his occupation. He and Catherine had been married for two years and had one child together. Catherine said she was born in Pennsylvania, and both of her parents were born in Ireland.

The plot thickens. It seems my great-grandfather had been married twice and had a child named Raymond with his first wife. Grandpa Mullen had a half-brother! What happened to Raymond? And who was his mother and my great-grandfather’s first wife? What happened to her? My mother didn’t know much. She knew about Raymond but didn’t know anything about his mother. It was a mystery that would have to wait.

By 1910, the Mullen family had moved to another rental house two blocks away. Raymond and John Jr. (Grandpa) were both in school. John Sr. was a machinist in a steel mill. (Carnegie?)

 

 By 1920, Raymond had moved out.

Both Grandpa and his father were still working in a steel mill. 

1920 was the first census where the family lived at 631 Delaware Avenue, and they were homeowners. 

 

(The house on Delaware Ave was built in 1914, so it was likely a new house when my great-grandparents either bought it or had it built.)

                The 1930 census showed some interesting new details.

•  John, Sr. said he immigrated to the U.S. from Scotland in 1875.
•  He married his first wife when he was 23. (in 1895) 
• The house on Delaware Ave. was worth $7,000
• They owned a radio set.  (40% of households had a radio in 1930)
•  Other family members in the household:
•  Catherine, his wife, age 63
•  John A. Mullen, Jr., his son, age 30
•  Helen, daughter-in-law, age 27
•  Louise K., granddaughter, age 6
• John M., grandson, age 4

So… Great Grandpa Mullen did not come to the U.S. by himself, since he was only three when he arrived. His parents must have been here too, but did they stay or return to Scotland? Since Mom told me that her grandfather didn’t have any family, or at least not any family that she met - maybe they did go back?

1930 was the first census after Grandma and Grandpa got married, and they moved in with Grandpa’s parents – never to move out and buy a house of their own, although they eventually inherited the family home.  Mom was born in 1923 and Uncle Jack in 1926.

Mom & Uncle Jack (c. 1928/1929)

By 1940, the value of their house decreased almost 30% to $4,800. The Depression had taken its toll. Both John Sr. and John Jr. were working steadily, even though John Sr. was past retirement age. John Sr. was a mechanical foreman and John Jr. was a machinist.  Mom was a high school junior and Uncle Jack was a freshman. Grandma Helen and Great-Grandma Catherine were doing “home housework".

I talked to my mother about what it was like during the Depression since she was six in 1929 when the stock market crashed.  During the 1930s she would have attended grade school and most of high school.  She told me that they always had food and the necessities, and she didn't really feel the impact directly.  She also said most of her friends were in the same boat, so she didn't feel like she was all that different from them.  Since both her father and grandfather continued to work, their two sources of income helped the family during the Depression.  

There were a lot of changes in the years between 1940 and 1950.  The U.S. entered WWII in 1941 with the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the Depression ended largely because of the war effort.  By the time of the 1950 census, both the Depression and WWII were over. 

The Mullen family experienced some changes too.  Grandpa continued to work as a machinist, but his father had retired at some point before 1950 and was no longer considered the head of the household.  Grandpa took on that role. His father became a widower in 1944 with the death of  Grandpa's mother, Catherine.  Mom moved out in 1946 when she left for Germany to join my father after the war.  Uncle Jack continued to live at home and was working as a fabricator in a steel mill in 1950.  Grandma's sister, Margaret Carney, was also living in the household and working as a stenographer.

(The 1950 census is the latest one available due to the 72 year privacy rule)  

Time to update the family tree again:

2. Dead Men Can't Talk

Since I was new to family history research and didn't really know where to begin, I started at the end.  Dead men can’t talk, but their death certificates can.  There were some good clues in my great-grandfather’s death certificate.

John Arthur Mullen, Sr. died September 6, 1953, in Delps Nursing Home after a stay of two weeks.  He died from complications of a fractured hip, caused by falling off a chair at home (maybe the kitchen chair?). He was born March 27, 1872, in Scotland, the son of Peter Mullen and Hannah Arthur.  A retired master mechanic, his former employer was Carnegie Steel in Youngstown, Ohio.  He did not serve in the military.  Informant: John A. Mullen, Jr.

My grandfather signed the certificate and provided all the personal information about his father.  He had all the answers if only I had asked him! 

 sa

 Hannah Mullen's maiden name was Arthur. That explains why Grandpa and his father were given the same middle name. It was a family surname, probably meant to be passed down through the generations.

My great-grandmother’s death certificate had some good clues too, including her maiden name – Donahue.

Catherine Donahue Mullen died October 8, 1944, from pneumonia.  She was born November 4, 1864, in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Michael and Catherine Donahue.  Both of her parents were born in Ireland.  Informant:  John Mullen (Sr.) 

My great grandfather married an older woman! Little did he know that she was fibbing about her birth date, so the age difference between them was even more than eight years. I often wondered why they only had one child (Grandpa), but now I think it was because she was over 40 when he was born.

The Mullen family tree was starting to take shape!

1. Only a Few Clues

Discovering your family history is a lot like trying to solve a puzzle.  Sometimes you start with only a few clues, yet end up with a rich story and maybe a little mystery too. This is what happened to me when I uncovered the story of my Mullen family from Youngstown, Ohio.   This blog post is the first in a series of my discoveries about this family.

My Grandparents - Helen Carney Mullen and John A. Mullen, Jr. (1957)

It wasn’t until I decided to research my Mullen family history that I wished I had asked more questions of my Grandpa Mullen.   He was a very quiet man and it was rare that we had any conversations at all, but when I was a teenager we had one brief exchange about my mother’s heritage.  “Grandpa, is Mom half Scottish and half Irish?”  I asked him, thinking that I already knew the answer.  I knew my Grandma Helen's parents were born in Ireland, and I thought his parents were born in Scotland.  He started to say yes and then changed his mind.  “No, she’s one-quarter Scottish and three-quarters Irish,” he said.  “My father was from Scotland, but not my mother.”  That was it, the end of the conversation as far as he was concerned.

My Great Grandfather - John A. Mullen, Sr. (c. 1946)

I was a little surprised that I was wrong, but I didn’t give it much more thought at the time.   I wasn’t that curious about Grandpa’s parents.  His mother died before I was born, so I never knew her, and I hadn’t heard any stories about her.  I was six when his father died, so I do have a few childhood memories of him and they aren't good ones. I remember him as an unfriendly old man!  He lived in the same house as my grandparents, so I saw him occasionally when we were there for visits.

One morning as I was coming downstairs into the kitchen, I saw him sitting at the table by himself with his back to me, drinking coffee, dressed in his pajamas and robe.  I wanted to turn around and run back upstairs, but my Grandma Helen, standing at the stove, noticed me and said, “Karen, say hello to Papa.”   I did as I was told and in response, he mumbled something and then ignored me.  Warm and fuzzy, he wasn’t.

Now I wish I had been more curious and asked more questions, but it is too late.  My mother, Louise, filled in a few of the blanks, but even she didn’t know much about her grandparents’ history, even though she grew up in the same house with them.

My mother - Louise Mullen Vitullo  (2008)

Since I don’t have a picture of my great-grandmother, I asked Mom to describe her.  “White hair, thin, not very tall, and looked old.”  What was her personality like?  I’m sure she wanted to say, “What personality?” but instead she just said, “Stern.”   When I asked if her grandmother ever played with her or read stories to her, she looked at me like I was crazy.  Apparently, my great-grandmother was as warm and fuzzy as my great-grandfather.  They were really well suited for each other.

I can’t explain why I would want to know more about my not so warm and fuzzy great-grandparents. All I know is that curiosity took over and I had to know about my roots.  I didn’t have much to go on, but I knew my great grandfather’s name, John A. Mullen, Sr., and where he was born - Scotland.   My mother thought he had come to America on his own as a young man since he didn’t seem to have any family in the United States.  I also knew that workers flooded into Youngstown from all over Europe in the late 1800s and early 1900s because of the steel mills, and it seemed likely that he probably left his family behind in search of a better life in America. 

      Or so I thought....