But What if it Is?: The Unexpected Fall of a Brick Wall, part 3

See parts 1 and parts 2 for the back story!

What we knew previously: 
      Philip McCall was born 6 May 1860 in Pennsylvania to Irish parents
The new information: 
      He has siblings named Thomas McCall and Mrs. Matthew Flannigan

First up, identifying Mrs. Matthew Flannigan.
A search of the 1900 US census for Minneapolis. I found Matt J. and Mary Flanigan.1  Further searching revealed a marriage record between Matthew Flannigan and Mary McCaull on 6 September 1898 in Hennepin County, Minnesota.2  According to censuses and her 1926 death record, Mary (McCall) Flannigan was born about 1858 in Iowa.

A Little Help from Thomas 
The newspaper article first identifying Thomas McCall as the murdered man also gave some biographical information: "He was born in McGregor, Iowa, was 45 years of age and unmarried."3  This would make Thomas born about 1857. Now to check for McCalls in McGregor, Iowa.

Found!
McGregor, Iowa is in Clayton County. A quick census search quickly found a McCall family with children Thomas, Philip and Mary for 1870.4  The family turned up again in 1880, still in McGregor.5  They were a bit harder to find in 1860 due to phonetic spelling, but eventually found.6  The lost 1890 census is once again making things difficult. The McCall family as found on US census records:
    Patrick McCall, b. ca 1820-1830, Ireland
    Catherine McCall, b. abt 1830, Ireland
       Thomas McCall, b. abt 1854, New York
       Philip McCall, b. abt 1856, Pennsylvania
       Mary Ann McCall, b. abt 1858, Iowa
       Catherine McCall, b. abt 1861, Iowa
       Rose McCall, b. abt 1864, Iowa
       John McCall, b. abt 1865, Iowa
       James McCall, b. abt 1868, Iowa

The census records search also yielded two Mortality schedules. The 1880 Mortality schedule listed James McCall, age 11, died of drowning in July [1879].7  The 1870 Mortality schedule revealed another child, Margaret McCall, who was 3 month old when she died in July [1869] of the "Bloody flux."8

The next stop was FamilySearch and a quick look at what records for Clayton County, Iowa have been microfilmed (and which of those have been digitized).  Looks like I need to plan a trip to my local Family History Center to view the images due to use agreements.

One last thing I like to do is check the USGenWeb for the county to see what resources they have online and what repositories are in the county.  Turns out that there is a McGregor Historical Museum.9  I spent some time poking around their website and stumbled upon another lovely bit of usefulness: the newspapers for the county have been digitized and made online!10  Patrick McCall served on the McGregor City Council, 1876-1877 and appears regularly during those years. Unfortunately he met a sad end only a few years later in 1882.11

After quite a bit more researching I was able to flush out Philip McCall's family.

Patrick McCall, b. ca 1820-1830, Ireland; m. bef. 1854; d. 23 May 1882, McGregor, Clayton
                            County, Iowa.
Catherine King, b. abt. 1830, Ireland; ?
     Thomas McCall, b. abt. 1854, New York; d. ?
     Philip McCall, b. abt. [6 May?] 1856, Pennsylvania; d. ca 1906-1909?
     Mary Ann McCall, b. 9 Jul 1858, McGregor, Clayton Co., Iowa; m. Matthew J. Flannigan (1857-1913), 6 Sep 1898, Minneapolis, Hennepin Co., Minnesota; d. 23 Nov 1926, Minneapolis, Hennepin Co., Minnesota. No children.
     Catherine McCall, b. abt. 1861, McGregor, Clayton Co., Iowa.
     Rose McCall, b. ca May 1864, McGregor, Clayton Co., Iowa; m. John W. Boden (1863-bef 1900), 5 Apr 1888, McGregor; d. 23 Nov 1930, Dubuque, Dubuque Co., Iowa.
     John McCall, b. abt. 1865, McGregor, Clayton Co., Iowa.
     James McCall, b. abt. 1868 & d. Jul 1879, McGregor, Clayton Co., Iowa.
     Margaret McCall, b. 15 Mar 1869 & d. Jul 1869, McGregor, Clayon Co., Iowa.

To-Do List

• Follow Catherine Sr., Thomas, Catherine Jr., and John to their end.
• Locate the archives for the former St. Mary's Catholic Church, McGregor, Iowa. Some abstractions online have baptism records for some of the children as well as a burial record for Patrick.
• Trace the family before they reached McGregor. The eldest (Thomas) was born about 1854 in New York and the second child (Philip) about 1856 in Pennsylvania. Hopefully this will also lead to a marriage record for Patrick and Catherine.
• Patrick's obituary lists military service during the Civil War, but gives incomplete/incorrect information. Need to research and verify.
• Locate immigration for Patrick and Catherine from Ireland to the United States.
• Flush out their FANs in McGregor. Are they related to any of the other McCalls (or anyone else) in the surrounding areas?

______________________________________________________________________________
Sources
1. 1900 U.S. census, Hennepin County, Minnesota, population schedule, Minneapolis ward 7, enumeration district (ED) 76, sheet 1A, dwelling 9, family 10, Matt. J. Flanigan; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 August 2019); citing National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication T623.
2. Hennepin County, Minnesota, "Marriage Licenses," book 78, no. 176, Matthew Flannigan to Mary McCaull, 1898; "Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949," digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : downloaded 12 August 2019); citing FHL microfilm 1,380,438.

3. "Thos. M'Call the Dead Man," The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota), 16 October 1902, p. 6; digital images, Newspapers.com (http://startribune.newspapers.com : downloaded 12 August 2019).

4. 1870 U.S. census, Clayton County, Iowa, population schedule, McGregor ward 4, pp. 2-3, folio 384 (stamped), dwelling 16, family 18, Patrick McCall; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded 12 August 2019); citing National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication M593, roll 383.

5. 1880 U.S. census, Clayton County, Iowa, population schedule, McGregor, enumeration district (ED) 142, p. 21A, folio 488 (stamped), dwelling 214, family 224, Patrick McCall; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : downloaded 12 August 2019); citing http://National Archives and Records Administration microfilm (NARA) publication T9, roll 333.

6. 1860 U.S. census, Clayton County, Iowa, population schedule, McGregor, p. p. 68, dwelling 344, family 497, Patrick McCoe; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded 2 August 2019); citing National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication M653, roll 315.

7. 1880 U.S. census, Clayton County, Iowa, mortality schedule, McGregor, enumeration district (ED) 142, p. 1, line 4, family 214, James McCall; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded 12 August 2019); citing National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication T1156, roll 59.

8. 1870 U.S. census, Clayton County, Iowa, mortality schedule, McGregory ward 4, p. 1, line 1, family 18, Margaret McCall; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded 12 August 2019); citing National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication T1156, roll 56.

9. McGregor Historical Museum, https://www.mcgregormuseum.org/

10. http://claytoncounty.advantage-preservation.com/

11. "Patrick McCall," obituary, The North Iowa Times (McGregor, Iowa), 25 May 1882, p. 3, col. 4; digital images, Clayton County Advantage Preservation (http://claytoncounty.advantage-preservation.com/ : downloaded 14 August 2019); citing collections from the McGregor Historical Museum.

But What if it Is?: The Unexpected Fall of a Brick Wall, part 2

Have you ever had that feeling that you're missing something?  In part 1 I talked about a fascinating story of a murdered man and his misidentification. But what if this McCall family is my McCall family? I can double check thanks to the addresses published in the newspaper article and city directories.
      The article lists "Mrs. Philip McCall, 2716 Twenty-sixth street south"1
I have previously looked up this family in the cities directories and notated their address for each year (they seemed to move a lot!). In 1902 the family is listed as
      McCall
           "       Philip, lab. 2632 27th Ave S.
           "       Rosa E. clk. 2632 27th Ave S.2

The address don't match - so not my family.

But wait! The murder happened in October 1902 and the city directory probably came out in the beginning of the year. And did I mention that this family liked to move around a lot? Now to check the 1903 city directory: 

      McCall

           "      Philip E. brakeman. r 2716 e 26th av s.

           "      Rose E. clk Powers Mer Co. b 2716 s 26th.3

It's a match(ish)! The newspaper gives "2716 Twenty-sixth street south" while the city directory lists "2716 e 26th av. s"  Avenue and street are easy enough to misprint. Re-looking at the city directories reminded me that while McCall is a fairly common name, there is only one Philip McCall listed as living in Minneapolis during this time period. The fact that the only other McCalls listed at the same residence are also his daughters reinforced that this is the Philip McCall I am looking for. Add in that Philip's occupation is "breakman" and his wife stated in the newspaper article that " He has been employed in the railroad work in Wisconsin for some time." Bingo, we have a match!

Thanks to Thomas McCall not being dead (yet) we now know that he is the brother of Philip McCall and that they have a sister married to Matthew Flannigan. This additional information should help track down their parents!

________________________________________________________________________

Sources

1.  "Thos. M'Call the Dead Man," The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota), 16 October 1902, p. 6; digital images, Newspapers.com (http://startribune.newspapers.com : downloaded 12 August 2019).

2. Claudia Schuman, [e-mail for private use], to Jennifer Shaw, e-mail, 21 June 2006, "Minneapolis Directory Lookups,"; privately held by Shaw, [e-mail & address for private use].

3. Davison's Minneapolis City Directory, 1903 (Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis Directory Co., 1903), p. 1035; digital images, "U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 (Beta)," Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 April 2012).

4. 

But What if it Is?: The Unexpected Fall of a Brick Wall, part 1

The Brick Wall
     My gr-gr-grandfather has been a brick wall for more than 15 years. The first time I encounter Philip McCall is on 27 December 1884 when he married Dora Emily Rutter in Pipestone, Pipestone County, Minnesota.1 The couple would reside in Pipestone for the next 13 years, and all three of their daughters would be born there:
      Rose E. McCall, b. 11 September 1885
      Nina Estelle McCall, b. 20 November 1886
      Maude Alice McCall, b. 22 September 1888

     By 1899 the family had moved to Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. They appear in the 1900 US census and 1905 Minnesota state census, and every year in the city directories. The census records agree that Philip was born May 1860 in Pennsylvania to Irish-born parents. A family tree in a great-granddaughter's baby book gives his birth as 6 May 1860 in Pennsylvania.2  Previous searches have not revealed a Philip McCall in earlier censuses that falls within these perimeters.
     The last record Philip appears in is the 1906 Minneapolis City Directory. His wife and daughters continue to appear in records, but he has disappeared. What happened to Philip? Who is Philip?

"Not My Family," But a Very Interesting Story
     My family is the middling sort that rarely appears in the newspapers of the major cities they lived in. But every once in a while, with advanced to OCR technology, I like to poke around and see what I can find. I was doing just this, searching for "Phil* McCa*" in the Hennepin and Ramsey counties newspapers on Newspapers.com, when I came across a murder mystery!

 Summary: A man was found murdered in the park with no identification.

   "Mrs. Philip McCall, 2716 Twenty-sixth street south, was the first person to identify the remains... Mrs. McCall was prompted to this action because she was worried about her husband.  He has been employed in the railroad work in Wisconsin for some time.  Not having heard from his she became worried.  Thinking it possible that it was he was was lying at the morgue she called yesterday morning.

   "Instead of finind the corpse of her husband, Mrs. McCall was more than astonished to see the body of her husband's brother, Thomas... [S]he gave the address of McCall's sister, Mrs. Matthew Flannigan, 2428 Sixteenth avenue south... 

   "Mrs. Flannigan stated that she had not seen her dead brother for about three years.  He was a laborer, but frequently was employed as a teamster.  He was somewhat of a roving disposition and had traveled extensively.  He was born in McGregor, Iowa, was 45 years of age and unmarried."3

A very interesting story, but McCall is a common surname and this family has no known FAN club ties to other McCalls - or Flannigans. This has frustrated my efforts to break down this brick wall.

He's Not Dead!

Turns out it wasn't Thomas McCall who was found murdered in the park. A friend of his went to collected his personal belongings at the boarding house he was staying at, and found Thomas alive and well.4

A very interesting story, but not my family. Right...?

_____________________________________________________________________

Sources

1. Pipestone County, Minnesota, Marriage Record A: 95, Philip McCall to Dora E. Rutter (1884); FHL microfilm 1,403,125.

2. 1885 Minnesota state Census, Village of Pipestone, Pipestone County, p. 338, family 189, for P. McCall, lines 21-29; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded); citing Minnesota Historical Society (St. Paul, MN), MNSC_20.  1895 Minnesota state census, Pipestone 4th District, Pipestone County, p. 30, family 242, for P. McCall; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded); citing Minnesota Historical Society (St. Paul, MN), microfilm Reels 1-47 and 107-164, V290_82.  Davison's Minneapolis City Directory, 1899, vol. XXVII (Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis Directory Company, 1899), p. 820; digital images, Hennepin County Library, "Minneapolis City Directory Collection 1859-1937, 1939, 1942 and 1944," (https://box2.nmtvault.com/Hennepin2/ : accessed 16 August 2019).  1900 U.S. census, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, population schedule, Ward 12, enumeration district (ED) 123, p. 2A (penned), p. 238 (stamped), dwelling 19, family 22, Philip McCall; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded 9 December 2005); citing National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication T623, roll 770.  1905 Minnesota state census, Hennepin County, Minneapolis, population schedule, p. 4, lines 5-9, for Philip McCall; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded); citing Minnesota Historical Society reels 1-47 and 107-164, Roll No. MNSC_128.  Davidson's Minneapolis City Directory, 1906 (Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis Directory Co., [1906]), 1209; digital images, "U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 (Beta)," Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 April 2012).

3. "Thos. M'Call the Dead Man," The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota), 16 October 1902, p. 6; digital images, Newspapers.com (http://startribune.newspapers.com : downloaded 12 August 2019).

4. "M'Call Returns Home, His Funeral Postponed," The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota), 17 October 1902, p. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (http://startribune.newspapers.com : downloaded 3 September 2019).