Finding Edward Casey (1865/Limerick, IRE – 1928/Chicago, IL)

For the last few months, my family tree search has gone out on horizontal branches, rather that back up the tree, as I have worked to learn what I can about all of my GG Grandfather Michael Casey‘s siblings. The first clues came in Michael’s funeral notice, which listed the names of nine siblings. My Great Aunt Margaret, a wonderful woman and goldmine of family history knowledge, has been able to offer me many useful clues about these siblings. In some instances she’s remembered the names of the men that Michael’s sisters married. In Edward’s case, Margaret recalled that Edward lived in the Pullman section of Chicago. Today I found Edward. Here’s how.

The company town of Pullman was built, owned and operated by George Pullman, the man who made rail travel luxurious for the well-off, and comfortable for regular people with his sleeper rail cars. From a map of the Pullman district and another collection of maps that identify the Census Wards and Enumeration Districts in Cook County from 1870 – 1930, I was able to identify which Census Wards covered the Pullman District, and start my hunt for Edward.

Ancestry.com’s Census search results display different information depending on the Census year and whether they have an ‘every name’ or ‘head of household’ index for that year. My luck with Edward came in 1910, in which the search results display the city ward in which the address is located. And first in the list for Edward Casey’s in 1910, was one that lived at 407 Morse Avenue in Ward 33, right in the Pullman District. Edward was 44 in 1910, and that age matched well with what I expected for the Edward I was looking for. He and his wife Mary had four children at home with them. Their oldest daughter Margaret was 21, Michael – 20, Mary – 16, and youngest Loretta was 14 years old. With this info I was quickly able to find this family, 10 years younger in the 1900 Census. By 1920 the street name had changed from Morse Avenue to Forestville. Michael and Margaret had moved out, but Edward and Mary were still there with their daughters Mary and Loretta. It was clear from these Census records that Edward worked for the Pullman Company, but I still had no certainty that this was MY Edward Casey. I really needed Edward’s Death Certificate, in hopes that it would include his parents names and confirm our family connection. But first came an interesting detour into his work history.

I read in the April 2005 issue of Family Tree magazine an article titled “Job Hunting” about how to search for your ancestor’s employment records. I learned that the South Suburban Genealogical Society holds and has indexed nearly a million Pullman Company records and that by writing they would confirm if they had any files on the person you are seeking. I did, they did, and $20 later I received a packet that included Edward and his son Michael’s Pullman employment records.

Most of my family research has been among the obvious vital records; Census, Birth, Death, Marriage, Burial. One leads to the next as you follow the paper trail of someone’s life. These Pullman records are the first employment records I’ve obtained for an ancestor, making them uniquely interesting, yet frustratingly arcane. I know now that Edward E. Casey worked for the Pullman Company for 42 years, from 1884 – 1927. That would have put him there during the Pullman strike of 1894 which was a turning point in the American labor movement. I know that his ‘Day Rate’ climbed from ’31 2/3′ in 1904 to ’68’ at his retirement in 1927. I’m still trying to figure out what that means relating to his actual wages from Pullman.

The most interesting item in Edward’s file was a letter to his employer’s from the Consumers Company in Chicago. In 1926, Edward applied for $100 in credit from the Consumers Company, whose letterhead says they sold ‘Coal – Ice – Building Material’. Depending on how you do the math, $100 in 1923 was about $1000 – $4000 in 2003. What was Edward buying?

If he did get that loan in 1926, it’s not likely he ever paid it off. Having located Edward in the 1920 Census, but not in 1930, and knowing from the Census and employment records that his middle initial was ‘E’, it was easy to guess which Edward Casey was most likely mine from a search of the Illinois State Archives database of Death Certificate (any genealogist whose ancestors lived in Illinois must be grateful for this wonderful resource). Edward E. Casey’s Death Certificate arrived from the Cook County Clerk’s office today. He died seven days after turning 63, a year after retiring from the Pullman Company. His father’s name is on his Death Certificate, Michael Casey of Anna (Annagh), Ireland. Michael is my GGG Grandfather, and so this Edward Casey IS in fact my GGG Uncle. This summer I plan to pay him a visit at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery when I visit Chicago. But first I need to write a letter to Holy Sepulchre and get a copy of the burial record and learn who else I might find buried with him. I’ve found Uncle Edward, and I’ve leared a few things about him, but the search for others continues.