Sunday's Obituary: Catherine Sullivan O'Keefe 1837-1928

Mrs. Catherine O'Keefe

Former Resident of Lowville Dies in New York—Funeral at St. Peter's Church Today.

Mrs. Catherine Sullivan O'Keefe, 91, a former resident of Lowville died Saturday night at the home of her daughter, Mrs. W.D. Austin, New York. The remains were brought to the undertaking rooms of Graves & Virkler, Lowville, Wednesday, and funeral services will be held from St. Peter's church at 9:30 this morning. Burial will be in Rural cemetery.

Mrs. O'Keefe was born in Albany in April, 1837, but came as a child to Lowville with her parents. Practically all her long life was spent in this village, until ten years ago, when she sold her home here and went to love with her daughters. Her husband, David O'Keefe, died in 1870.

Surviving are a sister, Mrs. Margaret O'Neil, of this village; four daughters, Mrs. Austin and Miss Ella O'Keefe of New York; Mrs. David Barry, of Dedham, Mass., and Mrs. James Downey, Birmingham, Ala, and two sons, Frank D. O'Keefe, Carthage, and Maurice O'Keefe, of Staten Island. A sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Conway, 83, died in this village about a month ago.

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Note: Catherine Sullivan was my 3rd great-grandmother (Thomas MacEntee > Jacqueline Austin > Alfred Austin > John Ralph Austin > William Dence Austin > Catherine O'Keefe > Catherine Sullivan) and I have her wedding silver from the late 1850s.

Source: Mrs. Catherine O'Keefe, digital image, NYS Historic Newspapers (http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/, accessed 13 July 2014), Lowville Journal Republic, published 16 February 1928, Volume 69, Number 17, p. 5, col. 3.

© 2014, copyright Thomas MacEntee. All rights reserved.

Can You Really Trust That Cause of Death?

Last night, 7 January 2014, we sat and watched The Poisoner's Handbook, an episode of the American Experience series on PBS. I strongly recommend that every genealogist and family historian working with death records watch this episode to gain a better understanding of how "unnatural" deaths were investigated at the turn of the 20th century.

Some interesting information that I did not know, was that in New York City, a coroner's position was considered a patronage position. This meant they could influence which funeral home handled the remains and even how the circumstances of the death and the cause of death were handled in the coroner's report and resulting death certificate.

The Poisoner's Handbook traces different types of poisoning crimes and explains how two pioneers - Charles Norris and Alexander Gettler - changed the entire science of how causes of death were investigated and reported. In fact, some of Gettler's research - especially that of carbon monoxide poisoning - is still used almost 80 years since its first publication.

So while go back and look at some of my early New York City death certificates in my research, take a look at this excellent film:
© 2013, copyright Thomas MacEntee