Mary Elizabeth Cooper Edmonds (1853-188?) Part 1

Mary is one of the 14 children of Austin COOPER and Elizabeth GIBSON. See blogpost about Old Cooper Bible. http://familyfilmfabricfood.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-old-cooper-bible.html 
She was born on 20 Aug 1853 in Marlinstown, Westmeath, Ireland. She has an older brother, Henry Cooper, 16 months her senior. She also has a half-brother, Austin Irwin Cooper, who is age 4. Her mother has her hands full with 3 young ones. Her father, Austin, is a station master at the local railroad station in neighboring Mullingar. 

As Mary grew into a young woman, I am sure she was given the many responsibilities of helping with her younger siblings, as being the eldest daughter. She was 18 by the time her youngest sister, Marion Frances COOPER, came along.   

By 1880, her father was working at the railroad station in the town of Cavan, near the Northern Ireland border.

When Mary was 28 (an old-maid during this time period), she met a widower with three young sons: Edgar, 7, Landon, 5, and Henry, 4. John Edgar Edmonds, 5 years her senior, had lost his first wife, Jane Catherine Lennon, in 1880, 24 hours after a miscarriage in Swellan, Cavan Town. Mary and John were married 25 Oct 1881, in Killeshandra, Cavan, Ireland. On the marriage registration, it states that John Edgar Edmonds was also a station master. Austin, her father, is listed as a Gentleman, but he was also a station master. Did she meet John via her father’s co-worker? Listed as the two witnesses are her sister, Jane M. Cooper & father, Austin Cooper. 

Irish Civil Records. Marriage Registration of John E. Edmonds & Mary E. Cooper, 25 October 1881, Drumkeerin Presbyterian Church, Parish of Killeshanndra, County Cavan. Married by John H. Murphy. 1881, Quarter 4,  Vol. 3, page 69, No. 70. Roscommon, Ireland. Accessed November 2008.

Mary gives birth to a daughter, Frances McConnell EDMONDS, 14 Sept 1882, at the railway station. This also states that the dwelling place of the father is the railway station, which means housing was provided by his employee as station master. I also had to order this record from Roscommon, Ireland. This document is presently found online. See below.

Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, "Civil Records," database with images, IrishGenealogy.ie (https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/ : accessed 5 Mar 2017), image, birth registration of Francis McConnell Edmonds, (14 September 1882, County Cavan) citing Group Registration ID 11521644; registration filed 12 January 1883 by John Fraser, Assistant register, folio 81, “First page,” stamped no. 02013105, entry 94.

I cannot find Mary after this point in time.

I locate John Edgar Edmunds on a ship to New York with his three sons on the SS Cephalonia from Liverpool arriving on 12 Dec 1883. On Line 1, I find John E. Edmonds, age 30, a Laborer from Ireland, heading to Texas. He is staying in “Fore Steerage” with three pieces of baggage in “Intending Protracted Sojourn.” He had an intention for a long visit to the United States. One Lines 6,7, & 8, I find his three sons - Edgar, Landon and Henry as sons of John with same destination staying in Fore Steerage. Where are Mary and Frances?

"New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 Mar 2017), Image 712 of 1021, Line 1, John E. Edmonds entry; citing List Number 1568 of National Archives Microfilm Publication M237, Roll 472; Ship Cephalonia out of Liverpool, Henry Walker master, arrived New York on 12 December 1883.

Looking over the pages one by one, on Line 113, I find an Annie Edmonds, a 30 year old matron from Ireland, heading also to Texas, but in “Aft Cabin” with 5 pieces of baggage in “Intending Protracted Sojourn.” But, the Francis, listed below her, is a 10 month old male child? Is this the mother and child I am seeking? Possibly, mis-heard as the ship’s captain or staff entered their names? Did Mary die in Ireland and John remarry a third time before he comes to US? I could not find any reference to a death of a Mary E. Edmonds in Ireland between 1882-1883.

"New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 Mar 2017), Image 714 of 1021, Line 113, Annie Edmonds entry; citing List Number 1568 of National Archives Microfilm Publication M237, Roll 472; Ship Cephalonia out of Liverpool, Henry Walker master, arrived New York on 12 December 1883.

I connect with someone after posting a public Edmonds Tree on Ancestry.com. She is a descendant of middle son, Landon W. L. Edmonds. She shared with me a transcribed diary of John Edgar Edmonds. It was a fantastic eye-opener for me connecting all the dots to solve this mystery of the “disappearance” of Mary Elizabeth Cooper Edmonds.

To be continued….