A Rose by any other name...could still be a Gorry

In my last blog post, I talked about adding branches to my Gorry line through the discovery of Thomas Gorry, a a previously-unknown cousin. I had determined that he was DEFINITELY related to me, though at what “cousin” point, I’m still not sure. But in his will filings, of which my 3rd great-aunt Hannah Gorry was the executor, a “cousin” Rose Gorry was listed…and I did not have a Rose Gorry in my family tree. Or did I? If Thomas was a new cousin, then could Rose be a new cousin, too?

Based on Rose’s address in Thomas’ will filing, I found a Rose Gorry - sometimes listed Rosa, sometimes listed Rosanna or Rosanne, living with her aunt Mary Cavanaugh in Manhattan between 1880-1930. Searching through some poorly indexed records, I found Rose in 1870 living with her father, Patrick Gorry, another name I had never heard before, her mother, Ann Flynn Gorry (marriage records on FindMyPast confirm that the Mary Cavanaugh Rose lived with for many years was her mother’s sister), and a man, Michael Flynn, who was probably her maternal uncle.

I also found her in 1880 - her father Patrick was dead, but she was living with her mother Ann and her younger brother James (ding ding ding - a common Gorry family name!)….in the same tenement, 537 11th Street in New York City, and TWO FAMILIES DOWN from my 3rd great-grandparents, James and Mary (Corr) Gorry and their children Michael, Mamie, James, and the aforementioned Hannah. I had seen Ann, Rose, and James (who would died unmarried in 1892) on that same census page, which I had saved to my family tree, time and time again. I had often thought to myself - “Two Gorry families living in the same building and listed so close to each other? They MUST be related!” but I could never put two and two together, so I forgot about them. Until Rose turned up in cousin Thomas’ will filing.

The evidence seemed to be pointing to this Gorry branch as part of my own Gorry tree - could I find any more corroborating evidence to support this thesis? So I went back to where it all began - FindMyPast’s New York Roman Catholic Archdiocesan marriage record database… Patrick Gorry and Ann Flynn were married on May 4, 1856 in St. Joseph’s Church on Sixth Avenue. Their witnesses were Philip Tuite and Mary Gorry. Mary Gorry was my 4th great-aunt, sister to my 3rd great-grandfather James Gorry, and Philip Tuite was her husband. So there was definitely another connection to my family.

Was Patrick a brother to Mary and James, et al? He seems to have been born about 1820, which would put him in a similar age range to Mary, born about 1826 and James, born about 1834. So again, I would venture to say that they are definitely relatives - Patrick and children James and Rose - just a question about how exactly.

Rose Gorry died, unmarried, on November 22, 1943. And thus goes the Gorry family tree. I added the Thomas Gorry branch, only for it to end, and the Patrick Gorry branch, only for it to end. There will be no live cousins to be found in those areas, anyone who could possibly answer my questions and fill in the gaps. But family is family, and I’m still happy to be able to put them (somewhere) on my family tree.

Websites I used in this research:
Ancestry.com
FindMyPast.com
FamilySearch.org