ANOTHER LEAD FROM A READER ~ A photo of young William Gillen who drowned in 1930 - leads to more information

I’ve been very fortunate the past couple of months.  First a contact from Ron’s side of the family and the Jeremiah Hall house in Massachusetts JEREMIAH HALL house built 1727 in Wrentham, Colonial Massachusetts

Now, I’ve received more information on a young man I’ve written about in the past.  He is a 3^rd cousin twice removed on my maternal side.  His name, William Dillon GILLEN, born 29 May 1913 and sadly, died 18 May 1930 in a drowning accident in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Here is my original post about him SUNDAY’S OBITUARIES ~ I’ve been busy finding obituaries this week for my Gillen line

When I wrote that particular blog post I had let my subscription to Genealogy Bank expire.  I was using newspapers.com and that was the article I located.  Now that I’ve renewed my subscription to Genealogy Bank, and thanks to the reader who contacted me, I have located more articles and pictures of young William D. Gillen.

Here's what I found when I entered William Gillen, 1930 in Louisiana and Ohio, in the search filters for Genealogy Bank. There are 23 different newspaper articles referring to William’s death, his burial etc. 

Among the 23 articles I located the one that was sent to me by my reader.  It was from the New Orleans States newspaper, page 1 on 19 May 1930.  The photo of William is no more clear than the one that was sent to me, but I am happy to have the entire article.

Two boys went out on Lake Pontchartrain around 2 p.m.  They were in a boat purchased by William with his savings.  He named the boat the Flaming Youth.  The boys worked together at the firm Arthur Duvic’s & Sons, dealers in boat supplies.

William’s nickname was apparently “Speedy” and the friend that was with him, Edward Delaney, age 15, was nicknamed “Cotton.”

Here are photos of both boys from the newspaper.

They purchased soft drinks from a lady selling them at Spanish Fort before heading out.

A brisk gale with high waves came upon the lake that afternoon which they believed caused the boat to capsize.

I searched but did not locate any articles that said they ever located the body of young Edward.  How sad for the family.

William is buried at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans.  You may visit his memorial at #23405167.  May both boys rest in peace.

My takeaway from this, is we never know where we’ll locate newspaper articles for our family.  I know we cannot always afford the expense of more than one subscription.  However, keep in mind that many libraries do offer free use of their subscriptions to genealogy sites, to patrons.   

If you are related to or connected to anyone in this blog post, please get in touch.  Let’s exchange information.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2022   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

 

SUNDAY'S OBITUARY - Silas Gillen, Sr. - 1851-1931

Today’s obituary is for Silas Gillen, Sr.  He was the son of John Gillen & Nancy Miller, my 3rd great grand uncle & aunt.  This makes Silas my 1st cousin 4 times removed.

Transcription of obituary

GILLEN - On Monday evening, August 3, 1931, at 9 o'clock.  Silas Gillen Sr., in his 80th year, of 4403 Canal Street.  Husband of Mathilde Wenger, father of Silas Gillen, Jr., and Henry Gillen and brother of Mrs. E. Stephenson of Champagne, Ill.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend the services from the P.J. McMahon & Sons Funeral Home, 4800 Canal Street, near cemeteries, at 11 o'clock Wednesday morning, August 5, 1931.  Interment at Metairie Cemetery.
Champagne, Ill., papers please copy.

Silas was born 6 Feb 1851 in Ohio.  He was the 6th of 9 children born to John & Nancy Gillen.  On 16 Jun 1885 he married Mathilde Wenger in New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana.  To them were born two son, Silas Jr., and Henry C.

Silas was living in Champaign, Champaign Co., Illinois in 1870.  I cannot locate him in the 1880 census.  Since he married Mathilde in 1885, he may have relocated to Louisiana between 1870 and 1885.  I next find him in the 1900 census working as a Barkeeper.

My source for the exact birth date of Silas Gillen, Sr. is the family headstone located in Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, Louisiana.  His death date can be found both in the obituary and on the headstone.  I have not located vital records to substantiate these sources.  Still looking. 

please contact me if you think you might be related, even remotely, to anyone mentioned in this blog.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
SUNDAY'S OBITUARY - William V. Gould - 1859-1924

SUNDAY'S OBITUARY - Grace Hunter Fenner Jenkins 1874-1946

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2015   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION