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I found Joe in the 1900 census in New York at the address given on the passenger list a few months earlier.His grandmother Mary and an aunt and uncle are there. His birth month/age is not quite right on that census and his sister  Alice is not there. After that I couldn't trace him among all the James or Joseph Murphys.I have loads of info from Alice's grand children and great grand children including her obituary which does not mention Joe though it does mention a "surviving" relative in Ireland who had already passed at that stage-1954. She died as Alice Hughes in Darien Ct. James Joseph does not feature in any of their family photos or letters that have been shared with me.
His grandmother Mary Flynn died on July 17th 1906 in New York.I don't have an obituary for her but I have a copy of her will which mentions her children but not her grandchildren.
Josephs other sister,Mary came to New York in 1907 and married Thomas Timothy Walsh and had a daughter Margaret in 1911,if I remember correctly. I  have followed that family up to 1930 in  the census  and a possible record in the 1940 census in Manhattan. I have no death information for any of the Walshes. Alice's descendents were unable to tell me anything about the Walshes either though they did have a photo of them from 1922 .All suggesting there was little contact among the Murphy siblings.I do have one photo here in Ireland that I have had all my life of a lady sitting at a graveside,no headstone is visible but their is a small American flag on the grave  of an older type with less stars on it than the current one.Does that suggest a veteran's grave?-if it is Joe's grave. I don't know whose it is except that it is a Murphy photo and looks like it dates to the late 30s or early 40s at a guess.

Yes that draft record is very interesting as my relative was known as Joe but baptised James Joseph! The confusion over his first name and the numerous Murphys have been stumbling blocks in my search for him not to mention problem of inconsistent ages.I had to look for Joseph as well as James.
 The next of kin mentioned seems to be "cousin" Joseph McCarthy.My Joe had no McCarthy first cousins but his mother had an aunt who married a McCarthy, so just maybe .Seems a bit odd because Joe had two married sisters and brothers- in-law who could have been named as contacts.I am in touch with the descendents  of one of those sisters but they never heard of Joe so maybe the family had lost contact years earlier.
In the ss claims index the parents' names  are right.
 If it was possible to tie this James Joseph's address/occupation to whatever is in the ss claims index for Joseph James, that would be great.
I've had a look through two census years and found a Murphy with nearly right immigration year (1899)
In the 1920 census for Bridgeport I found James born 1883, married to Jennie from Poland /Austria and working as a "forman" (no industry mentioned).I think the same couple are in the 1930 census where James is now "Joseph J" married to Jennie and his job is"labourer elect fittings" In 1920 he is an alien.In 1930 naturalised. Would having been drafted in 1918 give him citizenship? Would that take more than 2 years? Would naturalisation records  exist that would tell me any more?

Thanks for you help.

Hi-I recently found a social security number on Ancestry in the US Social Security  Applications and Claims Index 1936-2007 which may refer to my missing Murphy relative which I had been unable to find after his immigration in 1900. There are so many Murphys! The index gives parents names which are right for my relative and  is dated November 1936 .As I am not in the US I was unable to use the online form to access the original application which might give me a clue to where he was living/working and maybe finally solve what happened to him.Any advice how to proceed? Would Social Security deal with overseas requests ?Thanks

For RC burials in the Newcastle area through the 1920s to 1940s,what cemeteries were in use?
Thanks.

Hi-I have found reference to a Michael "McGourk" of Baltray on Find my past, petty sessions records for 1860 in Drogheda when searching for my own mariner ancestor.I think he may have been employed by Michael. My ancestor seems to have sailed all around UK ports but later to South America from the port of Swansea.