James & Joseph Fraser 1887

[Turquoise82]

I am looking for any descendants of Joseph Fraser or his son James who emigrated to Philadelphia from Liverpool in 1887. They were born in 1835 and 1862 in Lisburn, Co Antrim, Nothern Ireland, but put "English" as their nationality on their papers. I believe that they may have gone to work at the Cambria Iron Works, and may have lived in Cambria City. Any leads would be welcome. Thanks.

[*Sandra*]

Hi Turquoise82,

Welcome to Rootschat

The USA does not have a 1890 Census, it almost entirely destroyed by fire and only remnants remain. So the first chance of finding either Joseph or James might be in 1900.   
www.familysearch.org has census and some other records, presume you have found Joseph or James on the passenger lists in 1887.

Sandra

[shellyesq]

There are some Frasers in the 1890 Philadelphia city directory, but not sure if they are the same ones - http://olddirectorysearch.com/Detailed/698.html

[Turquoise82]

Sandra - thank you very much.
My tree is on Ancestry and I`ve chased every lead I can find, but none link back to Cambria or Philadelphia.
Yes, I have the passenger list for 1887, and I know that James was in Jamestown PA at the time of the flood in 1889, and that he died sometime during WW2.

Shelly - thank you so much for your help. I can check the addresses against the 1900 census.

[skiptr]

If you are certain that James died during WWII, my suggestion would be to locate his death certificate.  You'll have to locate his state file number to make the request, but a non-certified copy is only $3.  I checked 1940 and he was not listed that year.

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1085804&mode=2

Information on what to look for in the index and how to make the request is here:

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/public_records/20686