Death at Pier 44 NYC 1862

[tracey43]

Would anyone be able to look up death reports for my GGGgrandfather Edward Thomas Ashenden?

According to the England & Wales National Probate Calendar, he died on 22 September 1862 at Pier 44, East River NYC. He was a carpenter and his family had emigrated from London and were living in Toledo, Ohio in 1860.

I'm not sure whether he travelled to follow work, or whether he was running away! His widow later returned to London with her young family

Grateful for any help or advice on how to find out more.

[shellyesq]

From what I can guess from a Google search, Pier 44 was in Brooklyn.  There is a death index on www.italiangen.org that covers Brooklyn from that time, but I don't see a likely match for him.

There is some information about New York City vital records here:
https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/New_York_City,_New_York#Vital_Records

[Lisa in California]

Is there a possibility that Pier 44 may have been near Manhattan?

[shellyesq]

Manhattan is just across the river from Brooklyn, so it probably is. 

[Lisa in California]

Thank you, Shelly. 

tracey43:  Were there any significant events in Edward's (English) family that might have given him a reason to have tried to briefly return to England?  Any deaths, or anything?

A Jane Ashenden sailed to New York in 1862, but it appears that she was Irish, born c1802.  (Thinking perhaps Edward was going to greet someone arriving in New York.)

Do you know when his wife returned to the UK?  If it was fairly soon after his death, maybe they could have been planning on returning?  Or, if it wasn't shortly after his death, she finally decided to return?   

Could they (the entire famliy) also have relocated to New York after 1860, to be closer to work?

[tracey43]

Thank you Shelly and Lisa for your replies

I believe several Ashenden relatives travelled to the States over the years but I would not be able to tie up anyone with a visit at the time of Edward's death. There seem to be no significant family deaths at the time to suggest a return home.

His widow Elizabeth was back in the UK by 1869, when she remarried. I have no information on how long she may have remained in the US, or where the family were living at the time of his death. It seems quite likely that everyone may have moved to New York if that was where the work was.

I was hoping there might be some newspaper archive that might give details of an accident etc, but it looks like I may need to order a microfilm of death Certs - it's been a long time since Ihad to do that!

Tracey

[Lisa in California]

Tracey:

This link covers newspapers from that time:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0ero/
(Click on the Advanced Search tab)
I didn't see anything, after a brief search.

This link appears to have newspapers from New York as well as other areas:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0quw/
I did a more thorough search on this link, but didn't find anything.  However, I didn't exhaust all possibilities.

I was looking for a boating accident, fall, or some other generic happening on his date of death (most of the time not including his name, as it may not have been known straight away).  Of course, he could have died several days or weeks after an event had occurred.

[tracey43]

Thanks Lisa

I will have a look at these.

Tracey

[tracey43]

I have had a look at the newspapers but no joy; I suspect that there was less drama in his death than I had thought, as I have found an announcement of his death in the Kentish Gazette in November 1862, and there is no mention of any accident etc. Case closed!