Almost two months ago, I was helping my stepson's mother-in-law, Emily, with her family tree. Another death in my family, the holidays, and illness in-between interrupted the research. This post is an effort to chronicle what we've learned, and to also provide evidence to change some incorrect information on a couple of FindAGrave memorials.
The couple in question are Michael Steed and his wife, Margaret born Follard (or Folliard). Emily had found the couple in Chicago in the 1900 Census, but by the 1910 Census, their daughter Della (Emily's grandmother) was the head of the household, suggesting both parents had died sometime between the dates on the census pages (or those adjacent), June 2, 1900, and May 3 or 4, 1910. (Click on the images below to view them larger.)
Above: Michael Steed family at 4141 Wright St, Chicago, on June 2, 1900.
Below: Della Steed family at 456 W. 42nd St., Chicago, on May 3 or 4, 1910 (this date comes from the next page of the census).
I found baptism, first communion/confirmation, and marriage records for members of this family from April 1895 through November 1913 on FamilySearch at
St. Gabriel parish, an Irish congregation near their home. Unfortunately, this parish either didn't keep death records during that period (it wasn't required), or they were not preserved.
One thing I discovered in this search was a Margaret Steed who married a Patrick Conroy on 4 April 1902. The church record (below, click on the image to make it larger) does not have much information, so I asked my Chicago Genealogy (Facebook group) friend Michele to retrieve an image of the marriage license from the Family History Center where she volunteers. That (also pictured below) doesn't have much more information - except that it says Mrs. before Margaret's name, which was a pretty good indication she was a widow. That narrowed the time frame for Michael Steed's death to sometime between June 2, 1900, and April 4, 1902.
Below: Civil marriage license record for Patrick Conroy and Mrs. Margaret Steed, showing their ages and that the marriage was performed 4 April 1902 at St. Gabriel Church.
I also checked nearby
St. Cecelia, another Irish parish, where three of the children were baptized between 7 June 1891 and 31 December 1893. They do have some death records online, but only for 1892 to 1896. These records did verify two children that died before the 1900 Census - which showed mother Margaret (Maggie) having given birth to 11 children with only 9 surviving on June 2, 1900.
Next I looked in FamilySearch for civil death records, narrowing the results to Cook County, Illinois, and 1900-1910. I found a Michael Steed born in Ireland about 1866 who died 12 or 13 November 1900, and a Michael Steed born in Chicago about 1899 who died 11 September 1900 - likely the youngest child Michael on the 1900 Census, who should have been with Della and her sisters in 1910. I found a Margaret Conroy, married, born about 1864 in Ireland, who died 15 July 1909. I asked Michele to pull these images as well.
Michele sent back two for Michael Steed senior, the one who died in November 1900. Since his was a coroner's death certificate, she also pulled the coroner's inquest record, which provided more details about his death. Both are below - click on the images to make them larger.
Above: Cook County coroner's death certificate for Michael Steed, 13 November 1900.
Below: Cook County coroner's inquest for Michael Steed, 13 November 1900.
These records indicate that Michael Steed, age 34 (born June 1865), died 13 November 1900 at Mercy Hospital in Chicago from scalding burns accidentally received when he fell into a vat of hot lard and water in the Continental Packing Company's works at the Union Stockyards on 1 November 1900.
Note that the death certificate, in the upper left corner, has a note indicating the undertaker (McInerney Brothers) and cemetery (Mount Olivet).
Note on the inquest (record #77, at the bottom of the page), that Maggie Steed, housewife - likely his wife - was one of the witnesses - possibly to verify that the body was his. The address given for her is 441 (which should be 4141) Butler. Butler was another name for Wright street, and the family was living at 4141 Wright on the 1900 Census.
Michele also sent the death records for Michael Steed, born in Chicago, age 1 year 9 months (born December 1898), who died September 11, 1900 at 4141 Wright Street in Chicago of acute gastroenteritis, and for Margaret Conway, born in Ireland, married, age 45 (born November 1864), who died July 15, 1909 at Cook County Hospital of organic heart disease. The arrangements for both were handled by McInerny [sic] Brothers with burials at Mt. Olivet.
Note that Michael's death occurred at the same address the family had on the 1900 Census about three months earlier, and that Margaret's residence at the time of death was 456 W. 42nd Street, the same address as four of her daughters ten months later in the 1910 Census. Other records indicate the family was at this address as early as July 18, 1909, and as late as November 11, 1913.
Above: City of Chicago death record for Michael Steed, 11 September 1900.
Below: Cook County death record for Margaret [Folliard Steed] Conway, 15 July 1909.
Next, I looked for burial records. Unfortunately, unlike most other Archdiocese of Chicago cemeteries, interment cards are not available prior to 1931 on FamilySearch. Therefore, I used the Archdiocese's
Locate a Loved One feature, which provides much of the same information - just not an image I can display here.
Margaret Conway was buried in Section 22, Lot N125, as was her son Michael (born 1898). I could not find a record for her husband Michael, even with different spellings of his last name. My guess is that he is also buried in that lot, perhaps in the same plot as his toddler son, who died only two months before him. His widow Margaret, left with eight children ages 3 to 16, must have been destitute.
There is another Michael Steed, and two Margaret Steeds, who are also buried at Mount Olivet. One of the Margarets is in the same lot as Michael born 1865, Michael born 1898, and Margaret Follard Steed Conroy - Section 22, Lot N125. This Margaret is
Margaret McGrath Steed, the first wife of oldest son Patrick Steed. She died November 17, 1910, at age 24. They
married May 3, 1905, at St. Gabriel, and had two children on the 1
910 Census.
The other Margaret Steed, as well as the other Michael Steed, are not buried in the same lot, and have different dates of death. These two are problematic in FindAGrave, as their wrong dates of death have been posted there on memorials for our Michael Steed and Margaret Folliard Steed Conroy. I'm going to post the records that show the information in the current FindAGrave memorials is incorrect, in hopes that the manager will correct them.
The Margaret Steed who died in 1936 was the widow of Martin Steed (died 1925, and buried in the same section, 52, and lot, WE210, as her). Her father was John Rattigan.
Above: Illinois death certificate for Margaret Rattigan Steed, 6 January 1936.
Below: City of Chicago death record for Michael Steed, age 4 days, 15 December 1906.
"Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1871-1998," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N789-5NT : 8 March 2018), Michael Steed, 15 Dec 1906; citing , Cook, Illinois, United States, source reference 17417, record number 63, Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm 1,239,748.
The Michael Steed whose death record is pictured above died 15 December 1906 and was buried the same day at Mount Olivet. He was only 4 days old. Because his father was born in Ohio, I suspect this is a son of Patrick Steed and his first wife, Margaret McGrath Steed. Patrick is the oldest brother of Emily's grandmother, Della Steed Knight Cooper. Baby Michael is buried in Section 41, Lot S194.
ETA: I found a couple newspaper articles about the deaths of Michael Steed (1865-1900) and his wife Margaret Follard Steed Conroy (1864-1909).
There are a couple interesting things about the article about Michael (below, click on it to view it larger) that required me reading the whole newspaper page. The
Inter Ocean newspaper in that era apparently had a contest every week for school children to write news articles. This article was written by a 9-year-old named Mary Kerrigan who attended
Hoerner School (which was on W. 47th Pl. near Aberdeen). I found two Mary Kerrigans of about the right age who both lived within a mile of school, and who both had fathers who worked in the Stockyards - likely her source of information for the article.
Mary's article was an honorable mention for that Sunday's contest, so she would have had to submit the article by 6pm on Thursday, November 8. Therefore, the Thursday afternoon of the last week that she refers to must be November 1 (date of the accident), and she indicates he'd died by the time she submitted the article.
Keep in mind this is a 9-year-old writing the article - she might just have assumed he died. The November 1 for the date of the accident matches up with the coroner's death certificate, but that same certificate gives the date of death as November 13 - the date of the inquest (I will be ordering a copy of this inquest in hope of finding more detail). Mary's article is also not quite accurate in that only eight Steed children were still alive at the time of their father's death, not eleven.
Above: Article about the death of Michael Steed by Mary Kerrigan, from The Inter Ocean, Chicago, Illinois, Sun, Nov. 11, 1900, Page 39. Accessed via Newspapers.com.
Below: Death notice for Margaret Follard Steed Conroy, from Obituary 4 -- No Title, Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1922); July 17, 1909; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune, pg. 13
I also found a death notice for Margaret Follard Steed Conroy. It reiterates her address (under both the new and old numbering systems), her former married surname of Steed, her maiden name of Follard, the fact that she was currently married to Patrick Conroy, that she was born in County Roscommon in Ireland, that she was a member of St. Gabriel's church, and that she is buried at Mount Olivet.
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