ANDREW MCKENNEY - FOUND ?

Andrew McKenney first appeared in the 1870 census living with his mother and 2 sisters:

1870 Federal Census - Maryland - Baltimore Ward 18, pg. 130:

McKenny, Mary 36 keeps house born Ireland
Anna 10 b. MD, at school
Mary 8 b. MD, at school
Andew 7 b. Maryland, at school

I've been unable to find the family in the 1860 census, and had no idea who Mary's husband was until I found daughter Mary "Minnie" McKenney Anderson's death certificate, which stated her father's name as William McKenna, born Ireland, and mother as Mary McKinney, also born Ireland.

Although I found daughters Anna "Annie McKenny", age 19 and Mary "Minnie" McKinny" age 17 in the 1880 census, working in separate Baltimore households as domestic servants, I was unable to find either their mother Mary or their brother Andrew at 1880.

Since father William McKenna was not part of the household in 1870, I assumed he died sometime between fathering youngest child Andrew [about 1862] and 1870. This being in the middle of the Civil War period, I checked CW indexes in case William died while serving in the military...no luck on that so far; nor in locating a death certificate in online indexes.

Since mother Mary was not found in 1880 and the 2 daughters were both out on their own, I assumed she also died, between 1870 - 1880. I've been unable to locate her death record either. Of course, an alternative to an early death would be that Mary McKenney remarried after the death of husband William, and son Andrew lived with them using the 2nd husband's surname at 1880.

In the 1890 Baltimore Directory, Andrew McKenny was living at 750 N. Eutaw St., the same address as his then-married sister, Minnie Anderson. His occupation, printer, was the same as Minnie's husband William Anderson and his brother John [who lived next door with their parents at 717 N. Eutaw St.] Andrew and Minnie's sister Anna had, by then, married Patrick Mullin [in approximately 1885].  [Note:  both Andrew & his bro-in-law William were printers.]

By 1900, Minnie and William Anderson had moved to Washington D.C., probably an easier commute for William who worked for the International Typographers Union in Washington. Within about 5 years the family moved to Bronx, New York.

Anna and Patrick Mullin remained in Baltimore. But where was Andrew?

I finally found Andrew living in Ohio at the 1900 census. This is the only entry in the census indexes that comes close to matching the missing Andrew:

1900 Federal Census - Ohio, Hamilton County, 4th Ward Cincinnati, sheet 9A:

#1133-104-161 Belvedere St.McKenney, Andrew, head. b. May 1864, age 36. Married 5 yrs. b West Virginia
[crossed out, Maryland substituted]. Parents b Ireland. Printer. Rents.
Anna, wife. b. Oct 1865, age 34. Married 5 yrs. 2 children, 1 living. b WV, fb England, mb Virginia
Margaret. dau. b. Jun 1899, age 11/12. b Kentucky, fb Maryland, mb West Virginia

I could not find Andrew and his family in any later censuses. However, I did find a Margaret McKenney, "Niece", living in Lewis County, Freemans Creek, West Virginia at the 1910 and 1920 censuses, residing with the family of Thomas and Jeanette Wright. In 1910 Margaret's census entry shows her pob as WV, father's pob as MD, mother's pob as WV. She was 9 years old. In 1920, age 20, Margaret's pob was shown as Ohio, father's pob as "U.S." and mother's pob as WV. [It doesn't appear that much effort was spent in remembering her father, nor even her correct place of birth.]

Both the Wrights were b. in WV. It occurred to me that Margaret's mother's maiden name might be Anna Wright, sister of Thomas, whose parents were born England or Scotland [father] and WV [mother]. A quick check of census records shows that to be a good possibility. [census extracts to follow]

In an online search of WV marriage records, I also found the following:

West Virginia Marriage Records, 1863-1900:

W.A. McKeny married Ona White, 12 Jun 1895, Cabell County WV

This was very close to being possible...especially if Andrew McKenny was actually William Andrew McKenny, named after his father and called Andrew to differentiate between the two. [Note that the Coburns resided Cabell County through the 1930 census.]

In 1923, Margaret McKenney married Newton Wesley Coburn, in Lewis County, WV. An image of the certificate can be found at:  http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_view.aspx?Id=10290649&Type=Marriage 

She was 23 years old, and apparently did not know the names of her parents; only a "dash" was shown in place of their names.

I found the Coburns still in WV at the 1930 census, no children shown. Both also appear in the SSDI, last residence being shown as Cabell County, WV. I do not know at this point if Margaret McKenney Coburn ever had children, or if she was Andrew McKenney's sole descendant.

Further Questions/ Research:

* birth/baptism of Andrew - was he actually a William Andrew?
* Did Andrew meet Anna Wright in Baltimore, then travel to WV to marry near her parents?
* Was dau. Margaret b. KY as indicated in the 1900 census, or WV?
* What took Andrew to Ohio? Work? Note, Wm. Anderson, Andrew's bro-in-law, left Baltimore at roughly the same time.
* birth record of Margaret McKenney, WV [or KY], 1899

* death certificates of Andrew & Anna Wright, probably Cincinnati Ohio, betwn 1900-1910