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Monday 2 January 2012

The Madine Family - from Belfast to New York

Robert Madine Jr. (1833 - 1909) was the brother of our paternal great-great grandmother, Elizabeth Madine (1835 - 1901), who, after marrying Joseph Stewart, ironmonger, moved south to Dublin from County Down.
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2011/07/joseph-stewart-and-elizabeth-madine.html

Robert and Elizabeth’s family, the Madines of Killyleagh, were a Protestant Church of Ireland family.

Robert Madine Jr.(1833 - 1909), the son of Robert Madine and Margaret Frew of Killyleagh,  married Martha Madine, the daughter of a Belfast undertaker, George Madine, in St.Anne’s Church of Ireland Church in Belfast in 1860. Martha’s family were Catholic and she reared her children in her own faith rather than that of her husband.

Robert Madine Junior and Martha Madine's children were all born in Killyleagh, although several were baptised Catholic in St. Patrick's, Belfast.
  • George Madine, was born in 1861, and was baptised in St. Patrick's, Belfast, on 30th August 1861. The sponsors were named in the register as John Madine and Elizabeth Madine.
  • Joseph Madine, born 26th March 1865 in Killyleagh; he was also baptised by his parents in St. Patrick's, on 3rd November 1865.
  • Martha Madine was born 8th Sept 1868 in Killyleagh.
  • Thomas Madine, born in Killyeagh on 24th Oct. 1870.  He was baptised in the Catholic St. Peter's in Belfast, on 13th October 1877;  a note in the register read '...baptised conditionally, father a Protestant'.  The sponsor at the baptism was a possible relation Mary O'Hagan - Thomas's grandmother was Ann Kelter, the wife of undertaker George Madine. A Hannah Kelter had married a John O'Hagan in St. Patrick's, Belfast, on 4th August 1848.
  • Jane Madine, born 4th Dec. 1873; she died almost immediately.

Following the breakdown of her marriage, Martha Madine emigrated to New York along with her children and this post tracks their migration. Her Protestant husband, Robert Madine, a butcher of Killyleagh, stayed behind, stating on the 1901 Census that he was a widower; his wife, in Manhattan, stated the same thing.
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2011/07/madine-family-of-killyleagh.html

Martha Madine, daughter of Robert and Martha Madine:
A daughter of Robert and Martha Madine, named Martha after her own mother, seems to have married a man by the name of John B. Carrick who had been born in 1869 in New Jersey.  The wedding took place on 29th September 1895 in Jersey City, and the later 1900 census for Manhattan shows them resident there with a new-born daughter, Annie Carrick.


Joseph Madine, son of Robert and Martha Madine:
Joseph Madine, had been born in Killyleagh on 26th March 1865 to daughter of Robert and Martha Madine.  Joseph Madine, a sailor and the son of butcher Robert Madine Jr., was living at 68 Grove Street on 6th April 1890 when he married Mary McCrystal in St. Joseph's, Belfast. She was the daughter of stonecutter Henry McCrystal of 43 Andrew Street.  Henry McCrystal and Bridget McLoughlin were the witnesses.

Helena Madine was born at 43 Andrew Street to Joseph Madine and Mary McCrystal on 26th September 1892.
Joseph Madine was born at 43 Andrew Street on 21st December 1894.
Henry Madine was born on 21st may 1896 at 43 Andrew Street.
Thomas Madine was born on 26th August 1898 at 39 Whitley Street.

On the 1891 UK census, Joseph was a member of the crew of the 'Rathkenny' Steamship which had sailed from Belfast to Newport, Wales.  He was already married and was noted as an AB seaman. Joseph's wife, Mary McCrystal, died of TB at 15 Whitla Street, aged 39, on 19th April 1903;  she was noted on the registration of death as the wife of a rigge.r

Following his wife’s death in 1903, Joseph Madine emigrated to NYC in 1904 with his four young children.
On the 1910 Census he was living in Manhattan, Ward 20, District 1209, with three of the four children. He was widowed, and a ship’s rigger. The children were Helen aged 17, Henry aged 13 and Thomas aged 11.  Helen was a packer in a medicine factory.
Joseph Madine’s 15-yr-old son, Joseph, spent the night of  this 1910 census at his Uncle George’s house in Manhattan, as did George’s niece, Anna Stephenson, an 18-yr-old errand girl working in a store. (Was Anna the daughter of George’s wife’s sister? Was George’s wife, therefore Elizabeth Stephenson?)

Joseph Madine and Mary McCrystal's son, Joseph, was drafted during the 1st World War - the papers show him to have been a carriage painter for the firm of Barnes & Curtis on West 99th St. He had black hair, blue eyes, and fallen arches.
He also later signed up for service during the 2nd World War - at this time he was living at 32 - 29 202 St., Bayside, Queens, didn’t own a telephone, had been born 25th December 1894 (sometimes noted as 21st Dec) in Belfast. Under ‘Name and Address of Person Who Will Always Know You’, he gave the name of Charles Sivan of E.85th St., Nyc. Joseph was 47 and working for the W.P.A. at Fort Totten.
Joseph Madine, who had been born in Belfast on 21st December 1894 to Joseph Madine and to Mary McCrystal, married Emily Stevans in Manhattan on 3rd November 1917.  Emily Stevans had been born in NYC in 1900 to Charles Stevans and Anna Kilir.  The 1920 census notes that Emily's parents were of Bohemia.
By 1920, Joseph Madine and Emily Stevans were resident in Manhattan and Joseph was working as a painter in an automobile shop. They had one son, yet another Joseph, aged 1.  In 1930, they were living in Bayside, Queens; Joseph was a house painter, and they had a 2nd son, 3-yr-old Charles Madine.  Emily’s parents were noted as Czechoslovakian.
In 1940, Joseph and Emily were living in Queens with their burgeoning family - Joseph was a housepainter;  their children were Joseph, aged 21, who had become a butcher like his grandfather, Robert Madine of Killyleagh, Charles aged 13, George aged 6, Thomas aged 4 and one-year-old Helen. (Note the way they named their children after Joseph's relations.)
 A Social Security death index exists for Joseph Madine, born 21st December 1894, died October 1969 in Flushing, Queens.

In 1918, his brother, Thomas, son of Joseph Madine and Mary McCrytal, was drafted into the US army too - his date of birth was given as 25th August 1898, and his address as 322 W.117 St.; Thomas Madine was noted as working as a driver for John W.  Griffiths.
In 1920,  Thomas Madine was married to Catherine from New Jersey and the couple were living in Manhattan. By 1930, Thomas was a chauffeur; Catherine worked in a factory; they had no children.

By 1930, their father, the widowed Joseph Madine, and his daughter, Helen, were living together in District 156 in the Bronx. Joseph was an elevator man at a printing works while Helen worked as a telephone operator. Very 1930s.
By 1940,  both Joseph Madine and his unmarried daughter, Helen, were living in Glen Cove, Nassau County, New York - Helen was working as a stenographer in  a real estate company, while her father, now aged 75, had retired.
Helen Madine had been born in Belfast on 26th September 1892 to Joseph Madine and Mary McCrystal.  A death record also exists for Helen: this states that she had been born on 26th September 1892, and that she died in January 1974 in Glen Cove, Nassau, New York.
On 6th January 1912, Helena Madine, daughter of Joseph Madine and Mary McCrystal, married Hugh May, the son of Hugh May and Mary E. McKnew.

Her brother, Henry Madine, had been born in Belfast to Joseph Madine and Mary McCrystal on 21st may 1896.  He was known as Harry Joseph Madine.  Harry joined up for the First World War, his address being the family home at 322 W.119th St.  The writing is bad but he seems to be employed as a printer. He had brown eyes, brown hair and a bad left eye.
Harry Madine, son of Joseph Madine and Mary McCrystal, married, on 24th November 1920 in Manhattan, Anna Cecilia White who had been born in New York in 1903 to John Whyte and Anna Boland.
Harry Madine married, secondly, in NYC on 22nd January 1937.  His bride was Catherine J. Carroll, who had been born in 1914 in New York to Michael John Carroll and Johanna Lawrence.
Harry Joseph joined up during World War 2 as well. His date of birth was given as May 20th 1896, Belfast, and he was living at 570 West 191 St., Nyc. He was working for Sheffield Farms Co., 632 West 191 St., Nyc.    He gave his wife, Mrs. Catherine Madine of 570 W.191 St., as his reference. They appeared together later on the 1940 census in Manhattan; by this time Harry Joseph/Henry was working as a milkman, and the couple had a daughter, Helen, aged two.

George Madine, the eldest son of Robert Madine Jr. and Martha Madine:
It seems that George Madine, the eldest son of Robert Madine Jr. and Martha Madine, was the first of the family to leave the country but was soon joined by his younger brothers, Thomas and Joseph, and by his mother Martha.

Born in Belfast circa 1862, George was naturalized in New York on June 14th 1897. He had arrived in the US on June 4 1881, arriving into Boston;  at the time of his naturalization, he was resident at 424 West 42nd St, and gave his occupation in 1897 as a stable keeper. His application was witnessed by a painter, Francis J. Cannon, of the same address.  He would later work as an undertaker like his maternal grandfather, George Madine of Belfast.

The 1900 US Census shows George Madine living with his extended family in Manhattan; he is now the proprietor of a livery stables.
His wife was Elizabeth, born circa August 1867 in England to Irish parents. She had been 14 years in the States, since 1886 or 1887.
Their children, all NYC-born, were John Francis aged 7, Lily/Elizabeth aged 4, and Thomas Patrick aged 2.   A fourth son, Joseph Aloysius Madine, was born just after the census on 18th June 1900.

George’s mother, Martha was there too - she had been born November 1840 to the Belfast undertaker, George Madine, and had emigrated 10 years earlier in 1890, following the collapse of her marriage to Robert Madine Jr.
Her son, Joseph (born March 1864) was visiting them in New York in 1900 - the census states he had been married for 9 years, and that he was a rigger on a ship - he would return for good with his children later, following the death of his wife in 1903.
George’s brother, Thomas (born October 1870), was also present on the night of the 1901 census;  he had emigrated four years earlier and was a coach-driver.

In 1930, the widowed George Madine was living at the family home, 650 10th Avenue, and was working as an undertaker. Also present was a Northern Irish-born cousin, the 48-yr-old Agnes Madine who was a hotel housekeeper.  Agnes had emigrated to the US in 1886.

Agnes Madine, resident at 650 10th Ave Nyc, (the address of George Madine) applied for naturalization in 1923;  she had been born in Ballina, Mayo, on 25th dec 1877, although this was incorrect - the parish register notes her birth on 25th December 1874.  She had been resident five years since 1921.
Agnes and her sister, Elizabeth Madine, appear on the 1901 Irish Census at Earls Court Street, Belfast, (and state that they were born in Mayo) along with their Scottish born mother Roseanne Flynn Madine. Is this the same Agnes who was noted in the US records as emigrating to New York in 1886? Did the family return to Belfast for a time before Agnes reappeared in NYC in 1923? The Mayo-born Agnes Madine arrived in NYC on board ‘The Cedric’ and gave a birth date of 1874.  She seems to have been coming and going - ‘The Cedric’ manifest shows her up again, this time arriving in New York in 1921.  Her closest relation in Belfast was noted as her aunt, Miss Flynn, of 36 Athol St., Belfast.   In 1928, the passenger lists once again capture her returning to New York from Belfast where she had been staying with a friend, Mrs. May Close of Hallidrop Road, and she was once again returning to her cousin, George Madine of 650 10th Avenue, New York.

Agnes (Maria) Madine had been born 25th December 1874 in Ballina, Mayo to customs officer William Madine and Rose Anne Flynn, and had been baptised in Kilmoremoy, Ballina.   Her sister, Elizabeth, had been born there on 10th November 1876. Earlier, the same couple had baptised a son, George Madine, who had been born at Castle Road,  Ballina on 30th March 1873. In the register the baby's father, William Madine, was described as 'pater acatholicus' which means he wasn't actually Catholic, although this was incorrect - I got the marriage certificate for William Madine and Rose Anne Flynn, who had married on 1st November 1871 in St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Belfast.
The certificate identifies William Madine as a customs officer, the son of George Madine, undertaker of 23 York Street, which makes him the brother of Martha Mardine. He had been born circa 1845. His wife, Rose Ann Flynn was the daughter of a Belfast printer, William Flynn of 27 Foreman Street, although the family had been living in Scotland at the time of her birth in about 1850.
A daughter, Marion Clare Madine, was born at 34 Avoca Street, Belfast, on 11th April 1881, but she died of TB aged only 14 at 12 Blackwater Street, on 25th June 1895. Her registration of death names her as the daughter of a smoother, Rose Anne Madine.
Rose Anne Madine died at 20 Earlscourt Road, Belfast, aged 56, on 20th August 1908.

The children of George Madine, eldest son of Martha and Robert Madine of Killyleagh, and who lived at 650 10th Avenue, were Thomas Patrick Madine, John Francis Madine, Joseph Aloysius Madine and Elizabeth Madine.

Thomas Patrick Madine was drafted into the US army in 1918.  He was living at home with his family at 10th Avenue.  The writing on the draft registration form is faint but he seems to be working as a purchasing officer for a business named Pottier and Stigmore on Lexington Avenue.
Passport application for Thomas P. Madine, born 15th December 1897 to George Madine - Thomas P. Madine needed the passport to travel to Great Britain, Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg; the passport was issued the 18th December 1919.

Thomas P. Madine was married to Viola Helene who was born 15th August 1903 and who died in March 1976 in Queen’s, New York, zip code 11104.  In 1949, the couple’s address was 461 West 49th St, NYC.
They later moved out to Long Island City and, in 1953, were living at 4332, 47th St, Long Island City.
They had two children who appear in Manhattan on the 1930 census, Thomas (born 18th October 1928)  and Patricia, born circa 1929.
They travelled a lot.  In 1924, he was recorded as crossing the Canadian border, heading to Quebec to take up a position as a hotel manager. He gave his religion as Catholic.  He had also spent time in the 1920s in Paris working for the AGRS. (The American Graves Registration Service - this was the organisation which identified those US soldiers who had died on the battlefield.)
In 1949, the couple sailed aboard the 'General William O. Darby' from Honolulu to San Francisco. They gave their address on the manifest as 451 West 49th St., NYC.  Their 20-yr-old son, Thomas P. Madine Jr. was with them.
In 1952, Viola H. Madine appeared on the passenger list of the 'La Guardia' sailing from Seattle to Yokohama.  By now, they lived at 4332 47th St., Long Island City, New York, and Viola was leaving for a year.
The following year - 1953 - they returned aboard the 'General Simon B. Buckner' which sailed from Yokohama to Seattle.  Their address was still 4332 47th St, Long Island City, and they were travelling with 3 trunks, 4 bags, 1 box and 1 other.
In 1956, they again sailed from Yokohama to San Francisco, this time aboard the 'Edwin D. Patrick' travelling with 16 bags.
Thomas Patrick Madine died in August 1975 in San Diego.  He was probably living with his daughter, Patricia, who had married Jerome S. Duncan in San Diego on 6th January 1970.  His son, Thomas P.Madine Jr., had enlisted in the US Army on 10th November 1950 until 7th November 1952. The son was living at 8 Picket Road, Lincoln Park, New Jersey, when he died on 22nd March 1994.

The brother of Thomas Patrick Madine (Senior) was John Francis Madine, born 29th March 1893 to George F. Madine.   He was an embalmer and in Dec. 1920, he applied for a passport to travel on behalf of the AGRS like his brother.


His wife was named Mazie - she is noted on one of the passenger lists. On the US 1920 Census, it seems that the family were living in Chicago - she gave her place of birth as Newfoundland in 1892. In 1920 her husband John Madine was working as an automobile salesman.
In 1942 John Francis Madine joined the army, enlisting in New York City.  He gave his address as 729 8th Avenue, and he was working at Erne's Restaurant on West 3rd Street;  he gave his brother's name as the person who would always know him - Thomas P. Madine.


Joseph Aloysius Madine, the youngest son of George and Elizabeth Madine, was born in Manhattan on 18th June 1900. He enlisted in 1918. His address in 1918 was the family home of 650 10th Avenue. He was a general labourer, working at 9 Cemetery St., Brooklyn. It was noted that he had a ‘rupture’.
In 1920, Joseph was still at home with his father, George Madine, and his brother Thomas. His father George was an undertaker, Thomas was an embalmer and young Joseph was a clerk in the post office.
In 1930 he was living at the 10th Avenue address with his wife, Marion, and their young daughter, Dorothy.  Joseph was a private chauffeur at this stage.
His widowed father, George, was also there, as was his father’s cousin, Agnes Madine, who was the daughter of William and Rose Anne Madine.
By 1940, Joseph Aloysius Madine has died and the widowed Marion was living with their two daughters - 10-yr-old Dorothy and 1-yr-old Maureen.


 their two daughters, Dororthy, aged 10, and one-yr-old Maureen Madine.

3 comments:

  1. Thank you for all this history! George Madine of Belfast and undertaker was my 3 x G grandfather. His son, my GG grandfather was John Madine got ran over on Shankill rd by a horse drawn carrige during a funeral. He was 40. I have the newspaper clippings.

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  2. Hi guys I believe I'm releated I was adopted from New York foundling

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  3. Hello Unknown! Your story sounds fascinating - what makes you believe you might be related to the Madine family? It's a very unusual name so it's an easy family to research. If you would prefer to email me privately, you can do so at -
    rosygirl41@hotmail.com
    Thank you for posting.

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