Deedy.com Blog

Look up Deedy in Websters Dictionary and you will see the following definition - \Deed"y\, a. Industrious; active. [R.] --Cowper. But to me Deedy is simply my last name and not a very common one at that. My Father always said "find yourself in a strange city? Open a phone book, find a Deedy and give them a call - chances are they are a relative." So, for all the Deedy's out there hello and welcome.


A mayoral mystery

Recently, a Sullivan cousin (Mary Elizabeth Sullivan Dreger) sent me a scan of an old photo that has been in her family for years. The photo is of Mary's grandfather (my great-grandfather) patrolman Maurice Sullivan. Standing next to him, Mary had been told, is the Mayor of Boston - James Michael Curley.

Looking at the photo, I assume it was taken during Curley's first term as mayor. But the man in this photo looks too old and I can't find any images of James Michael Curley with a mustache. Could this instead be a photo of a different Boston Mayor - George Albee Hibbard (served from 1908 - 1910)?

Digging into the latest box of Sullivan family photos my parents dropped off at my house, I found this image which has marked on the back:
Brother Maurice going off to war. Hand shake by Mayor James Michael Curley. - Helen S. Sullivan
This photo does indeed look like James Michael Curley from his first term (1914 - 1918).

Unfortunately this second photo is not marked with the date. But I did find Maurice A. Sullivan's WWI draft card from 1917. So this photo was taken sometime in 1917 or 1918.

So what do you think? Is the first photo Mayor Curley? To be fair, he is squinting into the sun, which could be making him look older than he should be. Any other guesses on who the man in the first photo could be?

- Boston Globe May 30, 1910 article about death of Ex-Mayor George Albee Hibbard

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Liberty Ship Lawrence T. Sullivan

My Great-uncle Lawrence T. Sullivan was serving on a merchant marine vessel in 1942 when it was struck by a German U-boat and he was lost at sea. In 1945 a Liberty ship was dedicated in his honor. For the dedication his Mother, surviving 8 siblings and their families and friends gathered for the ceremony. The picture below (click to view larger) was taken at the shipyard and I have numbered the group (36 people) and with the help of various family members managed to put names next to most of the numbers.

I am hoping someone visiting the blog might be able to help fill-in the missing names (or provide corrections if needed) and finish identifying everyone in the photo.For those curious about the fate of the Liberty ship named after Lawrence T. Sullivan - it was scraped in 1971 - see image below for its history (click to view larger).

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Edge of Darkness

The Mel Gibson thriller Edge of Darkness movie trailer has finally been released. When the movie was filming in Boston a request was sent out for old police photos to dress the set of the movie police station. We contributed images of Srgt. Maurice Sullivan - so somewhere in this film are scenes shot within a precinct house and on the wall are images of my ancestor. Can't wait to see the movie and see if I can spot him in the background...



The movie is set to be released in January.

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1919 Boston Police Strike Command Log

The Boston Globe mentioned that the 1919 Command Log has recently been scanned and uploaded to the Boston Public Library website. The year-long log covers a period of chaos in Boston when a large number of the force went on strike and the city became over run by armed gangs.

My Great-Grandfather, Maurice Sullivan, was appointed to the Boston Police force on February 23, 1889. He was 26 years old at the time and this was a second career for him. By the police strike year of 1919 he was 57 years old and a thirty year veteran. While reviewing the log, I believe I found two mentions of my Great-Grandfather.



In one notation, he is approved to accept a reward for capturing a runaway and in the second he is transferred from Headquarters to Division 1. It is the transfer that I find most interesting. By the time Maurice retired from the police force in 1932, he was famous for having served his entire long career at just one station house - Division 1 in the North End of Boston. In the book Boston Police Department (Images of America: Massachusetts) he is even pictured in front of the division house.

But during the tumultuous year of 1919 he served at least some of his time at police headquarters before returning back to his division house and familiar neighborhood patrol.

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How Patrick Sullivan obtained his home

Daniel M. Sullivan Jr. sent me a letter a few months ago with a very interesting tale. It involved Patrick Sullivan (1820-1888) and his home on Dunn Street in Thomaston, Me.

According to Daniel, my great-great grandfather, Patrick Sullivan, was a man of modest means in Thomaston, but he had saved enough to purchase a lot of land on Dunn Street. But now that he had the lot of land, finding the money to build a home was beyond his reach. At least it was until the town of Thomaston decided to relocate and build a new post office. With the old post office building no longer needed, Patrick struck a deal with the town. He would buy the building for $1 and pay to move it onto his land on Dunn street.

Pictured above is the Sullivan family home on Dunn Street in Thomaston. This image is likely from the early 1900s. The wood frame building clearly looks like a home, but now we know its former history as the town post office!

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Rather take a pay cut than perform "woman's work"

Another article featuring Patrick Crowley has been found and this one provides a wealth of information on the working conditions of Boston firemen and policemen in the early 1900's.

The Boston Daily Globe November 29, 1914 - Fireman on the Police Force article investigates why so many Boston firefighters are leaving their jobs and taking pay cuts to join the police force. Patrick Crowley (husband to Margaret Sullivan) was one of these former firefights turned patrolmen. The article displays his photo and mentions him. It is a long article, so I will not type it out below, you can click on the link above to read the full feature. Here is the bit I found most interesting:

Why do so many men leave the Fire Department for the Police Department?
Too Much Housework.

Full paid firemen who give up their positions now to enter the police service must expect to serve between five and six years before they are paid the salary that they were receiving when they made the change.

Firemen have a day off in every five, two weeks' vacation, an hour and a quarter for meals, and when conditions permit are granted on Sundays what is known as "Church Leave." Unless an alarm to which their company responds is sounded, they are in quarters 20 1/2 hours daily.

Actual firefighting occupies the smallest part of a fireman's time. It is the housework that wearies a fireman. In every house there are men who have duties similar to a servant girl. Making beds, sweeping and cleaning is a part of the everyday work of a fireman and in some houses the "skippers" are very exacting and have specially constructed brooms for locating tiny particles of dust.

In some districts the firemen have to wind clocks and discharge other side duties not in line with firefighting, tasks which have been passed down to them from other generations.

What a policeman has to do and how he should do it is outlined in the manual. You never have seen a policeman pushing a mop around unless it was in his own house. Policemen receive a day off in 15, two weeks' vacation, but no church leave. Day policemen have meal periods. Night officers do not. A house patrol in fire station is done in 24 hours a day and this breaks into the sleep of the men, but must be done.

When the amount of time that a policeman devotes to his work is computed it is apparent that he does not have a great amount of time to himself, but still he is really never confined for any great period indoors. Within every six days a night policeman, in addition to his regular tours of street duty, has to do what is described as an "evening in the floor," a "house day" and a "morning in."

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Promotion could be dangerous for the older policeman

I recently came across this May 27, 1929 article: Patrolman Dies In Strength Test. It appears a group of older Boston police officers were surprised on civil service test day with a new strength test section. One of the older officers exerted himself so much that he died while others ended up injured and hospitalized.

Among the injured was a Sergent Maurice Sullivan who strained something while jumping with heavy weights. If this is my great-grandfather, he was 67 years old at the time of the test.

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Patrick Crowley's Interesting Career

Once again I have been spending hours looking through the historic Boston Globe archives searching for any mention of various family members. This time I decided to look into another person in the Sullivan branch of the family tree - Patrick Leo Crowley, husband to Margaret Sullivan (Maurice Sullivan BPD eldest daughter). Patrick and Margaret never had any children of their own, but the couple was very involved with their many nieces and nephews. Both had passed away by the time I was born, but I grew up hearing stories about them and when I reach into my recipe box I pull out cards made by Margaret who was famous in the family for her cooking.

But it is Patrick L. Crowley I am focusing on in this post and what I have uncovered about his very interesting career. The December 30, 1911 Boston Globe article: Commissioner O'Meara Promotes Reservemen reports that Patrick scores the highest grade on a policeman's test. A new tool introduced by the commissioner to help identify those men who deserve promotion. Prior to the test, police appointments and promotions depended more on who you knew and were related to than how well of a job you did. This portion of the article was most interesting for me:
Crowley secured a percentage of 97.5 and at rollcall tomorrow night his pay will jump from $2 per day to $1,000 a year, or $19.17 a week. Crowley was appointed to the department Feb 27, 1911, and for several months before his shift to East Dedham st was on duty at Division 12, City Point.

From April 30, 1906, until Feb 26 of the present year he was a member of the Fire Department, serving at Ladder 11, Brighton and Ladder 21, Saratoga st, East Boston. Prior to that he was a well-known athlete, being the manager and playing center on the East Boston A.A. Basketball team which a few years ago was defeating all comers. He is a brother of James J. Crowley, the High School athletic instructor, and John J. Crowley, formerly a fireman, and potato race champion.
So Patrick L. Crowley was first a fireman then a patrolman. Family lore has it Margaret Sullivan first met Patrick while he was working as a fireman at the Saratoga street firehouse. I wonder if Margaret's father, Srgt. Maurice Sullivan, had anything to do with interesting Patrick in switching careers.

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Edge of Darkness Prop Sale

Today was the first of a two day movie prop sale. The movie, The Edge of Darkness, has recently finished filming in Boston. My parents decided to visit the prop sale this morning since my great-grandfather, Maurice Sullivan, will be making an appearance in the movie (we hope).

I have posted on my blog here a few times about Maurice. I even included a photo of him in this post: Srgt Maurice Sullivan catches his man. The photo in that post caught the eye of a Hollywood set dresser. I was contacted to see if we would be willing to let the photo be used in the movie as part of the set background. My Mom agreed, and now, some 75 years after his death, my great-grandfather will finally be in the movies!

But back to today's sale. There is Mom, Sue Deedy, in front of the door near the loading docks. The sale took place in Chelsea in an old furniture warehouse. My Dad was the photographer on today's expedition. I could not attend since I was working.

They quickly found the enlarged and framed photo of Maurice Sullivan. The shaking hands photo should be seen in a police station hallway (I believe) in the movie. I will have to look closely for it once the picture is released sometime in 2009.

You can click on any image to see larger. The shaking hands photo was priced at $134.00. Mom did not buy it, but she really wanted to! Instead, she purchased some other small items. The prop sale mostly had household goods items. Lots of lamps, books, kitchen ware, furniture - that kind of thing. Stuff you could find at any yard sale.

Well, maybe not any yard sale. Dad made sure to take a photo of the toilet that is for sale (since Mel Gibson is starring in this movie, perhaps someone wants Mel's throne?)

Dad was also amazed to see kitchen appliances for sale - appliances that looked like they are from different eras.

Now we will have to wait until the movie is released and hits the theaters. Everyone be on the lookout for that shaking hands picture!

Update: Looks like the movie is expected to be in theaters June 2009 - at least that is what one of the set people staffing the sale told my Mom when she went BACK today!

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Srgt. Sullivan and the Black Hand

It appears my great-grandfather, Srgt. Maurice Sullivan, had a number of run-ins with an Italian organized crime group called the Black Hand.

During the early 1900's, residents of the "Little Italies" of many eastern industrialized urban areas had to contend with a crude form of protection racket known as "La Mano Nera" or "the Black Hand." Those members of the local community who were better off financially might receive an anonymous note demanding that a sum of money be paid to the writer. If payment was not forthcoming, victims were typically warned that they could expect to have their businesses bombed or the safety of their family members jeopardized. Customarily, the extortion demand was signed with a crude drawing of a black hand. While the receiver of the letter (as well as other members of the community) were led to believe that the Black Hand was a large and powerful organization, it is more likely that the extortion was the work of individuals or a small group of offenders who used their victims' fear of secret societies (and often their fear of the police) to coerce payment.

This Boston Globe July 28, 1922 article describes a Black Hand trial that Srgt. Sullivan testified in. A local North End family was receiving blackmail letters and it appears my great-grandfather was trying to help outwit the gang members. Unfortunately, his fake money ruse did not work, and a murder did occur.
Sergt Maurice Sullivan of Station 1 said that on Dec 28 he and Tessarrero were at Unity st with Scarpone, his wife and his brother, Alphonso Scarpone, who lived with them. After reading a letter, Sergt. Sullivan cut up some newspapers in the shape of currency, made them into a bundle and gave them to Alphonso Scarpone. About 7:10 o'clock he went to the Charter st playground and remained until 8:35. Shortly before 8 o'clock Alphonso Scarpone passed him. Fifteen minutes later a man came up the steps leading into Charter st, looked around and went in the same direction as Scarpone. Scarpone only partly followed his instructions, Sergt Sullivan said.

Sergt Sullivan said that at 10:30 pm on the same day he went to the steps leading into the North End playground. There he saw a bush with a piece of red cloth tied to it and footprints in the snow about it.
Gene Kelly starred in a 1950 movie called The Black Hand about a group in New York City. Sometime I will have to watch it.

It appears my great-grandfather ran into some very dangerous characters while patroling his beat in the North End.

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Patrick Sullivan's 1858 Naturalization

To date, the oldest record I have uncovered connected to my family history research is Patrick Sullivan's Naturalization Document. Lucky for me, when this document was filed in 1858 the name Patrick Sullivan was unique for Thomaston, Maine.

The document contains some interesting clues about my great-great grandfather. As you can see in the image above, he "signed" his naturalization document with an "X". The clerk then notes around the "X" that this is Patrick Sullivan's mark. At the time he was about 35 (or 38 if you go by the birth year on his grave stone), yet in all that time, he had not had an opportunity nor a need to learn to sign his own name.

Another exciting clue in the September 7, 1858 document is Patrick's statement that he was born in County Cork, Ireland and arrived in Eastport, Maine on May 13, 1849. Unfortunately, I have not found a passenger record, but that is not very surprising since passenger records are pretty scarce for that time.

I may not have any idea what my great-great grandfather looked like, but I can say that he could sign a mean "X" when needed.

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Senator Caraway's Letter

Between the pages of one of the Sullivan scrapbooks, a letter was found addressed to Maurice Sullivan from Senator Caraway of Arkansas. The text of the letter is below. Unfortunately, the letter Maurice Sullivan wrote to Senator Caraway was not in the scrapbook. I wonder if there is a slim possibility that letter still survives among Senator Caraway's papers? Do they keep the correspondence of Senators?

April 23, 1921

Mr. Maurice Sullivan,
#59 St. Andrews Road,
East Boston, Mass.

My dear Mr. Sullivan:-

I am in receipt of your appreciated favor of the 20th inst. with reference to the relations of the Bradys and Caraways.

I know but little about the family. Our immediate ancestors came from West Ireland somewhere in the Valley of Shannon as I recall, early in 1633. It may have been a little time later. The family settled in Halifax County, Virginia, and some of them went to North Carolina. A number of intermarriages with Stones, Custers, Owens and Easleys occurred. My grandfather Caraway came from the North Carolina branch of the family, who settled near Raleigh.

My immediate family removed to West Tennessee in 1826 and returned to Virginia some years later. The first census shows that there were more than one hundred people of the name in this country in 1780.

At least two of our family served in the Revolutionary War; one a Colonel from Virginia and a Captain from North Carolina. My family lived in Tennessee and Mississippi. I myself lived in both States and we were, of course, interested in and sympathizers with the Confederacy, and therefore I know nothing of the family that lived north of the Mason-Dixon line. I wish I could give you more information, but I cannot.

With best wishes, and assuring you that I was glad to get your letter, I am,

Sincerely yours,

T. H. Caraway

After reading the letter, I can see that my great-grandfather, Maurice Sullivan shared my interest in learning more about our family history. Nice to see that my inquisitiveness might be genetic based - I am not just a snoop!

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Captain Larry

Flipping through the old Sullivan scrapbooks, I came across this interesting little article about my great-uncle, Capt. Lawrence T. Sullivan. While the article provides some nice insights into his personality, it is riddled with small errors. I will list the corrections to the errors below, but first, here is the text of the article (source and date unknown).

GOLD STAR OVER BOSTON
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'Larry' Sullivan East Boston Hero

In terse, documentary language, the official government records state that Capt. Lawrence J. Sullivan was "lost at sea" when his collier was torpedoed in the Atlantic on March 14, 1942. He was, the records state further, 43 years old.

But ask any resident of St. Andrew rd., East Boston, where in a house numbered 69, Larry Sullivan lived, and you'll learn that he is still 43 years old. The neighbors insist on the present tense, so far as they are concerned, Capt. Larry will live forever in their memories.

Larry met death just as he had lived, courageously, without any trace of fear. That, too, is in the record.

YOUNGEST CAPTAIN

The older resident of St. Andrews rd., remember him as a nautical school student during the last war. They watched him grow from a grammar school kid into manhood. They remember how, at 25, he became a sea captain, the youngest captain, incidentally, on the Atlantic coast.

His mother, Mrs. Susan Sullivan, is a widow. Larry was one of eight children. One brother, Daniel M. Sullivan, is head of the Boston Water Department. Another, William, is in the School Department. His mother fondly recalls that Larry's earliest love was a small sailboat. To get that boat he worked and scrimped and saved while he was in his teens.

Mrs. Katherine Corrigan, the Sullivans' next door neighbor, remembers most his dry, salty humor. She pictures him today, as she so often saw him.

SEARFARING FAMILY

"When he was home he was always puttering around the house, or in the yard, fixing my fence or garden or working on his own," Mrs. Corrigan said.

Capt. Sullivan came from a seafaring family. His mother says his uncle, Patrick Henry Sullivan, was lost when a frigate sank off England in 1863.

At sea, Capt. Sullivan took part in many rescues and once the ship he was commanding saved all members of the Three Sisters, when that vessel foundered at sea.

"You couldn't help but like Capt. Larry," said Mrs. Corrigan.

And all friends and neighbors of the Sullivans readily echo her sentiment.

Corrections: His middle initial is T. not J.; the house number was 59, not 69; One of nine children, not eight; P.H. Sullivan was lost at sea in 1888 off the coast of Waterford, Ireland - not England in 1863.

Another way to gain a bit of insight into Capt. Larry's life is to look at photos found in the old scrapbook. While the one used in the article is a handsome head shot, this other one I found shows him on board one of his ships alongside his crew.

Lawrence T. Sullivan is the one in the black buttoned up coat. The photo is not labeled and I don't know the names of the other men. If you look closely (click on image to see larger) you will see that Capt. Larry is holding a cigarette in his hand - so he was a smoker. Also, you will see that his jacket appears to be covering up his dirty work clothes. While he may have been a captain, he was not one to just hang out in the wheel house - he appears to be crawling around and getting dirty alongside his men.

Another thing to note, is Capt. Sullivan's face in the ship photo. While still a handsome man, you can see the weathering from so many years at sea. Something not seen in the newspaper article.

Seeing him in the ships photo, you can imagine him as the salty talking, yet kind and hard working man his neighbor remembers in the article.

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Jane Sullivan and the 1918-1919 Boston Influenza Pandemic

Poor Great-Aunt Jane, she obtained her nurse training at Massachusetts General Hospital in the midst of the greatest pandemic to hit Boston. An article found in the old family scrapbook gives some insight into just how tough Jane's nursing training must have been:
Eighty Nurses Graduated in Victory Class at Mass. General Hospital

[Caption under photo: Graduation class of 1919 of the Massachusetts General Hospital]

Eighty young women, constituting the "Victory" class of the Massachusetts General Hospital, after completing the hardest year of continuous hard nursing that has ever been done by pupil nurses in the history of the institution, were graduated last night.

Dr. Henry P. Walcott, chairman of the board of trustees, who presided at the exercises and announced the graduates, declared that each individual member of the class had done as high a service and incurred as grave a danger as any nurse or soldier in service abroad.

800 CASES OF FLUIE

The members of the class have in the past year nursed over 800 cases of influenza which came in two great waves. Over half of the class were seriously ill with the disease; and all, because of the severe tax which overwork placed upon them, were made dangerously susceptible. One of their number died. A scarlet fever epidemic placed 36 of the girls on the dangerous list, but all survived.

"There are no words," said Dr. Henry Van Dyke, who made the address of the evening, "that can fittingly commend the part that women, and especially nurses, have played in the winning of the war. The type of service that did not flinch even before an enemy that chose as its favorite target that Red Cross on the roof of a hospital, can never be given its just reward in rhetoric.
It has been estimated that between September 1, 1918 and January 16, 1919, approximately 45,000 people died from influenza in Massachusetts alone. I hope the rest of Great-Aunt Jane's nursing career was relatively peaceful after that introduction to her profession.

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Maurice Sullivan's Most Thrilling Experience

At least that is what the newspaper article reports in this interview of my Great-Grandfather, Srgt. Maurice Sullivan of the Boston PD. I am so lucky that this interview was published - it shows just how dangerous his job could be. While the article found does not have a date on it, the incident most likely occurred in the late 1800's and the interview done in the early 1900's.

“My Most Thrilling Experience”
Exciting Moments in the Lives of Boston Policemen
As Related to Harry McCormick, Traveler Police Reporter

No. 127 – Patrolman Maurice Sullivan.

In Patrolman Maurice Sullivan of the Hanover street station one will find an interesting person. In 26 years of service in that section he has seen many changes. As a young man he patrolled many of the worst “beats” in the dear old North end. In those days of few policemen a man had his work cut out for him. Being arrested for intoxication was treated as a more serious offence than it is now. A man then would put up a fight before he would submit to arrest, for arrest meant a heavy fine or imprisonment.

Office Sullivan’s most thrilling experience came when he had been a member of the department a few months. It was a fight with a drink maddened man near the old gas house on Prince street.

“I was standing on Lafayette avenue, near Prince street, about 1 o’clock in the morning, 26 years ago, when this chap, who was known as a fighter, rushed over to me and started a fight. His attack was so sudden that he got a good hold on me.

“He started to pummel me, and, of course, I fought back, for a I knew that I could expect no mercy from a man like him. In those days there was a pretty tough crowd at the gas house, and scores of men came to where we were fighting and encouraged the man.

“They would have liked to have seen me ‘done up.’ Lafayette avenue has an incline and the street was then paved with round cobbles. Many times my head went banging against these stones and so did the other fellow’s, for that matter. We had been battling for almost half an hour when by a strong push the man bowled me over. He came with me, however, and I managed to get on top when we landed on the street. We rolled down the incline to Endicott street, while the hooting, jeering crowd followed, often waiting for me to get mine. While locked together in the street the man sunk his teeth into my ear and started to rip it off. I felt the teeth sink in and believe me the thrill I received then, thinking my ear was gone, was awful.

“But that act of his put new strength into me and I fought on in a more desperate manner. I think if another officer had not arrived I would have killed the man. Fortunately the fellow did not get his teeth in deep enough and Dr. Eliot patched it up for me. You can still see the scar there now, and I never look at it in the mirror without thinking of that fight.”

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The Jane whose name I hold

Growing up I always knew I was named after my Great-Aunt Jane Austin Sullivan. As a young child I spent many happy days with her (she was a frequent baby sitter). She never married or had children of her own, but she was great with me. My fondest memory is from a rainy day when I was about 5 and she was in her late 70's. I must have been unhappy being stuck indoors and when she asked me what I would do if I was outside I said I would play hop scotch. Aunt Jane then proceeded to hike up her skirt, kneel down on her oriental carpet, and with a thick piece of sidewalk chalk outlined a hopscotch grid. I can still pictured us today in my mind, hopping around in her living room screeching with laughter at playing an outdoor game indoors. Breaking the rules was so much fun and her complete willingness to draw on her carpet - knowing chalk can just be vacuumed up - was pure genius.

But it was only when I started researching my family history that I realized who my Great-Aunt Jane was named after - her Grandmother, Jane Brady Sullivan. So it is really that Jane that I have to thank for my name (and who my niece Annika Jane has to thank for her middle name). I wish I knew more about Jane Brady Sullivan, or had a photo of her. Here is what I do know:

Jane Brady was born in June 1830 in County Sligo, Ireland. Her father was Maurice Brady and her Mother was Margaret Caraway, both of the Town of Sligo, County Sligo, Ireland. By 1847 both of Jane's parents were dead and Ireland was in the grip of the Great Potato Famine. By 1850 one million people would have perished in the famine and another million immigrated. Jane was one of the lucky who was able to escape the fate of her parents and immigrate. In June 1847 she sailed in the Brig. General Tailor commanded by Capt. Lilly of South Warren. Family lore has it that Jane was able to work as a nursemaid to Capt. Lilly's children to pay for her passage. This meant she was able to make the crossing in relative comfort, unlike the poor souls who traveled to North America in Coffin Ships.

By 1850 we find Jane Brady living in Thomaston, Maine according to the census record. She is living in the household of William Stetson who is a shipbuilder. Since the family has young children, I am going to assume she is still working as a nanny or as a domestic. On August 18, 1851 Jane Brady married Patrick Sullivan, who was a fellow Irishman (from Waterford Ireland). She was 21 years old and he was 31. Together they had six children:

Ellen Sullivan
1855 - 1943

Jane Sullivan
Jan. 26, 1858 - Jan. 23, 1859

Margaret Sullivan
July 1, 1860 - May 19, 1886

Patrick Henry Sullivan
July 21, 1861 - Jan. 4, 1888

Maurice Sullivan
1862 - 1933

Daniel Sullivan
Sept. 18, 1867 - Feb. 27, 1887

But only two of those children outlived her and her husband. Ellen who never married or had children and Maurice who went on to give Jane nine grandchildren.

Jane Brady Sullivan died at age 83 on Oct. 7, 1913 in Thomaston, Maine with her daughter Ellen by her side.

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Maurice Sullivan's Boston Police Patrolmans Notebook

While digging around in the pile of family memorabilia that my Mother has accumulated, I came across my great grandfather's patrolman notebook. This used to be kept in my grandmother's dining room sideboard (not far from the peppermint pinwheel candies - hum, funny how you remember little things like that) and I recall paging through it as a child.

Reading it now, I see that it is really more of a time keeping book. Maurice Sullivan filled pages and pages with entries like the one below:
Ther. 39 0/1 Wednesday, Mar. 18, 1896 Wea. Clear

Patrolman Sullivan reported for duty at 7:15AM assigned to route 6 relieved Officer

At 9AM went to court reported back at 11:30AM at 1PM was relieved for dinner reported back at 2:15PM assigned to route 6 was relieved at 6PM by Officer Cadigan

Detailed to caucus at 7:30 was released at 8:30PM.

Clement McDonald
Drunk Probation

Ther. 36 0/0 Thursday Mar. 19, 1896 Wea. Snowing

Patrolman Sullivan reported for duty at 7:15AM assigned to route 6 relieved Officer Arnold at 8AM

At 1PM was relieved for dinner reported back at 2:15PM was relieved at 6PM by Officer Cardigan
Certainly not riveting reading, but the very blandness of the content gives you a feel for what Maurice's working day was like. He started early, put in a long day, and seemed to deal with a lot of drunken citizens. It is more fun reading newspaper articles about his police career...

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Srgt Maurice Sullivan catches his man

Maurice Sullivan was a Boston Police officer for many years (in this photo he is on the right shaking hands (has mustache) - click on image to see larger) . I have been gathering news stories which mention him during his long career. Below are three related articles which tell a rather funny tale about bootleggers in the North End of Boston in 1924. Maurice is quoted in the articles and his sense of humor and sly cunning when dealing with his elusive rum runner comes through in the stories. One thing to note, at the time of these events Maurice Sullivan was 62 years old.

BIG BUREAU DRAWER FILLED WITH MONEY FOUND IN RAID

Police Escort "Poor" North End Man to Bank So He Can Deposit the $2500

Boston Daily Globe
Dec 12, 1924

The tale of Santo DeMore of 15 Stillman Street, North End and his bureau drawer full of cash was related in the Courthouse this morning. Probably no gentleman searching for liquor ever had such a startling discover as did Srgt. Maurice Sullivan of Station 1, Hanover St and patrolman Feeney and Dooley a couple of days ago.

Srgt. Sullivan and the two officers, armed with a search warrant, went to DeMore's house looking for liquor. They found none. But in the course of the search they pulled out the drawers of a bureau. There was nothing of consequence in the first two drawers, and then they hauled out the last.

It was filled with money. Bills almost overflowed the drawer; there were bills of all denominations, and underlying them were quantities of silver coins, quarters, halves and dimes.

"How much money here, Santo?" asked Sergt Sullivan.

Santo, throwing his shoulders back, said:

"Not more that $100"

"Well, you'd better get it together and take it to a bank. What would you do if the house was broken into?" asked the sergeant.

De More objected. He is bank shy, having had deposits with Mr. Ponzi and also with the Hanover Trust Company and another of the closed trust companies at the time of the big "bust up". His money, he thinks, is safer in his own bureau drawer. But the police officers thought differently and finally persuaded him to take it to a bank.

Gathering the money took a long time, but it was done finally and then the three officers escorted the man whose home they had entered looking for liquor, and whom they had expected to arrest, to the bank, while he deposited his good-sized nest egg. The money filled a large bag.

"This is the funniest finish of a liquore raid I ever knew," said the sergeant.

De More, father of four children, is supposed to be poor. He is the proprietor of a taxicab, with a stand on North Margin St.

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Boston Daily Globe
Dec 13, 1924

RAIDERS FIND NO RUM, BUT PLENTY O' MONEY

Persuade North End Man to Deposit $2500 Hoard

"That was the funniest finish of a liquor raid I ever knew." said Sergt Maurice Sullivan of Station 1, Hanover st. yesterday when he had returned from the home of Santo de More of 15 Stillman st. North End where he had been with a search warrant.

The officers found a drawer full of bills and coins amounting to $2500, and persuaded de More to overcome his distrust of banks and go, under escort, to place the money in a bank. This was accomplished only after de More had explained that he had been caught in the Ponsi scheme and bank failures of that period. The raiders found no liquor.

De More found a bag finally and filled it with bills of all denominations and quarters, nickels, halves and dimes. The man, father of four children, and supposed to be poor, is proprietor of a taxicab with a stand on North Margin st.

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Boston Daily Globe
Dec 27, 1924

NORTH END MAN BEFORE COURT

Police Call Him "King of Bootleggers"

Santo DeMore of 15 Stillman st. North End alleged "king of bootleggers" in that district, appeared before Judge Duff in the Municipal Court this morning on a charge of keeping and exposing liquor for sale and also with making a sale of liquor. The case was continued to Monday.

DeMore says he conducts a taxicab business on North Martin st. He fell foul of the police a couple of weeks ago, when Sergt Maurice Sullivan and special officers Dooley and Feeney with a search warrant entered his premises in a search for liquor. The police found no evidence of hard drink there, but they did find that DeMore had $2500 in bills and silver in a bureau drawer. Sergt Sullivan told him that he must not leave such a large amount of cash lying around in that fashion, for someone would be sure to learn of it and steal it and perhaps murder him in the attempt. The police insisted that he put the money in a safe place and they went along with him to a bank.

Sergt Sullivan discovered on the next day that DeMore had hired two empty rooms on North Martin st. With a squad he went there and found Mrs DeMore, Santo's mother, who is 74 years old, sitting on two cans of hooch containing 66 gallons. The police arrested her and brought her into court, where she was found guilty and fined $200.

Sergt Sullivan at another time conducted a raid at DeMore's house and found 72 gallons of moonshine hidden in the walls. This was several months ago. Two or three weeks later, Sergt Sullivan found a barrel of moonshine concealed in a gasoline can.

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Sullivan Family Portraits

I am lucky enough to have two family portraits of the Sullivan's. The first was taken Easter Sunday 1910. Location: At the time this photo was taken the Sullivan family was living at 610 Bennington Street, East Boston, MA. Close to the Bennington Street house lived the Austin’s – Grandparents to the Sullivan children – on Saratoga Street. We believe this photo was taken on or near the back yard of this Austin’s home. The brick building seen in the background could be part of the St. Mary’s church and school property.

1. Maurice Sullivan
2. Susie Austin Sullivan
3. Maurice Sullivan Jr.
4. Patrick Henry Sullivan
5. Margaret Ruth Sullivan
6. Jane Austin Sullivan
7. Daniel Maynard Sullivan
8. William Austin Sullivan
9. James Leo Sullivan
10. Lawrence Timothy Sullivan
11. Helen Susan Sullivan

This undated photo appears to have been taken in the 1920’s. All of the people pictured in the earlier portrait are present in this one - so we have an opportunity to see how they looked as children and then as adults.

By this time the family have moved from Bennington Street to St. Andrew Road. Some had married and started families of their own, but all still lived close enough to gather for the photo.

1.Maurice Sullivan Sr.
2.Susie Austin Sullivan
3.Patrick Henry Sullivan
4.Lawrence Timothy Sullivan
5.William Austin Sullivan
6. Maurice Sullivan Jr.
7. Daniel Maynard Sullivan
8. Helen Susan Sullivan Hart
9. James Leo Sullivan
10. Margaret Ruth Sullivan Crowley
11. Jane Austin Sullivan

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Lawrence T. Sullivan, the Lemuel Burrows, and U-boat 404

On March 14, 1942, in the Atlantic ocean off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey Otto Von Bulow, commander of the Nazi u-boat 404 spied the merchant marine vessel LEMUEL BURROWS. He gave the order to fire the torpedoes, confirmed the hit, and noted the name of the ship and tonnage destroyed in his log book. This was his third attack of the four ships he would sink during his March patrol along the northeast coast. A successful mission that would result in the award of the Knights Cross by Hitler on October 20th, 1942.

For Otto Von Bulow and his crew onboard the U-404 the year 1942 was called "The Happy Time" because the American Admiralty had not yet organized their merchant marine into armed convoys. Nor had they instituted blackouts along the coastlines. With the bright lights of Atlantic City illuminating the silhouette of a lone freighter, hunting targets was easy. A friend of Von Bulow's relates this story the commander told him:
Otto told me that many of his ‘kills’ in the early part of the war were managed because the American Admiral did NOT believe that the British could teach him anything about the convoy system and protection.

He also laughs as he tells me that he used to bring U404 close inshore off the coast of the USA and allow his crew on deck, to get some fresh air, watch the lights on shore and occasionally listen to music being wafted out to sea on the breeze.
Lawrence T. Sullivan (pictured above) was serving as third-mate on the LEMUEL BURROWS that fateful March day in 1942. He was 42-years-old and had been sailing for most of his life. He graduated from the Massachusetts Nautical Training School (later to become Mass Maritime Academy) in 1921, obtained his pilot's license for the ports of Portland, Me., Boston, New York and Chesapeake bay and at 25 years-old was appointed captain of a steamship collier. He knew that coastline and he knew that ship (the LEMANUEL BURROWS was a collier, built in 1917), she was 7610 gross tons, and had 34 crew onboard. An old steamship carrying necessary freight up the coastline.

Lawrence told his mother that it was only a matter of time before his ship was hit. He had seen the damage the uboats were inflicting on merchant marine vessels like his. He was sadly right and on March 14, 1942 twenty (Lawrence being one of the twenty) of that thirty-four member crew lost their lives when U404's torpedoes struck and sank the LEMUEL BURROWS.

Below is a 1942 German Newsreel on Uboat activity on the northeast US coast. While it does not show U404, nor the LEMANUEL BURROWS, it does give you an idea of how easy it was for the uboats to target freighters. This newsreel was filmed in Feb 1942

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Page from the scrapbook - Lawrence T. Sullivan

Pictured is a page from one of the old scrapbooks I have been scanning. Unfortunately, I don't know the source of the newspaper articles, nor the date.

EAST BOSTON YOUTH
SEA CAPTAIN AT 25

L. T. Sullivan May Be Youngest on the Coast

Lawrence T. Sullivan, 25, of 59 St. Andrew road, East Boston, received notification yesterday of his appointment as captain of the steamship John Tracy, one of the Tracy line colliers. His friends believe that he is now the youngest steamship captain on the Atlantic coast.

He comes from a long line of seamen, numbering among his ancestors several noted Irish navigators. One of his uncles was a sea captain, and was lost, with all the crew, in a shipwreck off the coast of Ireland. Except for his father, Patrolman Maurice Sullivan, who has been attached to the Hanover street police station for nearly 40 years, all Lawrence’s family are fond of the sea. He is the youngest of six brothers, and there are three sisters.

Lawrence’s love of the salt water was evidenced during his boyhood when he gave his mother many anxious moments by his cruising in a small sailboat about the harbor. He was born in East Boston, and was graduated from St. Mary’s parochial school. During the world war he tried to enlist in the naval air force, but was turned down because of his age. He then went to sea as a member of a tanker’s crew, and later worked on freighters.

He was graduated from the Massachusetts Nautical Training School in 1921, subsequently serving on freighters and other vessels, and obtaining his pilot’s license fro the ports of Portland, Me., Boston, New York and Chesapeake bay.

During his sea service, he had many exciting experiences. While on the oil tanker West Arrow of the Oriole Line a few years ago that vessel was in collision with a Cunarder and almost sunk in midocean. The tanker, badly damaged, reached port with great difficulty. He was serving on the steamship Brush of the Nawsco Line when she grounded on a sandbar off the Pacific coast. Wireless calls for aid were sent and life-savers’ craft came out and stood by until high water, when the Brush was floated. Later he received newspaper publicity by preventing a serious fire on a ship at the army base at South Boston.

Lawrence’s father came to Boston from Thomaston, Me. The steamship, which the young man will command, runs between Portland and Baltimore.

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More Alfred D. Snow information

Here is the picture of the Alfred D. Snow - the ship that went down in 1888. My great-great uncle P.H. Sullivan was the first-mate on that ship. All hands were lost. The wreck made such an impression on the locals that a ballad was composed:


The ALFRED D. SNOW (click on title for pdf of full lyrics)
by Michael O'Brien

Of ship-wrecks and dis-ast-ers we've read & seen a deal, But now the coast of Wex-ford must tell a dread-ful tale. On the

fourth day of Jan-u-ary the wind in a gale did blow, And four & twen-ty hands were lost on the "Al-fred D. Snow."

From the port of San Francisco she sailed across the main, Bound for the port of Liverpool, her cargo it was grain. On a

happy day she sailed away to cross the stormy foam: There's not a soul alive to-day to bring the tidings home.

If you'll attention pay to me, I won't detain you long, As I recall the mournful facts in this most feeling song. [END SNIPET]
Thanks again to Margaret McCrea and the Thomaston, ME Historical Society for all the great information!

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P.H. Sullivan - another generation found

After posting the 1888 articles about the Alfred D. Snow shipwreck my Mother did a little research at the library and discovered that a Maine historian had recently presented a lecture on the subject - The Alfred D. Snow! She asked me to do some emailing to see if any information might be found and the following email message was received this evening:
Hi Jane!

You should have been in Thomaston, Maine last September when we presented a lecture on the Alfred D. Snow at the Thomaston Historical Society, which was repeated at the Owl's Head Transportation Museum this winter.

We were given a model of the Ship Alfred D. Snow, which had been crafted by a crewman aboard the vessel on a passage from Thomaston to CA. At that time Captain Willey and his family were aboard and the model was presented to the Captain's daughter, Lizzie, named in her honor.

This gift prompted a research into the vessel's past and the Thomaston men, who were part of her crew. We found the houses belonging to those men, who lost their lives in the tragedy. We didn't have much information on Patrick H. Sullivan's family. According to our genealogical sources, Patrick Sullivan came from county of Waterford, Ireland; m. Jane Brady of Thomaston on Aug 18, 1851. Patrick H. was the son of Patrick Sullivan.

Patrick's brother, Timothy, b. abt 1810 in Ireland and his wife Ellen were in Rockland, ME (neighboring town) at the same time. Timothy died suddenly on Feb 26, 1863, but left children.

I have attached a photo of Patrick Sullivan's house, which is on the same street of Captain Willey's home.

Sincerely,
Margaret McCrea
President, Thomaston Historical Society
These exciting nuggets of information had me searching my scans of old slides and I came up with this image taken in 1976 or 1977 of my Mother (Suzanne Deedy) and my brother (Conal Deedy) and myself (Jane) in front of the Sullivan family gravestone (My Mother's mother was Helen Sullivan) in Thomaston, ME.

This close-up of the gravestone lists Patrick Sullivan (1820-1888) and his wife, Jane Brady (1830-1913). These are my great-great grandparents. The painting that started this whole research quest has been in the family for as long as my Mother could remember, but she had been told it was the ship of an Uncle who was lost at sea. It was only as we read the articles found on the back of the painting that more details emerged.

Thanks to Margaret McCrea's information I can now confidently say Patrick Sullivan on the family gravestone is the Father of P.H. Sullivan, first-mate, who died in 1888 on the shipwreck of the Alfred D. Snow on the Irish coast.

The sea appears to have been both kind and cruel to my ancesters. My great-aunt Jane Austin Sullivan (daughter of Maurice Sullivan who was the brother of P.H. Sullivan) left behind some notes about her family history. They reveal that P.H. Sullivan's Father, Patrick, immigrated from Ireland with his Father and three brothers. He and two sons died of ships fever and are buried in Nova Scotia. G. Father Patrick Sullivan, after death of Father and two brothers made his way to Thomaston, ME. Stayed there working for Capt. Watts. The notes from my great-aunt continue with this: Gr. Mother Jane Brady born June 1830 died Oct. 7, 1913. She came from Ireland, June 1847 in the Brig. General Tailor commanded by Capt. Lilly of South Warren, her Father Maurice Brady her Mother Margaret Caraway of the Town of Sligo County Sligo Ireland.

In the notes Jane crossed out a paragraph. This is what I can make out of the scratched out notes:

Gr. Mother Jane Brady an orphan was going to be adopted by the Protestant side of the family the Cordways. The Bradys decided to send her to … The Brady’s in Maine Captain Lilly of South Warren Maine was looking for a nurse maid for his child on the voyage home. Jane came to Thomaston and lived with the Elliot’s. From these pieces of information a tale is starting to emerge. Patrick Sullivan, having survived the crossing from Ireland to Nova Scotia with his brother Timothy buried his Father and other two brothers and made his way to Thomaston, ME to work for Capt. Watts. In Thomaston, ME he met and married Jane Brady, who herself survived the crossing at age 17 - paying for her passage by working as a nursemaid for Capt. Lilly. Their son, P.H. Sullivan, later found work as a sailor for Captain Willey.

Patrick and Jane's younger son, Maurice, left Thomaston and moved down to Boston to work as a police officer. One of his sons (Lawrence Timothy Sullivan) became a Captain and loved the sea. He, like his uncle P.H. Sullivan, died at sea. His ship was torpedoed in World War II. More on that history later...

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Alfred D. Snow

This old newspaper article was attached to the back of an old watercolor painting in my Mother's home. The painting depicts the ship Alfred D. Snow which went down with all hands off the coast of Ireland in 1888. The first mate, P.H. Sullivan, was a great-great-uncle on my Mother's side. Below are the text of two articles found behind the painting. The old news paper articles are in poor shape, some words are missing - I did the best I could to preserve the contents of the stories below:

ALL HANDS LOST

Wreck of a Thomaston Ship on the Irish Coast.

The Alfred D. Snow Goes Down with All on Board.

Capt. Wiley's Wife One of the Victims of the Wreck.

DUBLIN, Jan 5. - The vessel Alfred D. Snow was driven ashore and wrecked today, in Herryloch Bay, at Arthurstown, county Wexford. The crew were drowned. The bodies of the captain and three of the crew were recovered.

London, Jan. 5. - It is now known definitely that the vessel wrecked near Waterford, Ireland, was the American ship Alfred D. Snow, Capt. Wiley, which left San Francisco Aug. 31st, for Liverpool. The ship was lost in Herrylock Bay, off Arthurstown at the entrance to Waterford Harbor. There is no doubt that every member of the crew perished. The ship's papers have been recovered.

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 5 - The American ship Alfred D. Snow whose loss is reported from Waterford, Ireland, was one of the Nevada Bank's fleet of wheat ships. She departed for Liverpool, Aug. 3d last, having been cleared the day previous by William Dresback, the leader of the "bull" clique in the later wheat deal. The crew consisted of Capt. W.H. Wiley, first mate P.H. Sullivan, second mate John Child, and 26 seamen.

Capt. Wiley's wife accompanied him on the voyage. The cargo of wheat was valued at $95,000 and insured. The Alfred D. Snow was owned by T. W. Chapman & Co., of Thomaston, Me. She cost $115,000 and was fully insured in Eastern companies.

[The Alfred D. Snow was built in Thomaston in 1877, where she hails from. Her dimensions are as follows: Length, 232 feet; breadth, 42; depth, 21; and her gross tonnage 2075. -ED.]

Extract from Liverpool paper given by Capt. Hodgkins Jan. 1888.

Captain of a Station Life Boat Charged with Cowardice

Details of the Wreck of the Alfred D. Snow

Public Inquiry into the Matter to Be Made.

New York, Jan. 11, 1888. A special from Waterford Lt., to the Herald says the wreck of the American ship Alfred D. Snow of Maine can be seen at low water lying on its side on the shoal. Five bodies, including that of the captain, have been recovered as they washed up in the harbor. Among the crew, according to a list found in a memorandum book in the captain's pocket, were Capt. W. J. Willey, John Willey, son of the captain, Thomas McMahon, A.H. Slack, P.H. Sullivan, John Lermond and Robert Barter, all of Maine; P.J. Ledger of New York, George F. Dornes, F.W. Firham of Connecticut, John MacDougal of Vermont. John Johnson of Chicago, James Harrison of Massachusetts, Kellogg of Michigan and James Schoaer of New York.

At the opening of the inquest it appeared that the captain of the station life boat, on the morning of the wreck refused to put the boat out, on the ground that the weather was too rough, in which he was supported by a few of his crew, but the majority wished to proceed. In the port of Danmore, a short distance away, were some Manx fishing boats, whose crews insisted on taking on the life boat in spite of its captain by force, and assisted by the consenting members of the life boat's crew. They pulled ot the wreck while the storm was its fiercest, but the delays made them arrive too late to render any assistance, the crew of the Snow being one by one swept away by the waves, in the very sight of the succoring boat. The latter pulled around the wreck, but fruitlessly. The cowardly captin of the life boat is in danger of being lynched, while the Manx crew are being made heroes of. The body of Capt. Willey has been embalmed, and will be sent to Thomaston, Me.

Owing to the above serious allegations, the committee of the local branch of the National Life Boat Institution held a meeting yesterday to consider the advisability of holding a public inquary in the matter, which was decided on.

The funeral over the remains recovered was impressively held yesterday, and the whole town may be said to have mourned the sad fate of the strangers.

The body of Capt. Willey of Maine, who was drowned by the wreck of the ship Alfred D. Snow on the Irish coast, has been embalmed and placed on board the steamer City of ?? sailed from Queen ??

Interesting reuse of the ship in Ireland...

The fully air conditioned Alfred D. Snow Bar at the Ocean Hotel is named after the ship Alfred D. Snow which floundered off our coast in 1888 and whose timbers were used in the original construction of the pub in 1890 where they still remain today. The walls of the bar abound with writings on the history of that ship.

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