Week 14: Edna Elizabeth Richards

It’s week 14 in Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors Challenge! (Ok so it was week 14 a couple of days ago 🙂 )  On the agenda for this week:

Week 14 (April 2-8) – Favorite Photo: Who is in a favorite photo of yours? Or tell the story of the photo itself — where was it taken, what was the event?

The spark that started it all- the quest to find out more about my ancestry became a flame with the quest to find out more about my paternal grandmother.  A cousin had done a family genealogy that provided her name: Edna Elizabeth.  This photo, marked with the date July 2, 1922, was the first I had ever seen of Edna.

My grandmother, Edna Elizabeth Richards, was the youngest child and second daughter of Thearon and Sophia (Wombwell) Richards. She was born March 20, 1904 in Rochester, New York. There is no birth certificate on file at the New York State Archives for Edna. That is not incredibly unusual however, though New York State law provided for the registration of births in 1880, compliance with that law was not universal until about 1915[1]. Edna’s birthdate is found in various other records including her baptism, marriage and death records.

Title Church of the Epiphany Date circa 1900.
Collection Rochester Public Library Local History Division picture file
Image Number rpf01488

Edna was baptized at the Church of the Epiphany in Rochester, New York on June 5, 1904. This was the same Episcopalian church where her parents married and her siblings were baptized.

Edna was enumerated in the 1905 New York State Census in the household of her parents and siblings. The census date was June 1, 1905, Edna E Richards is listed as 1 years old, consistent with her birth the previous year. The family lived at 35 Petrel Street in Rochester. According to Zillow.com the home, built in 1890, is still in existence. The house is listed as a 2 bedroom single family in the Edgarton area of Rochester.

Ancestry.com, New York, State Census, 1905 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014), Ancestry.com, Record for Thearon A Richards.

Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Name: Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006;), Year: 1910; Census Place: Rochester Ward 19, Monroe, New York; Roll: T624_990; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 0196; FHL microfilm: 1375003.

In 1910, Edna was again enumerated with her family in the United States Census. She is found also with the family in the 1915 New York State Census and the 1920 United States Census. The family’s residence was at 177 Cady Street, Rochester.

Monroe County, New York, Marriage License, no. 39220, (1922), “John McGlynn-Edna Richard,” Rochester Historic Archives, Rochester, New York, [copy from marriage register in possession of researcher].

On July 3, 1922, Edna Elizabeth Richards, married my grandfather, John Harry McGlynn. In that year, John Harry worked as a shipper and Edna as a bookkeeper for tobacconists Hill & Waite. At the time of her marriage, Edna provides her place of residence as 57 Kron Street, Rochester. After the marriage, the couple would live at 629 Culver Ave, Rochester, in the home of John’s parents.

In 1923, Edna Elizabeth McGlynn, turned nineteen. In that same year, their first child, a baby boy named John Harry, was born.

Ancestry.com, New York, State Census, 1925 (Online publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.Original data – State population census schedules, 1925. Albany, New York: New York State Archives

Edna and John, along with son John, were enumerated in the 1925 NYS census. In 1925 they were living with Edna’s parents. Later that year, a second son, George Robert, was born.

When she was 22 years old, Edna was pregnant for a third time with their third son, Richard. A little more than a month before the birth of their third child on March 14, 1927, Edna became ill with pan sinusitis, a serious infection of all four sinus cavities. She continued to suffer with this through the end of her pregnancy. Several days after giving birth, Edna had an operation to irrigate her sinuses. Likely this procedure, combined with the weakened state her body was in after childbirth left her open to developing a septic infection. Edna died April 5, 1927. Edna was buried at Brighton Cemetery in Rochester, April 8, 1927. It appears that there is no marker, it has been either destroyed or never existed.

From death certificate of Edna Richards McGlynn. State of New York, County of Monroe, Department of Health, 21417 registered number 1085, “Edna Elizabeth (RICHARDS) McGlynn Death Certificate,” filed: April 8 1927, “Standard Cerificate of Death,” certificate copy, State of New York, Vital Records Section, Albany, NY.

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[1] “New York Vital Records” FamilySearch. https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/New_York_Vital_Records

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