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Margaret Alice Knowlton (I5261)
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Personal Facts and Details
  Events of close relatives | |
| Birth | 11 August 1921  22 |
| Death of mother | 11 February 1945 (Age 23) Helen McGann (I45239) (Age approx. 46) - [Relationship Chart] |
| Death of father | November 1961 (Age 40) James Russell Knowlton (I45238) (Age 62) - [Relationship Chart] |
| Death | 7 June 1997 (Age 75) Linden, Union, NJ |
| Universal Identifier | 78D5F623CF89D511973400E02931A951A316 |
| Last Change | 8 March 2007 - 09:45:58 Last changed by: dcoplien |
Notes
 Note |
A Lost Grandmother – ….. And 400 years of ancestors found by Kathleen (Coplien) Szelag, March 2007 I started this document to record what little we knew of my husband’s maternal grandmother, Helen McGann Knowlton. In the process, however, we learned about the Knowltons going back 400 years. This then is the very partial and confusing story of Helen McGann Knowlton, mother of Margaret Alice (Marge) Knowlton and her brother or half-brother “Buddy”. Marge was wife to Charles Szelag, and mother to Judy and Charles Russell (Russ) Szelag. For all practical purposes the two grandchildren knew little about Helen growing up, and never met her. Marge did not speak of her to any extent, and, on the few occasions when she briefly did, it was with hurt and perhaps some resentment. This is what I have learned so far; if and when other information becomes available, I will modify this note. I am also including some “possibilities “ and speculation in this note, in the hopes that someone might someday be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together. The Knowltons The surname Knowlton is English and is generally thought to have been taken as a surname by early inhabitants of two towns (one in Kent and one in Dorset) named Knowlton - village on a hill. It is believed that about 2500 families in the United States trace back to the “Knowltons”. Tradition says most trace back to the “William’ below, although some doubt that. Our “Knowltons” seem to be descended from the Kent side, with the earliest known being Richard Knowlton, born in 1553 at Knowlton Manor in Kent. While there was a manor house (now long gone), none of “our Knowltons” are thought to have lived in it. Rather they were, for the most part, farmers who continued that trade in the new world. Richard’s son William, born about 1584, was a sea captain who died at sea on the way to the United States with his family and is buried in Nova Scotia. It is his son John (1610 – 1653) who seems to be the first ancestor to live in what is now the United States (Ipswich, Massachusetts.) In his will of 1653, John leaves all his possessions (except his tools and some of his clothes) to his wife Margery. They have a son John (1633-1684); he was a shoemaker and farmer John’s wives were Deborah and Sarah. John’s children include Ephraim (born 1676 in Essex Mass), as well as John, Nathaniel, Elizabeth, Thomas, Catherine, Deborah, Robert, Suzanne, Abraham and Ezekiel. John’s son Ephraim married Katherine Griffin (1678), and they move to Westchester County New York. There, in 1701, they have a son Robert. Robert married an unknown woman, and they have a son Ephraim in 1730. This Ephraim is a farmer who served in the Revolutionary War (Westchester County Second Militia). He married a woman named Charity. Charity and Ephraim have a son Abijah in Westchester County in 1782. They continue as farmers. Abijah married Abigail Ann Russell (1783), and from then on the name Russell continues as a family name (always with two L’s at the end). They have a son James Russell in 1800, who married Ann Eliza Buskirk (born 1810) in 1828. They in turn have a son John Russell in 1836. James Russell is buried in Dale Cemetery, Ossining, New York. Although John Russell had been living and working in Westchester, New York through 1860, by 1870, the couple is living in Jersey City with their children. The children are Henry Mullholland (the youngest at that point, born in 1870) and his older brothers James (1857), William (1859) and George (1861). Ann’s sister has married a John Mulholland from Ireland, and Henry’s middle name reflects that. In 1880, the family is in the same home, with a final child – John (1872). Marge Szelag believed that John’s middle initial was “V”. And indeed it was “Van Buskirk” after his grandmother. The father and the oldest 3 boys are “clerks in offices and Sybil “keeps home”. The youngest 2 boys are “in school”. A fire destroyed most of the 1890 census records and so we can tell nothing of them in that year. In 1891, 92 and 93 the police in Jersey City conduct a house-to-house survey to publish a directory of the city. They list only the adults, and even then, often only those who are working. Henry is in his early 20s and is first on Oak Street and then on Clerk Street as an “oil tester.” Note: in some of the census records over the years, Henry is incorrectly transcribed as Harry; looking at the original handwritten notes clearly show “Henry”. The 1900 census shows that John R and Sybil are still alive, and have a home in Ridgewood, New Jersey (158 Franklin). Next door to them at # 159 are son John V. Knowlton, his wife Emma (same age as him) and their son John R (born 1892). John Russell and wife Sybil die in 1905 and 1909 (see next paragraph). They are buried in Valleau Cemetery in Ridgewood. In 2007, Judy Szelag found the following graves in the Knowlton plot at Valleau: Elizabeth (Bette) Knowlton (1908-1997 and second wife to James R. Knowlton), James R. Knowlton (1899-1961), Alice M. Seymour (1873-1924, wife of Henry M.), Phillip R. Apffel (1894-1941), Sybil L. Knowlton Apffel (1894-1936), Wiliam H. Knowlton (1859-1935), Elizabeth Huffman (1861-1920, wife of William H), John Russell Knowlton (1835-1905), Sybil A. Hunt (1836-1909, wife of John R.), Grace Edna Knowlton (1884-1941, daughter of George and Mary), George Edgar Knowton (1863-1931), Mary Hopper (1867-1908, wife of George E.), Elizabeth Knowlton Cooke (1900-1994), Gordon Campbell Cooke (1897-1976) and Margaret Gibbs (1854-1943). The Seymours Meanwhile, the girl who will become Henry Mulholland Knowltons’s wife is born. Her parents are William and Louisa Seymour, both of who were born in England, but who immigrated to the US in 1867 (per later census records). It is not clear if they came as a married couple or married here. I cannot find immigration records for a married William and Louisa in the correct timeframe, so it is likely they met and married here. There are many English William Seymours who immigrate as single men in the correct timeframe. He is a carpenter and will be his entire life. She will always say that she “keeps house”. They both were born in 1842-1844 and are married by 1869 All their children are listed as being born in the US, the oldest in 1869. [There is a free registry of English marriages in that timeframe; there are at least 100 William Seymours listed. I did find one potential match – William and Louisa Maria Seymour marry in the Pancras section of London in the Spring of 1868.I will continue to look for immigration records] By 1880 they are living in Jersey City. One child is Alice, born in 1873. Her siblings are Emily (1869), Mary (1871), Clara (1876), Esther (1878) and Frances (1880) For the most part, 1890 census records are missing for that area. In 1900 both are still alive and have 2 daughters still living with them; Clara is an “operator”. By the 1910 census Louisa is a widow and living with her daughter Hester Shaw in Bayonne, New Jersey. Marge Szelag provided the name Alice Seymour and a few other facts. Marge also mentioned the name Louise Seymour Robinson as a relative, but I have no information on who that would be. The years of “Judge” Henry Knowlton and Alice Henry M. Knowlton and Alice Seymour marry, probably in Jersey City (or in Ridgewood where they would later be buried.) The year was probably around 1890. From the 1891 directory, we know that Henry is working as an “Oil Tester”. Given family history later, this may have been at the Standard Oil facility. The 1900 and 1910 census records show them still living in Jersey City, although the names and ages of some of their children seem to differ a bit in the two census records. In 1900, their children are William (8), Henry (6), Sybil (6?), Alice (3) and James Russell (Aug. 3, 1899). James Russell will be known as “Russell “ most of his life and later marry the mysterious Helen McGann. The 1910 census shows their children as William (18), Sybil (16), Alice (13), Russell (11), Emma (8), Hester (4) and Elizabeth (3). In 1917 Russell registers for the draft. He is living in Jersey City and says he is 19. He is working – at Standard Oil (where he will work until retirement). He lists his nearest living relative as his mother Alice, at 285 Chapel Street, Jersey City. He is of slender build, average height and brown hair. . Also registering for the draft are his two older brothers – Harry (Henry) and William George. Both are also employed at Standard Oil (William as a brick layer). Both are married with children. In the 1920 census, Henry and Alice are still in Jersey City, with children Harry, Russell, Emma and Hester. Daughter Alice has married; she and her husband William Andersen also live with them. Sybil has probably married, but it would appear that young Elizabeth has died. So it appears that Russell is still single and living at home in 1920. In the 1930 census, it appears Alice is no longer living. Henry (now known as “the judge”) has moved to Midland Park, New Jersey. He has moved in with his daughter Emma and her husband Edwin (Eddie) Feiler. Emma and Eddie have a 4-year-old son, Edwin Jr. Also living in the same home are Russell and his seven-year-old daughter, Margaret Alice (Marge.) So, between 1920 and 1930, it appears from the records and from family history that Russell has married, had at least one child, and is no longer living with the mother of his child. The question is – who is that mother and what happened to her? Also it appears that, by 1920, Russell’s brother George has a home in Ridgewood, New Jersey and is living there with his wife Grace. - (George Edgar, son of John Russell - Grace is his daughter, George Jr. her brother) Helen McGann Knowlton Probably the only thing we know for sure about Helen McGann is when she died – February 11, 1945. Her funeral was held at Schlemm Funeral home (no longer in existence) in Union City. I can find no obituary, no death notice, and no Social Security record for her. She is listed at her funeral as Helen Knowlton. The family story is that she was of Irish decent, that she and James Russell Knowlton married, and that two children were born. The first was a son “Buddy” and the second a daughter, Margaret Alice, born August 11, 1921 in Jersey City. Since Russell lived in Jersey City with his parents and worked at Standard Oil not too far away, and since Margaret was born in Jersey City, it is reasonable to assume that Helen may have lived in that same vicinity when she and Russell met. Russell was born in 1899, and so we can also assume Helen was probably born no more than a few years before that and no later that 1905 if she had two children by 1921. Her first name has always been “Helen”, spelled that way (rather than Hellen, Helene, etc.) In Irish families of the time, it was common to give a girl the first name of “Mary” or “Margaret” and then use their middle name for life. Thus she may have been “Mary Helen” or “Margaret Helen.” On Marge’s birth certificate, her mother’s maiden name is very clearly listed as Helen McGann. There is no middle initial. The 1910 census does not show any Helen McGann of the correct age in Jersey City, but the 1920 one does. In 1920, James Russell Knowlton is living at 410 Chapel. In 1920, a 17-year-old Helen McGann from Pennsylvania is living with her Aunt and Uncle Ella and Charles Comes. Helen lists herself as a “maker” at a “factory”. The Comes are living at 31 Rutgers, which is 0.9 miles from the Knowlton home. Helen does not show up with the Comes family in the 1930 census. [By 1930, however, there are also many Comes living in Union City.] The 1910 Pennsylvania census reveals only one likely candidate for this Helen – born in 1900 to John and Jennie McGann and with several brothers. Very little is known about Helen for the brief period she was married to Russell Knowlton. Almost nothing is known about her after they divorce in the early 1920s. In 1930 a Helen McGann (born 1897) is living with her Mother Mary McGann and sister Susi/Sadie in Manchester/Hartford Connecticut. Her mother had been born in Ireland, but Helen in the US. Helen lists herself as divorced. Finally, in 1930 a Helen McCann shows up as now living with her widowed mother Delia in Jersey City. Sisters Anna, Margaret and Alice also live there. This Helen seems a bit young, however, being born in 1908. Marge Lives with Her Father Marge’s memories of her early childhood begin in Midland Park, where she is living with her father, grandfather and Aunt and Uncle. There is also an extended “Knowlton” family nearby and she plays with her cousins. It is clear to her that, whoever her mother is, the Knowlton family is not fond of her. Marge resents what she feels is treatment as a “second class” relative. She has been told that her parents married and fairly quickly divorced. She is told that she has an older brother “Buddy”, that her mother Helen McGann has custody of him, and that her father was awarded (or negotiated) custody of Marge. Marge keeps hoping that her mother will come to visit, but she does not. Her cousins delight in teasing her that “Helen will be coming to visit today”. Marge hurries to make herself clean and pretty, but then her cousins shout, “Your mother will never come to visit you.” Marge is vaguely aware that her mother lives in the Jersey City area. Marge once tells Judy that there was an event when Marge was two in which Helen attempts to kidnap Marge. Marge told Judy about this shortly after Judy became a mother; Judy remembers the event being very difficult and painful for Marge to recount. Given that Helen appears to stop seeing Marge at about this time, it is possible that there was a legal of family ruling that she would no longer be allowed visitation rights. Sometime in the late 1920s or early 1930s, Marge is told that Buddy has died – killed when a car hits him while riding his bicycle in front of his house. Marge never mentions whether she or her father attend a funeral for him, but she does keep a picture of her brother that has been given to her by someone. Judy Szelag will later find that Buddy is not buried in the Knowlton family plot. Judy also remembers that Buddy was Catholic, while Marge was baptized Episcopalian (as per Knowlton tradition.) We therefore suspect that Russell Knowlton did in fact not father Buddy and that is why Helen retained custody of him at the divorce. In the mid 1930s.Marge’s father Russell remarries a woman named “Elizabeth”. For a period of time, Marge moves in with them. But it does not work out – Elizabeth (Bette) appears to be overly stern with Marge, and Bette and Russ now have a son of their own (James). In about 1980 (shortly after I married Russ), Marge mentioned to me that it was in this timeframe that she decides to find her mother. She somehow had an address for Helen in the Hackensack/Jersey City vicinity, and took the train alone to see her. Whatever happened when she arrived was a “disaster” and Marge resolves to have no more contact with her mother. After High School Marge works as a secretary at Standard Oil, continuing to do so after marrying Charlie Szelag. She leaves there in 1948, as she and Charlie get ready to start a family. In 1945, Marge is informed (by person or persons unknown) that her mother has died. Her mother’s funeral card was found in Marge’s prayer book after Marge’s death, so it is possible she attended the funeral. Eventually, Marge develops a good relationship with her father, and they both wind up living in Linden, New Jersey. Marge never gets along with Bette. Marge is always happy when she makes Sauerbraten; her father Russell loves it and asks her to save some of the gravy for him. So – many questions remain. • Who was Helen McGann? When was she born? • When did she marry Russell and where? • Who was “Buddy”? It seems strange that the mother would not have been granted custody of both children, unless she agreed to do so, or unless there was a specific reason she would keep the boy and the father the daughter. It seems odd that two children were born and a divorce finalized in less than a three-year period. Could someone else have fathered Buddy? Judy believes that Buddy was baptized Catholic, while Marge Episcopalian. If, by any chance, Buddy was Russell Knowlton’s son, then the 1930 census shows a young “Russell Knowlton’ being cared for by a family named Schmid in Jersey City with no mention of his parents. • Why did Marge have no contact with her mother while growing up? Helen seems to have lived with an hour train trip. Did Helen choose not to contact Marge, or did the Knowltons prohibit contact? • How did Helen die? Who was it to gave Marge Helen’s address in the 1930s and who told her that Helen had died in 1945? Final Notes When Marge Szelag was dying in 1997, she gave Russ and Judy some of the information in this note. She knew, for example, the names of her father’s brothers. She knew of at least Alice Seymour. She knew that most of Henry Mulholland’s family was buried in Valleau cemetery in Ridgewood, New Jersey (along with some of his ancestors.) She knew her mother’s name was Helen McGann and that she had died February 11, 1945. But she never mentioned where Helen was buried, or who her family might have been. Marge was of fair complexion with blue eyes. The single picture of buddy also shows him of fair complexion. So it is likely that Helen may also have been of fair complexion with blue eyes. She was of Irish decent and was Catholic. It appears she never got a social security card, or that, if she did, it was under a different name. She died at age no older than 50 of causes that are not known. As of March 5, 2007 we have sent a request to Trenton New Jersey to find Helen’s death certificate and have also ordered two books on the Knowltons. |
Media
 Multimedia Object | Margaret Alice (Knowlton) Szelag
Format: jpg Image Dimensions: 450 x 605 Type: photo |
Multimedia Object |  Knowlton Coat of Arms
Format: jpg Image Dimensions: 432 x 606 Type: certificate |
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Family with Parents - [View Family (F19582)] |
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Family with Charles Herman Szelag - [View Family (F243)] |
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