The Kempen - Scully connection (Fanning side)

As I wrote in the last Fanning family post, Henry "Henny" Kempen married Marion Scully (1898-1971) around 1920. They lived at the 1669 Third Ave address. They had a daughter Veronica Helen in 1921.

I remember my great grandmother Marion from when I was young. She died when I was 4, so there are not many memories. However, at the time she lived with daughter Veronica and her family of Fannings. I don't recall her being a very doting woman, but she was protective as she was continually telling us kids to stop playing on the stairs. I remember her smoking a lot while she sat in the living room chair. Once in a while it was with a beer in a gold colored metal cup.

Marion Scully Kempen

So, who was Marion Scully? As discussed earlier, her parents were Michael Scully (1866-1908) and Annie O'Neill (1873-?). According to consistent census records, Michael was born in Ireland in 1866 and immigrated to the America in 1887 at 21 years old. History tells us that Ireland in the 1880's was one of difficult social conditions. The era of the worldwide Long Depression had caused grief among the residents of the emerald isle with unemployment while class struggles and "The Troubles" made life even harder. I have been unable to locate any records of Michael or his family prior to his arrival in the US. All we know is that he was just one of thousands who journeyed far in search of a better life.

Even less is known about Annie O'Neill (actually the last name is an assumption as she was residing with her nephew in the 1910 census). Conflicting dates on the census reports has her immigrating in 1881, 1890, and 1893, but they all indicate her birth was in November 1873 and that she came from Northern Ireland. Life as a Catholic in Northern Ireland continues to be a difficult one. Life in the 19th century Northern Ireland was one of poverty and prejudice as a Catholic. Unfortunately, the 1890 census reports were lost to fire because we could have determined if she came with other family members. Annie and Michael married in 1897. Marion was born in 1898 & their son, Michael Jr., was born in 1899. Unfortunately, he died at 2 years old.

Michael Sr. died in 1908 and this left Annie and her 10 year old daughter, Marion, in a very vulnerable position in New York City. They apparently spent their entire lives together although I have not been able to locate a death record for Annie Scully.

The tale is reiterated with Marion and her daughter, Veronica who was known to all as Vera, after Henny & Marion divorced. Initially, I believed that Henny had left the family after 1930 but after speaking with other family members it may have been Marion who left Henny after getting fed up with lies and a a life of being a flim-flam man. It was once described that Henny was just like a character in the movie "The Sting". I also thought that Henny did not have any contact with Marion or Vera during her adult life but I recently learned that he did walk Vera down the aisle at her wedding.

Wedding party of Joseph & Vera Fanning. Henny Kempen is 3rd from right.

The 1940 census will be released next month and we'll be able to see where Marion & Vera were as the European conflict was growing into World War II. We do know that Marion lived with Vera's family in Manhattan's Yorkville until they moved to Lyndhurst, NJ, in 1964. She died on March 6, 1971.

Vera married Joseph Patrick Fanning and had 6 children. But I think we'll save this story until we discuss the Fanning branch.

Marie Antoinette Finck

The seventh and youngest of the Finck children was Marie Antoinette Finck (1878-1933). She, too, lived at the Eldridge St apartment building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with parents Frederick & Marie Antoinette Finck. They later moved to 138 East 19 St, NYC. According to the 1900 census it was just mother and daughter living at the 19th St house with a butler, a female servant and a boarder named George Johnson.

As told by the NY Times, on November 4, 1903, Miss Marie Antoinette Finck and Frederick Harriman Wright (1863-1933) - my great grandparents - were married at a 4 o'clock service at the prestigious All Souls Church located at Fourth Avenue and East 20 Street. The bride was given away by her brother, George Finck. Her Maid of Honor was her cousin, Antoinette Elliott. Frederick's best man was Smith Ely (his sister Madeleine's brother-in-law) along with John Finck, Adam Finck & Moses Ely as ushers. Reception followed at 138 E. 19 St at bride's home.

Marie Antoinette was known to her family as only, Antoinette and she and her new husband lived at the 19th St house for some time. Frederick was a sculptor and an artist. The name attached to his works of art was F. Harriman Wright. I have found some that have been sold in auction in the past few years. Most of his work involved wildlife and have sold for less than $500. He had a studio on Madison Avenue where he displayed and sold his work. I plan to discuss his family branch after the Finck family.

Self Portrait of F. Harriman Wright

 

Recently, I made an exploratory visit to Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. I was able to obtain some very interesting records that filled in some questions that have arisen. Antoinette and Frederick had two sons that the family was aware of. The elder was my grandfather, George Godfrey Wright (1906-1955). On his birth certificate there is a caption that George was the second child of Antoinette. Cemetery records show that Frederick Anthony Wright, who died as an infant in September 1904, is buried at the Finck family plot. I believe this would be the child referred to in George's birth certificate.

John Guttridge Wright (1910-1973) was born to the couple and was known to everyone as Jack.

Marie Antoinette with sons, George and Jack

The 1920 census bring us to some more curious information, though. The family had moved to 302 West 79 St in Manhattan. Listed on this census report is seven year-old sister Marie, born in 1913. None of my relatives are aware of this sibling. I have been unable to locate any records of her birth or death, either. The family also employed two servants, Jane Fewell and Ella Gray.

The 1930 census has the parents living with their sons, George, 23, and Jack, 20, at 344 West 72 Street with a wonderful view of Riverside Park. George was listed as following in his father's footsteps as commercial artist. No mention of a daughter, Marie. But there was one maid listed.

I will continue with the families of George and Jack in the next post.

The Finck Family Plot at Woodlawn Cemetery

Here is the information I was able to cull from the cemetery records. Here is a list of the people buried at the site with ages in parentheses:

Frederick Finck (69) - 3/2/1899

Marie Antoinette Finck (81) - 2/12/1915

George Finck (57) 10/13/1917 (later removed to Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla in 1918)

Adam Finck (55) - 6/30/1922

Emily A. Finck Elliott (58) - 4/3/1924

Richard W. Elliott (78) - 12/20/1938

Florence Mott Finck (53) - 3/20/1930

John Finck (82) 4/27/1951

Frederick H. Wright (70) 10/21/1933

Antoinette Wright (45) 8/4/1933 (obviously an error - age does not match other census records. This would make her born in 1888 instead of 1874 & only 15 when they married)

Fred Anthony Finck (infant) 9/2/1004 

 

John G. Wright (63) - 5/29/1973

Veronica M. Wright - (85) 1/13/2007

Deborah Wright (4) 7/14/1957

Henry Kempen & Marion Scully (Fanning side)

I am sorry for the delay in posting to the blog. A change in schedule & other projects have caused the delay, but I have also found some very interesting items for future discussions on other branches of the family. So, there is a lot to look forward to!

Today, we run down the children of Heinrich Kempen & Annie Dertinger (my great-great grandparents). As discussed in one of the first blog posts, the Kempen clan all lived at 1669 Third Ave in Manhattan from the late 1800's through the 1930's when they began to move to Astoria, Queens.

The oldest of the children is Henry (1897-1969) who everyone knew as "Henny". Born on May 6, 1897 in NYC he is listed on the 1900 & 1910 census reports with the Kempen family. On his WW1 draft registration card he is listed as employed by the American Express Co, but by August 9 of the same year, he was enlisted in the US Army as a wagoner. He was assigned to base #4 in France. He probably did not see much action in the war since by November of 1918 the war was officially over.

Henny Kempen (bottom right) with Army buddies.

The January 1920 census has Henny listed as a chauffeur it was around this time that he married Marion Scully (1898-1971), my great grandmother. I have not been able to find an exact date for their marriage but their first and only child, Veronica, was born November 23, 1921 in Astoria. This Kempen family is listed once again in the 1930 census as residing at the Third Ave building. Henny's occupation was an electrician at a brewery. Other members of the Kempen family worked at Jacob Ruppert's Brewery around this time, too. 

The family lore is that Henny was a "flim-flam" man, a bit of a con artist. Marion and Henny split up around this time and I have not been able to find much evidence of Henny's life afterwards. MArion and Veronica did not have much contact with him afterwards, as well. There are address directories showing that Henny lived at various addresses in the east end of Suffolk County, NY. Supposedly, he was living with a woman named Consuella later in life. His social security death record says his last residence was in the Hampton Bays and he died January 20, 1969 and is buried at the National Veterans Cemetery in Farmingdale, NY.

Marion Scully was born August 29, 1898 in New Jersey to Michael H. Scully (1866-1908) and Ann O'Neill (1873-?). Michael & Ann were both born in Ireland. Annie was from Northern Ireland and immigrated in 1893. Michael immigrated in 1887. According to census records, they were married in 1897. Marion was born a year later and a son, Michael Jr., was born on November 28, 1899. Sadly, he died in October 16, 1901, just shy of his second birthday.

The 1900 census reports them residing in at 109 West 46 St in NYC. Michael's occupation was masseuse. In this era, this neighborhood of Manhattan was nicknamed "Satan's Circus" due to the tremendous amount of gambling parlors and saloons that permeated the area. Robbery and murder were commonplace. The police corruption was overwhelming, too. When police Captain Alexander "Clubber" Williams was transferred to this ward he made a statement to the effect, "I have had chuck steak for far too long, now it's time for some tenderloin!" The moniker "Tenderloin" attached to the area in police circles for the amount of graft collected for Tammany Hall. It is likely that Michael was a masseuse at one of these gambling halls. It was popular for gamblers to take a break from all-night card games by getting a massage.

 

An excellent book for anyone interested in the history on NYC.

Michael Sr. died July 30, 1908 leaving Annie and daughter Marion on their own. The 1910 census lists them living at 340 East 49 Street. Annie was trying to make ends meet as a restaurant cook and rented a room out to her nephew John O'Neill, who was 23 at the time and was a railway conductor. The next decade found mother and daughter at 223 East 53 St. and Annie worked as a "laundry ironer" and Marion was working as a clerk. By 1930 Marion was married to Henny and I cannot find a census or death record for Annie.

The next post on this side of the family will continue with Marion & Veronica and their journey to the Fanning family.