Munsey Family Secrets

Catherine Munsey, my grandmother

The chief keepers of secrets on the Munsey side were my maternal grandmother, Catherine Munsey Ferrone Kessler, born on November 25, 1901, and her sister, Susan Munsey Rose Garamone, two years her senior, born in September of 1899..  Both were the children of  James P. Munsey and  Delia Cashin Munsey, who were married on December 11, 1898 in Manhattan. They were the first and second of five children:  Patrick, John and Thomas followed in 1906, 1908 and 1910. 

The Munsey family lived on the East Side in Manhattan.  In the 1900 Census, James and Delia lived with his mother, Susan Munsey, at 621 East 34th Street, who rented furnished rooms at that address. Susan Munsey was born in 1850 and emigrated to the United States about 1865. In addition to James and Delia, Susan Munsey had four other roomers in the house in 1900:  Richard Cashin, 18, apparently Delia's brother, who had just emigrated to the United States from Ireland, John O'Brien, 55, a watchman, John Harrigan, 35, a baker, and Thomas Bolan, 40. 

My grandmother and Aunt Susie were incredibly connected, seeing each other at least twice a week for their entire lives.  In fact, family legend is that Frank Garamone, who married Susie in on October 2, 1925 in the Bronx, first dated my grandmother and ended up marrying her sister. Since I never knew my maternal grandfather, Frank Garamone, who we always called Uncle Gary, was as close a patriarch as we had in our family.

Bingo and secrets were the bonds of the Munsey sisters.  Their routine, as I remember it as a child, was that my grandmother would travel to Manhattan from the Crinkle Cup factory in Long Island City where she worked, on Tuesdays and Fridays to play Bingo.  On Tuesdays she came home after Bingo to her house in St. Albans, and on Fridays she stayed with Aunt Susie and Uncle Gary on 21st Street in Manhattan.  They would all come to Queens regularly on Saturday, where Aunt Susie and Uncle Gary would spend the weekend. 

I never knew my maternal grandfather, or even who he was.  As a child I surmised that his name was Edward Kessler, because my grandmother was Catherine Kessler and her five children, including my mother, had that name, but he was never spoken of - there were no pictures of him or information about him.  He was never mentioned.  I found this odd and off-setting, feeling as if I was missing a part of my history.  Although we believed that we were half Italian and half Irish, I remember thinking that Kessler wasn't an Irish name and that I must be part German, or whatever Edward Kessler was.

After my grandmother died in 1979, I was going through her papers and found my mother's Baptismal Certificate from St. Ann's Church on 110th Street, and was shocked to find that her father's name was Michael Ferrone, someone I had never heard of before.  When I questioned my mother about it, she was evasive but finally admitted that my grandmother had been "married before"  This unknown ancestor, my grandfather actually, became the focus of my genealogical research.

My grandmother married Michele Ferrone at St. Ann's Church on June 20, 1920.  She was 19 at the time and the groom 20.  The witnesses were Dominick and Katherine Ferrone.  The bride's parents are listed as James Munsey and Brigit Cashin (not Delia) and the groom's parents as Michele Ferrone and Costanza Celestino.  Apparently my mother, Constance Delia Resti, was named after both of her grandmothers.

In the 1925 City Census, Michael and Catherine Ferrone are living at 618 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn with Constance, age 3 and Catherine, Age 1.  My grandmothers brother, John Munsey, who was 18 also lived with them.  But five years later, in the 1930 Federal Census, My grandmother is living at 52-13 43rd Street in Queens with Edward Kessler, age 31 and Constance, Catherine, Lawrence, Edward and John, all of whom now bear the surname Kessler.  My grandmother's other brother, Thomas Munsey, who is 19, also lived with them.  In the 1940 Federal Census, the family (Without Edward Kessler) ism living at 46-06 Borden Avenue in Queens, and all continue using the surname Kessler.

I could find no record of a marriage between Catherine Munsey and Edward Kessler, nor do I have the birth certificates for Lawrence, Edward or John to determine their paternity.  The 1930 Census includes the information that Edward Kessler was married at age 21, which was the same year that my grandmother married Michele Ferrone. 

I do have a baptismal certificate for my Aunt Cappy, Catherine Margaret Ferrone, who was born on April 17, 1924 and baptized on May 28, 1924 at St. Ann's Church.  Her godmother was Susie Rose, which raised another secret.  This was actually my Aunt Susie, who was married on February 26, 1923 to Francis F. Rose.  Shewas also married two years later (hopefully after a divorce) to Frank J. Garamone, our Uncle Gary.  The 1930 Census, conducted 5 years after their marriage, shows that they had three children living with them:  James, who was 11 (and whose birth pre-dated either marriage), Francis, 3 and Rocco, 1.  Apparently my grandmother wasn't the only Munsey sister with a secret.

This exposition raises more questions than it answers.  Are my Kessler cousins really Kesslers or are they actually Ferrones?  Who are our ancestors and what were there lives like?  What I have learned is that  my grandmother was a tough, resilient woman who, notwithstanding the confusion in her marital and domestic states, raised five children, all of whom had stable and long-lasting relationships, and produced 19 grandchildren.  She was the only grandparent that I had and I believe I was fortunate in that regard.