Complete list of names in tree
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[30006]
[30006]
From Herb Schreib:
September 19, 1917: Marriage of Harry Duffy & Anna Russell
May 4, 1918: Birth of Ruth Margaret Duffy (unlikely but possible that conception occurred on or after the wedding night)
September 24, 1919: Birth of Dorothy Duffy
December 8, 1919: Divorce of Harry & Anna
June 27, 1921: Birth of Helen Pearl Duffy in Cleveland, Ohio . . . Helen's later marriage record (1939) refers to Harry as father and Bertha as her mother.
Other documents including Social Security paperwork refer to Anna as the mother.
Commentary: Perhaps, Aunt Bert acted as a mother to Helen. Or maybe she actually was the mother. Perhaps Anna was the mother (even though the birth happened years after divorcing Harry). Maybe, Anna or Bertha are the mother but the father is someone else (if so, it was generous for Harry to accept paternity). Or perhaps the mother and father are both unknown . . . this is most unlikely . . . if so, how did she end up in Rochester, listing Harry and Berta as her parents.
Almost certainly, either Bertha or Anna and / or Harry (or George) were the parents. I am not sure what the location of the birth (Cleveland, Ohio) indicates about Helen's parentage as all of the other players in this drama lived in
Rochester (although legal proceedings often occurred in Cleveland, Oho for various reasons mentioned above).
March 7, 1927: Marriage of Harry Duffy & Bertha Schmitt
1930: It was documented that Ruth, Dorothy & Helen were living in St. Patrick's Girls Orphan Asylum in 1930. It remains unclear when they arrived or departed except to say that they had all left by the mid-1930s. Note: there was also a corresponding boys orphanage in Rochester at the time called St. Mary’s Boys Asylum. However, I found no record of any boy with the last name of "Duffy" living there in reviewing the 1930 census (which did have several pages of records on residents of the orphanage). At this time, Harry & Bertha Duffy are living at 429 Clinton Avenue in Rochester. I could not locate / confirm an Anna Russell in 1930 Census data (there were many Anna Russell's but I could not confirm if one aligned to this specific person).
1940: It should be noted that Ruth was living with her mother Anna again at 347 Savannah Street, Rochester, NY. Thus, we can assume some level of rapprochement / forgiveness (at least between Anna and Ruth) for what occurred and the reality that Ruth (and her siblings) were left at the orphanage.
[29997] [S803] Obituary of Herbert C Schreib
[29998] [S804] Obituary of Helen Duffy
[30002] [S804] Obituary of Helen Duffy
[30004] [S804] Obituary of Helen Duffy