BRIDGET SMYTH FAMILY
It took a few years for us to make a connection with Bridget Smyth, who was a sister to Irish John Smyth (Smith). During a conversation with Frank Smith, he mentioned that his father had a sister "Bridget" and a brother "Owen or Eoin". Over time, we came to the conclusion that her baptismal name (or real name) was Theresa, and that helped solve the mystery of "what happened to Bridget." When we determined that Bridget was married to Frank Vallander from Madison, Wisconsin, the census information we reviewed did not make sense. In one case, we saw data that showed her country of origin as Ireland and other data that showed her country of origin as Germany. Then we realized that "our Theresa" had died in 1872 and Frank Vallander re-married to another woman named "Teresa".
This twist also has created some confusion with family trees in ancestry.com. In the Esser family tree, for example, they show Bridget's daughter connected with the "German Teresa", even though she was born in 1872. Other trees show it correctly.
Below is Catherine Vallender, daughter of Bridget and Frank Vallender. In their tree, they show that Sophia (Teresa) was her mother.
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When Catherine Vallender was born on November 16, 1869, in Wisconsin, her father, William, was 26 and her mother, Bridget, was 25. She married Frank Esser in 1892. They had eight children in 14 years. She died on September 12, 1919, in Madison, Wisconsin, at the age of 49, and was buried there.
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If there are any questions about the authenticity of Catherine's mother being Bridget Teresa, one only needs to look at the cemetery headstone. She died three years after her daughter Catherine was born. When Bridget Smith was born in 1839 in Aghabog, Monaghan, Ireland, her father, Peter, was 29 and her mother, Catherine, was 28. She had one son and one daughter with William Vallender between 1866 and 1869. She died as a young mother in 1872 in Madison, Wisconsin, at the age of 33. |
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Bridget and John Smyth |
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