My third great-grandmother, Catherine Morgan was born in Delaware about 1832. She married James Morgan about 1854 and they resided in Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Catherine died in 1904, and was buried in Chester Rural Cemetery. This information about Catherine was readily available online when I began researching her, but her maiden name and the identity of her parents were initially a mystery. The answers lay in a combination of records, including a child’s death certificate, a newspaper item, and census records, some of which were obscured due to a mispelled surname.

A son’s death certificate revealed the maiden name.

Catherine was the mother of my great-great-grandmother, Mary Morgan. Mary died in 1890 at the age of 36. She left behind few records, none of which identified her mother’s maiden name. I expanded my research to Mary’s siblings to discover her mother’s identity.

Catherine and her husband James had a large family of 10 children. The names and approximate birthdates of most of the children can be found in the 1860, 1870, 1880 and 1900 censuses:

1. Mary, born about 1855
2. Sarah Elizabeth, born about 1858
3. William (twin), born about 1860
4. Edward (twin), born about 1860
5. Harry, born about 1862
6. Grant, born about 1868
7. James, born about 1871
8. Katherine, born about 1878

The Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1968 database on Ancestry included the 1912 death certificate for Edward Morgan. This record revealed the sought-after maiden name of Catherine: Breckenridge. It’s important to corroborate information like this, if possible. Fortunately, death certificates were later found for two other children, Harry and Elizabeth. These records are consistent with Edward’s death certificate. Catherine’s maiden name was Breckenridge. Catherine herself stated that this was her maiden name in her husband’s application for a Civil War Veteran’s pension, which was located at the National Archives.

The 1870 census identified likely parents of Catherine.

Once Catherine’s maiden name was discovered, I compiled the clues that I had about the identity of her parents, then I searched for a couple that fit this description. The details that I had about her parents included the following:

• Surname: Breckenridge
• Lived in Delaware about 1832 (Catherine’s birthplace and approximate year of birth)
• Possibly relocated to Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania
• Father was born in Pennsylvania
• Mother was born in Ireland
• Likely born sometime between 1792-1812 (assuming they were between the ages of 20-40 when Catherin was born)

For more information on how I identified her possible parents, check out my how-to video on YouTube.

Limiting my search to Delaware County and surrounding counties, I found James and Mary Breckenridge in the 1870 census. They fit the criteria of Catherine’s parents perfectly. They lived in Upland Borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. James was born in Pennsylvania about 1802 and Mary was born in Ireland about 1806.

A marriage bond, census and cemetery records reveal further details about James and Mary Breckenridge.

A marriage bond and an index of Delaware Marriage Records found on FamilySearch indicate that Mary Breckenridge’s maiden name was Eddy. The couple was married in New Castle County, Delaware on 16 February 1831, before Catherine Breckenridge’s approximated 1832 birth in Delaware.

James Brackenridge was enumerated in West Marlborough, Chester County, Pennsylvania at the time of the 1840 census. The demographic breakdown of his household was as follows:

• Free white persons, males, under 5: 1
• Free white persons, males, 30-39: 1
• Free white persons, females, under 5: 1
• Free white persons, females, 5-9: 2 (The age group Catherine belonged to at the time)
• Free white persons, females, 30-39: 1

Records of the Upland Baptist Church Cemetery on Ancestry, where the couple was buried, also identified Mary’s maiden name as Eddy. These records revealed that James and Mary died about 3 weeks apart in 1879.

A death notice in a local newspaper provided a link between James Breckenridge and Catherine’s husband.

While James and Mary fit the profile of Catherine’s parents, I still lacked any connection between them and the Morgan family. The connection finally came in an 1879 death notice. After James Breckenridge’s death on 19 April 1879, the following item appeared in the Chester Daily Times:

This death notice identified James Morgan, the name of Catherine’s husband, as James Breckenridge’s son-in-law. James Morgan is a very common name. However, census records list the family as residents of 14^th Street in Chester, also matching the death notice.

The U.S. census did not specify the relationship among household members until 1880. However, this record implies that Catherine is the eldest child of James and Mary Breckenridge.

Could Catherine’s parents be another Breckenridge couple?

Are there other good candidates that need to be considered? Could James and Mary Breckenridge be an aunt and uncle or another close relative? Searches of the 1840 and 1850 federal censuses of both the state of Delaware, and Delaware County, Pennsylvania and surrounding counties reveals the following Breckenridge households:

• Hannah Breckenridge
  • 1840: Lived in Philadelphia North Mulberry Ward, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • 1850: Not located
• Catharine Brackenridge
  • 1840: Lived in West Caln, Chester, Pennsylvania
  • 1850: Not located
• Hugh Brackenridge
  • 1840: Lived in Moyamensing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • 1850: Lived in Philadelphia Lombard Ward, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• David Brackenridge
  • 1840: Lived in West Bradford, Chester, Pennsylvania
  • 1850: Lived in East Caln, Chester, Pennsylvania
• Samuel Brackenridge
  • 1840: Lived in East Caln, Chester, Pennsylvania
  • 1850: Lived in East Bradford, Chester, Pennsylvania

Hannah Breckenridge may have been of an appropriate age to be Catherine’s mother, but she did not have a child fitting Catherine’s description in her household in the 1840 census.

Catharine Brackenridge in Chester County, Pennsylvania in the 1840 census may be the same Catharine Breckenridge that is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Coatesville, Chester County, Pennsylvania, FindAGrave Memorial ID 220931960. She was born in 1774, and was likely too old to have a daughter born about 1832.

Hugh Brackenridge did have a female in his household in 1840 that fit Catherine’s description. However, his birthplace in the 1850 census is identified as Ireland, inconsistent with the birthplace of Catherine’s father. There is also no Catherine Brackenridge in his household in the 1850 census.

David Breckenridge did not have a child in his household in the 1840 census that fit Catherine’s description. He can be traced in the census in Chester County, Pennsylvania through 1870. The birthplace of his likely wife, Ruthann, is consistently identified as Pennsylvania, unlike Catherine’s mother who was born in Ireland. A 7-year-old Christiann Brackenridge is the only child listed in their household in 1850.

Samuel Brackenridge was born in Pennsylvania about 1800, fitting the description of Catherine’s father, but his likely wife, Hannah, was not born in Ireland, unlike Catherine’s mother. The 1840 census does not include a female that fits Catherine’s description. The 1850 census lists only one likely daughter named Elizabeth, aged 22. Chester County’s Poor School Children 1810-1842 index also contains several entries for Sam or Samuel Brackenridge or Breckenridge. These records identify the following children:

• Abraham
• William
• Margaret
• Anna Maria

Conclusion

James Brackenridge or Breckenridge and Mary Eddy are the parents of Catherine Breckenridge Morgan of Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The description of Catherine’s parents that can be consistently gleaned from census records fit James and Mary perfectly. The couple was also married in Delaware close to the approximated time of Catherine’s birth in that state. The 1850 census and James’s 1879 death notice also link the couple to Catherine and her husband James, respectively. Other candidates that have been identified have been eliminated for various reasons.