Jameson Francis Abbott
Jameson was the sixth and last child of John and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Abbott, born on 12 June 1886.1 He was baptized by Reverand William B. Daly on 04 July 1886 in St. Patrick's Cathedral, located on 5th Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets in Midtown Manhattan. Sponsors were Thomas F. Rogan and Anna J.F. Reddy. The relationship of these sponsors to the family has not yet been established.
In 1907, Jameson marries Antoinette Schreiber,2 who is the daughter of Barbara and Edward Schreiber.3 In early 1908 the first of their eleven children is born. James Francis Abbott was born on 3 February 1908 in Emergency Hospital.4 James' birth certificate indicates that the couple was living at 345 East 41st Street and that Jameson, age 21, worked as a driver. The mother, age 18, is listed as Nettie, which is the nickname that Jameson used for Antoinette.5
The eleven children of Jameson and Antoinette:
James Francis Abbott
Florence Elizabeth Abbott
Lillian M. Abbott
John Joseph Abbott
Cecelia Abbott
Dorothy Eleanor Abbott
Agnes Abbott
Edward Robert Abbott
Ella Catherine Abbott
Richard Joseph Abbott
Harold Donald Abbott
By the time their second child was born, the family had moved to the west side of Manhattan, the area of NYC in which the Abbott clan had traditionally lived since the mid-1800s. They were residing at 345 West 41st Street when Florence Elizabeth Abbott was born there on 1 November 1909.6 Jameson, age 23, is still listed as being a driver. Antoinette is now 20 years old.
The city directory for 1909 does not contain a a Jameson Abbott, but there is a listing for a James Abbott who is working as a janitor at 563 9th Avenue in Manhattan.7 Since that address is only about one block from the Abbott family's known residence in November of 1909, it is possible that the individual listed in the directory is Jameson.
When the Thirteenth Census of the United States was taken in April of 1910, the Abbotts are still living at 345 West 41st.8 Jameson, who was enumerated as James, is working as a driver for a "rug co." Antoinette is listed as the mother of two children, both of whom are living. The couple has been married for three years and they are renters. Richard Abbott, Jameson's brother, is also living with the family. Richard, whose father -- John Joseph Abbott -- died the previous year, is now 25 years old and works as a property manager for a "theatre co." Richard's early association with the theater trade is interesting because by the 1920s, along with his brother "Harry" (Henry Abbott), he is in a theater-related business known as Abbott's Scrim and Profile Company.9
Lillian M. Abbott, the couple's third child is born in 1911,10 followed by John Joseph Abbott, who quite likely was named after his grandfather, on 23 April 1914.11 Cecelia Abbott follows, born most likely in 1916.12
( To Be Continued - This Is A Working Draft )
1 Baptismal certificate obtained by Dorothy (Abbott) Delaney in August 2000. Searches for Jameson's birth certificate at the NYC Municipal Archives have been unsuccessful.
2 1910 U.S. Census, T624, Roll 1045, Page 75, 20th Ward, 1st Sup. Dist., ED 1204, Sheet 11B (21 April 1910). Jameson and Antoinette are recorded as having been married for three years.
3 1900 U.S. Census, T623, Roll 1106, Page 147A, 21st Ward, ED 571 (9 June 1910).
4 N.Y.C. Certificate and Record of Birth # 8050, Manhattan, 1908. Emergency Hospital was a special unit affiliated with Bellevue Hospital.
5 Conversation with Dorothy (Abbott) Delaney, Antoinette's daughter, 2001. This is the only known document on which Antoinette's nickname is used.
6 N.Y.C. Certificate and Record of Birth #52594, Manhattan, 1909.
7 1909-10 Trow's New York City Directory, p. 18
8 1910 U.S. Census, T624, Roll 1045, Page 75, 20th Ward, 1st Sup. Dist., ED 1204, Sheet 11B (21 April 1910).
9 Information from Dorothy (Abbott) Delaney about her uncles' ownership of Abbot's Scrim and Profile Company led subsequently to documentation of that fact in the 19__, 19__ and 19__ editions of Trow's New York City Directory.
10 At the time of her death in October 1977, Lillian was 66 years old, which would indicate that she was born in 1911. October 4, 1999, letter to Robert F. Delaney from from St. Raymond's Cemetery, Bronx, NY, containing interment list for Grave 44, Section 14, Range 26.
11 Letter to Robert F. Delaney from Arthur Smith, cemetery director, Long Island National Cemetery, Farmingdale, NY, July 19, 2000. Also, as of 2004, information is available via a search engine at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs web page at http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/j2ee/servlet/NGL_v1
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