John Joseph Abbott

John Joseph Abbott was the first child of Martin and Mary (Roach) Abbott and the first in our lineage to be born in the United States. We can estimate his birth year, 1851, from the 1860 census, where he is listed as being 8 years of age.¹ The age listed for John on his children's birth certificates provide further evidence of his birth year.

By 1870 John appears to have set out on his own since he's no longer listed in the census as being a member of his parent's household.² There is one plausible listing for a John Abbott in the 1870 U.S. Census and if it is John Joseph Abbott, he was a laborer living on Bank Street in the 5th District of the 9th Ward on the west side of Manhattan, several blocks away from his parent's home on West 19th.³ Although the 1870 census did not call for recording the exact street address of individuals or families, the enumerator for this particular segment did indicate in the left margin of the page that the area being surveyed encompassed "Bank St Bet Washington & West - __yack Place Bet Washington & West." Today this area is known as the West Villiage. John is listed as being 20 years old on his last birthday and his bithplace was New York.

John marries Elizabeth "Lizzie" Gallagher, probably about 1873, and on 15 April 1874 their first child, George Edward Abbott, is born at the family residence, located at 134 West 19th Street in Manhattan. John and Lizzie are living in a building next door to his parents and siblings, who are at 138 West 19th.⁴ John's age is not given, but he is listed as a bar keeper. The mother's name on the certificate of birth is Lizzie Gallagher. She was born in New York City and is twenty-one years old, which would indicate that Lizzie was born about 1853.

The children of John and Lizzie were:

George Edward Abbott
John J. Abbott
Martin Dominick Abbott
Henry L. Abbott ("Harry")
Richard Francis Abbott
Jameson Francis Abbott

The family is still living at 134 West 19th two years later when the second child, John J. Abbott is born on 30 January 1876.⁵ John Joseph Abbott has changed occupations and is now a hackman (driver), the type of work that he will remain in for the rest of his life.

By the time their third child, Martin Abbott, is born on 23 May 1878, the family has made the first of many moves, but not far this time -- only a few doors down the street to 116 West 19th.⁶ Lizzie is now 25 years old, and John is 27 and works as a coachman, the same trade as his father. Sometime May 1878, the family uproots itself once more and settles one block north at 130 West 20th Street.⁷

Eighteen months later, the family, now consisting of John, Lizzie and three young boys, has moved again, this time to 174 7th Avenue near West 20th Street.⁸ The new location is only a block away from their previous residence and only a couple of blocks removed from John's parents. The couple's fourth child, Henry Abbott is born here on 3 August 1880 and just misses being recorded in the 1880 U.S. Census that was taken in June.⁹

The northward movement of John and Lizzie Abbott's family continues, and in the 1881 city directory we find them living at 261 West 30th Street.¹⁰ John continues to work as a coachman. In the 1882 directory, the family is located just around the corner at 366 Seventh Avenue.¹¹

On 8 June 1883, Richard Abbott was born. He was baptized in St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue, between 50th and 51st Streets, in Midtown Manhattan on 28 June 1883.¹²

Jameson Francis Abbott, the sixth and last child of John and Lizzie Abbott, born on 12 June 1886, is where the story of our branch of the family continues.

John Joseph Abbott died at Bellevue Hospital on September 5, 1904.¹³ The causes of death on the certificate were sarcoma of the hip, secondary anemia, surgical shock, and exhaustion.

¹ 1860 U.S. Census, M653, Roll 817, Page 483, 20th Ward.
² 1870 U.S. Census, M593, Roll 995, Page 203, 16th Ward, 4th District (15 July 1870)
³ 1870 U.S. Census, M593, Roll 1022, Page 143, 9th Ward, 5th District, 2nd Enumeration (7 January 1871)
⁴ N.Y.C. Return of Birth #132168, Manhattan, 1874.
⁵ N.Y.C. Return of Birth #176223, Manhattan, 1876. The certificate does not contain the name of the child, but birth data is corroborated by census information.
⁶ N.Y.C. Return of Birth #233561, Manhattan, 1880. The certificate does not contain the name of the child, but birth data is corroborated by census information.
⁷ 1880 Trow's New York City Directory for the year ending May 1, 1880. John's occupation: coachman
⁸ 1880 U.S. Census, T9, Roll 886, Page 30C, Supervisors District 1, ED 410. (5 June 1880).
⁹ N.Y.C. Return of Birth #290961, Manhattan, 1880
¹⁰ 1881 Trow's New York City Directory. John's occupation: coachman
¹¹ 1882-83 Trow's New York City Directory for the year ending May 1, 1883, page 18. John's occupation: driver
¹² Baptismal certificate obtained by Dorothy (Abbott) Delaney in August 2000. Searches for Richard's birth certificate at the NYC Municipal Archives have been unsuccessful.
¹³ Death Certificate, Manhattan #30766, 1904.