Person in this family

James D. Leahey

This entry is about James D. Leahey (about 1886 – 1 June 1914). For other family members with the same first and family name, see James D. Leahey (29 January 1940 – 18 September 2007), James Francis Leahey (14 May 1911 – 16 April 1983), James J. Leahey (27 February 1864 – 10 April 1947).

about 1886 – 1 June 1914

“James D Leahey-” is a malformed duplicate of James Leahey, and very likely the same child baptized Denis Leahey in 1886. The duplicate entry has “NAME James D /Leahey-/” and alternate “NAME James D. Leahey”; the baptism and funeral records align on parents and age but do not explicitly explain the Denis-to-James name change. James was “Aged 28y” and an “Occupation train operator”; he died twelve days after infant Margaret’s “05/20/1914” death. Both entries say “83 W 12th St.”. Bayonne train operator, husband of Barbara Brennan and son of John Leahey and Margaret Mahoney; probably, but not conclusively, the Denis baptized to those parents in 1886.

Proved by a record

James D. Leahey was a Bayonne train operator who married Barbara Brennan in 1904 and died at age twenty-eight on 1 June 1914.

Died at Bayonne, New Jersey, United States

Recorded as: James Dennis Leahey, Denis Leahey

How is this person related?

Show the relationship to

Andrew John Leahey’s great-grandparent

Worked out from the recorded parents and marriages. No sex is recorded for anyone in this archive, so the wording stays neutral.

How this person is related to Andrew:
James D. Leahey is your great-grandparent.

Life

James D. Leahey, also represented in family information recorded here as James Dennis Leahey and Denis Leahey, was born in the United States about 1886. A St. Mary Star of the Sea baptism may record him under Denis: "Denis Leahey; birth Apr 3-1886; baptism Apr 11-1886; father John; mother Marg't Mahoney; sponsors Denis Leahey, Anna Leahey." James's later funeral entry also names John and Margaret Mahoney as his parents and gives his age as twenty-eight. This close agreement suggests that the baptized Denis and the adult James were the same person, but no record in this archive explains or conclusively proves the name change.

In 1904, the New Jersey marriage index recorded "BRENNAN BARBARA | LEAHEY JAMES | 24 | 141." The month and place are blank in the index, and the full marriage return has not been obtained.

James and Barbara were living at 83 West 12th Street in 1914. Their infant daughter Margaret died there on 20 May at eleven months old. James died only twelve days later, on 1 June. His funeral record reads: "Aged 28y, Born US, Married, Occupation train operator." A train operator worked on the operation of an urban or railroad train, although the entry does not name James's employer or the type of railway.

The 1912 Sanborn map, sheet 37 (external address omitted for offline reading) shows the house two years before those deaths. Lot 83 held a yellow building marked "2½" and "D": a small two-and-a-half-storey wooden dwelling. A relative can now picture the actual kind of home in which the family lived, while the map itself proves the building in 1912 rather than their occupancy before 1914.

The cause of death for both James and Margaret is still unknown. The answer should be in the New Jersey State Archives series "Death Certificates and Indexes, 1878–1946," reel "394 1914: Kin - Lom" (external address omitted for offline reading), which covers Leahey. The state health report's "MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY TABLE FOR HUDSON COUNTY ... BY SANITARY DISTRICTS FOR THE YEAR ENDING OCTOBER 31, 1914" tabulates typhoid, diphtheria, scarlet fever and tuberculosis for Bayonne, so the epidemic question can be tested against published city-wide data—but that table names neither James nor Margaret and establishes no cause for either person.

The same funeral record says James was buried at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in "Block N, Letter A, N. 20154." A volunteer memorial instead says, "No marker for James. Buried with John and Margaret Hennessey," and gives a different plot description. Until cemetery records reconcile those accounts, the funeral register provides the stronger contemporary burial evidence. The exact identity of the baptized Denis and the full details of James's marriage and burial remain unresolved.

The 1880 census now independently identifies the older John Leahey as Dennis and Ann’s son. Because James’s funeral entry directly names his father as John and his mother as Margaret Mahoney, the John-to-Dennis step in Andrew’s direct line is no longer an inference from a shared grave: it is documented.

How we know this: Documented for marriage, address, occupation, parent names, death, and funeral burial; identification with the Denis baptized in 1886 remains a strong but unproved inference. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Death and burial

Evidence distinction: [RECORD] means text read from the photographed stone. [COMPILED] means volunteer-typed memorial information and is only a lead.

Find a Grave memorial 207716245

Why this memorial is attached

Matched by exact death date, age, parents John and Margaret Mahoney, spouse Barbara Brennan, and infant daughter Margaret. Find a Grave memorial 207716245 (findagrave.com).

1 Jun 1914 | Parents John Leahey 1861–1887; Margaret Mahoney Hennessey 1867–1910 | Spouse Barbara Brennan Leahey Murphy 1886–1961

[COMPILED] Volunteer-typed memorial fields

These fields are leads, not civil or church records, and do not replace documented dates. Find a Grave memorial 207716245 (findagrave.com).

Name: James Dennis Leahey Birth: 3 Apr 1886 Death: 1 Jun 1914 (aged 28) Cemetery: Holy Name Cemetery and Mausoleum, Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, USA Plot: Blk-D Sec-A Gr-74 1B Family links: Parents: John Leahey 1861–1887; Margaret Mahoney Hennessey 1867–1910. Spouse: Barbara Brennan Leahey Murphy 1886–1961 (m. 1904). Children: Catherine C Leahey Chambers 1905–1970; John Joseph Leahey 1907–1980; George Edward Leahey 1909–1983; James Francis Leahey 1911–1983; Margaret Leahey 1913–1914.

Photograph status: a cemetery-area photograph was downloaded, but it is not a readable headstone record for this person. Find a Grave memorial 207716245 (findagrave.com).

[RECORD] No readable inscription for this person is visible in the fetched photograph.

Cemetery photograph from Find a Grave memorial 207716245 — Photograph by Mark Pollack. Copyright remains with the photographer. From Find a Grave memorial 207716245 (findagrave.com).

The photograph is a cemetery-area view and shows no marker for James. The memorial says: ‘No marker for James. Buried with John and Margaret Hennessey.’ Find a Grave memorial 207716245 (findagrave.com).

Conflicts retained

Conflict: The memorial assigns Holy Name, Block D, Section A, Grave 74 1B. The contemporary funeral register instead records Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, Block N, Letter A, no. 20154. The funeral register remains the stronger evidence and the conflict is unresolved. Open the memorial evidence (findagrave.com).

Holy Name Cemetery and Mausoleum | Blk-D Sec-A Gr-74 1B | No marker for James. Buried with John and Margaret Hennessey

Family

Parents

Spouse

Barbera Brennan

Children

See this family in the family tree

Work and occupation

train operator
Aged 28y, Born US, Married, Occupation train operator
Citation: Dempsey 1914–1918 [3]

Where they lived

Use the place list first. The map below is optional.

Places listed on this page

Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey
Holy Name Cemetery, Jersey City Cemetery or burial place
Holy Name Cemetery, Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey Cemetery or burial place
St. Mary Star of the Sea, Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey
Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey
New Jersey
United States

The map could not load. The complete place list is above it.

The pins show approximate places. The line only joins them in time order; it does not prove the route travelled. 2 of the places listed above are recorded only as a county or country, so they are not pinned. Cemetery and burial places have red pins.

Timeline

3 April 1886

Born

St. Mary Star of the Sea records: “Denis Leahey; birth Apr 3-1886; baptism Apr 11-1886; father John; mother Marg't Mahoney; sponsors Denis Leahey, Anna Leahey”. [1]

The record itself

Proved by a record

1886

Baptized

probably, but not conclusively, the Denis baptized to those parents in 1886.

From our family tree - no record found yet

1886

Baptized

From our family tree - no record found yet

1886

Born

Death/funeral date: 1 June 1914; address 83 W. 12th Street; burial recorded for Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, Block N, Letter A, no. 20154. His age gives a birth in about 1886. [3]

Proved by a record

3 April 1886

Born

The precise 3 April 1886 birth belongs directly to Denis, not yet conclusively to James.

From our family tree - no record found yet

3 April 1886

Buried

A volunteer memorial calls him “James Dennis Leahey,” gives “3 Apr 1886” and “1 Jun 1914,” and says “No marker for James. Buried with John and Margaret Hennessey.” [4]

The records themselves

↗

Find a Grave memorial, James Dennis Leahey

↗

James Dennis Leahey memorial; burial-area photograph but no marker

From our family tree - no record found yet

11 April 1886

Baptised at St. Mary Star of the Sea — and his mother named

This page has long said he is “very likely the same child baptized Denis Leahey in 1886”. Reading the register entry itself supplies the mother the page never had — Margaret Mahoney — and sponsors who look like his grandfather Dennis Leahey and his aunt Anna. His birth is 3 April 1886, where the archive carried only “about 1886”. If the identification holds, the D stands for Denis. [7]

Proved by a record

1904

Life event

The 1904 New Jersey bride index reads: “BRENNAN BARBARA | LEAHEY JAMES | 24 | 141 | [blank place] | [blank month] | 1904”. [2]

The record itself

Proved by a record

1904

Died

The James who married Barbara did so in New Jersey in 1904; he died 1 June 1914, aged 28, and was buried at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, block N, letter A, no. 20154. [2]

Proved by a record

1 June 1914

Died

The Dempsey register reads: “James | Leahey”; death “06/01/1914”; address “83 W 12th St.”; parents “John/US | Margaret Mahoney/US”; cemetery “HCCC”; notes “Aged 28y, Born US, Married, Occupation train operator, Buried in Block N, Letter A, N. 20154”. [3]

Proved by a record

1 June 1914

Buried

A volunteer memorial calls him “James Dennis Leahey,” gives “3 Apr 1886” and “1 Jun 1914,” and says “No marker for James. Buried with John and Margaret Hennessey.” [4]

From our family tree - no record found yet

1 June 1914

Died

The James who married Barbara did so in New Jersey in 1904; he died 1 June 1914, aged 28, and was buried at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, block N, letter A, no. 20154. [2]

Proved by a record

1 June 1914

Conflicting compiled burial place

The memorial assigns Holy Name and says no marker; the funeral register assigns Holy Cross. [6]

From our family tree - no record found yet

2 June 1914

Obituary in the Jersey Journal

An obituary for James Leahey, aged 28, died 1 June 1914, was printed in the Jersey Journal of 2 June 1914. The index gives the paper and the date but not the text, which sits behind GenealogyBank's paywall. The Jersey City Free Public Library holds the Jersey Journal on microfilm, and a 1914 obituary of a 28-year-old very often says what he died of.

Proved by a record

Original records

4 further records are shown in the timeline, beside the event each one documents.

St. Mary Star of the Sea baptism register, George Denis Taylor, 1885
This is an entry in a church book, often naming a child, parents, and godparents.
Open the larger document
Original source (hudsoncountynjgenealogy.org)
Machine-read text (may contain errors) · Good machine reading
**Automated reading aid only.** The human-verified quotations elsewhere in the archive remain authoritative.
No. 25 Name of Date and Date of Father’s Sponsors Priest Marriage, Person Place of Baptism Name etc. Baptized Birth Mother’s Maiden Name 55 Mary Feb 20 – Mar 1 – James John A.M. Anastasia 1885 1885 Mary Egan Shannon Egan Watson Margaret Muck 56 William Mar 5 – Mar 8 – James William “ Reed 1885 1885 Margaret Lynch Qualey Johanna Qualey 57 George Feb 22 – Mar 8 – Frederick Denis “ Denis 1885 1885 Barbara Leahey Taylor Weis Anna Leahey 58 Bertha Feb 8 – Mar 8 – Gustave Ernest “ Sophie 1885 1885 Sophie Holder Brown Hurber Bertha Holder 59 Thomas Feb 26 – Mar 8 – Thomas John “ Francis 1885 1885 Helen Higgins Higgins Driscoll Mary Driscoll 60 Mary Feb 11 – Mar 12 – Patrick John Wood “ Kavanagh 1885 1885 Mary Julia Wood Nolan 61 Elizabeth Jan 9 – Mar 12 – Benjamin Thomas “ Herford 1885 1885 Anna Killeen Cassidy 62 Daniel Mar 6 – Mar 15 – Daniel Michael “ Daley 1885 1885 Helen Healey Healey Elizabeth Healey 63 Bridget Mar 6 – Mar 15 – Thomas David “ Hickey 1885 1885 Mary Shay Hickey Julia Reilly 64 John Mar 9 - Mar 22 - John Daniel “ Francis St. 1885 1885 Elizabeth Hurley John Macy Helen Naughton

1912 Sanborn map: 83 West 12th Street, Bayonne
This old record gives information about the person or family named here.
Open the larger document
Original source (tile.loc.gov)
**Credit:** Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, Sanborn Maps Collection. Cropped from sheet 37. **Licence:** Public domain

What the records say

6 of 7 records transcribed.

Record exhibit