Hi,

Looking for death record of William Robert Alexander (great great grandfather) who originated from Ireland. Born c.1820 and living in New York by 1880. The only definite sighting I have of him is in the 1880 US Federal Census when he was shown as living at Flushing Avenue,Brooklyn, New York. (He was living with his daughter's family at that time). Age given as 53 though I believe it may have been nearer 60 with marital status widowed. His occupation was stated as news reporter. He does not feature in the 1900 Census and I am therefore assuming died some time between 1880 and 1900. Also, no record of him coming back to Ireland so presumption that he died in USA.

I have been unable to trace his death record and would be grateful for any information or suggestions where I might be able to look up online death records for the district.

Thanks

Alexaia

Try posting to Kings County NY Message Board. In 1880 the City of Brooklyn was a separate city in Kings County; since 1898 merger into Greater New York City: Brooklyn Borough is still Kings County. There is an 1892 New York State Cnsus (not sure about availability) and try City Directories for years between 1880 & 1900. Good Luck

The 1880 census has him living with his daughter, whose name is Jane Donnelly, married to George

At http://xooxleanswers.com/newspaperarchives4.aspx they have a link to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle Newspaper. (you may be able to find this newspapaer elsewhere, this is how I found it) Search George Donnelly, you will find obit for Jane in April 8 1900. It says her father IS a "newspaper writer of prominence in Manhattan" but says his name is George N Alexander

Good Luck

GeMorrc - Thanks for those tips. Local knowledge is always a great help in these matters. I will follow up.

Alexaia

Lastlogj, thats really useful.

I've been searching all over the place for some further reference to William Alexander and have even tried the Daily Eagle on several occasions but have of course always been putting in William R Alexander! Never thought of using his daughters name. Just shows what a bit of lateral thinking can achieve. Must see if that now unlocks a few more pieces of the jigsaw. Thanks again

Alexaia

If you were able to find the obit, you will see that her father is the late George Alexander, in my previous email I thought he was living.

Also, the LDS new pilot site has NY State census on line for 1892 and there is no William Alexander, so he may have died between 1880-1892. However, you may want double check that.

I've now found the obituary for Jane, his daughter and I think in all my excitement of getting new info I overlooked your earlier comment that it refers to "George Alexander" rather than William Alexander. I am satisfied that the obituary definitely relates to the person I know as William Alexander's daughter, Jane so it is strange that it states George as her father. I'm wondering if it is either a case of the names getting mixed up in the obituary or perhaps he went under a pen name when writing articles. I've been googling the latter with various permutations but no luck as yet. It does however appear that he died some time between 1880 & 1900. I will check the LDS pilot.

If William/George were a prominent writer, he certainly would have had a prominent obit in his own paper. (I think that the George was a misprint, as well.)

Some websites you should check are www.fultonhistory.com (as of 10/31/09 down for updates, check after 11/1/09)
http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/ which is free
Also, because he was prominent in US, I would check Irish papers as well
http://www.irelandoldnews.com/index.html (not comprehensive, but you may have luck)
Ancestry has Irish news, as well