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We have received Elizabeth Agnes’ death certificate from 1949 Lake Forest, Il and it lists her birth place as Conception Bay, NL and her parents as John Hurley and Eliza Beth (or Elizabeth) Whalen of Conception Bay, NL.
Her obituary states her place of birth as North River, Conception Bay as well as two surviving brothers at the time of her death; John Hurley of Philadelphia in the US and Patrick Hurley in Newfoundland.
The surviving brothers names and locations matches the records in the “Memories of Halls Town and North River”.
There’s a lot of circumstantial evidence that she is the daughter of the John Hurley (1832-1915) in the “Memories of Halls Town and North River” document, but nothing concrete yet.
The matriarch of the family is listed as not known in that document and our great-grandmother is not listed either. We have some family lore that might suggest one or more siblings such as Martin were half-siblings and that may be part of the confusion.
We’ve reached out to the Grand Falls diocese in the hopes they may be able to locate birth or more likely baptismal records.
Using an information doc we have about her and comparing it to the memories document with Claude there seems to be the possiblity that she is a daughter of Joh Hurley. See below.
**From Claude.ai*
Birth-year gap fits exactly. John Hurley’s documented children were born ca. 1857 (Martin), 1860 (Mary), 1864 (Bridget), 1870 (Patrick), 1874 (Anastasia), 1882 (John Francis). Elizabeth’s July 31, 1866 birth slots precisely into the otherwise unexplained six-year gap between Bridget and Patrick — consistent with the family’s ~3–4 year child spacing.
Place matches. Her gravestone and family records say she was born in North River, Conception Bay — and the book documents exactly one Hurley family in North River, John Hurley’s, present there from the 1869 List of Voters onward.
“Survived by 2 brothers” is an exact hit. Her October 1949 obituary says two brothers survived her. In October 1949, exactly two of John Hurley’s sons were still living: John Francis (d. 1960) and Patrick J (d. 1956). Martin had died in 1935.
Brother John in Philadelphia matches. Her records place brother John in Philadelphia as of October 1949; John Francis Hurley moved to Philadelphia in 1905, raised his family there, and died there in 1960.
Brother Patrick in Newfoundland matches. Her records place brother Patrick in Newfoundland as of October 1949; Patrick J Hurley lived on Bell Island, NL until his death in April 1956.
Siblings Martin and Mary match by name. Her sibling list includes Martin and Mary; John Hurley had a son Martin (~1857–1935) and a daughter Mary (~1860–1938, m. William Sinclair), both predeceasing her — consistent with them not being listed as survivors.Circumstantial support
Her absence from the book is explainable. She left Newfoundland by 1893 (settled in Lake Forest, IL) — before marrying, before the 1906 parish reorganization, and decades before living local memory. The book was compiled from local records and community recollection, which naturally lost track of a daughter who emigrated young and never returned.
Emigration pattern fits the family. The book notes nineteenth-century North River families moved to Philadelphia and Boston; her own siblings and nieces/nephews followed exactly that pattern (John Francis, Patrick’s widow, Kay Hurley Sidor — all Philadelphia).
Dale, thank you very much for your reply and the lead.
I haven’t found a certain connection in the document, but there seems to be some breadcrumbs there to follow.
I reached out to Ms. Morrissey with some information and questions as well as the archivist for the Archdiocese of St. John’s.
Along the way I stumbled upon information about the great fire in 1892 and am currently wondering if this event may have played a role in her emigration.
