I'm searching for my great-grandmother, Ellen Tiernan, b. between 1863 and 1870, depending on the source. The date I'm using as my default is 6 Jan 1867, assume in NYC/Manhattan, but have no definite documentation of birth location or date. She died 26 Nov 1927 at St. Vincent's Hospital on Staten Island, NY.

The other information I have about her is:
* She had a sister named Margaret (aka Maisy) b. 1882
* Father was James Tiernan (born Ireland, date?)
* Mother was Margaret Mahon (born Ireland, date?)
* Married abt. 1887 to Andrew J. McGowan
* She had 5 children:
- Joseph (b. 1893),
- Harry (b. 1898),
- Raymond (b. 1900),
- John Walter (b. 1903),
- Helen (b. 1907).

I would like to confirm her birth date and location. Can anyone give me advice about how I could use what I already have to figure out her birth date/location? I've thought about writing to churches in Manhattan to see if they have any baptism records of her.

Thanks for any help anyone can give me.

Jennifer Schaub

Copy of death certificate

New York City Death Records (1891-1948)
McGowan, Ellen
age: 60 y
death date: Nov 26 1927
certificate #1921
County: Richmond
Born: 1866 - 1867

Since you know her date of death and someone gave you the death certificate info you can order her death certificate and hope who ever gave the info to fill out the death info knew anything ......

I have a hard copy of her death certificate already. What I'm looking for is a copy of her birth or baptism certificate. Her death certificate has one date (1867), but there are two or three other birth years on various census forms, ranging from 1863 to 1870. Maybe I didn't put that in my original posting. Anyway, given that there's such a wide range of possible birth years, I wondered if anyone had a method they'd suggest to find the documentation.

Thanks-
Jennifer Schaub

I neglected to mention that I've already tried to request a birth certificate with the birth date cited on the death certificate and came up with nothing. Perhaps I should just ask the Vital Records office to expand their search...

Thanks-
Jennifer Schaub

Have you tried finding her marriage certificate? This would have her age and birthplace on it. Also, you might try any of her children's death certificates. I know in NYC it asks where the deceased parents were born. Sometimes though, it is as unspecific as "U.S", but sometimes it is very specific, just depends on how knowledgeable the person is who is giving the information on the deceased.

What does it give as her place of birth on the death cert.?