Sad Tale of the Two Francis Bednarski's

 Francis Bednarski was born to Peter and Eva Wisloski on May 12, 1918. On May 16, 1923 Francis was hit by a car at the age of 5years old suffered a fracture skull and died at Roxborough Memorial Hospital. Francis was interred at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery on May 19, 1923. There was an inquest into his death and it was recorded as an Automobile Case. Eva Wisloski was the daughter of Lucas (Louis) and Eva Dolhanceyk Wisloski.

Francis Bednarski II was born on December 5, 1924 and lived one hour. Cause of death was a Prolapsed Umbilical Cord that cut off oxygen to his brain after a Protracted Labor. Francis was also the son of Peter and Eva Wisloski Bednarski and he was named after his brother Francis who died in 1923. Francis was interred in Westminster Cemetery on December 6, 1924.

Records Found At St. Bridget's Catholic Church In East Falls

MARRIAGE RECORDS

• Vincent J. Franciso married Mildred Cafferty (daughter of Bernard & Mary Boland Cafferty) on September 27, 1941. Mildred's residence at time of her marriage was 4024 Ridge Ave.
• Daniel Lordan married Catherine Bednarski (daughter of Peter & Eva Wisloski Bednarski) on May 3, 1942. Catherine's residence at time of her marriage was 3913 Ridge Ave. Records also indicated that Catherine Bednarski was baptized at St. Josaphats in Manayunk on March 11, 1917.
• Lester Dilts married Margaret Cafferty (daughter of Bernard & Mary Boland Cafferty) on July 31, 1944.
• Vincent Martin married Dorothy Haggerty (daughter of Edward & Margaret Cafferty (sister of Bernard) Haggerty on November 23, 1946.
• Walter W. Frith married Dorothy G. Ahern on June 28, 1947. Walter's residence at time of marriage was 3124 N. 35th Street. Dorothy's address at time of marriage was 3432 Allegheny Ave. Records indicated that Walter Frith was baptized at Most Precious Blood on November 20, 1921 and he was the son of William & Mary Sheppard Frith.
• Edmund McCarthy married Florence Dalessandro (daughter of Charles & Mary Mervine Schroeder) on October 21, 1948. Florences's residence at time of marriage was 3907 Ridge Ave. Edmund's residence at time of marriage was 3125 Shedwick Street.
• Laurence George Smith married Claire Esther Murphy on March 19, 1953. Claire's residence at time of marriage was 3220 Sudgens Row. Marlene McKernan stood as witness.
• Francis X. Thorpe (son of Francis & Barbara Murphy Thorpe) married Doris E. Schroeder (daughter of John & Edith Dornan Schroeder) on August 15, 1953. Francis's residence at time of marriage was 3216 Dobson Row. Doris's residence at time of marriage was 3335 Clearfield Street. Witnesses were George Mahon & Barbara Thorpe. Marriage was annuled on December 20, 1974.
• Bernard Joseph Cafferty (son of Bernard & Mary Boland Cafferty) married Delores Brash (daughter of Edward & Mary Lavery Brash) on October 3, 1955. Bernard's residence at time of marriage was 4028 Ridge Ave.
• Richard J. Mahon married Elaine Rodgers (daughter of Elwood & Helen Schroeder Rodgers) on October 21, 1954. Elaine's residence at time of marriage was 3333 Clearfield Street.
• John J. Leahy (son of James & Mary Shannon Leahy) married Marlene A. McKernan (daughter of John & Mary Frith McKernan) on August 18, 1956. John's residence at time of marriage was 4602 Canton Street. Marlene's address at time of marriage was 3913 Ridge Ave. Witnesses were James Leahy & Joan Donovan. Marriage was annuled on December 11, 1984 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Records indicated that Marlene A. McKernan was baptized at St. Columbus Church on January 13, 1935.
• William Schroeder (son of Charles & Mary Mervine Schroeder) married Johanna Murphy on September 12, 1936. William's residence at time of marriage was 3907 Ridge Ave.

BAPTISM RECORDS

• Bernard Cafferty son of Bernard & Mary Boland Cafferty was baptized on November 5, 1916. Godparents were Michael Gaffray & Ellen Boland.
• Margaret Cafferty daughter of Bernard & Mary Boland Cafferty was baptized on September 24, 1911.
• Helen Cafferty daughter of Bernard & Mary Boland Cafferty was baptized on March 24, 1914. Godparents were Ellen Boland & William Moran.
• Teresa Boland daughter of John & Margaret McGrath Boland was baptized on November 21, 1926. Godparents were Thomas & Catherine Reynolds.
• John Boland son of John & Margaret McGrath Boland was baptized on Febraury 26, 1928. Godparents were Marcus McAndrew & Maria Kennedy. Records indicated that John Boland married Margaret Dever on October 3, 1959 at St. Anthony's Church.

DEATH RECORDS

• Teresa Boland daughter of John & Margaret McGrath Boland, granddaughter of John & Ellen Doherty Boland died on August 26, 1928. Residence at time of death was 1 Laboratory Hill in East Falls. Interred Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
• William Boland brother of John Boland died on December 8, 1943. Residence at time of death was 3366 Vaux Street in East Falls. Interred Westminster Cemetery.
• Mary Boland wife of William Boland died on July 10, 1929. Interred Westminster Cemetery.
• Bridget Cafferty wife of Michael Cafferty died on December 13, 1944. Residence at time of death was 3739 Calument Street in East Falls. Cause of death listed as Cancer. Interred Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
• Michael J. Cafferty father of Michael Cafferty died at the age of 93 yrs old on September 19, 1945. Residence at time of death was 4403 East Park Ave. Interred Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
• Vincent Martin Jr. son of Vincent & Dorothy Haggerty Martin died on September 30, 1947 shortly after birth. He was born and baptized at Germantown Hospital. Residence of parents at time of death was 3707 Midvale Ave. Interred Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
• John Michael Cafferty husband of Anna Cafferty died on December 24, 1948 at Lakewood Hospital. Residence at time of death was 143 dowell Lundy Rd in Absicon, NJ. Interred Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
• Patrick De Franciso son of Vincent & Grace De Franciso was killed in action in Belguim on April 4, 1945 at age 19 yrs old. Residence at time of death was 3418 Sunnyside Ave. East Falls. Interred Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
• Mary C. Cafferty wife of Bernard Cafferty died on July 30, 1950 at the age of 67 yrs old. Residence at time of death was 4024 Ridge Ave. Interred Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
• Mary Frith wife of Harry Frith died August 20, 1951 at the age of 69 yrs old. Residence at time of death was 3124 N. 35 th Street. Interred Mt. Peace Cemetery.
• Grace De Franciso wife of Vincent De Franciso died on February 12, 1952. Residence at time of death was 3418 Sunnyside Ave. Interred Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
• Baby Girl Wood daughter of Walter Wood died on February 6, 1952 at Miscercordia Hospital. She was 5 hrs old. Residence at time of death was 4907 Ridge Ave. Interred Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
• Michael J. Cafferty husband of Marie Cafferty died at the age of 64 yrs old on August 23, 1958. Residence at time of death was 3739 Calument Street. Interred Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
• William J. Boland husband of Ida Boland died on July 20, 1960 at the age of 67 yrs old at Roxborough Memorial Hospital. Residence at time of death was 3414 Osmond Street. Interred Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
• Bernard Cafferty husband of Mary Boland Cafferty died on February 8, 1962 at the age of 85 yrs old. Residence at time of death was 4239 Ridge Ave, home of his daughter Regina Walsh. Interred Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
• John J. Boland husband of Margaret McGrath Boland, son of John & Ellen Doherty Boland died on September 4, 1964 at the age of 69 yrs old in Germantown Hospital. Residence at time of death was 4712 Wayne Ave. Interred Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
• Helen Wood died on September 13, 1969 at the age of 74 yrs old. Residence at time of death was 3409 Clearfield Street. Interred Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
• Margaret Boland wife of John Boland died on April 13, 1970 at the age of 75 yrs old in the Wissahickon Nursing Home. Interred Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
• Charles S. Walsh son of Harry & Regina Cafferty Walsh was killed in action in Vietnam on March 1, 1968 at the age of 19 yrs old. Residence at time of death was 4038 Ridge Ave. Interred Beverly National Cemetery.

As a post note; Most of the Cafferty Family Members were buried out of McIlvaine Funeral Home.

Also, I did not go through all the records. Therefore, I will be making another trip back to St. Bridget's. The above is the result of an entire day of research at the rectory.

Wisloski Records

Click to enlarge & View Records

1895 Ship Record of Eva (Dolhanceyk) Wisloski and her son Andrew.

1905 Ship Record of Eva Wisloski (Bednarski)

1910 Census Record of Andrew Wisloski "Inmate at Eastern State Penitentiary"

1910 Census Record of Sylvester & Julia Wisloski

1920 Census Record of Eva Wisloski & Family

1930 Census Record of Eva Wisloski & Family

Westminster Cemetery "Wisloski Family Plot"

Taken from the original "a journey into the past".

John J. Weleski was born John J. Wisloski on July 3rd, 1904. Place of birth is unknown. John was the son of Eva Wisloski. Information regarding his father’s name or the whereabouts of his father’s final resting place is unknown. It has been said that any conversation regarding his father was strictly forbidden by his mother. John had two older brothers Andrew and Samuel and four sisters Eva, Anna, Mary and Julie.

Eva Wisloski, John’s mother died July 11th, 1932 and was buried at Westminster cemetery on July 15th, 1932 in the Lansdowne Section, Lot 327 in grave number one. She was 58yrs old. Cause of death listed at St. John the Baptist church is Cancer. The lot holder is recorded as Eva Wisloski. Therefore, she either purchased the lot prior to her death or it was her daughter Eva who purchased the lot before she married. The lot contains ten burial plots and twenty graves. Currently there are eleven graves filled.

While researching archival records at St. John the Baptist Church located in Manayunk, I came across the death records of Andrew and Samuel Wisloski. Both were listed as dying on the same day from Asphyxiation. This information prompted me to investigate the reason behind the Wisloski brothers’ cause of death. Upon further investigation, I discovered that after an evening of drinking, the Wisloski brothers’ got into a fist fight at home and unbeknownst to both of them the gas pipe above the stove was inadvertently hit by one or both of them causing the release of gas. Both were asphyxiated by the gas fumes. Andrew was 50yrs old and Samuel was 40yrs old at the time of their death. The date of death was listed as March 11th, 1938 and the funeral mass was held at St. John’s on March 16th, 1938 at 9AM. Burial was held on the same date at Westminster cemetery in lot 327, grave number two. Residence listed at the time of their death was 166 Roxborough Avenue.

Also listed in the Lansdowne Section, Lot 327 are the graves of Eva Bednarski buried October 17th, 1945 and her husband Peter Bednarski buried on December 17th, 1945. Both are listed as being in grave number three. Eva is listed as being age 62yrs and Peter is listed as being age 60yrs at the time of their deaths. George Kraft was buried on April 20th, 1954 and his wife Anna Kraft was buried on July 9th, 1990. Both are listed as being in grave number four. George was 58yrs old and Anna was 90yrs old at the time of their deaths. In grave number five are the remains of Mary Lowry buried on January 17th, 1968 and her husband John Lowry buried on November 25th, 1975. Mary was listed as being age 66yrs old and John was 75yrs old at the time of their deaths. The last plot used in Lot 327 is number six where the remains of Anna Elia buried on April 11th, 1979 and her husband Patrick buried on June 24th, 1994. Anna was listed as being 55yrs old and Patrick was 72yrs old at the time of their deaths. (Westminster cemetery burial records)

Note; John Weleski is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery with his wife in the Schroeder Family Plot.

Note; the burial place of Julie is unknown at this time.

Burial Records at St. John the Baptist Church

St John the Baptist Catholic Church & Cemetery in 1907
(located center of this photo)



Family History Update
June 14th, 2005


I recently traveled over to St John’s and reviewed once again in great detail the church’s burial records. Listed below are some details of our family burial records that are currently recorded in St John’s books.

Grace R Silverthorn
Died March 20th, 1930
Buried March 24th, 1930 and interred in St John the Baptist Churchyard
Age at Death “49”
Grace Silverthorn was the daughter of Patrick and Hannah Gallagher, the sister of William Gallagher I and the wife of James Silverthorn.

Charles E Silverthorn
Died October 8th, 1954
Buried October 12th, 1954 and interred in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery
Age at Death “19”
Cause of Death “Leukemia”
Address at Time of Death was 646 Wagner Ave Lafayette Hills, PA.

Raymond J Silverthorn
Died December 22nd, 1966
Buried December 27th, 1966 and interred in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery
Age at Death “64”
Cause of Death “Cardiac Arrest”
Address at Time of Death was 4333 Pechin Street, Philadelphia PA.
Raymond Silverthorn was the son of James and Grace Silverthorn.

Mary Silverthorn
Died October 22nd, 1970
Buried October 26th, 1970 and interred at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery
Age at Death “64”
Address at Time of Death was 4333 Pechin Street, Philadelphia PA.
Mary Silverthorn was the wife of Raymond Silverthorn.


As you know the Silverthorns were not only related to the Gallaghers but were good friends with the Gallagher family so it is no surprise that one such Silverthorn would stand as godparent to a Gallagher baby. Raymond Silverthorn was the son of James Silverthorn and Grace Gallagher. He was also a very good friend of William Gallagher II. Therefore, when William and Anna Gallagher’s third child was born, Raymond Silverthorn stood as godfather to that child who was known as Colum Eugene Gallagher. (Uncle Gene)

There were a few other burial records I came across in the books of St John’s that also may be of interest to those of us who love family history. I came across Katherine E Malervy’s burial record and that of her son in law Mahlon Nicholson. They are as followed.

Katherine E Malervy
Died September 17th, 1959
Buried September 22nd, 1959 and interred at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery
Age at Death “69”
Cause of Death “Heart Failure”
Address at Time of Death was 3827 Terrace Street, Philadelphia PA.

Katherine E Malervy was the daughter of John and Ella Boland, the sister of Agnes McCaffery, aunt of Anna Marie Gallagher, wife of Daniel Malervy and mother of Helen Nicholson.

Mahlon Nicholson
Died November 10th, 1972
Buried November 14th, 1972 and interred at Westminster Cemetery
Age at Death “58”
Cause of Death “Cancer”
Address at Time of Death was 3871 Manayunk AVE, Philadelphia PA.

Mahlon Nicholson was the husband of Helen Nicholson and father of Helen and Regina Nicholson.


Another burial record I came across at St John’s was of John G Keller. John was the son of John and Elisabeth Keller and the husband of Sally Gallagher Keller. Sally was the youngest of Patrick and Hannah Gallagher’s four children.

John G Keller
Died May 29th, 1947
Buried June 2nd, 1947 and interred at St John the Baptist Churchyard
Age at Death “65”
Cause of Death “Heart Disease”
Address at Time of Death was 3799 Cresson Street, Philadelphia PA


For those of you who are from the Weleski/Schroeder sides of the family, there were several burial records I came across at St John’s also.

Eva Bednarski
Died October 12th, 1945
Buried October 17th, 1945 and interred at Westminster Cemetery
Age at Death “64”
Cause of Death “Cerebral Hemorrhage”
Address at Time of Death was 136 East Street, Philadelphia PA


Peter Bednarski
Died December 12th, 1945
Buried December 17th, 1945 and interred at Westminster Cemetery
Age at Death “60”
Cause of Death “Heart Disease”
Address at Time of Death was 3763 Cresson Street, Philadelphia PA

Mary Lowry
Died February 14th, 1968
Buried February 17th, 1968 and interred at Westminster Cemetery
Age at Death “66”
Address at Time of Death was 4334 Boone Street, Philadelphia PA


It is difficult to locate individual family members buried at St John the Baptist Churchyard for two reasons; St John’s cemetery records only list the Family Name and the Name of the Lot Holder. The records give the location of the graves and indicate whether or not a Headstone was placed upon the grave but the records do not list who may be in those graves. This fact can really frustrate a family genealogist. For example, when Mary Keller Gallagher purchased the lot to bury her brother John Keller, the cemetery record listed Mary as the Lot holder and Keller as the family name on the grave. However, no where does it list who may be in that grave. If the person buried in that churchyard happened to be a member of that church and had a funeral mass then the burial records would list where they were interred whether it would be St John’s or any other cemetery. The problem occurs when the person interred in St John’s was from another parish.

Family stories and legends passed down through the generations may be the only clues to where some of our family is interred. Keller may be the family name listed on the grave at St John’s but who is in that grave? We know John G Keller is interred in that grave because the lot was purchased when he died. What about his wife? Is Sally Gallagher Keller really interred in that grave with her husband? What about the nephew who died when he was 18 months old and was interred with them? Do we really know for a fact that Buddy McCaffery’s infant son was interred in the grave of John and Sally Keller as legend tells us? John and Sally Keller spent their lives praying for a child of their own but fate did not grant them that dream so the story passed down from our family tells of a little boy not yet two years old who comes down with a deadly virus and dies. The child is buried with his Great Uncle and Aunt in the church’s cemetery and the legend tells us that what John and Sally never had in life they were granted in death.

In the case of John and Ella Boland, legend has it they too are interred at St John’s. But there are no records of their burial there. However, that does not mean they are not there. There is a lot holder by the name Malervy that lists two lots were purchased but the records do not list who is in the grave. Malervy is the married name of Katherine, John and Ella Boland’s daughter. I believe the only way I will ever find out where John and Ella Boland are interred is by the process of elimination. If they are not listed in the graves of Daniel and Katherine Malervy in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery then it is very possible that they are indeed interred at St John’s. I reviewed Westminster Cemetery records in the past and although there is a John Boland interred there, the name Ella was not. The question I asked myself is why St John’s and not Holy Sepulchre in the first place. We already know John and Ella Boland’s other daughter is interred in Holy Sepulchre and those records indicate John Boland purchased the grave. Agnes Boland McCaffery died in 1915. Ella Boland died four years later.

My next family history stop is St Bridget’s Church in the East Falls section of Philadelphia and Holy Family Church in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia. I will also make a point to go out to Holy Sepulchre one more time to locate the cemetery records of the Malervy family. Hopefully, I will get more answers to these questions.