AND MORE YET!

Found in the online NYC marriage index at the Italian Genealogy website:

Surname/ Given Name/ Month/ Day/ Year of Marriage/ County / Certificate #/ Soundex

    Doolin Mary Aug 8 1869 Manhattan 5786 D450
    Raynolds Edward Aug 8 1869 Manhattan 5786 R543

Lo and behold, familysearch.org has an extract of the marriage record:

New York Marriages, 1686-1980 for Mary Doolin

Groom's Name: Edward Raynolds
Groom's Birth Date:
Groom's Birthplace:
Groom's Age:
Bride's Name: Mary Doolin
Bride's Birth Date:
Bride's Birthplace:
Bride's Age:
Marriage Date: 08 Aug 1869
Marriage Place:                     Mount Vernon, New York, NY
Groom's Father's Name:       John Raynolds
Groom's Mother's Name:      Anne Kelly
Bride's Father's Name:          Patrick Doolin
Bride's Mother's Name:        Mary Mulhall
Groom's Race:
Groom's Marital Status:
Groom's Previous Wife's Name:
Bride's Race:
Bride's Marital Status:
Bride's Previous Husband's Name:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M00160-7
System Origin: New_York-ODM
Source Film Number: 1544270
Reference Number:

So, Edward and Mary Reynolds named their firstborn child, John [who died young] after his paternal grandfather.  Second child, Mary, named for her mother and/or maternal grandmother; next child, Edward, named for his father; son Patrick named after his maternal grandfather; last son, Joseph--don't know.  Perhaps after one of his parents' grandparents.

Mount Vernon, New York...my father grew up there.  Seems the family resided in Westchester County from the 1850's, beginning with Patrick Dolan /Doolin and his family.  I'll have to look into the history of the county - what was the draw there?

Ancestry has free access to immigration records this week, through Labor Day; perhaps I'll find the immigration record for Patrick Dolan /Doolin or Edward "Raynolds". :-)

BREAKTHROUGH !

Thanks to familysearch.org, I have an extract of the marriage certificate of Kristian Danielsen and Mary E. Reynolds, listing her parents' names.  [The marriage date does match the index entry I'd found online some time ago: 30 Oct 1898, Bronx NY.]  Mary's father was NOT John Reynolds [per her death certificate] - it was Edward Reynolds.  Her mother's name was Mary Dolan [or Dulan], daughter of Patrick and Mary Dolan [Dulan].  Thus Mary Reynolds Danielsen named her second son, Edward, for her father.

I've found a few census entries for these families.  Patrick Dolan emigrated from Ireland between 1840-1845, and resided Westchester, New York from at least 1850 through 1870.  He and his wife Mary had 3 daughters, the older two born Ireland, the youngest, Mary Dolan, born New York.  His occupation was always listed as "laborer" in the federal censuses, but he also showed assets of $1000 to $1500.  He died probably between 1870-1880.  

Patrick's daughter Mary Dolan married Edward Reynolds about 1868-1870; they lived with her father [who was probably widowed] in Westchester as of the 1870 census.  Edward Reynolds was born in Ireland; nothing has been found on his family or immigration as of yet.  At 1880 he and Mary had 3 sons [another son having died young] and a daughter, Mary Reynolds who would grow up to marry Kristian Danielsen.  Cannot locate Edward Reynolds or his wife Mary in the 1900 census; they may have been deceased by then.  [I have found possible entries for two of their sons in 1900.]

This also answers the question as to where Mary Reynolds and Kristian Danielsen met:  he worked in Westchester as a waiter as of the early 1890's, and she was born and raised in Westchester.  Their 1898 marriage took place in the Bronx although a 1903 City directory showed their residence still in Westchester.  It's possible the nearest courthouse was in the Bronx.

Again - thank you familysearch.org !


P.S.  The Sullivan connection remains up in the air, as Mary Reynolds had no sisters!

One other unrelated Sullivan family...

According to Raymond Danielsen [son of Christian Jr. / grandson of Kristian Sr. and Mary [Reynolds] Danielsen], he had Sullivan cousins on his mother's side of the family.  It's possible my father met these Sullivan cousins through his uncle Christian [Jr.]'s family, but they would not have been blood relatives. 


Nothing but dead ends so far trying to connect Sullivan to Reynolds!