Jessamine Day (Rood) Kirby (1889 - 1952)

Born 29 Jun 1889 in Binghamton, Broome, New York, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Ashby Smith Kirby — married 30 Apr 1923 (to 1952) in Bedford, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 13 Dec 1952 at age 63 in Syracuse, NY

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Deborah David [send private message]

Biography

Jessamine was born about 1889. She passed away about 1952.

Timeline

• Birth records were destroyed in a courthouse fire.^[1]NOTE: I always thought this was a made up story to hide the year of her birth, but conveniently for her, it was true!
• 1889 Birth recorded as "Day" Rood, June 29, 1889. ^[2]
• 1892 New York State Census: Daisy, age 2, lived in Binghamton, Broome County, N.Y., With father Jessie H. Rood, 43, mother Josie E. Rood, 36, half brothers Harry, 10 & Ernest, 12, and brother (Silas)Pierce, 7. Jessie's occupation was sash maker.^[3]
• 1900 U.S. Census: Daisy Rood, age 10, lived in Guatay Township, San Diego County, California, with parents Jessie K. Rood, 46, and Josephine, 39, and brother Pierce, 15. Jessie and Josephine had been married 17 years. All family members and parents born in New York. Jessie's occupation was farmer; Pierce and Daisy attended school. All family members spoke English and could read and write. Jessie owned his farm.^[4]NOTE: Per personal letter from Aunt Betty Lou Kirby, Daisy's half brother Ernest was kicked by a horse and died. Her brother Silas disappeared, along with his horse, from his father's ranch at age 17.^[5]
• 1901 Daisy's mother died; 1902 Pierce disappeared. Daisy was sent to boarding school in San Francisco and was there at the time of the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, after which she was sent back to New York to live with relatives. An uncle or cousin accompanied her on the train trip. ^[6]
• 1910 U. S. Census: Jessamine D. Rood, age 20, lived in Binghamton, Broome County, New York, as a companion in the home of Eugene Casey, age 40, wife Edmire, age 36, and daughter Edmire, age 6 months. The Casey's had been married 2 years; this was Mr. Casey's second marriage. Mr. Casey born in New York, parents born in England. Mrs. Casey born in Vermont, parents French Canadian. Both Casey's were osteopaths and worked in their own office. All adults could read and write. The Casey's owned their home with a mortgage. ^[7]NOTE: Further research does not turn up a familial relationship between the Caseys and Daisy Rood.
• 1912 Binghamton Directory: Jessamine Rood, Stenographer, lived at 1 Walnut St, Binghamton, NY^[8]
• 1920 U. S. Census: Jesamine (sic) D. Rood, 31, (but reporting age as 25), lived in Manhattan, New York, as a lodger in the home of Marguerite Glentwood. Jesamine states she was single, spoke English, could read and write, born in New York, as were both her parents, occupation stenographer for an auto office. ^[9] Per verbal family history, between 1910 & 1920 Jessamine was married to an Italian man who was abusive and after he pushed her down stairs, causing her to lose her unborn child, she left him.
• 1923 Pennsylvania County Marriages, 1885-1950: Ashby S. Kirby, age 22, b. 1901, married Jessamine Day Rood, reported age 26, (actual age 34), b. 1897 (b. 1889), on April 30, 1923 in Bedford, Pennsylvania. Ashby's occupation was railroader, birthplace Virginia, residence Baltimore, Maryland. Father W.R. Kirby, deceased, mother Nannie B. Thomas Kirby, living in Virginia; Jessamine's occupation was stenographer, born in Binghamton, N.Y., residence Winchester, Virginia. Father J.D. Rood, rancher in California, mother Josephine Pierce Rood, deceased, both parents born in New York.^[10]
  • 1923 Jessamine told her daughter, Betty Lou Kirby, she and Ashby married on February 11, 1923, likely to cover the fact she was pregnant at the time of her actual marriage in April.^[11]
• 1923 Birth of daughter Phyllis Daphne Kirby on December 11, 1923.
• 1926 Death of father, Jesse Rood, age 77, on April 10, 1926, in California.
• 1930 U. S. Census: Ashby, 29, lived in Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland, with wife Jessamine, reported age 34 (actual age 40), & children Phyllis, 6, Betty L., 4 years, 11 months, & Bobby, 1. They rented their home for $10 per month. Ashby and Jessamine could read and write, Phyllis attended school. Ashby and his parents born in Virginia, Jessamine and her parents born in New York, the children were all born in Maryland. Ashby worked as a splicer in a tire plant, was not a veteran.^[12]
• 1931 Syracuse City Directory: Ashby S. and Jessamine D. Kirby lived at 441 1/2 Seymour St, Syracuse, NY^[13]
• 1940 U. S. Census: Ashby, 39, lived in Ward 8, Syracuse City, Onondaga County, New York, with wife Jessamine, reported age 46 (actual age 50), and children Phyllis, 16, Betty Lou, 14, and Robert, 11. The children attended school; Ashby had completed 1 year of high school, Jessamine 3 years, Phyllis, 1 year, Betty 8th grade, Robert, 4th grade. On this census Ashby reports born in Maryland. All residents lived in this same house in 1935. Phyllis and Betty attended school. Ashby worked 40 hours per week as a laborer at a steel mill.^[14]
• 1950 U.S. Census: Jessamine Kirby, age 55 (actual age 61), lived in 111 Blaine St., Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York, with her husband, Ashby, 49, and a roomer, Marion Money, 38, separated. Ashby was born in Virginia, Jessamine and Marion were born in New York. Ashby worked as a laborer n a grocery warehouse, and Marion worked as a waitress in a restaurant. Both were working the week prior to the census; Jessamine marked unable to work. ^[15]
• 1952 Death Index: Jessamin R. Kirby, 58, (actual age 63), died in Syracuse, NY, on December 13, 1952 of Acute pericarditis; heart condition was a complication of long-term diabetes.^[16]

Research Notes

• 1910-1920 Marriage record of first marriage.

^{[17] [18]}

Sources

1. ↑ Cartland Evening Standard, December 29, 1896, "Great Fire at Binghamton", http://jeffpaine.blogspot.com/2013/09/1896-fire-destroys-courthouse-in.html
2. ↑ Publication date 1889, Usage Public Domain Mark 1.0, Topics genealogy, births, New York, Publisher Reclaim The Records, Collection nybirthindex; reclaimtherecords; genealogy; additional_collections, Language English. https://archive.org/details/New_York_State_Birth_Index_1889/page/n644/mode/1up
3. ↑ New York State Census, 1892," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-14754-73592-43?cc=1529100 : 22 May 2015), Broome > Binghamton, Ward 05, E.D. 01 > image 6 of 9; county offices, New York.
4. ↑ United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M95Q-4YR : accessed 3 April 2018), Daisy Rood in household of Jessie K Rood, Campo and Guatay Townships, San Diego, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 178, sheet 4B, family 89, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,099.
5. ↑ Unsourced family tree handed down to Deborah David via letter from Betty Lou Kirby
6. ↑ Unsourced family tree handed down to Deborah David.
7. ↑ United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M5CH-SW4 : accessed 3 April 2018), Jessamine D Rood in household of Eugene M Casey, Binghamton Ward 8, Broome, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 25, sheet 4B, family 29, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 925; FHL microfilm 1,374,938.
8. ↑ Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original Data: Original sources vary according to directory. The title of the specific directory being viewed is listed at the top of the image viewer page. Check the directory title page image for full title and publication information.
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MJYP-HFQ : accessed 4 April 2018), Jesamine D Rood in household of George C Mates, Manhattan Assembly District 7, New York, New York, United States; citing ED 574, sheet 20B, line 96, family 428, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1198; FHL microfilm 1,821,198.
10. ↑ Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VFS8-R5D : 4 November 2017), Ashby S. Kirby and Jessamine Day Rood, 1923.
11. ↑ Unsourced family tree handed down to Deborah David via letter from Betty Lou Kirby
12. ↑ United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X37T-1SN : accessed 2 April 2018), Ashby Kirby, Cumberland, Allegany, Maryland, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 12, sheet 10B, line 73, family 215, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 843; FHL microfilm 2,340,578.
13. ↑ Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original Data: Original sources vary according to directory. The title of the specific directory being viewed is listed at the top of the image viewer page. Check the directory title page image for full title and publication information.
14. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KQPY-KP9 : accessed 2 April 2018), Ashby Kirby, Ward 8, Syracuse, Syracuse City, Onondaga, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 66-124, sheet 9B, line 51, family 166, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2855.
15. ↑ United States 1950 Census; Digital Folder Number 108852548; Image Number 13 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHN-GQHW-SSY6?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3A6XPG-TC2N&action=view&groupId=TH-7734-115382-2575-44)
16. ↑ Source Citation: New York Department of Health; Albany, NY; NY State Death Index; Certificate Number: 76629 Source Information: Ancestry.com. New York, Death Index, 1880-1956 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017. Original Data: NY State Death Index, New York Department of Health, Albany, NY
17. ↑ United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MS6G-8QD : accessed 19 May 2020), Eugene M Casey, Oxford Township Oxford village, Chenango, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 75, sheet 2A, family 31, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,017.
18. ↑ United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJKK-98P : accessed 19 May 2020), Eugene M Casey, Union, Broome, New York, United States; citing ED 97, sheet 18A, line 47, family 406, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1087; FHL microfilm 1,821,087.