William Shea and Gertrude Cornelius Fritz married. They had two daughters: Allie M. and Edna H. Shea. I hadn’t expected to ever know their middle names, but thanks to William’s livestock, I was able to learn what that M. stands for.
William Shea owned livestock along with Gertrude’s brother, William Fritz. In 1900, the two Williams bought three Hereford cattle. This information is available thanks to the “American Hereford Association” in their publication “American Hereford Record and Hereford Herd Book”, Volume 23, freely available on Google Books.
The brothers-in-law named the cows after William Shea’s family:
No.: 113181
Sex: Cow
Name: ALLIE MAY
Breeder: G. W. Dean
Owner: Fritz & Shea
No.: 113182
Sex: Cow
Name: EDNA H
Breeder: G. W. Dean
Owner: Fritz & Shea
No.: 113183
Sex: Cow
Name: GERTRUDE C
Breeder: G. W. Dean
Owner: Fritz & Shea
It would be easy to suggest this as evidence for Allie Shea’s middle name, but it’s not a good place to stop looking. Allie went by Alice as an adult, so I did a Google Books search for “Alice May Shea”. That brought up “Maintenance of Way Bulletin”, Volume 2. As it turns out, William Shea was president of the Roadmasters’ and Maintenance of Way Association of America, and his family members were present at their 31st Annual Convention. This publication lists the visitors, a list including the names:
- Miss Alice May Shea, Ottumwa, Iowa.
- Miss Edna Shea, Ottumwa, Ia.
- Mrs. Wm. Shea, Ottumwa, Ohio
Never mind that the “Ohio” should be “Iowa”. It’s clear here that Allie May Shea is the birth name for this daughter of William and Gertrude Shea. (Allie versus Alice is a separate issue. The Iowa birth index uses Allie, and that name appears on all State and Federal censuses during her childhood, before becoming Alice in her adult years.)
Now if only I could find out Edna’s middle name.