Frank P. Enright 1897-1978

I'd like to start with the Enright who has inspired and frustrated me into beginning this blog.

This is my great grandfather Frank Paul Enright. According to the U.S. Social Security Death Index, he was born on the April 29th, 1897 (although in his WWI Draft Registration card he lists his birth year as April 28th, 1895 in Vallejo, California. At this time he is employed as a ship fitter in Alameda, CA.)

Frank's first appearance in the U.S. Census (as far as I can tell) is in 1910 where he is a ward at the St. Vincent Roman Catholic School for Boys in San Rafael, California. He is described as being a white male, 12 years old with a birthplace of California. It also says that his father's birthplace is Ireland and his mother's birthplace is California.

The St. Vincent School for Boys was founded in 1853 when a wealthy Irish landowner deeded the land to the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco. I contacted them and asked them to if they could do a search for any records of Frank Enright but they were unable to locate any.

Sometime around 1920 I believe that Frank P. Enright married Grace Emma Carleton (1900-1938). Here are several times they appear in city directories:

In 1918 Frank is boarding at 122 Hamilton pl. He is employed as a ship fitter (Source: Oakland Directory 1918)

In 1920 Frank and Grace are both residing at 1912 Broderick. No occupation is listed (Source: San Francisco City Directory 1920)

In 1923 Frank and Grace are both residing at 2419 Post St. He is employed as an electrician (Source: San Francisco City Directory 1923)


Frank and Grace had six children:

• Frank W. Enright (1920-2001)
• Marjorie J. Enright (1921-2009)
• Carleton J. Enright (1922-1964)
• Grace N Enright (1923-1923)
• Betty B. Enright (1925-1991)
• Merrill L. Enright (1926-2010)

However, in 1930 the U.S. Census finds Grace living with her sister in San Francisco and her marital status is divorced. Grace died on Feb. 7th, 1938. Her funeral record lists the cause of death as gastric ulcers. She was buried at Cypress Lawn in Colma, CA.

photo from findagrave.com

On July 15, 1938 Frank's children Carl, Marjorie, Betty and Merrill set sail from San Francisco aboard the SS Matsonia. They arrived in Honolulu five days later (Source: Honolulu, Hawaii, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1900-1959). Their mother had just passed earlier that year and family story has it that the government told Frank he could either pay child support or take the children in himself and he agreed to the latter.

L-R: Frank Sr, Marjorie (17), Carl (16), Betty (13), Merrill (12)

The next appearance of Frank in the U.S. Census is in 1940 where he is living in Honolulu, HI and working as a pipe fitter. It says he is married to a woman named Mary Enright. The children aren't listed in the household.

I believe this woman is Mary Nellie O'Hearn (pictured with Frank in the images above).

On Find a Grave there is a headstone in Westminster Memorial Park. Is it my Frank and Nellie? And why is there no death date for Frank?  Frank died on February 22, 1978. If this was his gravestone why wasn't he buried there? 

And what about Frank's parents?! 

This is Frank's Social Security Application, which I requested from the state of California and scanned. In 1937 when he filled out this form, he was living in San Francisco and employed by Bethlehem Ship Building, Co. He lists his parents as Frank Ketchum Enright and Grace Wilbur.

When I first received this document in the mail I was so excited - I finally had the names of Frank's parents! I eagerly went online and renewed my Ancestry.com subscription. But it was too good to be true. I have been unable to find any information about these people. I recently made some progress in finding his mother (Grace Wilbur) but it still hasn't led me to any further information about his father.

Because I have exhausted all paper trails I will now turn to family lore (however unreliable it may be). My grandfather wrote:

"I had never seen or talked with my dad the first eleven years of my life...he took one look at me and was AWOL from his family - hiding as a sailor in the merchant marine. I can understand his action since he was an orphan from age six in a Catholic orphanage. His father was a holder of huge land grants around San Jose which he lost when California became a state."

These land grants in California are something that I plan to investigate in a future blog post but I have been unable to connect them to my family as of yet.

Family lore also has it that Frank's parents were "lost" in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. I have been unable to find any evidence to confirm this.

Sources
Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1895-1985. Microfilm publication, 1129 rolls. Researchity. San Francisco, California.
Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.
State of Florida. Florida Death Index, 1877-1998. Florida: Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, 1998.
Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.
United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.