John A. McCue

For this post I consider the curious case of John Aloysius McCue.
Or perhaps the correct adjective would be erratic, as John McCue is a difficult man to pin down in the historical records outside of his marriage.  So let us start with what is known.

John A. McCue and Eleanor M. Holahan

As a man, he was described as being 5'9.5" (169.5 cm), of medium build (~138 lbs in 1942), with blue eyes, brown hair and of white ethnicity.  From the few remaining photographs, it would appear that John's hair was a dark brown with a bit of a wave, and his appearance was always well dressed in public.  John McCue's occupation was generally an electrician with employment as a telephone inspector.  The influences leading John McCue to the field of electrical engineering are as veiled as his life before marriage.

From his World War I and II draft registration records, it is fairly certain that John Aloysius McCue was born on 08 November 1884 in New York City.  If we can believe his marriage certificate, John's parents were Bernard McCue and Mary McEvoy; the difficulty in accepting these names has been this researcher's inability to find this family unit in the current (2013) searchable online records.  (Money always being tight, it is not possible to track down every possible record or to travel to those locations were records are not available online, at this time.)  Searching online for a John McCue with the afore mentioned birth date lead to a different family.  The 1900 US Federal Census (USFC) listed a John as being the son of John McCue and Ellen Sheridan with one brother and three sisters.  There is a possibility that John Aloysius McCue was sent to live with a relative and whomever provided the information did not know or say that John A. McCue was anything other than a direct relation to John and Ellen.  Given the near complete destruction of the 1890 USFC, it has not possible to trace the questionable family unit further with John A. McCue present in it.

Thus the first conclusive evidence of John Aloysius McCue appearing in official records is his marriage certificate.  Having just turned the tender age of 29, John A. McCue married a 21 year old Eleanor M. Holahan in the Irish Catholic Church St. Columba on 09 November 1913.  Their first child, William Robert McCue was born 6 months later, probably at Eleanor Holahan family's residence at 111 Morningside Ave, Manhattan!  Since William's birth certificate has not been located, it is unknown whether he was born premature or more likely the end result of a necessary marriage.  Two years later a second child, Helen E., would be born to the couple; again, somewhere in NYC.

John and Eleanor McCue on roof at
111 Morningside Ave

The burgeoning family could be found yet another two years later in September 1918 now residing in Leonia, Bergen, New Jersey.  From John's WWI draft registration card, it would appear that the move was for financial reasons as his place of work is in NYC with the Western Electrical Company as a telephone inspector.  Within two years after that, the McCue family was back living in Manhattan at 403 W 123rd St, an area very familiar to the Holahan family.  The McCues remained on this block for another five years, until 1925.  The last we see of this family together in the historical records is in 1930, where they have moved to 979 Summit Ave, Bronx, NY.

The last known record for John Aloysius McCue is his WWII draft registration card for 1942.  At this time John was residing at 49 West 39th St whilst working on Madison Ave.  What is most interesting about this record is the point of contact listed is not his wife Eleanor but Mrs. Joseph P. Hayes, whom I believe to be his sister.  The current theory for this separation is that Eleanor was away helping to raise their grandchildren in upstate New York, as she can be found living two doors down from their son William in the Batavia city directory.  The 1940 USFC has a John A. McCue rooming on Greenwich St and working as a maintenance man but it is not certain this is the correct person.

The years leading up to his presumed death in 1949 are obscure as John A. McCue's life before his marriage.  The exact date of his death, as well as his burial location, is unknown at the time of this writing.  It is not believed John A. McCue served in either World War I or II.

Sources:
United States Federal Census 1920 - 1940
New York State Census 1925
US World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
US World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
Trow's General Directory of New York City