25 December 2006

My New York City Actress

The possibility never even crossed my mind.
A daughter of Marie Cawiezell "disappeared" in the 1890s in Davenport, Iowa, and I simply thought she died as a child without a death certificate or extant tombstone. Some fortunate snooping located Emma Cawiezell living in New York City as Emma Davis and working as an actress. Her 1893 death certificate provides some information about her and I'm anxious to see if I can get information from the cemetery. I never thought she travelled from Davenport, Iowa, all the way to New York! There were no stories passed down to the present generation about an aunt who died in NYC while working as an actress.

Part II of her death certificate is posted here.

Actually she's not my aunt, she's my wife's aunt. Emma's sister, Catherine Cawiezell Freund (born and died in Davenport, Iowa), was my wife's great-great-grandmother.