Brooklyn 2026, Day 4. Friday, September 11, 2026
I was supposed to spend today at Holy Cross Cemetery. The July 8 itinerary revision put the visit on September 11, but Tuesday night we moved it to Saturday. So today turned into a full day in the Kensington house, working through the family archive. My aunt was gone all day and my son left for a side trip, so it ended up being just me and about 120 years of family paper.
The house
The plan called for a dedicated session here, the kind Days 1 and 2 could only grab in snatched hours, plus a midday conversation with my aunt about what the family archive had raised. With nobody around to ask, I gave the attic about an hour instead, then brought what I found down to the living room and spent the rest of the afternoon scanning.
About 225 pages came off the family archive in one hour. The biggest find gets its own sentence: a letter identifying my second great grandmother’s brother as a prominent Swedish-American engineer and diplomat. I did not know he existed this morning.
Alongside him came information on Ida Svensson’s estate in Sweden, a booklet listing the guests and gifts from my grandparents’ 25th wedding anniversary in 1965, and a run of my grandfather’s personal papers: his original Social Security card, his Certificate of Literacy, the operator’s licenses for various cars he had over the years, his original Last Will and Testament, and records from his carpentry business. There was information from my grandmother’s funeral in 1977 too. And there is a deed that deserves its own post once Monday’s deed day has helped me make sense of it.
It was a good afternoon.
The location that got cut twice
Saturday was going to include a stop at the Center for Brooklyn History, but by September the actual research value was mostly gone. The four city directory years I needed for Peter Plunkett, 1861, 1865, 1875, and 1887, turned up online at the Internet Archive, and I deprioritized the lot questions on two of William Dowling’s addresses because both were most likely rentals. What was left was a nice outing with my aunt to a landmark building, and even that came out of the plan once my aunt’s change of plans put the cemetery on Saturday and we knew we would need the rest of that day to recover. The Center for Brooklyn History will have to wait until I come back to Brooklyn, hopefully within the year.
What the plan said
Tuesday night’s revision: a full day at the house, with a possible records pickup at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph/St. Teresa.
What actually happened
I did not make it to the Co-Cathedral. They still have those three Dowling baptisms waiting, and I am hoping to get over there Tuesday or Wednesday of next week instead. St. James is still on my list to call too.
What I did have was time. After scanning, I turned to Saturday. I charged everything, pulled out the cemetery map, and had my list of who I am looking for at Holy Cross Cemetery.
Being here on the anniversary of 9/11 hits harder than it does at home. From my aunt’s porch, I could see the Tribute in Light. She took the photograph below.
A little television, then bed at a reasonable hour. I have been sleeping pretty well out here, which I need with how packed the days have been.
Tonight’s decision log entry
11 Sep 2026. No change to tomorrow’s plan; Saturday’s cemetery visit at Holy Cross stands. Open items carried forward: the Co-Cathedral pickup of three Dowling baptisms, which I am now targeting for Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. St. James contact still outstanding.
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