Week 25 of #52Ancestors Challenge: FAN Club
When Elizabeth Shown Mills coined the term “FAN Club” – Friends, Associates & Neighbors – she gave genealogists a powerful research strategy. But I’d like to expand that definition slightly to include both Friends AND Family, Associates & Neighbors, because family networks often function just like friendships in providing crucial life support. The story of my paternal great-grandfather Thomas Dowling’s household perfectly illustrates how these FAN relationships sustained families through economic challenges, personal tragedies, and major historical events.
A Sister’s Support: Julia Plunkett Joins the Family
Let me tell you about Julia Plunkett – a woman I wish I could have met. Born December 13, 1862, in Kings County, New York, Julia grew up with her father Peter at 418 Van Brunt Street in Brooklyn. By 1880, she’d struck out on her own, working as a servant at 331 Quincy Street – about 4.5 miles from her family home. For a single woman in the 1880s, domestic work offered one of the few respectable ways to earn a living independently.
Everything changed around 1896 when Julia’s younger sister Mary married Thomas Dowling, a house painter. When Mary and Thomas welcomed their first child, Peter, in 1898, Julia made a decision that would shape the next quarter-century of her life: she moved in with the young family to help care for the baby.
By the 1900 census, we find Julia living with Thomas and Mary at 518 17th Street in Brooklyn. Here’s the heartbreaking part – little Peter died shortly after the census enumerators completed their work. But the family welcomed another son, William Bernard, in 1901, and Julia remained with them through this period of loss and new beginnings, providing the emotional and practical support that only family can offer.
From 17th Street to the Family Home: A Family Migration
Around 1905, the family made a significant move to their new home in Brooklyn, purchasing their own property – and Julia moved with them. By this time, she had evolved from emergency childcare provider to integral family member. The 1905 New York State Census lists her occupation as “copyist,” showing she had developed professional clerical skills while maintaining her role in the household.
This represented a mutually beneficial arrangement. Her income as a copyist, combined with Thomas’s work as a house painter, helped make homeownership possible. Meanwhile, Julia gained the security and companionship of family life without the financial burden of maintaining her own household.
The Plunkett Clan Assembles: A Full House by 1915
By 1910, Thomas and Mary had two more children – Marie (born 1905) and Julia (born 1907, my grandmother). The household bustled with activity, but nothing compared to what the 1915 census reveals.
The 1915 New York State Census shows a remarkable living arrangement at the family home. What had started as Thomas, Mary, and their children had expanded to include not just Julia, but three more of Mary’s siblings:
The 1915 Household:
- Thomas & Mary Dowling (both age 44)
- William (12), Marie (8), Julia (7), and baby Gwendolyn (9 months)
- Julia Plunkett (52) – still doing “housework”
- Bridget Elizabeth Plunkett (52) – also doing “housework”
- James Plunkett (64) – paper maker
- Stephen Plunkett (40) – paper maker
- Edwin C. Leavens (29) – Machinist
- Esther W. Leavens (33) – Housework
And two additional non-related people, probably living in the attic apartment! That’s twelve people under one roof! Thank goodness the house functioned as a duplex. Can you imagine the logistics? The laundry alone must have been a full-time job.
A Family Business and Tragic Loss
Here’s where the story gets even more interesting. Those “paper maker” occupations for James and Stephen? Their father Peter had established a paper-making business, which the sons inherited. This family enterprise provided steady income that helped support the extended household arrangement.
This wasn’t just family helping family out of the goodness of their hearts (though there was plenty of that). Everyone contributed something valuable – the men brought in steady wages from the family business, the women managed the enormous task of running a ten-person household, and everyone benefited from shared expenses and built-in childcare.
Tragically, this period of family prosperity ended abruptly. James Plunkett died on June 11, 1915, just months after census enumerators recorded the family, when he fell down the stairs in the very house where he’d found family sanctuary.
Evolution and Adaptation: The Network Responds to Change
The beautiful thing about strong family networks is how they adapt to changing circumstances. Watch how this FAN network evolved:
- 1919: Stephen married and moved to his own household with his wife Annie
- 1924: Julia Plunkett died, ending nearly three decades of devoted service to the family
- 1930s: The Great Depression brought new challenges
Here’s where the story takes a fascinating turn. By 1930, property records show that Bridget Plunkett, not Thomas, owned the house. When the economic crisis hit and Thomas couldn’t keep up with payments, it appears the Plunkett family money – possibly from that inherited paper-making business – saved the family home.
A Legacy of Family Cooperation
Bridget continued living with the Dowling family until her death in 1950. Upon her passing, she deeded the house to my grandmother Julia Dowling and her sister Gwendolyn. The property remained in the extended family network, eventually passing to my aunt, who still lives there today.
Think about that for a moment – that’s 120+ years of family continuity in one home. In our mobile society, that kind of rootedness feels almost magical.
What This Story Teaches Us About FAN Research
I’m sharing this story because it perfectly illustrates why FAN club research proves so valuable for family historians. This arrangement concerned economic survival as much as affection. Multiple wage earners, shared housing costs, and built-in childcare made homeownership possible for working-class families who might never have achieved it individually.
Key lessons from the Plunkett-Dowling network:
- Mutual benefit: Everyone contributed something valuable
- Long-term commitment: Julia lived with the family for nearly 30 years, Bridget for over 35 years
- Adaptation to crisis: The network reorganized itself to meet new challenges
- Multi-generational legacy: Cooperation that began in the 1890s continues today
Research Applications for Your Own Family
When you’re looking at your own census records and you see those “extended family” households, dig deeper. Those extra relatives weren’t just visiting – they formed part of carefully constructed support networks that helped families weather whatever life threw at them.
Look for these clues in your research:
- Census patterns: Household composition reveals economic and social relationships
- Property records: Ownership changes can reveal financial support networks
- Occupational data: Family businesses and shared work often indicate deeper connections
- Geographic stability: Long-term residence patterns show the strength of community ties
Sometimes the most important genealogical discoveries don’t involve famous ancestors or royal lineages. They’re about ordinary people like Julia Plunkett, who quietly created extraordinary networks of mutual support that sustained families through generations of challenges.
Have you discovered interesting FAN networks in your own family research? I’d love to hear about the creative ways your ancestors supported each other through difficult times. These stories of family cooperation help us understand that the challenges we face today aren’t so different from what our ancestors navigated generations ago.
- 1915 New York, U.S., state census, Kings County, New York, Block 8, Election District No. 55, Ward No. 29, City of New York, Assembly District 12, Kings County, [page and address redacted for privacy reasons], Thomas F. Dowling family; digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2703/ : accessed 5 May 2024). ↩︎
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