I know that my Mattimore 2nd cousins wish they had more information about their grandmother Jane “Jennie” Long who married Harry Mattimore. There are only a handful of stories about her and even fewer photos. No one has even been able to find a wedding photo of Harry and Jane.

In this post I will attempt to pull together what is known about Jane Long and her family. My hope is that there is something here in the research that is new or interesting to my cousins.

Born Jane C. Long on 7 Apr 1894 in Buffalo to Bartholomew Long and Catherine Dowling, she was the second of 11 children (nine girls and two boys). Her family called her Jennie.

She brought 100% Irish ancestry to her union with Harry Lawrence Mattimore and their descendants. Her parents and all four of her grandparents have well-documented origins in County Kerry, Ireland.

Jane’s father Bartholomew was born in 1863 in Moan (or Moin), Ardfert, Tralee, Co. Kerry. He was the son of Bartholomew “Batt” Long and Catherine “Kate” O’Connell. A Catholic Church parish register confirms he was baptized at St. Brendan Catholic Church on 13 Jul 1863 in the village of Ardfert. 

St. Brendan's Catholic Church where Jane's father was baptized.

This small rural village was the site of a monastery that was founded in the 6th century by Saint Brendan “The Navigator” (c. AD 484 – c. 577). It also boasts the presence of three medieval church ruins, the main and earliest building being the Ardfert Cathedral dating to the 12th century. 

Jane’s grandfather Batt was a national school teacher in Ireland, and at least three of Jane’s aunts (Batt’s daughters) were teachers in Ireland as well.

Great grandfather Bartholomew Long

Jane’s father Bartholomew immigrated to America and settled in Buffalo, New York, On 6 Apr 1888. Two years after his arrival, he filed his intention in court to become a U.S. citizen. After having lived in the U.S. for five years he was granted naturalization and became a U.S. citizen on 3 Oct 1892. That was an important year for another reason. It was 1892 when he was married to Catherine Dowling. At the time of their marriage, Bartholomew was 29 and Catherine was about 22 years of age. 

Great grandmother Catherine Dowling

Jane’s mother Catherine Dowling was born about 1873 in Lahern, Tralee, Co. Kerry, the daughter of Nicholas Dowling (a farmer) and Jane “Jennie” Talbot. The family had eight children that I’ve discovered. It seems very likely that Jane was named for her grandmother Jane “Jennie” Talbot.

After their marriage Bartholomew and Catherine Dowling Long settled in the 2nd Ward of Buffalo. A year after the marriage in 1893 he is listed as being employed as a clerk and they are residing in a rental at 47 Hayward Street. In just another year in 1894 Bartholomew made a career decision that had been made by many of his Irish compatriots: he joined the Buffalo Police Department and began working as a patrolman.

Patrolman Bartholomew Long 

Much of the information on the Long family presented here was well researched by Joseph G. Vergo, the ex-husband of a granddaughter of Jane’s sister Anne Long. Joe Vergo’s wife was Karen (nee Schmitt) Czajka, a first cousin to my Harry Mattimore cousins. Joe prepared the information for his children in 2019. I have excerpted from his research. Here is information on the 11 Long children:

1. CATHERINE F. LONG was born on 29 Oct 1892 in Buffalo. Her first name was her mother’s and paternal grandmother’s given name. Catherine was also known as Kittie by family and friends. She began working as a stenographer in 1910 at the age of 17. She lived with her parents at 429 Perry Street in Buffalo into her late twenties. It was commonplace for extended families to live under one roof in those days, especially for immigrant Irish. At the age of 29, Catherine married William J. Smith in 1922. William was 30 and working for the railroad. Catherine and William settled in South Buffalo. They had a family of three daughters and three sons. Kittie died in Buffalo on 13 Apr 1949 at the age of 58. Her husband died in Apr 1969.

2. JANE C. LONG was born 7 Apr 1893 in Buffalo. She died young at the age of 44 on 21 Jun 1938 in Buffalo. After her education she found employment as a Stenographer. She lived with her parents until the age of 27 when she married Harry Mattimore who was 24 at the time. He had served briefly in the US Navy during World War I. When they exchanged vows, Harry was a clerk but would become the registrar of the city of Buffalo later in his career. Jennie and Harry bought a home in South Buffalo at 164 Whitfield Avenue and raised a family of four daughters and two sons. 

3. LENORE C. LONG was born in Feb 1896 in Buffalo. She died on 8 Jul 1958 in Buffalo. Lenore worked as an office worker until she married John Matthew Danahy in 1920. John was a veteran of World War I, having served overseas as a US Army ambulance driver. He became a clerk with the railroad and then Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna. Lenore and John raised four sons in South Buffalo. The first, John J. Danahy (1919 – 1986), became a firefighter before serving in the US Navy during World War II and would retire as a Hamburg fire hall captain. Bartholomew J. Danahy (1920 – 1989), earned his BS Degree from Canisius College and was appointed a police officer in 1942. In 1943 he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and saw duty in Panama until his honorable discharge in 1945. Bart returned to BPD as a Lieutenant, advanced to Assistant Director of the Police Academy and ended his career as an Investigator for the state liquor authority. William J. Danahy (1926 – 1988), served as a Sergeant in the US Army during WW II and became a firefighter in Buffalo. The fourth son, Joseph J. Danahy Sr. (1934 – 1995) served 2 years in US Army until discharge in 1958 and would become an M&T Bank Branch Manager in South Buffalo.

4. MARY A. LONG was born in Dec 1897 in Buffalo. She died on 21 Feb 1949 in Buffalo. She married Myron E Goss on 7 May 1919. He was born about 1898 in New York. Myron, who served briefly in the US Army for WWI, worked for the Buffalo Water Department. The couple settled in a home at 165 Easton Avenue in Buffalo and raised a family including three daughters and one son.

5. ANNE M. LONG was born on 23 Nov 1899 in Buffalo. She married Nicholas Schmitt on 29 June 1926. Four years after their marriage, the couple was living in South Buffalo with their 2 month old son James. It is likely they settled there to be close to Anne’s childhood home, where her father and five of her siblings continued to live at 489 Perry Street. Nicholas was then working as an Assistant Engineer at the telephone company. By 1940 the couple had moved to the town of Tonawanda and were living with their two sons and Anne’s sister Marie at 72 Lincoln Blvd. Nicholas and Anne would eventually move to Kenmore, and Nicholas became district manager of the telephone company. He died in 1991. Anne Long Schmitt died on 28 Dec 1994 at the advanced age of 95. 

6. BARTHOLOMEW C. LONG JR. was born about 1899 in Buffalo. He went by the nickname Bart. He followed his father’s footsteps in the field of law enforcement and was appointed patrolman with the Buffalo police at the age of 24. He had a long and storied 31 year career as illustrated by his police actions described in over 100 newspaper stories in the Buffalo news. His most celebrated case occurred in 1929 when he was 30. Bart was sent to investigate a disturbance and was ambushed by a man with a pistol. Three of four shots aimed at him by the assailant went wide, but one struck in his side. Fortunately, the bullet struck his thick police belt, preventing him from being seriously wounded. Bart got off two shots of his own, both striking the perpetrator, who died later that day at the hospital. Two days after this incident, Bart’s deceased assailant was identified as murderer, notably the man who had shot and killed a local junk dealer a month earlier. Bart’s notoriety increased significantly due to this takedown. At 33, he married Laurette M. Clark (1897 – 1953), a native of Buffalo and clerical worker at Trico Products. In 1940 Bart was assigned to “plainclothes” duties with the Detective Bureau of Buffalo Police Department as an acting, then a full detective. He and his wife were childless when she passed, suffering a heart attack in their home in Dec 1953. About eight months later, after working the day tour, Bart was taken ill in his home and died shortly afterward at St. Francis Hospital. He died on 9 Sep 1954.

7. SARA A. LONG was born about 1904 in Buffalo. She married John J. Fisher (1900 – 1970) in 1922. John was a yard clerk for the New York Central Railroad and would advance to the position of yard master later in his career. The couple settled in South Buffalo not far from Cazenovia Park. Sara and John would raise four sons and one daughter. Son Paul Joseph Fisher (1930 – 1989) served as a Lt. JG in the US Navy during the Korean Conflict. A grandson, James J. Fisher (1964 – Present), who is the son their son Richard J. Fisher (1939 – Present), graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1987. Sara died at the youthful age of 46 on 10 Apr 1950 when her youngest son was just 11. Her John husband died in 1970.

8. EILEEN LONG was born about 1906 in Buffalo. After finishing school she found employment as a stenographer at New York Central Rail Road. She lived with her parents and siblings until her early thirties when she married Joseph W. Hock (1895 – 1959) probably in 1939. Joseph had served in the US Army infantry at Camp Gordon, Georgia during WWI and was working as a guard when they were married. They lived in the Blackrock section of Buffalo and had one daughter. Eileen died 1 Nov 1954 at the age of 48 when her daughter was just eight years old. Joseph would pass in 1959 and both husband and wife were interred at the Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Tonawanda. 

9. MARGARET LONG was born on 10 Mar 1908 in Buffalo. She never married and lived part of her adulthood in the home of her parents, and then with her brother John (Joe) and his family. She died at the age of 68 in Sep 1976 in Buffalo.

10. JOHN JOSEPH [Joseph J.] LONG SR. was born on 14 Jun 1909 in Buffalo. He died on 3 Feb 1975. He used the name Joseph J. Long and answered to the nickname of Joe. After working as a clerk for a time he became a firefighter with the Buffalo Fire Department. He married Marie Nenno in Oct 1941. She died in 1960 in Cheektowaga. The couple had two children, a son and a daughter. Their son, John Joseph [Joseph J.] Long Jr. was born in Buffalo on 2 Sep 1942. Like his father, he called himself Joseph J. Long. Joe attended Niagara University before transferring to Canisius College. While studying there he met Mary Louise Nienhaus. The couple were married 16 Apr 1966 in Cheektowaga, and raised two sons. Patrick J. Long was born in 1967 and attended and graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1992. He served with the fleet and attained the rank of Lieutenant. He also obtained an MBA from Chicago University Booth School of Business in 1999. Their second son, John Michael [J. Michael] Long, was born 18 May 1968 in Buffalo. Mike completed his education at Canisius College and Marquette University Law School. He is married and has at least two sons.

11. ALMA LONG was born on 24 Jan 1912 in Buffalo. Alma never married. She died in Aug 1982 in Buffalo. 

Jane’s father Bartholomew Long retired from the Buffalo Police Department in November of 1907 at the age of 44 after serving for 13 years, 6 months. Although the reason for his early retirement was not found, it is surmised he developed a physical disability preventing him from performing a police duties. He continued working as a clerk, first with a dry dock and then a railroad company. Bartholomew and Catherine’s home at 489 Perry Street in Buffalo’s Ward 1 served as a residence for the large Long family through the years of the Great Depression. Catherine Dowling Long died on 30 May 1926 in Buffalo at the age of 56. Bartholomew died six years later at the age of 68 on 27 Mar 1932. Funeral services for both were held at the family residence before they were interred next to each other at Holy Cross Cemetery in Lackawanna. At the time, they were survived by all eleven of their children and numerous grandchildren.

A few other tidbits

The family often took in boarders. One of them even appears in a family photograph shown here. This is the only photo of the family I've been able to find. The lovely Jane (Jennie) is on far left, back row.

The Long Family with mother Catherine in the center and her husband Bartholomew behind her.

A serendipitous moment as told to me by Karen Czajka (nee Schmitt):

“Lori [Deacon Steinwald] appeared at my door one afternoon probably in the mid 1990s with her son who was coming over to play with my son, Timmy. I asked her where she was from (she and Dale bought the house of our childhood paperboy Paul Schneeburgher whom we were all in love with — we would wait eagerly for the paper to be delivered in the afternoons; I bought a house and raised my kids 14 houses from my parents), and when she replied South Buffalo, I said 'Oh well, we're probably cousins then.' I named some of the names I could remember and lo and behold — it was true! That's how we met. We did get her Mom and my parents together for dinner at my house. They hadn't seen each other for years!”

Karen’s grandmother Anne Long, said the family used to sing (like the Von Traps)! Karen also heard that the family had some type of mnemonic that they used to remember the names of the 11 kids in order. How cool would that be to know? Alas, no one knows what it was. Let’s see: letters starting with C, J, L, M, A, B, S, E, M, J, A. I bet ChatGPT could come up with some interesting suggestions.

Jane and her older sister Catherine were stenographers before their marriages. In looking at the 1920 census records, they are listed as working as stenographers for a soap company. Well, the big soap company in Buffalo at that time was the Larkin Soap Company. I would bet dollars to donuts that they worked for the Larkin Company, which is historically significant for its innovative mail-order business model, which relied on a national network of "Larkin Clubs,” and its association with architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed its famous administration building in Buffalo.

At only 44 years old, Jane was the first of of the 11 siblings to pass away. According to her death certificate, she died of chronic tubular nephritis (progressive kidney disease) with some underlying causes. She and Harry had six living children at the time. When their mother died the oldest child, Mary, was 15 and youngest, Kay, was 5.

(Remember, you can always click images to see them larger)

My mother always told the story that when Jane died, the Long family wanted to take and raise Harry & Jane’s children. It would had to have been Jane’s siblings since both of her parents had passed away by then. I asked Fr. Jack what he knew of the story. Apparently Jane’s sisters went to the home on Whitfield Ave to tell Harry that they had discussed it and had decided which sister would take which of the children. Harry threw them off the porch and never spoke to them again. While I’m sure there’s more to the story, it basically confirmed the outlines of the tale my mom had heard.

A treasured photo of Grandma Jennie Mattimore with children Mary, Jane and Harry Jr.

Jack also had this to say:

“When my cousin Joe Long was receiving chemo at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, I was the Catholic chaplain there, so he would tell them he wanted to see the Catholic chaplain (Chris Sheehan, Rob’s wife, was often his nurse, so it was quite the family gathering). I would be paged and would go down to chemo and sit with Joe for as long as I could while he was there. I got so much Long family history from him that it was amazing. We had great times together as he filled me in on all the Long backstories, which my father had never heard.”

So next time you speak with Jack, perhaps he can fill you in on some other Long stories.

Well, if you are still reading this, I hope you learned something new about Jane or her family. If anyone ever does come across old photos of Jane, please share!