Hi, Kathie, thanks so much for replying with what, for me, is new information. I guess we don't have solid proof of the relationship, but if Edith & the 4 kids came to 10 Highland Ave, she must've married one of the Harland boys, and i think the lost Thomas is the only one who fits the bill. I went to the Ellis Island website and found the record you discovered. Once they arrived in Kearny that must've been one crowded house! In add'n to Edith + 4, there was Thomas (elder) & Mary + 7 of their kids -- 14 people. You'll see from the info i write below that the elder Thomas died just a month after Edith's arrival.
I don't know if all hobbyists do this, but besides finding my ancestors i try to find their siblings and then follow those forward in time looking for distant cousins. It looks like you might be one of them, the first i've discovered (or who discovered me)! Anything you can tell me about Edith and her descendants would be appreciated.
Let me put a brief summary of what i know below and then invite you to email me if you want sources (i should have a source for every piece of data i record) & more details. Most of what i have you can find freely available on the internet. I did access a pay site for free from a library a few times, so some info might not be freely available. I've only dabbled in this so far, and seem to only be active around the holiday season. I can tell you that i do have a passport photo of Mary Cochrane Harland i can send you. I also have some family snapshots of some of the brothers. (I had no idea i had all these relatives. I guess since my grandfather died young and my grandmother remarried we didn't see his side of the family growing up. If you look at the info below you'll see 4 brothers died from 1950-1953, none of them very old.)
Here's the summary:
Thomas Harland
b. 11 Sep 1860 in Belfast, Antrim, Ulster, Ireland
d. 28 May 1920 in , , New Jersey, USA
buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington, Bergen, New Jersey, USA
Mary Cochrane
b. abt 1864 in Belfast, Antrim, Ulster, Ireland
d. 05 Jun 1947 in , , New Jersey, USA
buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington, Bergen, New Jersey, USA
married Thomas Harland, above, in Apr 1887 in Belfast
Children:
1. Francis Harland, 1888-1975
married Martha and had 1 child that i know of
2. Thomas Harland, abt 1889
the only info i have for him comes from 1901 Census of Ireland
3. Daniel Michael Harland, 1891-1951
never married; lived w/ his mother at end of her life
4. John Joseph Harland, 1894-1953
married Margaret, had 2 children that i know of
5. James Joseph Harland, 1896-1951
married Josephine Bertsch, no kids that i know of
6. Margaret Harland, Abt 1897
found on 1901 census; suspicion that she died young, but don't know
7. Samuel Harland, Abt 1899
found on 1901 census; suspicion that he died young, but don't know
8. Robert Joseph Harland, 1901-1950
This is my grandfather. He died when my own father was 9 years old.
He married Margaret Ellen Langan. Would you believe i don't know when
or where (well, it's almost certainly New Jersey, USA, and before 1935)?
"Peg" was born in Walkden, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom.
They had two children, my uncle and my father (both living).
9. Mary Harland, 1904-2001
She had two children that i know of, both girls.
10. William S. Harland, 1906-1994
married Anna, had 5 children that i know of
