While gathering documents to help me identify various family members, I noticed something a bit strange in the McDonough plot record at St. John's Cemetery in Worcester. The record lists a Robert Murphy buried in the McDonough family grave on August 18, 1906. As only the second occupant of the plot, he must have had a connection to Thomas McDonough or Mary Loftus McDonough, but what that connection might be was unclear. The last name did not ring any bells with my Father. As far as he knew, we are not related to any Murphy's. To solve the mystery, I combed the Massachusetts Vital Records database and found Robert Murphy"s death certificate. The few pieces of information contained in the record sheds some light on the Murphy-McDonough connection. Robert Murphy was an infant, and his last address was listed at 226 Vernon Street. We know that home was owned by Thomas McDonough. Robert Murphy's mother is listed as Winifred S. Loftus (married to a Martin J. Murphy). Was Winifred S. Loftus a sister of Mary Loftus McDonough? If not a sister, then a cousin or a niece? Obviously there must have been a close family connection for her to be living at 226 Vernon and having her son buried in Mary's plot. It will take more digging to uncover the full nature of the connection, unless someone else can provide me with the answer?
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