It's pretty obvious Jeanette Celarek Derris who raised Mary Agnes as yet another Jeanette was "Julia Otis". I found info on her online and she did not die until 2007, outliving Mary Agnes and two of Mary Agnes's children. She did have a husband who died- he was coincidentally named Jean. He did die two months after Mary Agnes's supposed birth date ( one month in reality). There was some truth in "Julia Otis's" lies. There is no record I found of her ever having even a stillborn child of her own, despite three marriages. She may have miscarried, perhaps multiple times, perhaps at a later stage, which of course can be difficult as well as a child living until/past birth. Or she may not have been able to have children, and back then, with some medical knowledge how it was, she likely had no idea why. After she had been married twice by 1930 and found herself unable to have children, then despair may have set in, or as Julia Otis claimed, a nervous breakdown of sorts. Obviously she told people like her third and last husband that Jeanette was not her biological daughter. I'd assume her second husband who from what I recall she was still with in 1930 knew something too. I'm guessing the older woman was her mother, who was still alive then. Perhaps she was the only person other than Jeanette Celarek Derris who knew the whole story. The cousins of Jeanette Celarek Derris who Mary Agnes asked later in life claimed not to know. But the older generation may have or the younger ones may have not told Mary Agnes/Jeanette the truth. Such a complicated and sad case..
I wonder why "Julia Otis" didn't try to find a child through legitimate means. Adoption back then wasn't as regulated as today and she was married at that time as far as I know, although perhaps her second husband didn't want to do that. Their marriage didn't last. Maybe he didn't want children through any means. I wonder how she explained how she suddenly had a child to her family. Obviously whoever the older woman was knew. But I can't imagine all her family knew the real story. I suppose she had a made up one too about how she suddenly had a two year old girl in her care. The California thing I'm sure "Julia Otis" made up as a decoy to conceal the fact Mary Agnes was still in Chicago for some years thereafter. I don't think the people on the train were them.
I'd have to agree with you that Mary Agnes remained in Chicago until she was taken to Arlington, VA by Frank and Jeanette Derris sometime after 1935.
A family tree on Ancestry acknowledges the background of Mary Agnes.
Mary Agnes Moroney aka Jeanette Yvonne Daemen (Burchard)
1928–2003
BIRTH 14 APR 1928 • Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois
DEATH 20 OCT 2003 • Opa-locka, Miami-Dade, Florida
The 'mother' was Jeanette Esther Fahey (Her last name was Fahey at the time of the abduction. Her husband, John F. Fahey, had died in 1928)
Jeanette Esther "Antonette" Celarek married Jean Daemen
15 Sep 1927.
(Mary Agnes Moroney was born May 9, 1928. 14 April 1928 was the date of birth given for Jeanette Yvonne Daemen by her 'mother') Jean Daemen died
12 June 1928 at Edward Hines Jr Hosp, Broadview, Cook, Ill. About a month later, his widow, Jeanette Esther "Antonette" Daemen then married John F Fahey,
16 July 1928, who also died about a month after marriage in Chicago, Cook, Illinois on
15 Aug 1928.
Her first two husbands died within a month of being married to her? What are the odds?
She then married Frank C. Derris 11 Aug 1934 Cook County, IL, using her married name of Daemen (Damen). He died 5 Feb 1959 in Miami.
She was then married using the name of Jeanette Esther Derris on 24 June 1967 in Crown Point, Lake County, Indiana, to Morris Benny Anderson. He died 27 July 1971 in Florida.
The Miami Herald 21 Oct 2003, page 71 obituary names her mother as Jeanette Anderson, and shows she was still alive at the time of (Mary Agnes) Jeanette Burchard's death.
Jeanette Anderson, the 'mother', was born 14 Aug 1909 and died 26 April 2007, age 97. Her obituary in the
Thursday, May 03, 2007 Miami Herald simply stated,
Anderson, Jeanette, 97, died 04/26/07. Svc. 05/05, 2 PM., with the phone number of Stanfill Funeral Home & Cremations - Miami, FL.
She, the 'mother', was buried under the name Jeanette E Derris in Miami, FL.
Married Jean Frederick M Daeman on 15 Sep 1927, Cook Co., IL Married (2) John F Fahey on 16 Jul 1928 Married (3) Frank Derris on 11 Aug 1934
www.findagrave.com
Jeanette E Derris would have been about 21 when Mary Agnes was abducted. Her mother, Katarzyna Celarek, nee Pajak, was 52 at the time of the abduction. Her father, Jan Celarek, had died in 1926.
The
1940 US Federal Census showed Frank C Derris, age 54, Jeanette Derris, age 32, and
Jeanette Daemen, age 11, renting at 2820 N. Highland St. in the City of Clarendon in Arlington County, VA. (Langston Blvd is currently at that location) The transcriber mangled their last names as Davis and Dahman. It listed Frank as a school janitor and Jeanette as a U S government worker. Jeanette was in 6th grade. She was listed as their daughter. The census also showed their last residence on April 1, 1935 was in Chicago, IL.
The
1950 US Federal Census later shows Frank C Derris, age 64, and Jeanette Derris, age 40, living at 745 Northwest 22nd Avenue in Miami, FL. He was a school police officer and she worked as a clerk for the US Immigration Service. Jeanette (Mary Agnes) was no longer living with them.
It's possible that Jeanette Esther had her husband, Frank C Derris, fooled into thinking that Mary Agnes Jeanette was a child from her previous marriage to Jean Daemen. I don't know. She had used the birth date of 14 April 1928 for Jeanette Yvonne (Mary Agnes).
14 April 1928 to 14 April 1940 is 12 years, not 11. IMO, Frank knew something was fishy, or he was in on it.
IMO, he was in on it for the following reason:
John Fahey died in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois on 15 Aug 1928. If you take a look at the April 14,1930 US Federal Census, you'll see John Fahey, age 46, Jenette Fahey, age 22, and their 'daughter', Jennette, age 2 years, 2 months.
Now, unless John Fahey came alive after 15 Aug 1928, one would have to say that someone is impersonating him on the census. The only other person with a 24 year age difference from Jeanette is Chicago police officer, age 64 in 1950. Jeanette Derris in 1950, age 40. IMO, I find it hard to believe a police officer had a kidnapped child living with him all those years without him knowing about it.
medium.com
chicago.suntimes.com
www.woodtv.com
www.wbez.org
