Bridgeport · 27 February 1917 · five years after the wedding
498 Howard Avenue.
A household comes into view.
An address. A trade. Three people depending on him.
A few handwritten answers open a window onto James and Catherine’s life together.
James McPadden and his wife, Catherine McNiff · the Bridgeport branch
- James E. McPadden: 498 Howard Avenue, married, drop forging, three unnamed dependents.
- Form dated 27 February 1917 and stamped 14 March 1917; RG 029, Box 233, Sheet 396436.
A state resources questionnaire, not proof of enlistment or service. It does not name the dependents. Recorded age does not establish a verified birth date.
Project-authored factual summary—not a facsimile or complete transcription.Citation and research context ↗01 · Home
A place in the city.
Five years after the wedding, we can finally put an address beside James’s name: 498 Howard Avenue, Bridgeport. It is the address he gave on 27 February 1917.
The wedding report looked forward to a home in this city. Now a record brings that future into view—but it does not tell us when they arrived at this address, or what their rooms looked like.
From the form“498 Howard Ave.”
02 · Work
A trade behind the address.
James gave his occupation as “drop forging.” The journey from rural Leitrim had brought him into Bridgeport’s industrial world. Work now sits on the same page as home and family responsibility.
There is a person behind that short answer. But the form cannot take us through his shift or tell us what he earned, how tired he came home, or how the household made ends meet.
From the form“drop forging”
03 · Family
Three people. No names.
“Married,” one answer says. “3 persons,” says the next. James’s life was tied to other lives, even though this form reduces those relationships to a status and a number.
We know Catherine McNiff was his wife from their wedding record. Here, she is not named. Neither are the three dependents. We cannot turn that number into a reliable household list—or use it to tell us how care and support were shared.
From the form“3 persons”
We can name the address and the trade. We cannot yet describe the conversations, routines or worries inside that home. In the next year’s records, Catherine will appear by name beside James’s work and address.
This state military census is not evidence that James served in the military. The unnamed dependents are not a verified list of residents.