Bridgeport, Connecticut · 30 April 1888
The American record becomes firm
Catherine McPadden married James Kelly.
Bridgeport’s marriage register records twenty-two-year-old Catherine Mc Padden and twenty-eight-year-old James Kelley marrying on 30 April 1888. Both were Irish-born and living in Bridgeport; the officiant, D. J. Cremin, places the marriage at St. Augustine’s with high confidence.
The recorded age needs care: the Irish birth entry of 31 July 1867 would make Catherine twenty on her wedding day, not twenty-two. We preserve both readings; the reason for the difference remains unresolved.
This is the first secure American event in Catherine’s story. It establishes a marriage and a city—not the circumstances of their meeting, the courtship, the celebration or everything she lived through before this day.
From here the American records begin to accumulate around Catherine under her married name: Kelly, sometimes written Kelley, and often hidden behind the household form “Mrs James Kelly.”
Original Bridgeport marriage registerThe civil row does not name parents, witnesses, occupations, exact Irish birthplaces, how they met or what the marriage meant to them. The Catholic entry remains a priority source.
- Catherine Mc Padden and James Kelley married in Bridgeport on 30 April 1888.
- The register records their ages as 22 and 28, Irish birthplaces and Bridgeport residence.
The civil row does not name parents, witnesses, occupations or exact Irish birthplaces. It does not describe their courtship or celebration.
Project-authored factual summary—not a facsimile or complete transcription.Citation and research context ↗View the holding source