MARY KIRCHER RODDY
  • Home
  • Coaching and Research
  • Lectures
    • Upcoming and Past Presentations
  • Searching For Stories blog
  • Publications
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • Privacy Policy

Searching for Stories

Who Is Julia Achard?

1/1/2017

4 Comments

 
Picture
Photograph of Julia Achard and her granddaughter, Dorothy Monroe, from the collection of Julia's great-great granddaughter. Used with permission.

More than ten years ago while researching the death of my great-great uncle’s wife, I stumbled upon a character who has fascinated me ever since.  I’ve researched Julia and her family in newspapers, census records, city directories and coroner’s inquests, and each story I find makes me want to dig deeper and learn more…

I originally wrote the post below as part of an article I aspired to publish in a Calfornia genealogical society periodical in the hopes that one of Julia's descendants might stumble upon it and want to connect with me.  However the publisher felt the proposed article (at 5000+ words) was too long and I struggled with editing out any of the many good parts, so it was never published.

Two days ago, however, I had the most delightful email from Linda, Julia's great-great granddaughter who found the family tree I posted about Julia on Ancestry.com.  We've had a couple of long phone conversations and she even sent me a picture of Julia.  Linda is happy to have this information about Julia and her family out there,warts and all.  In the coming weeks, as my Sunday Stories blog posts, I will run all the sections of those 5000+ words I wrote.  Enjoy!


I first met Julia in 1901.  Even then, I wasn’t sure what her name was.  It might have been Achard, it might have been Shiland.  It took me years to figure out which was the right one – and why there might have been any question in the first place.

I encountered Julia from the newspaper articles about Sarah Ahern’s death.[1] 

“The Bulletin says ‘With her lips sealed as to who gave her the medicine which caused her death, Mrs. Sarah Ahern of Tiburon died suddenly Friday.  The circumstances surrounding the case are such that arrest may follow the investigation made by the coroner.’”  Before her death, Sarah “…would say nothing other than that a friend had given her medicine. After her death, however, Mr. Ahern found a small box and some cards bearing the name of Mrs. J.A. Achard of 415a Third Street, San Francisco. Coroner Eden was notified and held an inquest. The facts as above stated were brought out, and Dr. W.J. Wickman, the coroner's physician made an autopsy, finding that the woman was a victim of malpractice and that death was due to septicema. James Ahern, the husband, remembered seeing Mrs. Shiland visiting his wife. Mrs. Shiland was called as a witness, and was put through a rigid examination. She admitted calling on Mrs. Ahern, but denied giving her any medicine or attending her. This is the second time she has been called before the coroner's jury. Three years ago she was a witness in a San Francisco case. The jury was given the case and returned a verdict that Mrs. Ahern came to her death from blood poisoning, due to causes unknown.”[2]

Another article indicated that the box contained pills, and that the doctors who treated Sarah after Mrs. Achard left “stated their belief that she was suffering from the effect of medicine given her by a malpractitioner.”[3]
​

What were these pills?  I suspected that Sarah might have committed suicide.  Her fifteen-month-old daughter, Agnes Jane, had drowned February 15, 1900, after wandering into a tidal lagoon behind the family home.[4]  Could Sarah have secured some pills which would put an end to her personal grief and perhaps her guilt?  Perhaps if I could find Mrs. J.A. Achard I might learn something about what those pills might have been.

​ 
More next week…


[1] For more about Sarah Ahern, see my blog posts from January 2016, “Suffer the Little Agnes Ahern,” “One Loss Leads to More,” and “Discover Leads to Understanding” at http://www.mkrgenealogy.com/searching-for-stories-blog/archives/01-2016

[2] The Marin Journal, 16 May 1901

[3] San Francisco Chronicle 12 May 1901, page 11 “Died of Septicaemia”

[4] San Francisco Call, 16 February 1900, page 4, “Mother Finds the Body of Her Child”
4, “Mother Finds the Body of Her Child”
4 Comments
Dennis Lee Burman link
1/1/2017 11:04:33 am

Oh no. We have to wait a week and then a week after that and then a week after that!!! Too much suspense at the beginning of the new year. Keep it coming, Mary.

Reply
Jane Neff Rollins link
1/1/2017 02:57:30 pm

A real page turner! Can't wait for the next installment...

Reply
Linda Carter
8/27/2022 11:04:45 am

I’ve obtained Grama Achard’s death certificate and am visiting her grave in Oakland tomorrow!

Reply
Mary Roddy
8/27/2022 11:28:04 am

I hope you see this reply. When you go to the cemetery, please take some pictures and send them to me.

Thanks!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Mary Kircher Roddy is a genealogist, writer and lecturer, always looking for the story.  Her blog is a combination of the stories she has found and the tools she used to find them.

    Read more of Mary's writings at "Adventures of A Broad Abroad" and at Letters from Limerick

    Archives

    April 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All
    Achard
    Ahern
    Aldrich
    Amador County Genealogy
    Ancestry.com
    Archives
    Blair County
    Bradley Family
    Brannack
    Brannock
    Brown
    Brown Family
    California Genealogy
    Cemetery
    Census
    Citations
    City Directories
    Clark County
    Death Records
    DNA Strategies
    Education
    Enslaved People Research
    FamilySearch
    Family Stories
    Fields Family
    Freuhauf
    Genealogy Conferences
    Genealogy Education
    German Research
    Germany
    Graham Family
    Grandparents
    Hardy
    Hartmann
    Indexes
    Ireland
    Kircher
    Letters
    Lunenburg
    Map
    Mapping Tools
    Midwest Resources
    Midwives
    Military
    Newspaper
    Newspapers
    New York
    Ohio
    Pennsylvania
    ProGen
    Railroad
    Records
    Research Techniques
    San Francisco
    Sonoma County Genealogy
    Spreadsheets
    Springer
    Tiburon
    Timelines
    Virginia
    Virginia Genealogy
    Vital Records
    War
    Webster
    World War II Research
    Writing

     Subscribe in a reader

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Coaching and Research
  • Lectures
    • Upcoming and Past Presentations
  • Searching For Stories blog
  • Publications
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • Privacy Policy