Monahan Mortuary
172-174 W. San Carlos Street,
San Jose, Santa Clara County, California
At one time known as The Hocking-Arnold-Monahan Mortuary
Also known as The Monahan and Moriarty Mortuary
12 Funeral Record Books Including Death and Funeral Records
From Dec. 2, 1914 through Jan. 8, 1938 San Jose, Santa Clara County, California
This introduction & photo was graciously submitted
by
the granddaughter of Thomas Monahan:
Patricia Monahan Jocius
July 2003
The owner and author of the funeral books was Thomas Patrick Monahan. He
was born on July 4, 1866 in San Jose, Santa Clara County, California. At
16 years of age, he became a blacksmith in San Francisco, and worked at
this job for 5 years. He graduated from Santa Clara College in 1883. He
then worked on the first electric railway in Santa Clara County, until
1891, when he became a postal carrier in San Jose. In 1907, he became the
Chief Jailer in the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department until he
decided he wanted to go into politics.
County employees were not allowed to be politicians, so he quit the
Sheriff’s Department and took a course in embalming and funeral directing.
Mr. Monahan became an established undertaker in 1909. He married Josephine
G. Moriarty on February 18, 1909, at Mission Dolores Church in San
Francisco. They had three daughters, Mary, Josephine, and Elizabeth and
adopted one son, giving him his own name of Thomas. In May of 1912, Thomas Patrick Monahan was elected
Mayor of San Jose,
Santa Clara County, California. During his 2-year term of office, he
speeded up the Fire and Police Departments by recommending motorized
vehicles and improved Alum Rock County Park. Monahan Lake was named after
him after damming up part of the Guadalupe River that ran through downtown
San Jose. He was elected the Grand President of the Native Sons of the
Golden West and was a member of the Elks, Moose, Eagles, Redman, and Casey
organizations. Mr. Monahan became a funeral director in 1914. He became world famous for
being the first undertaker to fly a coffin with a deceased body in an
aeroplane from the aviation field on Alum Rock Avenue to Oak Hill
Cemetery, a total of 6 miles. The flight was shown in newsreels worldwide
and featured in the Sunnyside Magazine, a leading undertakers’ periodical.
In 1924, a building was constructed for his business. It was located at
172-174 West San Carlos Street in San Jose. It was on the south side of
West San Carlos Street near the intersection of Almaden Avenue, directly
opposite the San Jose Civic Auditorium. It was a two-story wood frame
building with a large concrete basement and a small elevator in the rear
to move the caskets up and down the floors. The main floor was the Monahan
Mortuary, which had 6 small viewing rooms and a chapel. The upper floor
had two 5-room apartment units and a large sales room for casket displays.
The interior was wood lath and plaster with oak floors that were covered
with carpets. The property was sold on May 8, 1963 to the City of San Jose
as part of a downtown urban renewal project. The City of San Jose Main
Public Library now sits on the property. Mr. and Mrs. Monahan’s own death records are listed in their funeral
records in book #12 on page 222 for Thomas Monahan, August 18, 1936 and on
page 163 for his wife, Josephine Monahan, March 11, 1936. The Monahans are
buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in San Jose, California. Mr. Moriarty took
over the business after Mr. Monahan’s death and kept the Monahan funeral
books until the business was sold, at which time he placed the funeral
books in the safe of the Oak Hill Cemetery.
Many years later, in a twist of fate, Mr. Moriarty’s son met Mr. Monahan’s
granddaughter, Patricia Monahan Jocius, at a funeral. Making the family
business connection, he offered the funeral books to her as a direct
descendent of Mr. Monahan. The books have been indexed by the volunteers
of the Santa Clara County Historical & Genealogical Society and
microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, so that
these vital records can be shared with the descendents of those listed in
the funeral books.
|
