Mysterious, 112-Year-Old Message At Montclair State: Who Left It?

MONTCLAIR, NJ — An “irresistible genealogical treasure hunt” that started with a 112-year-old message in a bottle is getting deeper at Montclair State University.

Recently, workers carrying out a renovation at College Hall discovered a secret message hidden in a beer bottle while demolishing a century-old wall.

The handwritten note – etched in perfect cursive writing – read as follows: “This is to certify that this wall was built by two bricklayers from Newark, N.J., by the names of William Hanly and James Lennon, members of No. 3 of the B.M.I.U. of America.”

• See related article: Teach Cursive Writing In NJ Schools? This Bill Would Require It

The mysterious message was sealed in the wall in July 1907. It would lay there until Robert Kanaby, a demolition laborer, made the intriguing discovery in November.

"I heard glass break," he told MSU administrators. "And I'm like, 'Something's not right.'"

After the unusual find, the university – aided by an ancestry expert and former alumna – began to probe another big secret. Just who were William Hanly and James Lennon, anyway?

Read the full story.

According to a MSU blog post, historians and family members have gathered primary sources, including newspaper articles, birth and death certificates, directory and census records, which point to James T. Lennon, the youngest child of a bricklayer named Thomas, as the most likely Lennon to have worked on College Hall in 1907.

MSU administrators said they began to get messages from other people interested in solving the mystery when news of the discovery got out:

“Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, cousins, nieces and siblings connected to Lennons, Hanleys and Hanlys, began reaching out to each other. They had seen the story in People or CNN or locally in New Jersey and wondered, “Could that William Hanley be Uncle Bill?” “Is James Lennon the same man as my grandfather in this old family photo?”

Montclair State eventually received a photo of a middle-aged James T. Lennon, which gave new legs to the search.

Story continues below

MSU alum Lorraine Arnold, a buildings archaeologist/ genealogist and founder of Legacy Roots, was then able to use a seemingly small bit of info – a note from two men with very common last names – to extrapolate many missing pieces of the puzzle.

So far, here are some of the details the university has been able to put together.

William Hanly

• Married Mary O’Mara on April 15, 1897 (she died at the age of 29).
• The 1910 Census shows their daughters living in orphanages and a son, William Jr., being raised by a widow. A daughter, Estelle, died at the age of 19, and the son died at age 26 while living in California, according to death certificates.
• Date of death is unknown.

James Lennon

• At the age of 43, Lennon, and his wife, Otillia (Bakker), 39, had their only child, a daughter, Eileen, born March 30, 1914. Eileen and Charles had two children who survived infancy. Their daughter, Nancy Foster, is a teacher who lives in Florida.
• Died on Oct. 27, 1942, two years before his granddaughter was born. Is buried in an unmarked grave at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in East Orange.
• Served as a pallbearer at the funeral of Mary Hanly at St. Rose of Lima Church in Newark.

Nancy Carnevale, an associate history professor of History at Montclair State University, said it’s interesting the workers identified themselves by their membership in a labor union.

“We know that Irish immigrant workers were concentrated in such unions, which fostered a greater identification by specific trade or job,” Carnevale stated.

In addition to their union membership, the two workers may share something in common with their current day peers… an appreciation for a cold brew and a job well done.

“I can imagine what they were doing the day before the Fourth of July, kicking back, having a couple of beers and deciding to write a note and put it in the wall,” Kanaby said.

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Don’t forget to visit the Patch Montclair Facebook page. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Sign up for Patch email newsletters.