Andrew Donaldson Kirwan
Andrew Donaldson Kirwan7 (Jean Donaldson,6 Emma Gazlay,5 Theodore Gazlay,4 James Gazlay,3 John Gazlay,2 John Gazlay1)
Parents
| Father | John Stanislaus Kirwan (23 July 1891 - 5 July 1921) |
| Mother | Jean Gazlay Donaldson (12 March 1893 - 9 February 1956) |
Personal Information
| Record Created: 12 July 2012; Last Edited: 3 February 2022 |
| Person ID | 3869 |
| Name | Andrew Donaldson Kirwan |
| Gender | Male |
| Born | 29 October 1910 in New York, New York1, 2, 3 |
| Died | 14 April 1973 in New York, New York2, 4, 5 |
| Buried | in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio2 |
Biography
Andrew lived in England with his mother from September 1914 to at least July 1919.1
He was afflicted with a form of infantile paralysis. He could not control his muscles, and he could not write. Andrew was taught by tutors.3
Numerous newspapers carried the story of Andrew’s trial for the stabbing death of Gilliam Sessoms with a hunting knife following a drunken argument over religion. The alleged event occurred on 10 February 1934 while they were sailing on the SS President Garfield from Europe. Sessoms died a few days after the ship docked in New York. The defense maintained that Sessoms fell on the knife after a sudden pitch of the ship.
The story was newsworthy in part because of the presence during the trial of his mother, Jean Nash (née Donaldson) Dubonnet, who captivated the attention of the media and public in the 1920s as a leader of high fashion in Europe. Also at his side were Jean’s husband Paul Dubonnet, and Andrew’s grandmother, Emma (née Gazlay) Donaldson.
On 2 April 1934, the jury took only twenty-seven minutes to return a not guilty verdict.
Andrew was committed to the Hartford Retreat in 1941, and the State National Bank of Connecticut in Stamford were his conservators.3
Sadly, Andrew died in a fire in the Beverly Hotel, 125 East 50th Street, New York City. His badly burned body was found wedged against a door in his room on the 21st floor. The cause of the fire was unknown. Andrew was apparently living off a trust fund set up by his family.5
Sources
- U.S. Passport Applications 1795-1925, available at ancestry.com and familysearch.org; Emergency Application No. 2263; Kirwan, Andrew Donaldson; born 29 October 1910 in New York City; father: John Stanley Kirwan, deceased [sic, John was still living in 1919]; legal domicile and permanent residence: Cincinnati, Ohio; resided in England September 1914 to date; accompanying mother; desires passport to visit France, and Great Britain, embarkation and return accompanying grandmother; application dated 30 July, 1919, American Embassy at London.
- Cemetery Record, Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio (website); Kirwan, Andrew Donaldson, card no. 165439, born 29 October 1910, died 14 April 1973 in New York City, 125 East 50th Street; parents: John Kirwan and Jean Donaldson; Sec 86 Lot 25.
- Gazlay History, written by Spencer G. Kuhn, a grandchild of Theodore Gazlay; undated. This is a typewritten re-compilation of the earlier Genealogy of the Gazlay Family, compiled by Theodore Gazlay in 1890, including the 1852 statement of the family history by Reverend Sayers Gazlay, an elder brother of Theodore. This document re-formats the information in the 1890 work. For example, facts originally shown in list form, such as birth and death dates, are incorporated in the narrative of this later work. Two post-1890 sections are unique to this document: one with additional details about Theodore Gazlay’s family, with dates as late as 1951; and another on the Donaldson family, featuring Jean Gazlay Donaldson and her six marriages, with several dates in 1965.
- Obituary, The New York Times, 18 April 1973, Kirwan Andrew Donaldson, son of the late Jean Donaldson Puckle and John S. Kirwan.
- The New York Times, 15 April 1973, death of Andrew Donaldson Kirwan in a fire in an East Side hotel in New York City.