Tuesday, March 30, 2021

52 Ancestors - MUSIC: Music to My Ears

During the month of March, I will be shining the light on my Irish roots.

Adhering to both the themes of 52 Ancestors AND my commitment to honoring my Irish ancestors requires me to get creative this week. This photo of my grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker is one of my favorites. 

Helen Killeen with Victrola

She was on a camping trip with friends and someone brought along a gramophone – the 1920s version of ye olde boombox or the modern day Spotify and earbuds. Read two versions of the camping trip HERE and HERE.

But what would really be music to my ears would be if

  • I could identify the parents of little John Jr and his sister “Bob”
  • I could find John Sheehan in New York City
  • I could determine which Daniel Sheehan in County Limerick, Ireland was mine
  • I could find out how Thomas Gorman who witnessed Johanna Sheehan’s baptism was related to her mother Bridget Gorman and if this was the same Thomas Gorman who witnessed the marriage of Bridget Gorman and Daniel Sheehan
  • I could find out how Elizabeth Sheehan Enraght who witness John Sheehan’s baptism was related to his father Daniel Sheehan
  • I could find out how Patrick Gorman who witnessed Margaret Sheehan’s baptism was related to her mother Bridget Gorman
  • the descendants of Johanna Sheehan Hederman, Margaret Sheehan Nagle, Delia Sheehan Christian, and Elizabeth Sheehan Byrnes would contact me

 

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sunday, March 28, 2021

Sentimental Sunday - New York Cousins

During the month of March, I will be shining the light on my Irish roots.


Most of Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh’s sisters remained in New York following their emigration from Limerick, Ireland. It seems that Mary Theresa made sure her children got to visit their cousins. 

Probably Johanna Sheehan Hederman
with children Catherine Hederman Fraundorf
and John Hederman

My granny Julia Walsh Slade
Elmira Christian, daughter of Delia Sheehan
and William Christian

Grace Christian, Julia Walsh, Elmira Christian

My granny Julia Walsh
Sadie Byrnes, daughter of Elizabeth Sheehan and Patrick Byrnes

Julia's sister Helen Killeen with Robert Byrnes 1919
son of Elizabeth Sheehan and Patrick Byrnes

Jack Byrnes son of Elizabeth Sheehan and Patrick Byrnes
1919

Sadie Byrnes and either Joseph or Patrick Byrnes 1919
children of Elizabeth Sheehan and Patrick Byrnes

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Sepia Saturday: Margee

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.


During the month of March, I will be shining the light on my Irish roots.

This week’s Sepia Saturday photo plus my commitment to focus on my Irish roots this month led me to this photo:

1949 St. Paul's Catholic Church Portsmouth, VA
Ebbie Holland Reeves with baby Patrick, Jean Holland (Ebbie's sister), Jack Sprott,
Billy Sprott, Helen Killeen Parker, Margaret Killeen Sprott, Lillie Killeen,
Mike Reeves (Patrick's brother)
Photo courtesy of Cliff Reeves

It’s a group all right, and it’s a mighty fortress, but of a different kind – St. Paul’s Catholic Church in downtown Portsmouth, Virginia.

The occasion may have been to welcome the newest addition to the family: Patrick Reeves, son of my father’s cousin Mary Evelyn “Ebbie” Holland Reeves and her husband James, grandson of my father’s aunt Mae Killeen Holland, and nephew of the numerous Killeen and Walsh aunts and uncles.

Margee, Lillie holding Patrick, Helen
Photo courtesy of Cliff Reeves

I have written often about my granny’s sisters, all but one: Margee (pronounced with a hard “G” not soft like a “J”). Honestly, I have no memory of her although my sister insists that I would have seen her at the home of our grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker. Aunt Helen often hosted family gatherings and celebrations. More often than not, I had no clue who all those people were.

A generous gift of a flash drive filled with Holland and Reeves photos was sent to me by my second cousin Cliff Reeves, younger brother of the baby in the photo. Seeing Margee in Cliff’s collection made me give her family a little more attention this week.

Margee about 1919

Margaret Mary Killeen Sprott, better known as Margee, was born in 1901, the fourth child of Mary Theresa Sheehan and John Joseph Killeen. She worked as a stenographer for the railroad prior to marrying Otto James “Jack” Sprott in 1928. (Jack Sprott – very difficult not to say “Spratt”!) Jack served in the Marines in World War I. Afterwards he worked for the railroad, then a truck line, and finally with a company specializing in interstate traffic adjustment (not sure what that is – sounds important but could be just a fancy term for putting cones in the road HA HA). 

Margee and Jack raised two boys, William James “Billy” and Joseph Berry. They lived in the Ocean View area of Norfolk. If they did not actually own some beach cottages, they at least managed them. My father often spoke of riding the trolley to Ocean View in the summer, apparently hanging out with his Sprott cousins.

Billy, Jack, Berry
June 1949

 

One of my Holland cousins told about the time her family went to visit Margee at the cottages. She had been cleaning up after guests left and had fallen asleep in a chair, her legs sprung, and tip money just out in the open in the folds of her skirt.

Berry, Margee, Billy
 








Margee and Jack had at least 4 grandchildren that I know of. I know very little else other than Margee, like her brother and two of her sisters, was a hopeless alcoholic. What is it with the Irish and alcoholism? How can half the children in a family escape the disease and the other half can’t conquer it?

My favorite picture of Margee:

Easter 1951

Line up and join the group at Sepia Saturday!

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Friday, March 26, 2021

Photo Friday - Cutey and Company

During the month of March, I am shining the light on my Irish roots.


Many of my photos of Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh’s family in New York City include a family poodle named “Cutey.”

John Jr and Cutey 1918


In 1917, there were two poodles. 

1917
In other photos in this location, infant John Jr.
and Cutey appear together.

On the back is "Selma Mass" - not sure if it means Salem, Massachusetts
or if possibly the woman is Selma Moss, a name that does not appear anywhere 
in my family lineage. The woman features in many photos
with the children John Jr. and his sister known as "Bob."

The dark spot on her blouse looks very much
like a dog's nose.


I thought this photo from 1915 included just the one poodle, but upon closer inspection, I’m pretty sure there were two, one terribly distorted by bad photography.

I do not know if Cutey is the older one or younger one or if they even belonged to the same person. In no other photo were there two poodles. I wonder what became of the other one.




John Jr and "Bob" with Cutey

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

52 Ancestors - LOSS: Baby John

During the month of March, I will be shining the light on my Irish roots.


I believe this picture is John Killeen, infant son of John Joseph Killeen and my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan.

He was child #3, born 6 Feb 1897 in Manhattan, New York City. He died before the 1900 census was taken.

In 1900, the 3 leading causes of death in children under 5 were tuberculosis, enteritis with diarrhea, and pneumonia in combination with influenza. Whether little John died from one of these or something else like measles, a congenital anomaly or accident is not known.

Unfortunately, I have found no record of his death or cause of death.

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sunday, March 21, 2021

Sentimental Sunday - Glynn Cousins


During the month of March, I will be shining the light on my Irish roots.

My grandmother Julia Walsh Slade and her half-sisters were close to their Glynn cousins, both geographically and emotionally. Their mother Mary Theresa Sheehan was first married to John Joseph Killeen whose sister Bridget Killeen married John Joseph Glynn in 1890. They were both born in County Limerick, Ireland but apparently met in New York City.

The Glynns operated a grocery and lived not far from Mary Theresa and family in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Cousin Nell Glynn
Probably 1919

Lillie Killeen with PROBABLY
William Glynn and Margaret B. Glynn
children of John Joseph Glynn and Bridget Killeen Glynn
1932

Bridget and John Joseph Glynn
Nell Glynn
1931 
 
Nell Glynn seated but others are not identified.
This is not likely a family grouping as the number of people
and supposed ages do not match the family tree. 

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Saturday, March 20, 2021

Sepia Saturday: Turn

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.


During the month of March, I will be shining the light on my Irish roots.

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt shows a crowd watching and likely enjoying a performance on an athletic field. With my self-imposed limitation of blogging about ONLY my Irish ancestors during the month of March, I decided to share a few photos of people with their backs turned.

Lillie Killeen at the ribbon-cutting May 1952

A HUGE crowd showed up for the dedication of the NorfolkTunnel connecting Portsmouth and Norfolk in 1952. That was the end of the car ferry service. My grandaunt Lillie Killeen was a guest of her employer and long-time friend Dr. Vernon Brooks who served on the tunnel commission.






This must be friends of my grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker. I wonder where this train was. Was it an abandoned train? Part of an exhibit in a park? 

 



John Jr., "Cutey," and "Bob" 1920

Well, wuddayaknow – here sit John Jr and his sister “Bob” looking at who-knows-who on the other side of the door. Stillllll looking for their parents in case you wondered.

Please turn around and head to Sepia Saturday for more photos and stories of crowds, performances, and people facing the other way.

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Friday, March 19, 2021

Photo Friday - Relatives?

During the month of March, I am shining the light on my Irish roots.

One of my favorite unidentified photos!

Because it was in a photo album passed to me through my grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker, it is very likely these folks are part of my Irish family. But who were they?

Photo was captioned
Taken in Nova Scotia Canada
I tried to convince myself that I was looking at Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh’s brother Denis and family in Croom, County Limerick, Ireland.  However, the building does not look like what I would expect to see in Ireland although I’ve never been to Ireland so my observations are based on what I have seen online and on television, right or wrong.


 

Apparently, my great-grandmother and her children traveled to Nova Scotia around 1920, maybe earlier. The buildings in the two photos do not look exactly the same, but maybe it is just the angle. Could it be that Mary Theresa’s brother John Sheehan settled in Canada rather than New York like his sisters?

 

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

On This Day: Loving Irish Hands

During the month of March, I am shining the light on my Irish roots.

St Patrick’s Day is always significant for the Irish. My great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh saved many greeting cards, one of which led me to her family left behind in Croom, County Limerick, Ireland.

Real shamrocks from Ireland


These 2 cards were from her niece Myra Sheehan, daughter of Mary Theresa's brother Denis Sheehan and his wife Alice. I cannot tell the dates they were sent, but it would have to have been before 1939.


Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

52 Ancestors - FORTUNE: Living the American Dream

During the month of March, I will be shining the light on my Irish roots.


One of the major events that prompted thousands of Irish to pick up sticks and immigrate to America was the “Great Hunger,” otherwise known as the Potato Famine that lasted from about 1845 to 1852. Fortunately, that was not the case with my Irish ancestors who arrived in the 1880s.

Five Sheehan sisters and one brother came to New York leaving one brother in County Limerick, Ireland. What their motives were is a mystery, but surely there had to have been some desire for a better life than the one they were leaving behind.

None of the six traveled together – not the same boat, not the same year. Each one made the journey in or near her seventeenth year.

  • Johanna – 1878 (although reported in some census records as 1882)
  • Mary Theresa – 1886
  • Elizabeth – 1888
  • Margaret – 1894
  • Delia – 1896

Since I have been unable to find MY John Sheehan, the one brother who immigrated, I will limit my observations to the five girls.

I cannot determine if their parents Daniel and Bridget Sheehan paid for each one to go or if they were even alive to do so. I like to think they were still living, proudly scrimping and saving in order to send one child every couple of years to make her fortune in America.

None of the girls were married when they arrived in New York. Where did they live? How did they survive? Thanks to New York’s State census conducted at the five-year mark between federal censuses, I found some of the sisters but not all. Some arrived after a census and married before the next.

In 1892, my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan lived with other single women in an apartment building on Clinton Avenue in Brooklyn. 

1892 Brooklyn, Kings Co, NY census

She worked as a cook while her Irish friends worked as a hairdresser and as a waitress. Delia Sheehan, the baby of the family and last to arrive, lived with relatives, John and Delia Hogan. I wonder if the others did the same upon first arriving.

Each of the girls married an Irish immigrant, except Delia, the only one to marry a natural born citizen of the United States. In the 1900 census, both husbands and wives reported they could read and write. None of the husbands had been unemployed during the year. That is a good sign they were hard-working and industrious men. What kinds of work did they perform?

Patrick Hederman, husband of Johanna, spent most of his working life as a porter for a grocery store. Most of us might think of the duties that a porter performs in a hotel such as carrying guests’ luggage. In a grocery store, a porter might load groceries in a customer’s car. A porter would be expected to fix minor issues like changing light bulbs, to clean areas including the entrance to the store, and to restock new products and rearrange old ones. Likely he managed a variety of tasks on a daily basis to ensure the store operated smoothly.

John Joseph Killeen, my great-grandmother’s first husband, worked as a guard for the railroad.

Elizabeth’s husband Patrick Byrnes worked almost his entire adult life as a driver, sometimes specifically a “truck driver”; other times it was “brewery driver.” In 1920 he was a chauffeur. Oddly enough, in 1930 he switched careers altogether to be a carpenter for the local hospital. Could one of the men in this photo be Patrick Byrnes, Chauffeur Extraordinaire?

1918
My grandaunt Lillie Killeen is holding the baby "John Jr."

Margaret’s husband John J. Nagle worked as a guard at a bank. The job title changed frequently from bank attendant to bank police to bank floorman to special officer. Is this man wearing the uniform of a bank guard? The uniform of a chauffeur? A fireman? A policeman? 

1918

Delia’s husband William Christian worked several years as a clerk in a shipping company. In 1920 he was farming in New Jersey. They returned to Brooklyn, New York by 1930 when he went into the dry-cleaning business.

Cutey (the poodle), "Bob" and John Jr.
1921 in the Bronx
BUT notice the sign in the window - CLEANERS
I assume this is the mother of Bob and John Jr.
One of the other women is probably HER mother

The careers these families followed did not guarantee a life of luxury, but these Irish immigrants lived the American Dream by working hard and building a good life for themselves and their children.


Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Saturday, March 13, 2021

Sepia Saturday: Like a Dog with a Bone

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

During the month of March, I will be shining the light on my Irish roots.


NOTE: This blog has been edited to remove the photo originally identified incorrectly as HERBERT PARKER. In its place is the REAL Herbert Parker.

Sepia Saturday’s theme of the week is 3.

I’ll give you three guesses as to what I’m blogging about today.

Nope, not that. Try again.

Yep - The same picture from last week.

Several of the HomoSepians who commented suggested that since the boys did not favor one another they might be cousins rather than brothers. That got me thinking.

Herbert Parker and his father
Ephraim parker


This photo that I KNOW is my grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker’s husband Herbert has some resemblance to the little boy on the left. Going on that assumption, I went looking for a cousin who might have been close in age.

 

Herbert’s father Ephraim C. Parker had a number of siblings as did his mother Margaret Williams Parker. One likely candidate is Andrew Sivertson, son of Ephraim’s sister Elvera Parker and her husband Thomas Sivertson. Andrew was born the same year as Herbert, but the boys in the photo do not appear to be the same age.

 




Courtesy Elvera Parker Rogers
Ancestry 


The other MORE likely candidate is son of Ephraim’s younger brother Jesse Loren Parker. Jesse and his wife Bettie had several children, but the oldest, Robert, gets my vote. On Ancestry, I found this photo of Robert as a young man. Does he look like an older version of the boy on the right?

 

Robert is listed in Herbert and Helen’s wedding gift book as having given them a “steak set” – knives, I suppose. He and Herbert must have remained close friends even as adults.

But I admit, the identification of the two boys is still just a guess. (I wonder if I can get a third post out of this picture.)

Why don’t you and a couple friends visit the other bloggers at Sepia Saturday to see what they made of the theme of THREE.

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Friday, March 12, 2021

Photo Friday - Man in the Door

During the month of March, I will be shining the light on my Irish roots.

In 1917, my grandaunt Lillie Killeen traveled to New York City on the occasion of the birth of John Jr. 

Lillie Killeen with John Jr
New York 1917

Is this man John SR?


And how about this man in 1920? Is HE John Sr?

John Jr. and "Bob" in Richmond Hill, NY 1920
Who is the man?

John Sr, please send me your surname!

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.