Mystery Monday is a
daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks us to share mystery ancestors or
mystery records – anything in our family history research which is currently
unsolved. With any luck fellow genealogy
bloggers will lend their eyes to what has been found so far and possibly help
solve the mystery.
Over the past couple of years, I have done just about all
the online research I can do on the siblings of my father’s maternal
grandmother and my great grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh. There
is one brother left to tackle: John Sheehan. I have put him off far too long.
Isn’t the reason obvious? That name! Every Tom, Dick, and Harry is named John
Sheehan.
This is what I know: John Sheehan was born June 1863 in Croom,
County Limerick, Ireland. He was the second child and first son of Daniel
Sheehan and Bridget Gorman. On 28 June, 1863, he was baptized. Witnesses were
Michael and Elizabeth Sheehan.
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| From Catholic Parish Registers |
This is what I DON’T know: Just about everything.
However, just to narrow that down a bit, I don’t know if John even left
Ireland. His brother Denis remained in the motherland while all the girls
immigrated to New York. So if John did, in fact, precede or follow his sisters,
did he live in New York or somewhere else?
This is what I WANT to know: Just about everything.
However, just to narrow that down a bit, is this John Sheehan?
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| John Jr 1918 New York |
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| John Jr. in the basin 1917 New York |
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| John Jr about 1921 |
If so, how is he
related to the children identified in photos as John Jr. (born about 1917) and “Bob”
(a girl, born about 1919)? There are a few pictures of him with them, but more
often the children are pictured with a woman who could be a wife or sister.
My plan in the coming weeks is to examine census records
and whatever else might be available to help answer these burning questions. Even
if I don’t come to a logical conclusion, maybe I will at least eliminate some
of the possibilities.
Wendy
© 2017, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.
