Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family
history through old photographs.
As Sepia Saturday turns to thoughts of the holiday season
with a vintage German calendar, I am reminded of this Christmas card from 1935.
It was sent by Delia “Dea” Sheehan Christian to her
sister Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh, my father’s maternal grandmother.
If the sheer number of cards from Dea in Mary Theresa’s
scrapbook can be relied on as evidence of their relationship, they were close
despite the ten years age difference and the 400 miles that separated them.
Born January 26, 1879 in Limerick, Ireland, Dea was the
baby of the family of Daniel Sheehan and Bridget Gorman. When she reached the
age of 17, she immigrated to the United States just as her sisters had done
previously.
In 1900 she was living in Manhattan, New York with an
aunt and uncle, John and Delia Hogan. Four years later she married William
Henry Christian. They had a baby girl right away, but she did not survive. Five
more children came in regular intervals, but sadly one baby boy did not live.
 |
| Grace Christian, Julia Walsh (my grandmother), and Elmyra Christian |
While Dea ran the household, her husband William worked
as a shipping clerk for a time. In 1920, they were a farm family in William’s
home state New Jersey, but by 1925 they were back in New York, Brooklyn to be
exact. William went into the dry cleaning business.
Dea died June 8, 1942, in Brooklyn.
Even though I found Dea’s granddaughter on Facebook, I
have been unable to learn anything new about this family. Promised photos never
came. Questions were never answered. Family trees on Ancestry posted by descendants
of Dea’s daughter Grace know less than I do. They do not even know Dea’s maiden
name. They also do not know names and dates associated with Grace’s brothers Raymond and William and sister Elmyra.
Evidently the affection and regard for family in one
generation does not always pass to the next generation. Still, since someone
posted a family tree, I have hope that eventually I can learn more about a much
loved sister.
Delia Sheehan (26 Jan 1879 Croom, Limerick, Ireland – 8 Jun
1942 Brooklyn, New York ) & William Henry Christian (1 Nov 1881 New
Brunswick, New Jersey) married 24 Apr 1904 Manhattan, New York
- Baby Girl (1904 – 29 Oct 1904 Manhattan, New York)
- Elmyra Dorothy (29 Jun 1907 New York – 29 Mar 1996 New York) & Edward T. Zarek (9 Sep 1909 Rhode Island – 8 Mar 1978 New York) married 1942
- William (1910 – 27 Sep 1910 Manhattan, New York)
- Grace (6 Jan 1912 New York – 19 Mar 1997 Ossining, New York) & Charles Anthony Smith (1907 Brooklyn, New York – 2 Dec 1965 Brooklyn, New York)
- Raymond (1915 New York – ) & Theodora Brown (22 Jul 1918 – 2006 Westbury, New York)
- William Patrick (17 Mar 1918 New York – 17 Jan 2002 Flushing, New York) & Mildred Mae Meyer (1 Nov 1920 Brooklyn, New York – 28 Jul 1970 Brooklyn New York)
Please visit Sepia Saturday to see what others have
marked on the calendar.
Wendy
© 2016, Wendy Mathias. All
rights reserved.
