Sentimental Sunday

 

My grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker died 11 Oct 1980.

Helen Parker 1957

My grandaunt Catherine Walsh Barany was born 12 Oct 1909.

Cat at home in DC

My great-grandfather Stephen Slade died 14 Oct 1928.

My great-grandfather John Fleming Walsh died 15 Oct 1918.

The only known photo of John F. Walsh
(these 2 chips are about 1")

My grandfather Orvin Davis died 16 Oct 1963.

Granddaddy and me 

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - MULTIPLES: Twice a Widow

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

Mary Theresa Sheehan 
1869-1939

I cannot imagine what it was like for a woman to be widowed twice before the age of 50. And with 8 children. That was the life my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan faced.

At the age of 17, Mary Theresa emigrated by herself from County Limerick, Ireland in 1886 to New York City. In the 1892 New York State census, she reported living on Clinton Avenue in Brooklyn earning a living as a cook. 

John Joseph Killeen
1866 - 1905

Somewhere, somehow, she met John Joseph Killeen, also an Irishman who had arrived from County Limerick in 1886. In the 1892 census, he was working as a porter.

The 1900 census indicates that John Joseph and Mary Theresa had been married 7 years. They were living in an apartment on 3^rd Avenue in the Bronx. John worked as a railroad guard while Mary Theresa was at home caring for three children: Lillie age 6, Matthew age 5, and Mary (better known to our family as Mae) age 1. Sadly, the Killeens reported that there had been 4 children with just the 3 living.

When New York conducted its State census in June 1905, 36-year-old Mary Theresa had been a widow for 2 months with 5 children to take care of: Elizabeth (Lillie) age 11, Matthew 10, Mae 6, Margaret 4, and Helen 2.

At the encouragement of her sister-in-law, Bridget Killeen Glynn, Mary Theresa packed up her five children and moved to Portsmouth, Virginia “to be with family.” While that sounds like a reasonable thing to do, Mary Theresa was moving to be with her deceased husband’s family while she had her own four sisters and their families right there in New York City.

I don’t get it.

Nevertheless, move she did and by June 1906, she was married to John Fleming Walsh. 

John Fleming Walsh
1868-1918

A news article indicates they married in a Methodist church on either June 12 or 13. 

Newport News Daily Press 14 Jun 1906

Yet there is also an entry in St. Paul’s Catholic Church records that they were married by Father Thomas Brady on June 17. I wonder why they married twice. At any rate, they married and settled into life on Charlestown Avenue in Portsmouth.

Together they had three more children: Julia (my paternal grandmother), Catherine (Cat), and Teresa Mary (Tate).

Walsh worked as an ordnance man for the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. When he died in October 1918, the cause of death was officially recorded as pulmonary tuberculosis. Given the timing, though, it is just as likely he had contracted the Spanish flu.

Because Walsh had served as a private in the US Marines, Mary Theresa and the three Walsh daughters qualified for a pension.  

Walsh pension - payable quarterly

Mary Theresa spent the rest of her days as a widow. It is doubtful she had time for a third husband because several of her children were a handful, to say the least. Alcoholism, job insecurity, a baby out-of-wedlock in a good Catholic family, no less, and people moving out then coming back were probably all the issues she could manage. My father used to say she was the only stable force in the family.  

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.

52 Ancestors - LEGEND: Walsh and Whiskey

John Fleming Walsh – man of mystery. That’s how I sum up my great-grandfather. While I would like to learn about his parents and any siblings – none of whom I can confirm as OURS – I would also like to know if the family legend about a whiskey business in the family is true.

The details of the legend are thin. The little I remember hearing are that years and years ago the Walsh brothers went into business producing whiskey. When they had a falling out, our Walsh ancestor walked away wanting nothing to do with the brother or brothers ever again.

That’s it.

So how many years ago? Who were the brothers? Was this in Ireland or here in America? If America, WHERE in America?

I have looked for histories of Walsh whiskey, but no company bearing this name even hints at a falling out of brothers. One company known as “Walsh Whiskey” dates back only to 1999. It was created by a husband-and-wife team – NOT the supposed Walsh brothers.

If the family legend about the Walsh brothers is true, it could be that they did not use “Walsh” in the company name. With so few details to go on, pursuing the truth may be pointless.

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.

Sepia Saturday: Monument Avenue

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

Last week’s Sepia Saturday prompt featured a postcard of Broad Street in Richmond, the capital of my state, Virginia. It was from the early 20^th century, probably about the same time that my great-grandparents and their friends made a trip to Richmond.

A couple very old photos in the album belonging to my grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker fascinated me. I can date the photos to before 1918 because that is the year my great-grandfather John Fleming Walsh died.  

 

Possibly John Fleming Walsh
and Mary Theresa Walsh

My first thought was that they must have toured the beautiful Monument Avenue which has long offered a scenic drive through the city. Dotted every few blocks are monuments, most dedicated to the leaders of the Civil War. The one exception is a statue erected to honor Arthur Ashe, Richmond native tennis star.

George Washington Statue
Richmond, VA

When I saw this photo, I first thought it was of General Robert E. Lee, but the position of the horse did not match. It is actually the George Washington statue which is not even on Monument Avenue. Instead it stands outside the state capitol and marks the terminus of Grace Street.

Only 3 monuments were in place on Monument Avenue when the Walshes and friends made the trip. The neighborhood had only recently begun to come alive with grand residential architecture and gardens. No wonder they took so few photos. They probably were not very impressed.

Foreground - J.E.B. Stuart Monument (green-looking)
Robert E. Lee Monument (black-looking)
Way in the distance a column - Jefferson Davis Memorial

Today, few will be impressed with Monument Avenue. Few will remember the annual Monument Avenue 10K race or the spring time event, “Easter on Parade” when locals strolled the avenue in beautiful hats and other finery. In response to changing attitudes and standards, the statues were removed in early July 2020.

Stroll along the avenue to Sepia Saturday.

Wendy

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - UNCERTAIN: John Fleming Walsh

One thing I am certain of: I am UNCERTAIN who the parents were of my great-grandfather John Fleming Walsh. To be honest, I think he probably was UNCERTAIN as well.

 

The only photo we have of John Fleming Walsh
2 chips from a cabinet card about 1-inch square

The few documents that include John Walsh’s parents are consistent. In an index of marriages, he claimed his parents were Patrick and Mary Walsh.

 

from an index of marriages in Portsmouth, VA

Those same names appear on his death certificate.

John Fleming Walsh death certificate

That sounds pretty definite. So why can’t I find the family in a census?

John Fleming Walsh was born about 1868. According to the 1910 census, he was born in Virginia and both parents were from Ireland. That matches the information on his marriage record. Yet there is no Patrick and Mary Walsh with a son John in the 1860, 1870 or 1880 census in Virginia.

Thinking maybe John Fleming Walsh was wrong about his place of birth, I expanded my search. The Patrick and Mary Walsh families in Massachusetts did not add up because the son John was much too old. One Patrick and Mary Walsh in Minnesota came close with a son John almost the right age but he was born in Canada. Just to be sure, I traced the families but found no John Walsh who lived in Virginia and married Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen.

Allowing alternate spellings of Welsh, Welch and Weltch produced no good matches either.

When I searched for John Walsh born 1868 with a mother named Mary Walsh from Ireland, I found a very strong possibility. The 1870 census for Norfolk, Virginia shows Maria Walsh from Ireland as the head of household along with children Catherine (b 1856), Mary (b 1860), and John (b 1867). There were two boarders from Ireland and two from Virginia.

 

snipped from 1870 Federal Census, Norfolk, VA

The logical conclusion is that Maria (or MARY) was a recent widow, so I looked in the 1860 census for Mary Walsh born in Ireland about 1830. There she was with a daughter Kate – common nickname for Catherine - born 1856. The husband was there too, but it wasn’t Patrick. It was John.

 

snipped from 1860 Federal Census, Norfolk, VA

John? OK. It is possible his name was John Patrick or Patrick John. Wanting and NEEDING to learn more about John Walsh’s whereabouts, I made him my focus. Unfortunately, there is no death record online.

There are some Navy enlistment records. W. John Walsh born 1830 in Ireland enlisted in the Navy October 1857. Then John W. Walsh born 1829 in Ireland enlisted October 1856. Both negate any thoughts that John and Patrick were the same person.

There are several records of a John Walsh in the Norfolk Naval Hospital during the Civil War. In 1863 John Walsh was treated for fever due to exposure to malaria while on the Mississippi River. In 1864 John Walsh/Walch was admitted to the Naval Hospital for phthisis, which was a form of pulmonary tuberculosis, ironically the same cause of death recorded for John Fleming Walsh in 1918.

The Registers of Patients at Naval Hospitals 1812-1934 include 3 men named John Walsh who were discharged during the Civil War: one from the USS Sassacus, one from the USS Para, and one from the USS Hartford. These were all Union ships. At first I thought it was unlikely someone living in Virginia would fight for the Union, but there were many who did. Besides, if any of these John Walshes were the same ones who enlisted in the mid-1850s, he would have had no choice other than desertion, I suppose.

ALTERNATE THEORIES

Could John Fleming Walsh have been simply mistaken about his father’s name? After all, he was fatherless as a toddler. Could he have lied about who his father was? I was struck by the presence of 2 men named Patrick in the Walsh household: Pat Jacobs in 1860 and Patrick Gilford in 1870. I have other non-paternal events in my family line, so one more would not be a surprise. Perhaps John grew up with Patrick being LIKE a father, the only father-figure he ever knew. Just a thought worth pursuing.

Unfortunately, my pursuit was rather fruitless.

Pat Jacobs, a blacksmith, was born about 1839 in Ireland and was 7 years younger than Mary. He most likely is not anyone that John Fleming Walsh would have viewed as a father figure because Pat Jacobs showed up in 1865 in New York. He was still a blacksmith, married, and a father to a 3-month old. The same family continued to live in New York.

Patrick Gilford, on the other hand, was close to Mary’s age. He too was from Ireland. Unfortunately, the policeman is MIA in records after 1870 although there are plenty of men named Patrick Guilfoyle in New York.

Without more to go on, the identity of the parents of John Fleming Walsh is STILL UNCERTAIN. When the COVID-19 quarantine lifts, I must schedule a trip to the Library of Virginia.

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

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.