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.

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.

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.

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.

52 Ancestors - FRESH START: The American Dream

“Land of milk and honey” – that’s how millions of Europeans and Asians viewed America in the 1880s when my own Irish ancestors left their home in Croom, Limerick to start a new life in New York City. Their reasons for immigrating have been lost to time, but likely the Sheehan sisters and brother experienced conditions much like other immigrants had.

ECONOMIC REASONS

Irish tenant farmers being evicted from their home
Wikimedia Commons - in public domain

The great potato famine in Ireland predates my Irish immigrants by 40 years, but a second famine swept through Ireland in the 1870s. Many tenant farmers never fully recovered and were unable to pay their debts. Some were forced from their homes by merciless landlords, many absentee at that, who raised their rents without regard for their tenants’ conditions or ability to pay.

I have been unable to pin down my 2X great-grandfather Daniel Sheehan, but I suspect he was among the tenant farmers struggling to keep his head above water. A couple records in an Irish database available through Find My Past show a Daniel Sheehan from Castletown, Croom, Limerick in and out of jail, perhaps from debt, perhaps from drunkenness. Right name – right place but his was a common name, so I cannot be certain of the facts surrounding his life.

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

Russian Jews and German Lutherans certainly had reason to flee their countries due to government-sanctioned persecution. Similarly, Catholics in Ireland were subject to British law that for years deprived them of the right to own land, vote, and speak their own language. Whether this was a factor driving the Sheehans to America, I cannot say.

TRAVEL

If immigrants were escaping poverty, they surely did not travel in high style. Steerage would have been their temporary home on a steamship. For a voyage of maybe two weeks, they shared a toilet with 45 people, slept on straw-filled mattresses, and endured cramped quarters with no sunlight or ventilation. A ticket for the privilege might have cost them a year’s salary or even a life savings.

Steerage class
Wikimedia Commons - public domain

SERIAL IMMIGRATION

I do not know exactly WHY my ancestors came to America, but I do know that somehow Daniel and Bridget Sheehan managed to save enough money to offer a fresh start to one child every couple of years. (I am assuming they were responsible – I really have no idea if they were even still living at the time.)

• Johanna immigrated in 1883 when she was about 22 years old.
• John immigrated PROBABLY about 1884 or 85 at age 21. His whereabouts are still eluding me.
• Mary Theresa (my great-grandmother) arrived in 1886 at age 17.
• Elizabeth came in 1888 at age 17.
• Margaret immigrated sometime between 1893 and 1896 depending on which record you believe. She would have been 20 or older.
• Finally, the baby Delia arrived in 1897 at age 18. 

A FRESH START

Family historians always bemoan the loss of the 1890 Federal Census. Fortunately, the state of New York conducted a State Census in 1892. In it, I found my great-grandmother living in Brooklyn earning a living as a cook prior to her marriage in 1893 to John Joseph Killeen, himself an immigrant.

Unfortunately, Elizabeth seems to have missed that census. I can’t find her although she should have been in it. Johanna was already married. Since she arrived between censuses, I do not know what she did to make her way in the two years between immigration and marriage.

Margaret and Delia arrived well after the 1892 census. I could not find Margaret in the 1900 census, unless her date of birth was reported incorrectly. There was a Margaret Sheehan working as a maid for a family in Manhattan. Another Margaret Sheehan worked as a waitress. Neither the dates of birth nor immigration match those of MY Margaret Sheehan.

When Delia came to New York, she lived with John and Delia Hogan, identified in the 1900 census as her uncle and aunt. I have yet to figure out how that is possible. Perhaps claiming Delia as a niece was easier than explaining the real relationship. She appeared to have no job in 1900, but she showed up in 1905 as a laundress.

LINGERING QUESTIONS

Yes, lingering. I want to know MORE about the Sheehans.

• Except for Johanna and John, the girls were just kids when they boarded that steamship, although I suppose that at the time they were considered full-blown adults. The Sheehans did not immigrate together, but did they travel in the company of cousins or family friends?
• Had they arranged for a place to stay ahead of time? Was there family waiting for them like the Hogans who took Delia in?
• Why did brother Denis stay in Ireland?   

Despite the lingering questions, it is a relief to know that all the Sheehan sisters found work and husbands as well as a good life in America.

Wendy

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - SOLDIER: Mystery Man

Of all my photos of unidentified people, this is probably my favorite. It came to me in a box of photos belonging to my grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker. Since many of the other photos were of her mother and her mother’s sisters and their families, I assume this one is as well. But who is it?

Here is what I know: Helen’s mother, my great grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh, immigrated to New York from Ireland in the late 1880s. Her sisters did as well. I know for sure that a brother Denis remained in Ireland. One brother, John Sheehan, might have immigrated to New York but I am not sure.

There are many photos of women who resemble Mary Theresa, but the few photos that are labeled are of children who would be Helen’s cousins. Photos of adults are not labeled, so I cannot tell for sure who is who.

As a result, I can identify NO ONE in this photo.

One problem I am having is determining age in the photo. Is this a set of parents with a son and daughter? Parents with a son and granddaughter?  Could it even be a 4-generation photo? The woman resembles Mary Theresa somewhat in body type, but if the photo is from the 19-teens, Mary Theresa and sisters would have been younger looking and probably thinner.  

Another problem is determining the place the photo was taken. Since I have seen none of these people in other photos, I considered maybe this was the family left behind in Ireland. However, the architecture of the house does not fit with what homes looked like in Ireland, or at least in photos I have seen. Could this house have been in New York? Massachusetts? Maybe it was taken in Portsmouth, Virginia where Mary Theresa moved following the death in 1905 of her first husband, John Joseph Killeen.

The soldier’s uniform might answer that question, in part, at least. The coat resembles this one identified online as a US army enlisted man’s tunic from 1912. Later uniforms also had buttons on the collar. I looked at World War I uniforms for other countries and am satisfied that this is an American soldier. I can rule out Mary Theresa’s brother and family in Ireland as candidates.

But who should be ruled IN? That is the million dollar question!

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

© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - BRICK WALL: Those Darn Mystery Children

I cringe whenever I see the words “brick wall” ever since I read SOMETHING by SOMEONE who complained about the overuse or misuse of the term. He argued that we should not consider the inability to find information a “brick wall” unless we have done EVERYTHING possible to obtain that information and failed. By his definition, the inability to push back another generation is not a “brick wall” unless we went to the courthouse to obtain deeds and probate records, contacted the funeral homes and cemeteries, scoured local newspapers, and fleshed out collateral lines for clues. Not finding an answer on Ancestry or FamilySearch does NOT a brick wall make. After reading that opinion, I try to control my whining.

With that said, the research question that has given me the most trouble and that deserves my attention before becoming a TRUE brick walls is this:

WHO ARE THESE CHILDREN?

John Jr and "Bob"
the Bronx 1921

I know they were much loved by my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh and her children because

• A family in New York gave Mary Theresa an album devoted solely to the children and their family.
  
• Mary Theresa’s oldest daughter Lillie went to New York when “John Jr” was born in 1917.
  
• There are photos of Lillie with the children taken over several years.

Lillie with John Jr and "Bob"

Lillie and John Jr 1920

Lillie with John Jr.
The children's home in Richmond Hill

THE FACTS ARE THESE

With very few captions on the photos and without a last name for the children, I have been stymied in my effort to learn more about the family. The few facts that I am sure of are that John Jr was born in 1917, sister “Bob” or “Bobie” or “Barbie” was born about 1919, they lived in Richmond Hill, they visited a park in the Bronx, and they once had the whooping cough.  

None of Mary Theresa's sisters had children as late as 1917.

THEORIES AND CONJECTURES

Probably the mystery children are the grandchildren of one of Mary Theresa’s sisters or brothers. Since the older mystery child was named “John Jr,” I looked at all of Mary Theresa’s nephews named John. The only one old enough to have fathered a child in 1917 was the son of Mary Theresa’s oldest sister Johanna Sheehan Hederman. However, in 1920, John Hederman was living at home with his parents and was enumerated as Single.

Then I looked at Mary Theresa’s nieces who might have married a man named John. Again the only possibility was Johanna’s daughter, but her husband was named Charles, and they had only one child, a girl.

That leaves brothers Denis or John as a possible father or grandfather. Denis did not immigrate to America but remained in Ireland. John’s whereabouts are uncertain. Assuming that he immigrated to New York as his sisters did, I have studied all the John Sheehans but could find no likely candidate with a son and daughter born about 1917 and 1919.

So was he a grandfather? This man looks grandfatherly. Was he John Sheehan?

In this next photo, there are two older women, the two mystery children, and a young woman who looks the right age to be the mother of children born in 1917 and 1919.

 

The poodle is Cutey; the children are "Bob" and John Jr.
Who are the women? The woman in the middle appears to be
the right age to be mother to the children.

This photo appears to be showcasing the three generations. Therefore, it seems possible that the young woman could be a daughter of Mary Theresa’s brother John Sheehan.

Appears to be a 3-generation photo

NEXT STEP

I will look for John Sheehans with a daughter old enough to marry a man named John and become a mother in 1917.

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

© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - LIKE TO MEET: Poodle Woman

This week’s 52 Ancestors challenge is just a cruel joke: someone we would like to meet. Seriously, Amy? Can I just say "the whole fam damily"?

While I certainly would like to meet my oldest known ancestors just to ask, “Who’s your daddy,” I have no way to expand on it. Instead I think I would like to meet this woman:

 

Sheehan sister 1915 and probably Cutey

The human mother of this poodle named Cutey and whoever that other poodle was.

 

One poodle was named Cutey; the other is unknown.
This photo dates at the time John Jr. was born in 1917.

The mother or grandmother of these two children, John Jr. and “Bob” who was definitely a girl.

 

John Jr and "Bob" with their grandmother (?) AND Cutey
at a beach in New York, possibly Rockaway Beach

Woman AND Cutey, "Bob," and John Jr.
Dated March 1922
Back of photo says "while they had whooping cough"

This little family constellation DRIVES. ME. CRAZY.

Why? Because these photos are from a more recent time - 1917-1920ish. Surely I SHOULD be able to identify them.

But I can’t.

All I know is that they are related SOMEHOW to my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh and that they PROBABLY lived in New York City.

 

1921 New York
Two older women might be sisters of Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh.
Younger woman in the center is possibly mother to "Bob" and John Jr.

Poodle Woman, who are you?

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

© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors: Going to the Chapel - Or Not

This week’s theme for the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” challenge is “Going to the Chapel.” What perfect timing to share a recent research problem and how our challenge leader Amy Johnson Crow helped me solve it.

My enthusiasm for researching my Irish ancestors returned when a new record popped up for the sister of my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh. The sister is Johanna Sheehan Hederman (or Heatherman!). Her story always makes me sad because only 2 of her 7 children

Possibly Johanna Sheehan Hederman
with children Catherine and John

survived into adulthood; the others did not live more than a couple years, if that long.

The older of the two children was Catherine who married Charles Fraundorf on August 18, 1908. They had one daughter, Gertrude born in 1916. The little family appeared in the expected New York census records for 1920, 1925, 1930 and 1940. After that, my online searches found little more than dates of death for Charles and Catherine. A few newspaper articles revealed Charles was active in the Knights of Columbus and local politics. But there was nothing new about Gertrude.

Just this past week in a fit of boredom, I opened Ancestry and did a general search for Fraundorf. What a surprise to find a listing for good ol’ Gertrude in the New York State Marriage Index. She married on April 21, 1940 in Long Beach, Nassau County, New York. Long Beach had been the Fraundorfs’ home at least since 1935. However, any celebration over the thought of new leads to follow came to a halt when the index gave me the husband’s name as Vivian Hennekey. 

Surely New York was not so progressive in 1940 to be granting marriage licenses to lesbians. Still, I clicked Miss Hennekey’s name, which took me to a page that revealed a different marriage date and location. She did not marry Gertrude Fraundorf after all! The cause of confusion is clearly the illegible certificate number.

Back to the search I went and plugged in the certificate number, “7882.” It gave me Vivian Hennekey again. So maybe the certificate number was NOT 7882, but no other number I tried gave me Gertrude Fraundorf AND someone other than Vivian.

During a Facebook group chat with Amy Johnson Crow, I posed the question, “Is there a workaround to find the correct couple in the New York State Marriage index 1881-1967?” As soon as Amy pulled up the index on her screen, she saw the problem with the smudged certificate numbers. She studied the screen and said, “Try entering just the exact day, month, year and location, no names.”

That is what I did. And it worked. Two brides and 2 grooms married on April 21, 1940 in Long Beach. (Not surprisingly, NONE of their marriage certificate numbers are clear.) 

Wallace Beers and Rita Lay married and lived happily ever after. They are even buried happily ever after together. Their descendants have shared family trees on Ancestry.

So that left Gertrude plus Salvatore DeLucia.

If, like me, you think surely a name like Salvatore DeLucia and Gertrude DeLucia would be easy to find, think again. Apparently there is an unwritten rule that Italian families - especially the DeLucias - must name a son “Salvatore.”

With an April wedding, Sal and Gert could have been in the census together in 1940, but apparently they were not. In fact, Gertrude was still at home with her parents, probably fully engulfed in wedding planning, when the enumerator came around about 3 weeks before the big day.

Believed to be Catherine and Gertrude Fraundorf

With no supporting facts to go on, it is impossible to sift through the numerous Salvatore DeLucias and Lucias and DeLucios and Luccios and DeLucas to come to a logical conclusion about the husband of Gertrude Fraundorf. Was he born in Italy or was he an American-born son of Italian immigrants? Was he about Gertrude’s age or did she marry a much older man? My research indicates the older Salvatores were also very married with families in 1940. The single Salvatores were mostly children, too young to marry in 1940.

The best candidate for a husband was the Salvatore DeLucia who was an Italian immigrant son of Italian immigrants Angelo and Rose DeLucia. This Salvatore was born in Italy in 1908, arrived in the United States in 1914, and was naturalized by 1930. He was still single in 1940 and only slightly older than Gertrude. The fact that he was living in the right neighborhood at the right time to have met and courted Gertrude Fraundorf makes him the most likely suspect.

BUT - There is NOTHING to say I am right and EVERYTHING to say I am wrong. Family trees on Ancestry put Salvatore not with Gertrude Fraundorf but with Theresa Botticelli - MARRIED and BURIED together. The ONE and only ONE piece of information that keeps this Sal in the running is that he and Miss Botticelli married in 1947, seven years after Gertrude and whichever Salvatore married.

Did Gertrude die young? Could Gertrude and Salvatore have called off the wedding? Could they have married and later divorced? If so, that would have been tough for a couple of Catholics.

Wendy

© 2018, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.