52 Ancestors: #50 - Daniel SHEEHAN

Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued a challenge:  write one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor.  It can be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem – anything that focuses on one ancestor.

NOTE: This post contains many errors. You can find the most recent research on the Sheehan family HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

My father adored his grandmother Mary Theresa SHEEHAN Killeen Walsh.  Searching for her family has not been easy.  With the aid of death certificates, I have determined that she was the daughter of Daniel SHEEHAN and Nora SULLIVAN.  They may as well have been named John and Mary Smith.  I don’t know if they ever came to New York or if Mary Theresa and her sisters (and MAYBE a brother) came alone from their home in Ireland.  When I look at the number of Daniel and Nora couples in Ireland in the mid-1800s, I am overwhelmed and just want to lie down. 

When I found some cousins through Facebook, I thought I was going to be able to gather some information and answer some questions.  Initially they seemed excited to meet me and eager to share memories.  But my excitement was short-lived as they have not been forthcoming with either photos or answers.   Obviously not everyone is interested in their ancestors. 

THREE GENERATIONS

Daniel SHEEHAN  & Nora SULLIVAN – both born in Ireland

1. Josie M. SHEEHAN ( About 1868 Cork, Ireland –  New York) & Charles A. KRAUSE ( Feb 1860 –  )  24 Oct 1894 Manhattan, Kings, NY

• Charles KRAUSE ( Aug 1895 Queens, NY –  )
• Hannah KRAUSE ( Aug 1896 Queens, NY –  )
• Caroline G. KRAUSE ( Mar 1898 Queens, NY –  )
• Edith M. KRAUSE ( 07 Mar 1900 Queens, NY –  ) & Daniel BROGAN  06 Jun 1922 Richmond Co, NY 
• Allen J. KRAUSE ( 31 Dec 1901 Queens, NY –  17 Apr 1990 Port Richey, Pasco, FL )
• Clara G. KRAUSE ( 20 Apr 1904 Queens, NY – )

2. Mary Theresa SHEEHAN ( 15 May 1869 Ireland – 18 Jul 1939 Portsmouth, VA ) & m1) John Joseph KILLEEN  (Mar 1866 Ireland – 08 Apr 1905 New York)  1893 ; & m2) John Fleming WALSH ( 1868 – 15 Oct 1918 Portsmouth, VA )  17 Jun 1906 Portsmouth, VA

Mary Theresa and John Killeen had the following children:

• Elizabeth Agnes “Lillie” KILLEEN ( 16 Feb 1894 Bronx, NY – 17 Jul 1982 Portsmouth, VA )
• Matthew George “Mac” KILLEEN ( 08 May 1895 Bronx, NY –  07 Mar 1969 Portsmouth, VA ) &  Alma M. KETCHUM
• Mary Agnes “Mae” KILLEEN ( 05 Sep 1898 Bronx, NY –  08 Dec 1980 Portsmouth, VA ) & Clifton Maynard HOLLAND  ( 14 Sep 1897 –  26 Jun 1948 Portsmouth, VA )  1916
• Margaret Mary “Margee” KILLEEN ( 21 Apr 1901 Bronx, NY –  31 May 1978 Norfolk, VA ) & Otto James “Jack” SPROTT ( 04 Sep 1898 – 29 Jun 1965 )
• Helen Martha KILLEEN ( 07 Jun 1903 Bronx, NY – 11 Oct 1980 Portsmouth, VA ) & Herbert Webb PARKER  (15 Nov 1900 Portsmouth, VA –  07 Nov 1959 Portsmouth, VA )   03 Nov 1927 Portsmouth, VA

Mary Theresa and John Walsh had the following children:

• Julia Mary WALSH ( 06 Sep 1907 Portsmouth, VA –  17 Apr 1982 Portsmouth, VA ) & Fred Robert SLADE ( 08 Nov 1901 Princess Anne Co, VA – 04 Feb 1983 Portsmouth, VA )
• Catherine WALSH ( 12 Oct 1909 Portsmouth, VA – 02 Oct 1969 Portsmouth, VA ) & Stephen BARANY (27 Nov 1906 New Jersey –  Jan 1969 Washington DC )
• Theresa M. “Tate” WALSH ( 10 Mar 1913 Portsmouth, VA – 18 Mar 1987 Lowell, MA ) & m1) James G. “Jimmy” CREWS ( 30 Jun 1911 Guilford, NC – 05 Jan 1986 Florida ) ; & m2) Walter J. MURRAY (  -- Dec 1984 Massachusetts )

3. Delia SHEEHAN ( Jan 1879 Cork, Ireland – 08 Jun 1942 Brooklyn, NY ) & William H. CHRISTIAN ( 1880 New Jersey – )  1904

• Elmyra Dorothy CHRISTIAN ( 1908 New York – 29 Mar 1996 New York ) & m1) Godfrey Anderson STAMM about 1930 ; & m2) Edward T. ZAREK (09 Sep 1909 – 08 Mar 1978 New York )  about 1942 
• Grace CHRISTIAN ( 1912 New York – 1997 ) & Charles Anthony SMITH ( 1907 Brooklyn, NY – 1965 )
• Raymond CHRISTIAN ( 1915 New York – )
• William P. CHRISTIAN ( 17 Mar 1917 New York – 17 Jan 2002 Flushing, NY ) & Mildred Mae MEYER (01 Nov 1920 Brooklyn, NY – 28 Jul 1970 Brooklyn, NY )

4. Sarah SHEEHAN ( Cork, Ireland –  ) & Unknown BYRNES/BURNS

• Sadie BYRNES/BURNS ( - 1970 )

Please ignore the family tree on this page. More recent research has corrected most of this MIS-information. (7 Jun 2019)

Wendy

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors: #38 - Windle EBERT/EPPARD

Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued a challenge:  write one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor.  It can be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem – anything that focuses on one ancestor.

My 5X great-grandfather Windle EBERT/EPPARD was among the first generation of Eppards born in what became the United States.  He was born about 1736 in Pennsylvania, son of Hans Jerg (George) and Margaret Christina Starke EBERT.  By 1750, this family had worked its way down through Maryland and into the Shenandoah Valley. 

In 1762, Windle obtained a patent for about 300 acres on the south side of Naked Creek in Rockingham County  (it was Augusta County at the time). 

Windle paid thirty shillings for his 300 acres

Most of this is the metes and bounds description
from Library of Virginia
Augusta County Land Grant to Windle Evert
dated 15 August 1762
Land Office Patents No. 36, 1764-1767
(v.1 & 2 p.557-1083), p. 613 (Reel 36)

Windle married Christiana MOYLE/MOYER about 1769. How many children they had is unknown; however, in 1780 they had twin boys, Johann George and Philip B.  Their baptism was recorded in the Parish Register at Saint Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. 

Windle and his father Hans Jerg (George) were farmers, but they also had an iron ore mine on Fox Mountain.  Mountain ore or “brown ore” could be fed directly into blast furnaces to produce pig iron. Windle’s property provided the three essential ingredients for a furnace:  an adequate supply of iron ore and limestone (plentiful enough on Fox Mountain), a water source powerful enough to turn a waterwheel (Naked Creek and Shenandoah River), and enough timber for making charcoal which was the fuel for the furnace (the mountains and valley were covered in trees!). 

Image from waymarking.com

The iron industry was responsible for much of the success of the early colonies.  Towns grew up around the blast furnaces which required a fair number of employees not only to operate the furnace but also to cut down trees, burn charcoal, dig for ore, mine the limestone, and even care for the mules and oxen.  In 1781, Thomas Jefferson listed five operating furnaces in Virginia, two of which were in the Shenandoah Valley.  It is most likely that Windle sent his iron ore to Henry Miller at Mossy Creek in present-day Bridgewater.  No doubt pig iron for the Revolutionary War was made from ore supplied by Windle’s mine. 

Windle died about 1810.  His wife Christiana was head of household in the 1810 Rockingham County, Virginia census.  A male older than 45 was there as well suggesting there might have been another son besides the twins. 

Windle and Christiana were likely buried on their property or in one of the two Eppard cemeteries located on their land since those cemeteries were associated with the original St. Peter’s Lutheran Church.  However, due to a terrible flood in 1800, many graves were moved.  Also the church was rebuilt in another part of the county following a fire.  The current St. Peter’s Lutheran Church Cemetery in nearby Elkton is one of the oldest cemeteries in the Shenandoah Valley.

THREE GENERATIONS:

Windle EBERT ( 1736 Pennsylvania – 1810 Rockingham Co, VA) & Christina MOYLE/MOYER  1769

1. Johann George EPPARD ( 23 Apr 1780 Naked Creek, Rockingham Co, VA – 1869 Naked Creek, Rockingham Co, VA ) & Catherine BEASLEY ( 1784 – 1850 Rockingham Co, VA )  28 Apr 1802 Rockingham Co, VA

• William EPPARD ( 1803 Rockingham Co, VA – 24 Feb 1872 Page Co, VA ) & Helena FOLAND  (02 Apr 1818 – 1880 Page Co, VA )  24 Dec 1835 Rockingham Co, VA
• Andrew EPPARD ( 1804 Rockingham Co, VA – after 1870 Luray, Page, VA ) & Melissa SMITH (04 Jan 1811 Rockingham Co, VA – 07 Mar 1896 Rockingham Co, VA )  25 Jan 1827 Rockingham Co, VA
• John EPPARD ( 1806 Rockingham Co, VA – 1855 Luray, Page, VA ) & Mary “Polly” Mathene SMITH  (22 Jan 1816 Rockingham Co, VA – 05 Jan 1913, Madison Co, IA ) 02 Feb 1832 Page Co, VA
• Elizabeth EPPARD ( 1807 Rockingham Co, VA – 25 Apr 1889 Elkton, Rockingham Co, VA ) & Isaac GOODEN ( 12 Apr 1816 Shenandoah, Page Co, VA –  12 Apr 1898 Rockingham Co, VA)   30 Aug 1841 Rockingham Co, VA
• Mary EPPARD ( 24 Aug 1808 Rockingham Co, VA – 1879 Rockingham Co, VA ) & William MERICA (28 Aug 1804 Rockingham Co, VA – 31 Aug 1895 Rockingham Co, VA )  17 Oct 1834 Rockingham Co, VA
• Parmelia EPPARD ( Nov 1808 Rockingham County, VA – 1905 Shenandoah Iron Works, Page, VA ) & Joseph Hiram SAMUELS JR. ( 1804 – Aft 1880 ) 28 Aug 1828 Rockingham County, VA
• Nancy EPPARD ( 1812 Rockingham Co, VA – 31 May 1890 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Zachariah TAYLOR JR.  (1800 –  21 Jan 1871 Page Co, VA )  03 Sep 1834 Rockingham Co, VA
• Reuben EPPARD ( 1815 Rockingham Co, VA - Bef 1880 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Sarah Elizabeth SMITH  (31 Aug 1819 – 06 Apr 1864 Page Co, VA )  12 Feb 1837 Rockingham Co, VA
• Jacob EPPARD ( 1817 Rockingham Co, VA – 1850 ) & Pamelia COOK ( 1819 – )  11 Jun 1836 Page Co, VA
• James D. EPPARD (1819 Rockingham Co, VA – 1857 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Mary Ann FOX (17 Aug 1817 –  23 Nov 1908 )  06 Aug 1842 Page Co, VA        
• Wesley EPPARD ( 1825 Rockingham Co, VA – 09 Sep 1882 Argonia, Sumner, Kansas) & m1) Phoebe BREEDEN  ( 1831 – 1874 Randolph Co, MO ) 18 Dec 1848 Page Co, VA ; & m2) Sarah F. TURNER (1847  Missouri –  )

2. Philip B. EPPARD ( 23 Apr 1780 Naked Creek, Rockingham Co, VA – Before 1850 Moonsville, Madison, IN ) & Margaret UTZ  (1785 – 23 Aug 1853 Madison Co, IN )  11 Mar 1803 Rockingham Co, VA

• Daniel EPPARD ( 28 Nov 1803 Rockingham Co, VA – 30 Jul 1878 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Delilah Ann HENSLEY  (15 mar 1810 Rockingham Co, VA – 1890 Page Co, VA )  08 Dec 1825 Rockingham Co, VA
• David EPPARD ( 1810 Rockingham Co, VA – 13 Jul 1895 Muncie, Delaware, IN ) & Sarah Elizabeth JONES (1812 Indiana – 1880 Indiana )  1834 Indiana
• Mary Virginia EPPARD ( 1814 Rockingham Co, VA – 1870 Madison Co, IN ) & David PENCE (01 Mar 1809 Shenandoah Co, VA – 22 Mar 1883 Madison Co, IN )  06 Aug 1835 Champaign, OH
• Samuel EPPARD 02 Jun 1815 Rockingham Co, VA –  1887 Indiana )  & m1) Mary Ann EBERT (Aft 1820 Ohio – Before 1850 Indiana ) ; & m2 Hannah WRIGHT  16 Jan 1853 Delaware Co, IN
• Noah EPPARD ( 23 Jul 1823 Rockingham Co, VA – 28 Dec 1900 Madison Co, IN ) & Rebecca Ann MOON (30 Nov 1827 Clinton, OH – 07 Oct 1900 Madison Co, IN )  20 Jun 1842 Indiana 

Sources:

"George Washington & Jefferson National Forests - History & Culture." U.S. Forest Service. N.p., 18 Sept. 2014. Web. 18 Sept. 2014. <http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/gwj/learning/history-culture/?cid=FSBDEV3_000460>.

Lauck-Ranson, Louise. "Shenandoah History." Town of Shenandoah. N.p., 2014. Web. 18 Sept. 2014. <http://www.townofshenandoah.com/index.php/component/content/article/76-history/149-shenandoahhistory>.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Tombstone Tuesday: John W. and Sarah E. Jollett

Tombstone Tuesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers which asks bloggers to create a post including an image of a gravestone of one or more ancestors; it may also include a brief description of the image or the ancestor.

The tombstone of John Wesley Jollett and his wife Sarah Elizabeth Smith is the most elaborate one in my family.  It reflects their important place in the community that admired them so much.  This prominent tombstone is the first one anyone notices upon entering the cemetery on the hill behind the Jollett United Methodist Church in Jollett Hollow, Page County, Virginia.

Sarah E. wife of

Rev. J. W. Jollett

Died Jan 30 1917

Aged 82 Yrs

8 M and 8 DS

Rev. J. W. Jollett

Died Oct 18 1916

Aged 84 yrs

6 M and 12 DS

Precious in the sight of the Lord is

the death of His saint

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sunday's Obituary: John W. and Sarah E. Jollett

Sunday’s Obituary is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers asking us to post obituaries along with other information about that person.

My second great granduncle John Wesley Jollett and his wife Sarah Elizabeth Smith Jollett were an important part of the Naked Creek community.  The area where they lived came to be known as Jollett or Jolletts or Jollett Hollow, Virginia, in their honor.  I am surprised and a bit puzzled that John Wesley's obituary does not mention his brother James Franklin as a survivor.  

John Wesley Jollett
1832 - 1916

Rev. John W. Jollett, a venerable local Methodist preacher, died at his home at Jolletts, this county [Page], Wednesday night, aged eighty-five years. Mr. Jollett had been in excellent health until a year or two ago when heart disease began to trouble him a great deal. He was conscious till the last and spoke comforting words to the loved ones around him. His aged wife has also been in a serious condition for some time.

Mr. Jollett was well known and much loved by the people in the upper end of the county and East Rockingham among whom he had ministered spiritually for a great many years. He was a preacher of earnestness and force and ready to go where he needed without thought of reward. His disposition was kindly and he had brotherly love for all mankind. He was thrifty in his habits and besides his little farm at Jolletts owned four dwellings in Shenandoah where he resided until a few years ago. At one time he was a corporation school trustee. Three children survive him. Mrs. T. W. Meadows of Jollett, John B. Jollett of Sparrows Point, Md, and Charles Jollett of Portsmouth, VA, all of whom are expected to be at the funeral. The remains will be buried in the graveyard near the late home of the deceased. At this hour the time for the funeral has not been set.

Source: The Page News & Courier: 20 Oct. 1916 

Sarah Elizabeth Smith Jollett
1834 - 1917

DEATH OF MRS. JOHN W. JOLLETT

Mrs. Elizabeth Jollett, widow of Rev. John W. Jollett, of Jolletts, this county, died on Wednesday after a long and lingering illness, aged about eighty years.  Mr. Jollett died the 18th of last October.  Three children of Mr. and Mrs. Jollett survive Mrs. T.W. Meadows, of Jollett, John B. Jollett, of Sparrows Point, Md., and Charles Jollett, of Portsmouth.  Mrs. Jollett was a Miss Smith, of Naked Creek.  She was a member of the Methodist church for many years.

The time for the funeral had not been set yesterday afternoon.

Source:  The Page News & Courier, 2 Feb. 1917

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Join the Group

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt, although actually a wedding party, reminded me of churchgoers.  The very faithful church-going Methodists in my family have left behind some reminders of how important the church was in their everyday lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. 

My second great-grand uncle John Wesley Jollett was a Methodist minister in Jollett Hollow located in Page County, Virginia. 

About 1914
Back row: John Wesley and Sarah Elizabeth Smith Jollett
This is probably a family picture with children and grandchildren.
Photo courtesy of Georgia Hunter, granddaughter of Catherine Meadows
(little blond girl in middy blouse)
(Click on image to enlarge)

John Jollett was married to Sarah Elizabeth Smith, granddaughter of Reverend William Smith.   A farmer, storekeeper and post master, John Jollett was also the second Methodist minister in the Naked Creek community, taking over when the first minister died in 1846. While Reverend Smith built a chapel on the south branch of Naked Creek, John Jollett built one in the hollow. Years later in 1884 John and Elizabeth gave land to build the new church which is still being used today.

Jollett United Methodist Church
(Click on image to enlarge)

The community itself and the church were named to acknowledge the influence of the Jollett families that originally settled there.

Meanwhile during that same time period my great-grandmother Mary Frances Jollett Davis was active in the United Brethren Church in nearby Shenandoah.  (It later merged with the Methodist Church in the 1960s to form the United Methodist Church.)  She even had her own hymnal.  Her sister Laura Jollett and husband William J. Sullivan are listed among the earliest members having joined in 1893. 

The Gleaners outside the UB Church
1- Sallie Jollett Clift
2 - Mary Frances Jollett Davis
(Click on image to enlarge)

The Gleaners was a women’s mission society.  In the Methodist Church, this group became the United Methodist Women.

Sometime between 1913 and 1915, Reverend Ferguson posed front and center with the Men of the United Brethren Church.  (Today this group is known as United Methodist Men.)  I can claim at least 10 of them as mine.

Men of the United Brethren Church
Shenandoah, Virginia
(Click on image to enlarge)

1 – William J. Sullivan (husband of my great-grand aunt Laura Jollett Sullivan)

2 – Decatur Breeden  (husband of my great-grand aunt Victoria Jollett Breeden) 

3 – Ulysses Jollett (my great-grand uncle) 

4 – Orvin Davis (my maternal grandfather)

5 – Clyde Strole (husband of my 1^st cousin 2X removed Pearl Sullivan Strole)

6 – Mitchell Morris (my 1^st cousin 2X removed married to another 1^st cousin 2X removed Reba Coleman Morris) 

7 – Jim Breeden (father of Decatur and Wesley Breeden, son of Lydia Jollett and George Breeden, and my 1^st cousin 3X removed)

8 – Harry Escue (at the time of this photo not yet the husband of my 1^st cousin 2X removed Mattie Coleman Escue) 

9 – Wesley Breeden (brother to Decatur Breeden and husband of my 1^st cousin 2X removed Minnie Sullivan Breeden)

10 – Walter Davis (my great-grandfather married to Mary Frances Jollett Davis)  

Granddaddy is the first man on the left, second row from the bottom
(they're standing on the first step)
(Click on image to enlarge)

Then fast-forward about 40-50 years to the Cradock United Methodist Men in Portsmouth, Virginia.  There’s my grandfather again, still a faithful servant and volunteer in the men’s group of the church.

Picture taken before 1963
Grandma and Granddaddy Davis are in the second row.
They are the 3rd and 4th from the right.
Grandma is wearing a dark dress with short sleeves.
Granddaddy is to the right of her.
(Click on image to enlarge)

Members of the Cradock church loved a church dinner.  I don’t know what the occasion was, but there was a good crowd at this church dinner held in the old fellowship hall affectionately known as the “Green Building,” not because it was eco-friendly but because the exterior shingles were actually painted green.

For my family service to the community and an enriched social life are what Church is all about.

Grab your hat and join the group over at Sepia Saturday. 

©2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.