52 Ancestors - NAME'S THE SAME: John and Madeline

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

John Jr and "Bob" the Bronx 1921

In my never-ending search for the identity of the children known as “John Jr and Bob,” I have tried to determine who JOHN SR might be. All the photos point to someone who would have been a relative of my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh, more specifically a relative in one of the boroughs of New York City.

Captioned "Cousin Jack" 

A likely candidate would have been born probably in the 1880s or 1890s in order to have been old enough to father a child in 1917. One likely suspect was John Byrnes, son of Irish immigrants Patrick Byrnes and Elizabeth Sheehan, my great-grandmother’s sister. However, he turned out to be NOT so likely since he was only 14 when “John Jr” was born.

John did marry, though. He and his wife Madeline Kerr had two daughters, Madeline and Patricia. John was killed in 1925, not long after the birth of their second child.

The year of John’s death – 1925 –  is one reason I was surprised to see a gift from “Mr and Mrs J Byrnes, New York, NY” in my grandaunt Helen Killeen’s wedding gift book. She and Herbert Parker married in 1927. Any thoughts that the 6 teaspoons could be a gift from John’s brother Joseph were quickly dashed when I realized Joseph never married.

So who was THIS “Mr & Mrs J Byrnes”? Hold that thought.

Also in Helen’s gift book is a lemon dish and silver pickle fork from Mr & Mrs Edward Byrnes of Portsmouth, Virginia. 

A quick search in Ancestry revealed two interesting details: Edward's first name was actually JOHN, and his wife was named Madeline, Madeline Reitelbach, to be precise. So there we are: two couples named John and Madeline Byrnes.

However, there is nothing to suggest that the Portsmouth Byrnes are related to my Killeens. They were probably just friends from church. John Edward and Madeline are buried at all Saints Catholic Cemetery as are my Sheehan-Killeen-Walsh family.

Courtesy Maggie McAllister
Findagrave

As for “Mr & Mrs J Byrnes,” I have no idea, but I do have one observation that might be key: all the known New Yorkers who sent gifts were relatives.

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.

On This Day - Matt Killeen

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

 

Matthew Killeen 1918

I do not remember ever meeting my father's uncle Matthew Killeen, known to family as both "Mac" and "Matt," but surely I must have.

On March 7, 1969, Matthew George Killeen died. He was the second child of John Joseph Killeen and Mary Theresa Sheehan, and the only son to survive past infancy.

His death certificate states that he died of natural causes and that “chronic alcoholism” was a contributing factor. No surprise there.

According to family lore, as a pipefitter, Matt had an important job in the shipyard, so important that despite his bad habits, no one would fire him. It was Mary Theresa’s duty to sober him up in the mornings and get him to work.

Matt married Alma Ketchum and they had one daughter, Alma Theresa Killeen, who was born probably 1918 but vital records differ on that count.

Matt’s wife Alma died in 1947; her death certificate claims she was a widow but Matt outlived her by 22 years.

Matt is buried in the All Saints Cemetery
formerly known as St. Paul's Catholic Church Cemetery

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: From the Campbell Studio

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

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

I have the perfect match for this week’s Sepia Saturday prompt which features two boys: one in a sailor suit and the other sporting an Eton collar.

This photo is from the many photos passed down to me from my grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker. I really do not know who these boys are, but I have a pretty good guess.

Since Helen had only one brother, I concluded these boys were not sons of my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen. I considered that maybe the boys were her nephews, sons of one of her sisters living in New York City. However, upon close inspection of the cabinet card, I saw the name and location of the photographer: Campbell, Norfolk, VA. 

Closeup snip of the photographer's mark

I thought finding Mr. Campbell would help me date the photos, thereby narrowing the field of candidates for the game known as “Name that ancestor.”

It took some digging to find a photographer named Campbell in Norfolk. Two interesting images came up:

Photos of Jack Wentz (2nd base) and George Nie (catcher)
Campbell Studio 1897

Pitchers Fritz Clausen and Doc Secrist
Campbell Studio 1897

These two sets of cabinet cards of baseball players were sold at different auctions. Maybe it was the rarity of the subjects, the baseball history, or even the obvious clarity and skill of the photographer that drove the prices to $657 in 2016 for Fritz Clausen and Doc Secrist, and $1320 in 2018 for Jack Wentz and George Nie. These men played for the Norfolk Jewels from 1896-1898, at least.

Does the photo of the children exhibit the same skill and quality?

The photographer’s mark is not the same, and there is no mark on the back at all, not like the fancy ad on the reverse of the baseball players’ photos. 

Back of the photos of Wentz and Nie

It would be helpful to know whether my photo was an earlier or later work of Campbell Studios. So, I checked the newspapers looking for ads.

B. S. Campbell promoted himself frequently in the local Norfolk newspapers from 1886 to 1903, and maybe longer than that but these are the dates that came up most often on GenealogyBank and Newspapers dot com. He offered special sales at Christmas and Easter. He sold frames. He promised to retake photos free of charge if customers were not satisfied with the proofs.

Campbell also developed special techniques using watercolors and pastels to make a photo look like a painting, or at least that is my interpretation of what the news reporter described in a news feature. Campbell did not know what to call this technique, so he invited the public to submit suggestions.

Many articles written about him praised the quality of his photography, often quoting big-name art dealers from New York City. He won many awards.

Unless Mary Theresa was extra chummy with a friend or neighbor, it is not likely she would have received such a fine photo from one of them. It is more likely the photo was a gift from a relative. Given the dates when B. S. Campbell seemed most active in his profession, I believe the photo dates around 1900. Maybe the boys were sons of Mary Theresa’s sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Bridget and John Joseph Glynn. Bridget was the sister of Mary Theresa’s first husband. They lived in Portsmouth, just a ferry ride across the Elizabeth River to downtown Norfolk where B. S. Campbell had his studio.

Matthew was born in 1891 and John Jr in 1893. Do they look 9 and 6 in the photo? Maybe 8 and 5? 7 and 4?

Am I even close to identifying these children?

Visit Sepia Saturday for more photos and stories of twosomes.

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Photo Friday - Hyde Park

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

 

Anyone who has been following my blog for some time is well aware of my frustration with these cutie-patooties from New York. They are related to my Irish ancestors somehow.

These adorable kids holding hands were brother and sister. “John Jr and Bob” – please! I don’t know why this cute girl was called “Bob” and for the life of me I cannot figure out what it was a nickname for. If she were of German descent rather than Irish, I would guess Barbara.

Come to think of it, MAYBE the father had German roots and it is the mother who was Irish. I will have to explore that idea.

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.

Sepia Saturday: 4 X 4

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

I am a day late and dollar short for this week’s Sepia Saturday challenge which is to post something to do with the number FOUR. Life got in the way, so I offer this lame post which is just four photos of four people. No story. Saving it for another day.

My grandaunt Violetta Davis 2nd 
from the left -
College friends about 1922

This photo was taken at one of the gates into the State Normal School at Harrisonburg, Virginia (now James Madison University – Go DUKES!).  The smart suits and hats suggest that Violetta and her friends were heading into town or to church. It was a RULE that students must be dressed up when walking to town. 

June 1925
Grandaunt Velma Davis,
friends Thelma Hockman,
Leta LeVow, and Unknown

This photo was taken outside one of the buildings on campus at the Harrisonburg Teachers College (now James Madison University – Go DUKES!), probably before everyone left for the summer. I wish I could identify the 4^th girl. Velma roomed with Thelma and Leta. Likely the other girl was a good friend from the dorm.

What a happy group of girls. I surely wish I knew who they were. Probably they were friends of my grandaunt Helen Killeen. The picture was captioned "Easter 1918."

The Allen girls and Moi 1961 in our dress-ups
left to right: Anne, Mary, Peggy, ME

The Allen girls lived next door to me. We grew up together along with all the other kids on Frailey Place. Dress ups. Jump rope. Hopscotch. Mother May I. Red Light Green Light. Hide and Seek. Paper dolls. Picnics. I wish I had photos of the other kids too. Today we are all now Facebook friends. 

Please visit Sepia Saturday to see how the better-prepared bloggers stepped up to the challenge.

 Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sentimental Sunday - Hail the Irish

As I like to do during the month of March, my posts will shine the light on my Irish ancestors. While Feb 28 is not March, it is nevertheless the first day of the week, so I might as well jump in with it.

This tiny photo (about 1.5" x .5") was glued into the crease of a scrapbook passed along to me from my grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker. I cannot determine the who or the when. The woman does not look much like the young version of my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh. 

Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh

But who else could it be? 

Woman and child

I tried to convince myself that maybe this was Mary Theresa as a baby in the arms of her mother Bridget Gorman Sheehan, but the clothes do not say “1870.” Do they?

Maybe it is Mary Theresa after all, holding Helen who was born in 1903. Or possibly Mary Theresa holding Aunt Lil born in 1894.

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.