The Tradition of Alicing

I  bet no one else in the world has this tradition!

This tradition morphed into a verb in honor of Alice O'Connell Anderson.  It was her way to call you at the earliest possible hour to give you good wishes for your birthday or whatever.

It is now somewhat competitive. Who aliced you?

Dohertys

     I was recently at a "Cousins' Brunch" where the Doherty side of the relationship was getting short shrift. To be fair, the whole affair was started by Jim Kennedy who was a Coleman on his mother's side. Most of the Colemans at this event are Doherty descendants as well.

    The Dohertys from whom we all descend are Hugh Doherty and his wife Sarah Evans.  According to ship list records, they are from near Castlederg, County Tyrone. Hugh, Richard and the daughter Sarah came to the USA first on the Ship North Star on 12 Aug 1846.  They landed in Philadelphia. 

Ship's Passenger List:  North Star landed at the Port of Philadelphia 12 Aug 1846

     One assumption is that Hugh and the 2 children came to the USA to get established before the rest of the family came to American on the 28th of April 1847.

Ship List from the Superior as transcribed by Dessie Baker.

   The family lived in Manayunk, which was later annexed into the city of Philadelphia. During the 10 year period they lived there, one child was born:  Francis; one child died: John; and one daughter married.  The baptismal records for the Church of St. John no longer exist for the year that Frank was born.  It is an assumption that John died, but I have no record.  He does not appear in the Minnesota Census of 1860, and he was too young to be living independently.
     There is a brief notation of "Mrs. Ferrell, who remained in the East" in a newspaper article about the Dohertys. St. John the Baptist records have an Ann Doughtery marrying Martin Farrell on 6 October 1859. The Farrells had 6 children:  Thomas, Mary Regina, Joseph, Ann, John and Catherine. I am still researching this family.
     By 1860, the Dohertys were living in Tyrone Township, Le Sueur County.  In the 1857 Minnesota Territorial Census, 3 Doherty brothers were living in Stillwater.  From the census, it appears they were working at a lumber camp.  

1857 Minnesota Territorial Cenus, Stillwater, Washington County, Minnesota Territory, October 1857

     The family minus Richard appears in the 1860 Minnesota Census in Tyrone, Le Sueur County.  No matter how I spell Doherty, I can't find Richard in the 1860 census. The next record for him is in Tennessee (and wouldn't I love to know the story behind this member of the family!!!)
     Hugh Doherty was educated--meaning he could read and write.  This is not usual for many Famine era immigrants.  He was active in both township and county government.  He served as a supervisor in Tyrone and was instrumental in naming the township. He was also one of the first Le Sueur County commissioners and served several terms.
     Hugh and his wife remained in Tyrone, Le Sueur for the rest of their lives.

DEATH OF HUGH DOHERTY

In the death of Hugh Doherty which occurred at noon on Thursday last, at the residence of his son James, in Tyrone Township, another old settler has been taken to rest. Mr. Doherty was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in September 1802, and was therefore in his 83d year when he died. He came to America in 1846-just escaping the terrible hard times of 1847 in his native country-and located in Manyunk, a suburb of Philadelphia, where he remained until 1856, when he came to Minnesota, and took a government claim of 160 acres in Tyrone, where he had lived ever since and where he died. His family came the following year. The deceased was chairman of the first board of supervisors of Tyrone township and named the town after his native county in Ireland. (The other two members were Louis Winterfeld and David Jones, the first named of whom is living yet.) He was also one of the earliest members of the board of county commissioners in the county. During the earlier years in Tyrone he also taught school a number of terms. In his public as in his private life, Mr. Doherty was a model of conscientious and honest citizen, and no kinder hearted, upright or agreeable neighbor ever lived. He was a christian in the highest and truest sense-and one who carried his notion of christian duty into all walks of life and when Death came at last, he was shorn of his terror for the venerable and venerated man of faith and works, who welcomed his departure from earth as one who had done the best he could and was ready to lay down the burden of life. The world is better that such men have lived. The deceased leaves a wife, aged 80 years, in feeble health, four sons, James, Samuel, (in Stevens County,) Patrick and Hugh and one daughter, the wife of Patrick Cantwell. The funeral took place at St. Thomas on Saturday and was one of the largest ever known in the county.

Le Sueur Sentinel, Nov. 27, 1884

A Lesson in Alternate Spellings...

     While looking over our grandfather George Burns' siblings, I had a nagging gap of information.  I had never found the death record for his sister Frances.  I knew she had married and had a son.  I found his birth record in the Minnesota Birth Index as William Waller. In newspaper articles, Frances was referred to as Mrs. W. H. Waller.  Well....
     I had never considered an alternate spelling!  Someone on Ancestry used the spelling Wallar.  My gap resolved.  Her husband's name was actually Henry Wentworth Wallar. 
     I should have known to be more creative!  Experiences trying to find out Stella Lazewski's real maiden name and looking for Dohertys in indices should have reinforced this for me!

Patrick T. Burns and Hannah Murphy's Family

     Our ancestor coming out of the Eliza Barry and Timothy Burns family is Patrick T. Burns.  In the newspaper he is often referred to as P. T. Burns. He was born in Stoughton, Massachusetts on 7 March 1854 and if the marriage certificate is correct, was named for his paternal grandfather.
     He married Hannah Murphy, daughter of Mary Shea and Moses Murphy on 12 October 1880 at the Church of St. Thomas. There were 13 children born to this marriage: Patrick Leo, Mary Elizabeth, Ellen "Nellie", Ambrose Timothy, Mary Ellen "Mae" (Foldesi), Cecelia (Olstad), Moses, Baby Boy, Thomas, Frances, John Joseph, Agnes and George F.
     Patrick T. farmed most of his life on a farm in Tyrone Township.  A few bits reveal little details of his life:  in 1886 a news item said he was "experienced in surgery" and had dressed the foot of his brother Jerry who had injured his foot while chopping wood.  In 1905, Patrick himself lost the end of one of his fingers in a harvester. In 1906, he had a phone!  The number was: 186 J-4.  I'm not sure what these little news bits tell us. It certainly isn't a full measure of a man!!
    When he died, the news bit got it wrong!  In his obituary headline, he was referred to as Herbert. Where that came from I have no idea!!!!

Died at his home on the 9th, after a short illness, Patrick T. Burns, aged about fifty-two years. He leaves a wife and eleven children, three brothers and a sister to mourn his untimely death, beside a hot of friends and neighbors who respected and admired his high character and manly life. The funeral was held on Saturday and was very largely attended. He was a member of the A. O. H., which attended in a body. Le Sueur and Belle Plaine and the Center were all well represented at the funeral. We extend our deepest sympathy to the wife and the children in their great loss.

Belle Plaine Herald, 16 Jul 1908

 On July 23rd, the Le Sueur News reported that Mrs. P. T. Burns received $1,000 from the AOH (Ancient Order of Hibernians. 
     Truth be told, I don't know a lot about George's siblings.  His brother Thomas was killed in October 1918 

Hannah Murphy Burns &
grandson, Dick Burns

 while a soldier during WWI in France.  I recently came across a record on Ancestry that gave his burial place.  His grave is in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in Romagne, France.  Newspapers at the time implied that his death date was not really known but this record gave his death date as 25 October 1918.  According to the newspaper, his sister Cecelia served as an Army nurse briefly from October 1918-May 1919.  Moses may have enlisted in the army as well according to the newspaper, though no record surfaces on Ancestry. 
     Patrick Leo--more often referred to as Leo--may have played the violin.  According to a newspaper bit, his aunt Katie Cullen gave it to him. 
     No pictures of Patrick T. exist that I know of.  We do have a photo of Hannah Murphy Burns. 

     There is a better picture of her, but this is one with Dad. 
     
      

The Burnses

     When I first started working on our genealogy, I was told there were 4 Burns brothers and they were born in Boston.  This turned out to be geographically incorrect.  First records in the USA for the Burnses were found in Stoughton, Massachusetts and they begin not with the four brothers, but with their father and his brother. .

     There were two brothers, Timothy and Daniel Burns.  According to Timothy's gravestone, they were were natives of Killquane, parish of Ballimona, County Cork Ireland.  After doing some searching, I was unable to find the place on any map of Ireland. With the help of volunteers specializing in Irish genealogy at the Irish Genealogical Society International, it was determined that the name place I was seeking was likely Kilquane, Ballinamona, County Cork.

     In records for the area, there were Burnses living there.  On one of our early visits to Ireland Jim and I stopped at the church in what is now called Mourne Abbey. There were Burnses in the record, and they did spell it B-u-r-n-s!!  People always wonder about that. There weren't any records for Timothy or his brother. The records don't begin until June of 1829.  Daniel was older than Timothy, and if the information given on Timothy's marriage certificate is correct, he was born about 1827.  Correspondence with one of the descendants in the area eliminated one of the Patricks as the father of our two. There are plenty of our given names in the record such as:  Jeremiah, Patrick, Timothy, Daniel and John. If the families here followed the naming pattern, the parents might have been Patrick and Ellen, but we will never know! In 1852 according to the Griffith's Valuation, a Daniel and a John lived in Kilquane.  So close, yet so far. The question remains!
     The next record is of Timothy in the 1850 Federal census in Stoughton, Massachusetts. His occupation is recorded as a "boot crimper".
     There is an intent to marry record in 1852 for Timothy Burns and Elizabeth Barry in Stoughton also.  On the same page was also an intent to marry for John Barry and Hannah Mansfield. I believe that John Barry is Eliza's brother.
  

     The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has marriage records for both Timothy Burns and Elizabeth Barry and for John Barry and Hannah Mansfield. The marriage record gives the fathers' names for both Timothy and Elizabeth.  Timothy's father is Patrick and Eliza's is Garrett.  In the Mansfield-Barry record, it also reveals that John Barry's father is Garrett as well. More on this family later.

Timothy Burns & Eliza Barry Marriage Records

    The above certificate from the Commonwealth likely has inaccurate information on it.  The intent to marry was dated 19 November 1852. Timothy and Elizabeth were married on the 20th of November 1852 according to the church records. (So I believe the above certificate is in error for the month).  Records from the Archdiocese of Boston reveal that the marriage took place at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Boston. The witnesses to the marriage were Patrick Sweeney & Ellen Sweeney.  Eliza's brother was also married on 20 November 1852 by the same priest--Rev. J. Fitzsimmons.

     The records for the baptisms of the older were not found at Sts. Peter and Paul.  The Commonwealth has birth records for Patrick (7 Mar 1854) and Daniel (16 Dec 1857).  There is no record for Elizabeth Frances, though census records indicate she was born in Massachusetts. Patrick is our ancestor.

     In the interim, it appears that Daniel made his way west to Minnesota.  There was a sale of property in Town 112, Range 25W (later known as Tyrone Township) to him in Minnesota in November 1856. He appears in the 1857 Minnesota Territorial census. By 1860, Timothy and family has joined him.

     The rest of the children born to Timothy and Eliza were John, Timothy, Ellen, Honora, William, Jeremiah, Mary Jane and Agnes. 

     Timothy died on 5th of August 1872.  Eliza is left with 10 living children.  In the 1875 Minnesota Census, she is recorded as "Widow Burns".   Interestingly, in the 1880 census, her brother is living in DerrynaneTownship. One may speculate that he came to help out his sister. By 1887, they were back in Stoughton, Massacusetts.  John Barry's wife, Hannah, died that year.

     Eliza died in 1885. Her obituary follows:

Mrs. Timothy Burns, who had been a widow for some years and who resided near the line of Tyrone and Derrynane township, died on Monday evening at the age of 50 years and was buried at St. Thomas yesterday. She had been more or less sick for the past year. Mrs. Burns and family were among the earliest settlers in her neighborhood. She was a woman of great energy and industry, and was generally esteemed as a good woman. She leaves a family of six or seven children.

Le Sueur Sentinel, April 30, 1885

     Timothy's brother Daniel married Mary Murray.  There is sometimes confusion in the records about her last name, but that stems from the fact that her mother remarried. They had 7 children. There is a sad story attached to Daniel.  He committed suicide in his barn on the farm. 

Suicide of Daniel Burns

Daniel Burns, aged between 50 and 60 years, committed suicide at his home in Tyrone township on the road from St. Thomas to Belle Plaine, on Sunday morning a week ago. A son of Mr. Burns and another boy had been watching a sick horse on Saturday night until 12 o'clock, when they were relieved by Mr. Burns, whose lifeless body was found the next morning hanging from a rail which had been placed across the inside of his granary. No possible cause can be assigned for the act as he had never manifested anything unusual. Mr. Burns had lived in Tyrone township from its earliest settlement and was always a very peacable, upright citizen, and it is not known that he had an enemy or was in enmity with any person. He leaves a wife and three children

Le Sueur Sentinel, April 17, 1884