Two Words: Gratitude & Happiness

Timothy James Blaha and Erin Maureen Boedeker were married on August 16, 2014 at the Shrine of St. Joseph in St. Louis, Missouri. 

 Erin is the daughter of Jack & Mary Ellen Boedeker of Edwardsville, Illinois. 

 A miracle took place at The Shrine of St. Joseph.  The altar is called of The Altar of Answered Prayers.

 The celebrant was Father Tom Meyer.  He was Erin's family pastor at her home parish when she was growing up.

 Tim kissed his bride!

The Boedeker Family plus a new one!

Erin's maternal grandmother, Mrs. Wurth, sisters and maids of honor Sarah and Kristin, Kristin's husband Mike and ring-bearer son Matty.  Erin's parents Mary Ellen & Jack.

Erin and Tim Blaha.

Mr. & Mrs. Blaha

Stella and Matty made it down the aisle just fine.  Stella wasn't willing to make the long trip back!

The Blaha Men:  Matt, Tim, Jim and Michael.

Stella & her mom, Armida

Tio Mic and Stella taking time to smell the roses.

Michael, Jim, Kay, Matt & Stella

Tim told the guests that 2 words had been going through his mind all day:

Gratitude & Happiness

The bells rang in joy.

May many blessings and much happiness be yours, Erin & Tim!

(Hey, Erin--sometimes you get top billing!!)

More DNA fun...a Galvin Match

When first working on the family tree, I talked to Ma about her relatives.  One of the things that Ma told me was that her grandfather, John G. O'Connell, used G as his middle initial because Galvin was his mother's maiden name.

Courtesy of Kathy Finn

Along with that information, she shared info about the the Maurice Gallivan/Galvin family.  Ma said that Maurice was John G. O'Connell's uncle. Maurice and his family also immigrated to the USA.  They first lived in Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota.  They later moved to St. Paul.

One of Maurice's daughters (see right)  lived in Derrynane township, as did John G. O'Connell.  Kate Galvin O'Leary was buried in the cemetery of the Church of St. Thomas, Derrynane.

A family that was "related", but not clearly stated how, was the family of Kate Galvin Maloney.  Ma and Lucille both remember this family visiting.  I think I told the story before about Ma thinking about Kate's kids' names.  One daughter was Mary.  She was called Ray.  Ma said she wondered what Thomas' nickname would be.  Contact with one of the relatives clarified  that Mary's name was Mary Rachel--and probably the source of the nickname.  Anyway, research showed that Kate Galvin Maloney was the child of Thomas Gallivan/Galvin and Margaret (Peg) O'Leary.   At the time of the baptisms' of several of their children, it was recorded that they lived in Glouria, Ballydonohue, Kerry.

Sheila Allen Healy, Galvin descendant

Now, the DNA match.  When in Ireland recently, I visited Sheila Allen Healy and she gave up some spit for the sake of the family tree.  We have been in contact since about 1998 when we first met her after visiting the Galey Cemetery.  We met 2 workers there that pointed us her way.  Sheila's mother is Catherine Galvin, daughter of Thomas Galvin (son of Thomas and Peg) and Margaret Long.

As it turns out, Kate Galvin Maloney is Sheila's great aunt.

When the DNA came back on 23and me, my dad matched Sheila on 7 segments and was predicted to be her 2nd to 3rd cousin.  If it is worked out on paper, it is more likely that they are 3rd cousins twice removed.

I was beginning to wonder if the Galvin info was accurate.  How could I have doubted Ma? She was correct as usual. Another recent match on 23andMe also shows a Galvin match.

Now, how to find John G.'s mother's name? Can't find a record with a Galvin-O'Connell marriage or baptism that fits!

Three Funerals and a Wedding...

It's been a tough year in Lake Wobegon.

The Burns family has lost 3 and gained one.

Patrick Thomas Burns, son of Ann Mary O'Connell and George F. Burns, died on June 23, 2012.
Anita F. Wood Burns, wife of John G. Burns died February 20, 2013.  My dad, Richard G. Burns, died February 28, 2013.

Whew!

When you read in an obituary, "will be sadly missed", it is so true.

I liked to hear the stories of Uncle Pat baking cookies and giving them to people whether they liked it or not.

If you had to pick only one word to describe Nita, it would be "hospitality".  Or gracious.  Or faith-filled.

Besides being in the Burns family, being faith-filled people is one thing they all had in common. There is no doubt that faith and family were most important to all three--and probably it is safe to say in that order.

Yesterday was a tough day and a wonderful day. We celebrated the marriage of Daniel Blaise Burns and Rachel Ann Rother.  It had to be a bittersweet day!  If we believe in the communion of saints, we are all one and together no matter our state.

Congratulations to Dan and Rachel. Thanks for putting a bright spot in this long year and long winter!  The sun shone, too!  You must have had someone pulling for you!

Finding Mary Ann Pyles...

Mary Ann Pyles was the wife of John G. O'Connell.  The family lore is that she was an orphan.  Today, I think I eliminated one possible record for her.

In the 1850 Federal Census for Scioto Conty, Ohio, there is a Mary Piles living with William E. Crabtree and wife Matilda. In this census, Mary Piles' age is given as 10.  Close enough to the 1842 given in other records to make this Mary a possibility.

Further digging on the internet, however, gave more info about William E. Crabtree.

Generation No. 9
9. WILLIAM EDWARD9 CRABTREE (EDWARD E.8, WILLIAM7, JAMES B.6, WILLIAM H5 CRABTREE I, THOMAS JR.4 CRABTREE, WILLIAM (THOMAS)3, WILLIAM2, JOHN1) was born September 10, 1804 in Jefferson County Ohio134,135, and died December 24, 1882 in Scioto Co. Ohio136,137. He married (1) MATILDA JEFFERIES 1823138. She was born June 21, 1801 in Ohio138,139, and died March 16, 1857140,141. He married (2) MARY PYLES (BROWN) December 28, 1862142. She was born 1836142,143, and died 1915144,145.
Notes for WILLIAM EDWARD CRABTREE:
(Coming from Dewey Crabtree) William E. very small man probably four feet five inches with light har and blue eyes. Family saying that he had the bluest eyes anyone had ever seen. He owned around 3 thousand acres of land at one time in addition to a general store at a place called Molly‘s corner (located on 776 Scioto County and Glade Road). He had a lot of compassion for poor people and he often took them groceries when they were in need. In the fall he would take a gunny sack and go into a shoe factory in Portsmouth. He would fill up the sack with shoes and distribute them to the poor children in time for school. Donated land for Providence Church and Cemetery. 
1850 Census Scioto twp. Jackson Co. Ohio Page 353 B. September 24, 1850 J.M. Laird 104-108
Wm E. Crabtree 45 MW Farming 5,000 Ohio
Matilda 49 49 FW Ohio Mary Pyles 10 FW OH
1860 Census Scioto Twp, Jackson Co. Ohio Page 49 June 21, 180 James Nelson 347- 345
Willliam Crabtree 54 MW Grocer 4 ,000 1500 Ohio
More About WILLIAM EDWARD CRABTREE: Burial: Providence Cemetary146,147
More About MATILDA JEFFERIES: Burial: Providence Cemetary148,149
Notes for MARY PYLES (BROWN): was a young orphan whom William E. and Matilda raised. Mary was named in his will dated Oct. 18,1881 along with his three sons and his granddaughter, Sarah Crabtree.

So, onward.  Mary Piles does appear in the 1860 Federal Census in Brown, Delaware, Ohio.  She is living with the Thomas McDonald family and is listed as "servant". John G. O'Connell & Mary were married in April, 1861.

  In the St. Mary's Church records, McDonalds appear several times as sponsors to John G. & Mary A. O'Connell's children.

DNA Trail...

     I recently got the results of my Geno 2.0 DNA test.  This test gives results for distant ancestors and since I am female, it only gives mitochondrial DNA.  
     I already knew from Thomas' test at FTDNA that the haplogroup for our matrilineal line was J--J2a1a1a2. There is an interesting book written by Bryan Sykes entitled The Seven Daughters of Eve. 
     The "daughters" refer to the 7 haplogroups to which the mitochondrial DNA of Europeans can be traced. Sykes created a story to explain each haplogroup and its migration out of Africa. J or Jasmine as it is referred to, moved out of the Middle East toward Europe about 8,500 years ago, bringing agriculture with it.
     The test makes comparisons between the typical percentages of ethnicities in European populations and the individual (me).  I completed a survey of my known ancestors and their geographical origins.  My largest pool was British.  The typical makeup of that group is 49% Northern European, 33% Mediterranean and 17% Southwest Asian.
      For our line the results were:  43% Northern European; 37% Mediterranean; 18% Southwest Asian and 2% Native American. This last result was a bit of a surprise. 
     I went to a program sponsored by Irish Genealogical Society International and the speaker gave an overview of DNA & genealogy. I ran this result by her, wondering how far back this might be--she said, "think 1700s".  I then found information on the Geno 2.0 website saying that 2% Native American would mean that the DNA was introduced about 5 or 6 generations back.  
     Our matrilineal line is Hogan-->Morehead-->Grandelmyer-->Thompson-->Lewis-->unknown.
     Sarah Jane Lewis was born about 1822 in Tompkins County, New York.  Nothing is known of her mother.  Her father's name was likely John Lewis.  A John Lewis was with her & her family in the 1850 Federal Census in St. Paul, Minnesota Territory. 
     More digging to do!
     

Pullen DNA

     Our ancestor Martha Pullen was married to John Brown Morehead between 1857 and 1860 when she appears in the 1860 Federal Census in Winona, Minnesota. I couldn't find a marriage record for them in Winona.
    Her death records and the obituaries for her in St. Paul and Winona do not give any genealogical information.

    A Martha Pullen appears in the 1850 Federal Census in Illinois but there was no other clear evidence that this was "my" Martha.  One fact that did connect was that this Martha was born in Indiana and other census records have our Martha born there as well.
    There is now some DNA evidence that Martha belongs to the Dennis Pullen & Nancy Kingen family in that someone on Ancestry DNA shares DNA with me and her ancestor is the daughter of David Pullen & Elizabeth Duncan--Minnie Pullen Reynolds.
     That is probably as close as I'll get!
     David Pullen lived in Rock Island County, Illinois.  His first wife was Nancy Kingen. They were married in Boteourt, Virginia. They lived in Indiana for a while.  Martha was born there according to census records. Nancy died in 1844 in Illinois.  He later married Mrs. Jane Coulter.  He is buried in Eliza Creek Cemetery, in Mercer County, Illinois.
     Martha Pullen Morehead died in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1884 and was buried in Winona. She was the mother of Wilbert O. Morehead, father of Catherine Morehead, mother of Marguerite Luella Hogan.
   

RIP Patrick Thomas Burns 1930-2012

     Uncle Pat would appreciate this:

     Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, let perpetual light shine upon him.  May he and all the faithfully departed rest in peace.  Amen. 

He told me recently that he sends out the births and deaths of people to an email list, especially deaths, so people will be reminded of them and say an Ave.  
     So, say an Ave for Uncle Pat.

Marguerite Luella Hogan Burns, RIP

Yesterday was the 22nd anniversary of Mom's death.  Her wake was on Mother's Day.  Extremely fitting!

May she rest in peace.

5th cousin to my Grandmother's Cat

Well, the DNA is back on Colette's spit test!  We sent our DNA into 23andMe to see what we could find out about our relationship.  We do have a bit of DNA in common.  We were categorized as 3rd to distant cousins.

If we follow the information we have, I am about 7 generations from the common ancestor and Colette is 5 generations, so I guess that would be distant! We might be 3rd cousins twice removed.  Colette and my grandfather were 3rd cousins. There are still a few lose ends to clear up.  Anyway, it's the Herlihy name that is the connection.

Handwriting Analysis...

The above is a sample of the handwriting of Sarah Jane Lewis Thompson Spencer.   Phil Cowen, a Thompson descendant, sent me the scan.  I have previously written about Don Burgett's kindness in contacting me about the letters and he provided me with transcriptions of this letter and 2 others by the family.  Thanks to both Phil & Don for this wonderful piece of our family history.

James Sheehan Obit

     This is the James Sheehan married to Mary M. Doyle.  I have written about this family previously.  The story is that they emigrated from Ireland with help from Bridget and Michael Hogan.
     The obituary appeared in the St. Paul Dispatch on March 9, 1922.

Sheehan--James, in St. Paul, March 8, 1922 in his seventy-first year.  Family residence 486 Rice. Survived by his loving wife, Mary, Patrick C., John J., James W., Joseph M., Alphonse N. and Mrs. Alphonse Arcand of White Bear and Mrs. Chamberlain of Kuna, Idaho.  Funeral from Kessler & McGuire's parlors, 115 West Tenth street.  Friday, 9:30 A.M.  Services at Cathedral at 10 A. M. Interment, Calvary.  Chicago, New York, St. Louis and Kuna, Idaho papers please copy. 

Now perhaps I will be able to find his wife's death date if she is buried in the same plot.

Why do people do what they do?

     Thanks to the Mormons and FamilySearch, I found the date of the marriage of Eliza Frances Burns.  She was the daughter of the immigrant generation--Timothy Burns and Eliza Barry.
     On her marriage license, it says that she was from Ramsey County.  She was married in Ramsey County and not at St. Thomas.
     On the record it also says she was married by an Episcopal priest.  Now that is surprising! Perhaps that is why the marriage was performed in St. Paul.  Did some relatives attend?  I couldn't find an account of it in the newspapers.
     After her marriage she lived in Chicago. She died there in 1904.

DNA Update--Shea genes

     Last summer I mentioned DNA results linking our family to Patricia Lindquist.  After some research I found out that she is deceased.
     A while later, I received an email from Patricia's sister, Mary Hayden Carlson with the following information:

I have been working on the family history for years, where you write or call relatives to get their information...I am related to Monsignor Ambrose Hayden.  My father's sister Marie Hayden McGinnis, daughter of Michael T. Hayden and Mary Ann Voegele, told me Hanorah's mother was Mary O'Shea Reardon.  She said some believe that her name was Mary Sullivan Reardon--then said to me "Do not believe it!"

 She further supplied info from her Aunt Marie:

     My grandmother Hannorah O'Reardon (Riordan) Hayden, had 6 cousins from County Cork--2 girls and 4 boys by the name of Shea (Shay).  They came to Minnesota and lived around Le Sueur, St. Thomas, and Le Center.  Apparently they lived in the same area as the O'Reardons in Millstreet and it is said they were all so close and more like brothers and sisters than cousins to the O'Reardons. 
      One of the girls, Mary married Moses Murphy.  They were grandparents of Sister Mary Kilduff and Hazel Green who went to St. Joseph's Academy when I did.  Hazel Green's (married name Trumper) mother, Lizzie Murphy was Sister Mary Kilduff's aunt.
    Timonty Reardon (Riordan) married Mary Shay (born 1811, died 18 May 1871, Le Sueur MN.  She is buried in the Mike Feeney lot in Calvary Cemetery. They had at least eight children:1. Mary2. Johanna3. Hannorah4. Ellen5. Katherine6. John7. Jeremiah8. Denis

So, I was one of those that surmised Mary Riordan's maiden name may have been Sullivan.  It is great to get some info much closer to the source!!

Happy 40th Anniversary to himself and me!

James Arnold Blaha and Mary Catherine Burns were married at St. Frances Cabrini Church in Minneapolis on August 21, 1971.

It has not been much of a Genealogical Summer...

There hasn't been much genealogical activity on my part this summer.  There was an occasional flurry of activity on Ancestry, but not much other research getting done.

Moses Murphy

On the DNA front, I upgraded the O'Connell DNA and there were more mismatches with Daniel O'Connell that makes us now unrelated.  Not sure how that works.  I'm going to have to talk to somebody who knows more about it. The other fun in the DNA word is that I upgraded the Burns DNA to Family Finder and there have been a few hits.  Family Finder looks at both sides-maternal and paternal.  So far, only one hit seems to go anywhere in terms knowing how we may be related.  A woman in Australia is a Murphy descendant from County Wexford and it is possible that her ancestor is a relative of Moses Murphy! Another woman, Patricia Lindkvist, is a 2nd-3rd cousin possibility. I emailed this woman, but no response.  Doing a little digging, there is a possible Patricia Lindkvist, who died last year, that is a possible distant relative. In fact this was interesting, because I traced her back to the Haydens.  In our family, there has always been the "we are related to" Monsignor Ambrose Hayden.  It is known that Hanorah Reardon married Michael Hayden. For a while, there was a working theory that Mary Riordan/Reardon, mother of Hanorah may have been a sister of  Ellen Sullivan Shea, who was the mother of Mary Shea, wife of Moses. Since this post was originally written, contact with Patricia's family has clarified that Mary Riordan's maiden name was Shea. (correction, 8 Nov 2014--also see this blog on 23 Feb 2012)  Anyway, Patricia shares a lot of DNA with Tom--more than I would expect from this distant of a relationship.  More avenues to follow!

Moses Murphy was born about 1831 in County Wexford according to his gravestone.  He was in New York State by approximately 1856 or '57 because it is presumed that he married Mary Shea about that time.  He does appear in the 1860 NY Federal Census in Easton Township, Washington County.  At that time, Mary his wife, Mary Ellen and Hannah (daughters) also appear.  Ellen "Shoo" as it was spelled on the census was living with them--Ellen Shea--Mary's mother.

By the 1865 Minnesota Census, the Moses Murphy family was living in Derrynane. Their children were Mary Ellen (Kilduff), Hannah (Burns), Elizabeth (Green), Catherine (Cullen), Bridget (Hickey), John & Thomas (never married),Agnes (O'Neill) and Cecelia (Weldon).

Moses died in 1887.

Moses also had 2 brothers who lived in Le Sueur County.  Michael Murphy married Mary Ellen Thornton. Their children were John, Thomas, Moses, James and Mary Ann.  Michael died fairly young in 1878 and his wife married Michael Lavery.  Only Thomas had a biological child that I can find.  James adopted the daughter of Christopher Shea after Christopher's wife died.

His other brother was Martin Murphy.  When he died, he was described as Moses Murphy's youngest brother.  Martin was born about 1845, so I'm sure there must have been more children in between besides Michael.  Martin married Mary McCourtney in 1870.  Mary died in 1875.  Martin died in 1889.

Slackin'

     I've been slacking. Visit the St. Thomas blog for an account of John H. Shea's trip to Ireland and back.
     Of course, when I read this there was cursing. Would it be too much to ask to have put a little genealogical info in the report of his visit?
     A fair assumption can be made that the uncle John H. speaks of is Jeremiah Shea.  In 1894 he moved back to Ireland and lived there for 10 years.  He traveled with his second wife, Bridget Luddy, and children from that marriage.  One child, Timothy, was born there in 1898.

St. Patrick's Day at Uncle John and Aunt Nita's

For quite a few years, John and Nita have hosted a St. Patrick's Day Party. It is a good time to see the relatives when mourning is not involved. 

Georgiann told a story about Uncle John when he was a baby.  It was just after his dad George died.  He came out into the room with his father's shoes on his hands.  His siblings thought this quite funny.  Ma was not amused.

The other was just joking around between siblings.  If you ask any of them who Ma's favorite was and they all say Dick.  Once Dick retorted to Georgiann that SHE was their dad's favorite.

Those siblings spats have long lives!

Getting Ready for Paddy's Day

Stella Marie--Irish Princess

Five generations out of Ireland on her shortest line. My great grandfather, Michael Hogan, gives us our most direct link in terms of generations away from Ireland. His son was James J. Hogan and his daughter was Marguerite L. Hogan--my mother.

It's that time of year....

Hannah Murphy Burns et al...

Hannah Murphy Burns, Mary Jane Burns Flaherty, Frances, Agnes, Nellie Burns and child Helen Foldesi

I came across a letter today from the woman who gave me this picture of Hannah Murphy Burns, her sister-in-law, 3 daughters and granddaughter.  Alice Halloran Burns identified the women as Hannah Murphy Burns, her sister-in-law from Chicago, Frances Burns, Agnes Burns, Nellie Burns and the child is Helen Foldesi, daughter of Mae Burns Foldesi.  Helen was born in 1911, so this photo was probably taken about 1913-4.

 There were 2 sisters-in-law of Hannah in Chicago.  I believe this is Mary Jane Burns Flaherty.  She was living in Chicago with her sister Elizabeth Burns Tinsley in the 1900 census.  Elizabeth died in Chicago in 1904.  Mary Jane was married in 1912 in Chicago.  Mary Jane died in 1916 in Chicago. Neither Elizabeth or Mary Jane had children.