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!

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.

Auntie

     Ma's aunt Ellen O'Connell Ronayne was known to many in and out of the family as "Auntie".  She was the daughter of John G. O'Connell and Mary Ann Pyles.  She was born on 2 Aug 1864 in Ohio and came to Minnesota with the family about 1870.
     She married Cornelius Ronayne on 8 September 1884 at the Church of St. Thomas.They had four children.  The daughter's photo appeared previously on this blog in the 4 generation picture.

     When Auntie's sister Mary Agnes O'Connell Ronayne died just after childbirth in 1899, Ellen  took over the care of Mary Agnes' 8 children as well as her own. This earned her the respect and admiration of many.
      Ma told a story about one of her cousins, I think it may have been Madge Ronayne, who was getting ready for a dance.  She went out and bought a very nice blouse to wear and was quite excited about it.  Auntie didn't approve of this frivolity and took the blouse and threw it in the fire!!
     In her later life she lived with her brother Daniel, who never married.  Ma said they had an altar set up in their home and they prayed together.
     At the end of her life, she spent some time at the Little Sisters of the Poor in St. Paul.  Evidently, she became too hard for them to handle, and was moved to a facility in Rochester, Minnesota where she died on 11 April 1961.  She was 96 years old!!  Those O'Connells have the longevity gene.
     The father of Mary Agnes' children was James F. Ronayne.  James and Cornelius were brothers.  This can be very confusing because another sister--Lizzie--also married a Ronayne.  His name was Dennis.  He may have been a cousin to the other Ronaynes.  Dennis' sister Catherine married into the Burns family.

Quiltless

Margaret Doherty & Dave O'Connell Family
Ann (Ma), Margaret, Alice, Dave, John
But look past them to the quilt!

     Here is the only photo of ancestral type people that has a quilt in it.  If you've read any of the pioneer stories or looked at quilt books, they discuss how women saved every fabric scrap for inclusion in a quilt for the home and got together on winter days at a quilting bee to help each other get a quilt made.  People often bought feedsacks by the fabric it was packaged in so the bag could be reused in a quilt.
     The quilt behind them is a tied quilt. This wasn't meant to be decorative, just functional.
     I don't remember anyone in the family talking about quilting or quilting bees.
     The quilts most people make today, by buying yards of material specifically for a quilt, would probably seem wasteful to many of the ancestors.

John G. O'Connell, Man without a genealogical trail...

     Today is the anniversary of John Galvin O'Connell's death. May he rest in peace. Every once in a while in genealogical research, there is an individual whose family of origin is a frustrating mystery.
     Not even his obituary says he was from County Kerry!  This is a bit unusual for a person who is well known in his vicinity. But St. Thomas lore differentiates two O'Connell families who lived there.  The other O'Connell family was known as the Cork O'Connells and ours were known as the Kerry O'Connells.
     In the first records for John G. in Delaware, Ohio, he appeared as John Connell. In the area of Delaware there were a number of O'Connells and in the St. Mary's Parish records, his name changes.  At some point he started using "G" as his middle initial, I speculate to differentiate him from the other John Connells in the area.  The O was also added. It could be that it was known that Connell takes an Ó, and so the priest or maybe John G. himself didn't bother to use it. The Ó on Irish names means "grandson of". The Ó could also mean descendant of. For the time in Ireland when they were under English pressure or rule, the Ó fell into disuse because it was a distinctive sign of being Irish and Catholic.
     Below is John G. O'Connell's signature taken from the Derrynane Town Record book:

 This gives us more than just a look at his signature.  He was educated.  This is often not the case with Irish immigrants of the famine time. Even on this page from the record book, there is a place for the petitioner to mark his "x".
     While in Ohio, he lived in Brown Township, Delaware County.  In this area were also Johanna O'Connell Kelleher (wife of Martin) and David O'Connell.  It is fairly certain that Johanna is not his sister, because Johanna's granddaughter remembers John G. walking into the house in Belle Plaine and using the greeting "Hello, Cousin".  Flimsy, I know, but of some help.
     I think there is a good chance that David O'Connell of Brown Township is John's brother.  Can't prove that either. I would really like to have a DNA test done on a descendant, but so far I have no takers even though I have put the offer out to pay.
     There are known "relatives" of John G. O'Connell.  Kate Galvin O'Leary lived in the St. Thomas area.  Her father was Maurice Galvin. It is believed that Maurice was John G.'s uncle.  This family did leave a trail!!  Ma (Ann O'Connell Burns) told me that Grandpa O'Connell used the G as his middle initial because his mother's maiden name was Galvin.  In records in Ireland, this name is recorded interchangeably as Gallivan or Galvin.  This has not helped me at all in finding John G.'s or David's baptismal records.

Kate Galvin O'Leary and Julia Galvin Moriarty

     Records for the Galvins can be found in the Ballybunion Church records. Maurice's whole family emigrated and lived for a while in Dakota County and then in St. Paul.  Kate O'Leary lived in St. Thomas and sons John and Michael lived near Morris, Stevens County, Minnesota.
     There are also other related Galvin families.  Ma remembers the family of Kate Galvin Maloney visiting in St. Thomas.  She was particularly intrigued with the children's names.  They had a daughter Mary and a son Thomas.  They called the daughter "Ray".  Ma wondered out loud what they called the son.  (See Thomas G. Burns--it is hereditary--even Ma would do it!!!).  It turns out that Mary's middle name was Rachel, so possibly the "Ray" nickname came from that.
     The Kerry Church records are now online.  What a boon, but I cannot find John, David or Johanna in them!  They were born about 1829, 1830 and 1827 respectively.
     Johanna O'Connell Kelleher made the claim to be related to Daniel O'Connell the Liberator.  This information turns out to have some credence. Dick O'Connell was gracious enough to give up his DNA for a test. It turns out that our O'Connells are related to Daniel.  Sheila, Daniel's ggg granddaughter, agreed to upgrade her brother's DNA test to 67 markers.  It was pretty exciting when we had a 25/25 match.  With the upgrade, we have a 61/67 match.  This means we are related but the common ancestor is not very recent.  This proves true for Sheila's database.  None of the 3 O'Connells mentioned above--John, David or Johanna--fit into her extensive data base. Why didn't any of these people write down their secrets!!!!!!!!  And, why didn't the Belle Plaine reporter who recorded this story use those 5 WH questions?  The secret is probably somewhere in Daniel's parents--O'Connell marrying O'Connell and 3rd cousins to boot.
     Deep breath.

  
          John G. O'Connell had a prayer book.  This made me think of Dad.  Unfortunately, when I tried to get back to look at it, it was too late.  It was in the possession of Lucille O'Connell Talbot, daughter of Sylvester O'Connell, son of John G.  May John and all the deceased in his prayer book and in Dad's rest in peace.

"I have called you by name, you are Mine." Isaiah 43

     The Irish often followed a naming pattern when giving their children names. You can see this play out in Ma's family. The children in the family are Mary Alice, Ann Mary (Ma), John, James and Dorothy.

The pattern is:
Sons
1st son was named after the father's father
2nd son was named after the mother's father
3rd son was named after the father
4th son was named after the father's eldest brother
5th son was named after the mother's eldest brother

Daughters
1st daughter was named after the mother's mother
2nd daughter was named after the father's mother
3rd daughter was named after the mother
4th daughter was named after the mother's sister
5th daughter was names after the father's sister

Ma's parents were David O'Connell and Margaret Doherty. David's parents were John G. O'Connell and Mary Ann Pyles. Margaret's parents were James Doherty and Ann Heatherston. Now, when you get to Dorothy, by tradition, she should have been named Margaret. The mother has the option of giving this daughter another name she likes. Colette Keniry used this option. When she got to the third daughter, she named her Fidelma. 

The pattern isn't exact in the James Doherty family. His parents were Hugh Doherty and Sarah Evans. Ann's parents were Richard Heatherston and Roseann Lynch. The children in this family were Sarah, Richard, Rose, Margaret, Hugh, Mary, Matthew, Samuel and Michael. It would be understandable that the name Richard preempted Hugh because Ann's father died about 1867, so it the first son may have been named after him. The next son is named after James' dad. Matthew is a brother of Ann. Both Ann and James have a brother Michael. Margaret is an older sister of Ann. At least the names are mostly in the family. The name that is puzzling is Samuel Henry.

Of course, this was not set in stone. If a child dies, you will often find another child given the same name in order for there to be a living namesake. Sometimes the pattern wasn't followed at all. If someone in the family died, a child could be named after that person, altering the pattern.

I remember Mom saying that her father wanted to name her Bridget. This would have followed the pattern for his mother's name was Bridget Whalen Hogan. None of the children were named according to the pattern, though Catherine had her mother's name and Uncle Jimmy had his father's first name.

One of my favorite stories is about all the Timothys in the Burns family. There were a lot of Tims. They were given nick names like "Old Tim", "Big Tim" and Timothy Q.

To differentiate people, names were often combined. There was a woman called Ceily Dick. Her name was Cecelia Kilduff Byrne. Her husband was Richard Byrne--thus her identifier. In Ireland, sometimes the nicknames would indicate the father. There is a Timmy Patsy Herlihy--his father is Patrick. There is a Jehr Billy--his father is William Herlihy. There is also Thad Jack--you guessed it--his father is John Herlihy. 

No Fool...

     Ann Mary O'Connell was born on 1 April 1902 in Derrynane Township, Le Sueur County, Minnesota. She married George F. Burns on September 20, 1923 at St. John's Church, St. Paul, Minnesota.
      George died on January 5, 1935, leaving Ma with 6 kids and one yet to be born! 

      Dad often says he can't believe how smart Ma was.  She ran the store and could stand up to the salesmen who came into the store.  After she closed the store, she worked for the Ramsey County Welfare Department and worked her way to department head. 
     She was a strong, smart, independent woman!  She met her circumstances well.
     "I never murmur!" I wish I got that gene!



    

Generations....

     The news of the day is that Evan Daniel Borton was born this morning at 3:02 am. Son of Amanda Burns Borton; daughter of Maureen Burns Fischer, daughter of Richard G. Burns, son of Ann Mary O'Connell Burns, daughter of David Thomas O'Connell; son of John Galvin O'Connell.

     In our Burns family, there are 4 generations alive presently.  There is a photo of Dad's great grandfather with his descendants.  This photo didn't seem to be in the possession of any of the Burnses. Ma didn't have one.  I got this from James Moriarity.  We were researching Galvins together.  Ma (Ann O'Connell Burns) told me that John G. O'Connell's mother was a Galvin and that is why he used G. for his middle initial.

      In this photo are John G. O'Connell, his daughter Ellen O'Connell Ronayne; her daughter Mary Ronayne Doherty and her son James.
     This picture brings up a lot of questions.  Why isn't John G.'s wife, Mary A. Pyles O'Connell in the picture?  Who instigated the sitting?  Why was this in the possession of the Moriarity family?
     Anyway, the reason I bring this up today, is that I am encouraging a generational picture of the "second cousins", as I call them, with Dad.  Here is the one that we took with Dad and Stella.  It will be a new tradition!