My Old Ohio Home - 1922 Class

Eileen Quinn, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland

2019-05-01T00:00:00-04:00

Eileen Quinn,
1922

This website includes a picture of the 1922 second grade class at Holy Name Parish on Broadway on the southeast side of Cleveland. My mother was in that class and identified most of the children in the picture. She identified the young lady on our far right in the back row as Eileen Quinn. There was a Eileen Quinn living in the area, described below, who is probably her.

Eileen Quinn was born August 10, 1913, in Cleveland, the first child of John Joseph Quinn and Agnes May Francis.(footnote)Her exact date of birth comes from her father's Petition for Naturalization, but he was a bit off on two of the other children's dates, at least according to their Social Security information. They had married on August 17, 1912. Eileen was followed by four more children: John "Jack" born 1914, William (1917), Kathleen (1918), and Allan (1921). William died in 1918, but the other children lived to adulthood. In 1930, the family was living at 7808 Goodman Avenue on the southeast side of Cleveland.

On May 9, 1938, Eileen married Reginald G James in Cuyahoga County, and the two were living in Garfield Heights in 1940. Reginald died May 30, 1992. Eileen survived her siblings, including Allan who died in 2006. At that time she was living in Raleigh, North Carolina. I don't know when she died or if she and Reginald had any children.

Agnes May Francis

Agnes was born in the second quarter of 1884, in Mitcham, London, England, the daughter of William Francis and Mary Matilda Mihill. The Kevin Fairley Family Tree at ancestry.com provided Agnes' ancestry back two generations to William Francis and Mary Jane Mead on her father's side, and William Mihill and Mary Giles on her mother's. There is no point in my rehashing it here.

Agnes arrived in the United States June 23, 1912, aboard the SS Campania, which had left Liverpool 8 days earlier. She listed her father's residence as 174 High Street, Tooting, London. Interestingly she said her destination in America was her friend, J Quinn, at the Cleveland State Hospital, in Newburgh. This was one of many hints I needed to trace John's movements before his arrival in Newburgh back to his homestead in Ireland.

In October 1919 Agnes made a trip back to England with her three children, evidently to visit her parents. She was accompanied by her brother in law, Patrick Quinn, 36, a watchman. She and the children returned to Cleveland in June 1920. I didn't find any more mention of Patrick in Cleveland, so he must have remained in England. The Fairley tree says he died in Putney, which was near Tooting, London.

Agnes (Francis) Quinn died February 5, 1958, and is buried in Calvary Cemetery.

John Joseph Quinn

My effort at researching John Quinn's ancestry was a good example of starting at both ends and working toward the middle, a strategy that doesn't usually work. The Fairley tree gave me his mother's maiden name, Bridget Fair, early in my research, and John's death record in Cleveland, on December 27, 1945, provided his father's name, Michael.

"Fair" is an unusual Irish name, so I figured I'd just throw the parents' names into a search engine and see what came out. I turned up five children of the couple, including a John and a Patrick, all born in Conagher Townland, Dunmore Civil Parish, Galway. This turned out to be the right family, but the only trouble was that their son John's date of birth was February 28, 1878. On all but one of his American records, including his naturalization papers, John Joseph Quinn insisted that he was born in 1883.

Fortunately for the genealogist, John gave the date February 28, 1878, when registering for the United States WWI Draft. And when he and Patrick arrived in Montreal September 3, 1911, en route to Cleveland, they said their closest relative in Ireland was their father Michael in Conagher. Although, from what I can tell, I think they meant "brother", or maybe they were misunderstood. At any rate on Patrick's first trip to the US, when leaving Queenstown on August 28, 1907, he said his mother Bridget Quinn was in Conagher, Tuam.

Agnes Francis' immigration destination, "a friend J Quinn, Cleveland State Hospital" made me realize they knew each other before she arrived. I looked for John in that area of London and found an Electoral Roll of Tooting Ward that included

John Quinn
Place of abode: Tooting Bee Asylum, Tooting Common

John, as mentioned, worked at the asylum in Cleveland until about 1917, so this listing seems to fit.

John's parents, Michael Quinn and Bridget Fair, were married in Kilcommon and Robeen Parish, County Mayo, on February 4, 1869, which probably explains why the Fairley Family tree says that the family was from Mayo.

The indexed information to the civil registration of the marriage, in Ballinrobe Registration District, says Bridget's father's name was John. The image is not yet online, but the certificate if obtained should list Bridget's townland at the time of her marriage. This would help identify which of the two John Fairs in the area was her father.

Update

It must be a while since I looked at this family. The image of the civil registration of the marriage is now online:

Married February 4, 1869, at the Roman Catholic Chapel of Kilcommon, Registrar's District of Hollymount, County Mayo:
Michael Quinn, farmer, a bachelor of full age, of Cunnaher. father: William, a farmer
Bridget Faire, farmer's daughter, a spinster of full age, of Bushfield. father: John Faire, a farmer.
Married by Edm King, P.P, in the presence of Martin Quinn and Ann Jane Anderson.

That would make the John Fair of Bushfield Townland, County Mayo, Bridget's likely father. And it shows that the family was from Mayo. Funny how the mother's ancestry often determines "where they were from" in Irish culture, at least from my experience.

Conclusion

Sources and more details on the families covered in this article are in the Ohio Families section of this site. If you are descended from Eileen Quinn, you are welcome to download the picture of the 1922 second grade class, or contact me for a larger version which might have better resolution.

Credits

The image of the townland sign for Conagher, Galway, is used courtesy of the Milltown Heritage Group.

Mary McGraw, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland

2019-04-20T00:00:00-04:00

Mary McGraw,
1922

This website includes a picture of the 1922 second grade class at Holy Name Parish on Broadway on the southeast side of Cleveland. My mother was in that class and identified most of the children in the picture. She identified the fifth young lady from our right in the back row as Mary McGraw. There was a Mary McGraw living in the area, described below, who is probably her.

Mary McGraw was born May 6, 1913, in Cleveland, the first child of John McGraw and Mary Kelley. In 1920 the family was living at 8002 Goodman Avenue. In the household beside Mary and her parents were: her three younger siblings, William, Ruth, and Rose Rita McGraw; her mother's children from a previous marriage: Edward, Timothy, and Katherine O'Malley; and her aunt, Katherine Kelley.

John McGraw died in 1926. On the 1930 Census, Mary's mother, the three younger McGraw children, and Katherine O'Malley were at 4962 East 85th. Mary herself was at the Sisters of the Good Shepherd home at 30th and Carnegie.

On February 28, 1933, Mary McGraw married Walter A Royer, very likely at Holy Name Church. They had two children by the time of the 1940 census. Mary died April 15, 1989, and is buried in All Souls Cemetery, Chardon.

The McGraws and the Burns

John McGraw was born March 4, 1876, in Cleveland, the youngest of four children of David McGraw and Mary Burns, both of whom were born in Ireland about 1841 or 1842. David McGraw died in 1878, and his widow Mary, her children, and her mother, Bridget (Sheridan) Burns were at 2575 Bluff.

I didn't find Bridget Sheridan's husband, Patrick Burns, on the records, but their son Matthew was also in Cleveland. He lived at 16 Division from 1874 until at least 1880. In 1880 there was a Michael Burns at 18 Division, but I never proved to myself that Matthew and Michael were brothers.

I thought that with two, possibly three Burns siblings and both parents' full names I might find them in the Irish parish registers, but I didn't. So that was the end of the line for the McGraws and the Burns.

The Kelleys

Mary McGraw's mother, Mary Kelley, was born June 10, 1876, in Cleveland, the fourth known child of Peter Kelley and Bridget Hunt, both born in Ireland. Her first marriage was about October 2, 1897–the date the license was issued–to Timothy O'Malley. Timothy died of smallpox in 1902. Mary's three children were all in orphanages in 1910, and Mary herself was living and working as a cook at the Cleveland city infirmary. After Mary's marriage to John McGraw in 1912, they were evidently reunited, all being in the McGraw household in 1920.

I found nothing more for Bridget Hunt's origins, and only know that Peter Kelley's father was named Patrick.

The O'Malley's

Having gone 0 for 2 on Mary McGraw's lineage, I thought I might as well take a look at Timothy O'Malley's family, even though he wasn't her ancestor. Fortunately there was only one Timothy O'Malley in Cleveland at the time.

Timothy was born "on or about 17 January 1872" in County Mayo, according to his naturalization records. He arrived in the United States aboard the SS Adriatic on May 25, 1888, having boarded in Queenstown. In the 1892 Cleveland City Directory he is listed at 75 Main, along with Patrick O'Malley, a saloon keeper, and Edward O'Malley, a stonecutter. If Patrick is the man who died at 44 East River on June 7, 1903, then he was old enough to be of Timothy's father's generation. But Timothy arrived in the States alone, so the connection to Patrick and Edward is unclear, at least to me for now.

You would think that with an approximate date of birth, I would have been able to find Timothy in the birth records at irishgenealogy.ie, but not so. There are three Thaddeus Malleys born in Mayo between 1870 and 1874, but none of them in January. (Thaddeus is another name for Timothy.) One of them might be Timothy, but I can't say which.

Mayo is a big county but at least we narrowed down Timothy O'Malley's county a little better than the McGraws', Kelleys', etc.

Conclusion

I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't establish a Irish county of origin for at least one of Mary McGraw's lines, but that's the way it goes. I have a difficult time with Irish families that arrive that early in the US, say the 1870's and before. The passenger manifests have very little information, and the naturalization records usually only say "Ireland". Timothy O'Malley's might have been an exception. And the individuals don't usually live long enough for their death records to require their parents' names.

I got a taste of a different Irish settlement in Cleveland, though, besides the one in Newburgh. Most of Mary's ancestors spent their lives in the Flats, and I hope to do some background reading on the area and the time period soon.

Sources and more details on the families covered in this article are in the Ohio Families section of this site. If you are descended from Mary McGraw, you are welcome to download the picture of the 1922 second grade class, or contact me for a larger version which might have better resolution.

Vincent Hurley, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland

2019-03-31T00:00:00-04:00

Vincent
Hurley,
1922

This website includes a picture of the 1922 second grade class at Holy Name Parish on Broadway on the southeast side of Cleveland. My mother was in that class and identified most of the children in the picture. She identified the fourth young man from our left in the third row as Vincent Hurley. There was a Vincent Hurley living in the area, described below, who is probably him.

Vincent was born June 9, 1912, in Ohio, the second of two sons born to Michael J and Anna (Donovan) Hurley. His older brother, Francis Joseph, had been born March 22, 1911. Vincent's childhood must have been a bit of a struggle–his mother died when he was eight, and I didn't find Vincent on any records until the 1940 census, when he was living with his mother's sister, Mary (Donovan) Toohig's family, at 4139 East 119th. Vincent enlisted in the US Army on May 8, 1942, for the duration of the war. He was living in East Cleveland when he died June 7, 1970, and is buried in Calvary Cemetery. He never married.

And that's all I know about Vincent. As for his family . . .

The Hurleys

With a lot more effort than usually required, I managed to find out something about Michael J Hurley and his family. Michael was born May 15, 1872, in Cleveland, the oldest son of Timothy Hurley and Ellen Gibbons. He was married twice, outliving both wives. His first family was with Ellen Lee, whom he married October 30, 1895, most likely at Holy Name Church. They lost a son 3 days old in 1896, then had a daughter Coletta and a son Emmett before Ellen died October 25, 1900. Coletta's records were about as scarce as Vincent's. She, Francis, and Vincent may have been in foster homes for a while. Only Emmett consistently showed up in the records.

Michael waited more than nine years before remarrying. He and Anna Donovan were wed on January 11, 1910, again probably at Holy Name. They had two children as mentioned, Francis and Vincent. Anna died April 18, 1920, of "insanity at menopause." Contributing to her death were "anemia and exhaustion." She and Michael were not living at the same address when she died, so it doesn't look like her dying was easy on anyone.

There were two Hurley families in Newburgh in the 1880s and early 1900s, but they might not have been related as I first suspected. The death record of Michael Hurley's sister Mary (Hurley) Broderick said that both their parents had been born in County Cork. For the other family, who said they were from Mayo, see Bernice Hurley, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland.

The Donovans

The Donovans were a family you dream about researching. The earliest American record for Anna Donovan, the 1880 census of her parents's household, said she was born about 1870 in Wales. I clung to that birthplace, despite later records saying things like "Mannershire, England" and "Ireland." And sure enough, she was born in the first quarter of 1871, in Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire, Wales, the first child of Garrett Donovan and Bridget Rice.

Ballymacoda, East Cork

Bridget's death record (Cleveland, Ohio, July 9, 1925), said she was born in Cork, Ireland, the daughter of Percy Rice and Mary Murphy. That was close enough to the truth to find her baptism record in Ballymacoda and Lady's Bridge parish, Diocese of Cloyne, County Cork, on January 6, 1851. Her parents were not Percy and Mary, but Pierce Rice and Johanna Murphy. Pierce and Johanna were married February 25, 1843, in the same church.

When you find a few lone parish records like that, though, you always have a lingering doubt that there might have been two couples with the same names that had daughters named Bridget—and you found the other one. I have learned the hard way that no matter how unusual the name, there are usually two people living in the same place at the same time with the same name.

But not this time. I found the Rices and Donovans in the same household on the 1871 Census of Ebbw Vale, Wales: Pierce, Johanna, four children including Bridget, Garrett Donovan, and daughter Johanna. Pierce's surname on most of the records in Wales was spelled "Rees." I wonder if that was Welsh for "Rice." At any rate, there they were. The 1861 Census even identified the Rices' birthplace as Balymacody, Co. Cork.

Conclusion

Although Vincent Hurley had no descendants, I know that he had Toohig cousins who did. And I'm not sure about his brother Francis or his aunt Cecelia (Donovan) Mahon. At any rate, I'm sure there is someone out there who would appreciate learning their Rice-Donovan home parish in Ireland.

For sources and more details on the Hurley, Donovan, and Rice families, see the Ohio Families section of this website.

Credits

The picture of Ballymacoda was taken by John Finn, of Ballymacoda. It can be found on flickr at John Finn's page, and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 License.

Kathryn Elwell, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland

2019-03-14T00:00:00-04:00

Kathryn Elwell,
1922

This website includes a picture of the 1922 second grade class at Holy Name Parish on Broadway on the southeast side of Cleveland. My mother was in that class and identified most of the children in the picture. She identified the fifth young lady from our left in the back row as Catherine Elwell. There was a Kathryn Elwell living in the area, described below, who is probably her.

Kathryn Elwell was born August 15, 1913, in Cleveland, Ohio, the only known daughter of William Clarence Elwell and Mary Egan. In 1920, the family was living at 8004 Force Avenue, on the southeast side of Cleveland. In the household were Kathryn, her parents, her older brothers Eugene and George, and her younger brother Robert. Kathryn's father was working as a foreman for a hoist company.

Brown Hoisting Machinery Company, 1905

The family was still on Force Avenue in 1930, but by 1935 they had moved to Bay City, Michigan. On the 1940 census, William Elwell's occupation was "foreman, crane manufacturing." My guess is that, while in Cleveland, William worked for the Brown Hoisting Machinery Company, located at the northwest corner of East 45th Street and Hamilton Avenue.(footnote)I learned the location of the Brown Hoist building from the article, The Brown Hoist Building, at ClevelandAreaHistory.com, and verified it by using Google Maps Street View. The building is still standing. In 1931, Industrial Works, of Bay City, Michigan, and Brown Hoist, consolidated their operations. Evidently as a result, William Elwell relocated to the plant in Bay City.(footnote)A history of Brown Hoist Machinery can be found at Brown Hoisting Machinery Company, and a history of Industrial Works/Industrial Brownhoist can be found at Industrial Works (1873-1983)aka: Industrial Brownhoist.

Bay City is where Kathryn Elwell, on February 14, 1942, married Myles Boucher, a salesman, living in Bay City also. They had at least one child. Myles died October 4, 1960 and is buried in St. Patrick's Cemetery, Bay City. Kathryn died October 11, 2010.

The Elwells

Kathryn Elwell's father William, was born October 22, 1882, in Cleveland, the oldest known son of William Elwell and Emma Frederick. That William was born January 12, 1859, in England, most likely in Tynemouth, Northumberland, one of at least seven children of John Elwell and Martha Graham. The family is on the 1851 census of West Bromwich, Staffordshire and the 1861 census of Tynemouth. John Elwell died in Cleveland in 1877; I couldn't find an exact death for his wife Martha, his son William or William's wife Emma.

The Fredericks and Schultzs

Emma Frederick was born about 1861 in Pennsylvania, probably in Perryville, Ross Township, Allegheny County. Her father had been born about 1830 in Baden, Germany, and her mother was born about August 1843 in Pennsylvania, one of at least nine children of John Schultz and Magdalena Seiler.

The Schultzs and Fredericks were listed one after the other on the 1870 Census of Perrysville; John Schultz was a farmer and John Frederick was a hotel keeper. I wondered what kind of place Perrysville was, to have a hotel and farm next to each other, then I read that it was

"a stopping point for merchants and farmers taking their goods to the markets in Pittsburgh. It was a stagecoach stop and an early home to hotels, churches, merchants and inns."(footnote)From the article Perrysville, Pennsylvania, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A 1906 map of Perrysville indicates that the White House Tavern was on the land of a John Schultz. It would be interesting to find out if this is the same Schultz family and if the tavern was the hotel that John Frederick managed. A local history society or library would probably know the answer, or how to find it.

Map of Perrysville, Pennsylvania, 1906

As for birthplaces, John Schultz said he was born in Württemberg, Germany. His wife, Magdalena Seiler, said "Germany" part of the time and "France" the other part, leading me to believe she was born in the Alsace region or nearby. There were a few Seiler/Saylor families in Berks County, Pennsylvania, who also said they were from Alsace, so that might be a lead for a future researcher.

The Egans

I had time to spend on Kathryn's father's side of the family because I had already worked on the Egans for a first cousin. Kathryn's mother, Mary Egan, was born October 17, 1886, the fourth known child of William Egan and Ellen Boland. The death record of William's brother Timothy (July 12, 1882, Cleveland) said he had been born in Roscrea Parish, County Tipperary, Ireland, so I assume that is where William was born also. Their parents were Timothy and Sarah.

The Bolands and the Dowds

Finally, Ellen Boland was born November 11, 1854, in Ireland, the first known child of William J Boland and Catherine Dowd. The death record of Ellen's sister Mary (February 19, 1881, Brecksville, Ohio) said Mary had been born in Finod, County Sligo, Ireland. Her father William's parents were Patrick Boland and Mary Sweeney; her mother's parents were Frank Dowd and Anna Devine. There aren't baptism records available for Easkey Parish for the time during which the Boland children were born, but I found enough traces of those surnames in the Finod/Easkey area of Sligo to convince myself that I had the right place.

Conclusion

The records were there, so I was able to trace all four sides of Kathryn Elwell's family back to the early 1800's–three of them to the country from which they emigrated. I think that the Seiler family should be "do-able" as well, if someone had the time and skill for the German or French research.

Sources and more information are in the Ohio Families section of this site.

If you are a relative or descendant of Catherine Elwell you are welcome to download the class picture and pass it on. If you would like a larger image with possibly better resolution, contact me.

Credits

The picture of the Brown Hoisting Machinery Company plant on Hamilton Avenue, Cleveland, comes from the .pdf version of "Brownhoist": Patent Automatic Hoisting and Conveying Appliances, by Brown Hoisting Machinery Company , Brown Hoisting Machinery Company, 1905, at https://archive.org/.

The map of Perrysville in 1906 comes from the G.M. Hopkins Company Maps collection at the University of Pittsburgh "Historic Pittsburgh" site. Title: Ross, Perrysville. Plate 38.

Genevieve Parle, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland

2018-12-18T00:00:00-05:00

Genevieve
Parle, 1922

This website includes a picture of the 1922 second grade class at Holy Name Parish on Broadway on the southeast side of Cleveland. My mother was in that class and identified most of the children in the picture. She identified the sixth young woman from our left in the last row as Genevieve Parle. There was a Genevieve Parle living in the area who is most likely her.

Genevieve Parle was born November 14, 1914, in Cleveland, Ohio, the youngest daughter of James Parle and Catherine Keating. In 1920 she was living at 4154 East 80th on the southeast side of Cleveland with her parents and siblings. Her father was working as a watchman for the railroad. The family, one part or another, remained at that address until at least 1950.

Genevieve married late in life, between 1966 and 1970, to a man named Brunton. I didn't locate his name. She died November 12, 1978, in Los Angeles County, California, but is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Cleveland, with her parents and other family members.

The Parles

I thought I would be able to locate the townland of origin in Ireland for the Parle side of the family, but could only narrow it down to an area. A few of Genevieve's father's American records said he was born in County Wexford, son of John Parle and Rose Kelly, which is what made me optimistic. I also found a sister of his, Margaret (Parle) Winders, whose information said the same. But I couldn't find them on the civil birth registrations–I think they were born a bit earlier than their US records imply. And I didn't have the patience to wade through the baptism registers. Findmypast.ie found two baptisms which might be for this couple:

Taghmon Catholic Parish, Diocese of Ferns, Wexford
Baptism
January 21, 1839
Stephen, son of John Parle and Rose Kelly
witnesses: Patt Murphy and Catherine Copley?

Carrick-on-Bannow Parish, Diocese of Ferns, Wexford
Baptism
January 18, 1849
John Parle of Ballinglee, legitimate son of James Parle and Rose Kelly
witnesses: Andrew ___ and Christina Kelly

I think those parishes were adjoining, so that might be the right couple. But then there is the problem of the father being "John" in 1839 and "James" in 1849. At any rate, I think this is the right area, but I'm not positive.

The Keatings

Genevieve's mother, Catherine Keating, and Catherine's brother Richard, who lived with the family, were both born in Liverpool. Their parents were Richard Keating and Catherine Cairns/Kearns who were born in County Wexford.

This is probably them at 44 Hedley Street in 1881, in St Martins Registration District, Liverpool:

Richard Keating, 40, laborer
Catherine Keating, 39
Thomas Keating, 15, laborer
Mary Ann Keating, 13, school
Richard Keating, 9, school
Catherine Keating, 8, school
John Carr, boarder, single, 21, laborer

All said to be born in Ireland.

But it's a long way from Liverpool to County Wexford, when you are doing family history. I didn't find Irish civil births for the first two children in the family, nor a marriage record for the parents. There are births in Lancashire that might match the children, but no marriage record–at least not in a quick look at freebmd.org.uk.

Conclusion

I didn't do as well on this family as on some of the others. If the Parles had been born a few years later and the Keatings had come straight to Cleveland from Ireland, things might have been a bit different. But there is a chance that both sides of the family were from the same part of County Wexford, so a little more effort and some local knowledge of the area might be the keys to success for any future researcher.

Coletta Kearns, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland

2018-12-11T00:00:00-05:00

Coletta Kearns,
1922

This website includes a picture of the 1922 second grade class at Holy Name Parish on Broadway on the southeast side of Cleveland. My mother was in that class and identified most of the children in the picture. She identified the sixth young woman from our left in the last row as Coletta Kearns. There was a Coletta Kearns living in the area who is most likely her.

Mary Coletta Kearns was born March 1, 1914, in Cleveland, Ohio, the oldest daughter of Joseph P Kearns and Katherine Giblin. In 1920 she was living at 9721 Dickens Avenue on the southeast side of Cleveland with her parents, her brother John Joseph, and her sister Margaret. Her father was working as a fireman for the railroad. By 1930 the family had settled at 8312 Broadway, where Joseph worked as a janitor for a school, I assume Holy Name.

Coletta evidently entered the Catholic Sisters of Charity immediately after high school, since I didn't find her on any records after 1930. She died August 9, 2003, and was buried from the Mother House of the Sisters Of Charity, Mount St. Joseph, Ohio.

The Giblins

I thought Katherine Giblin's family would be easy when I saw "County Roscommon" as her place of birth on the death record of her son Andrew in 1929. I mean, how many Giblins could there be in Roscommon? A lot. How many of them could have come to Cleveland? At least two different families. So I had to take my time and slog through it the right way. I finally sorted out the two families and determined that:

Katherine Giblin was born between 1890 and 1892 in Ballinphuill Townland, County Roscommon, the daughter of John Giblin and Margaret Drury. I never found an exact date of birth for Katherine, but I did find civil registrations of the births of a number of her siblings. Besides Katherine, her sisters Anna Theresa and Mary Ellen and her brother Patrick also came to Cleveland. Her sister Bridget (Beatrice) remained in Ireland and married Michael Carty. Two siblings died young. I failed to track her brother Henry after the 1911 Census of Ballinphuill, when he was in his parents' household.

That 1911 Census shows John Giblin, 56, and his wife Margaret, 47, in house 6 in Ballinphuill. John is a farmer. The children still at home were Patrick, 17, Henry, 15, Mary Ellen, 13, and Bee, 11. All were born in Roscommon.

John Giblin died June 22, 1944, and his wife Margaret a short time later, on May 1, 1945.

The Kearns

I expected to have an easy go of it with Joseph Kearns as well, since he mentioned his date and place of birth, March 17, 1890, County Wicklow, on a number of American records. But that was where it stopped. I didn't find his parents' names on any of his records, and there was no evidence that any of his brothers or sisters came to Cleveland with him.

Part of the problem might be that Joseph was an orphan, but I'm not sure. His first census in the United States was in 1910 at St Anthony's House for Working Boys in Cleveland, where he was working as the janitor, age 18. And his passenger manifest–aboard the SS Haverford arriving at Philadelphia August 19, 1909, from Liverpool–said that his closest relative in Ireland was a guardian, James Doyle, in Dublin. Thirdly, there is a Joseph Kearns, age 7, at St Vincent de Paul's Orphanage, Dublin, in 1901 who might be him, although the record says the boy was born in Dublin. I couldn't get any farther with Joseph's ancestry.

Conclusion

One reason I like working on other families is because of what I learn. This time I found out that the section of County Roscommon that includes Ballinphuill was part of County Mayo until about 1898, if I remember right. In fact the local football [soccer] team plays in a Mayo league, which evidently makes life interesting on match days.

The details and sources for the Kearns and Giblins are in the Ohio Families section of this website. If you would like a copy of the 1922 second grade class picture, feel free to download it.

Andrew Bernard and Catherine Conrad, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland

2018-10-08T00:00:00-04:00

Andrew Conrad,
1922

This website includes a picture of the 1922 second grade class at Holy Name Parish on Broadway on the southeast side of Cleveland. My mother was in that class and identified most of the children in the picture. She identified the sixth young man from our left in the front row as Bernard Conrad. She also identified the third young lady from our right in the back row as Catherine Conrad. There was a Andrew Bernard and Catherine Conrad living in the area who are most likely these two children.

Andrew B Conrad

Andrew B Conrad was born January 5, 1912 in Ohio, the first child of Andrew B Conrad and Margaret Schmitt. The family was living on Horton Road, Garfield Heights, in 1920. There were eventually four children in this family: Andrew Bernard, Catherine, Margaret, and Frank.

Andrew married Mary A Kristoff about 1941. I couldn't determine if Andrew and Mary L (Kristoff) Conrad had children or not, nor where they are buried. Andrew was living in Maple Heights when he died in 1976. Mary died in Summit County, Ohio, in 1997.

Catherine Conrad

Catherine Conrad,
1922

Catherine married Howard Cerba on August 26, 1937, in Cleveland. On the 1940 Census they were living in Newburgh Heights Village. Catherine died April 2, 1976, in Cleveland. There was a son mentioned in her death notice.

Andrew Conrad Sr

Andrew and Catherine's father was the son of Silas Augustine Conrad and Susan Donahue. Susan in turn was the daughter of Thomas and Mary Ellen (Bolewine) Donahue of Pine Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Some posts on the rootsweb.com message boards say that Thomas' father Hugh Donahue was from County Tyrone.

Edited May 2016 to add: A descendant of Hugh Donahue through Thomas' son Jacob Francis contacted me with quite a bit of information, including a photocopy of Hugh Donahue's declaration of intention to become a citizen, naming his original home as County Tyrone. There is an image of it with the Donahue information in the Pennsylvania Families tree on this website.

Silas Conrad was included in a couple trees at ancestry.com. One that looked reliable said that his grandfather was John Conrad, born October 1, 1796, in Funkstown, Maryland. It was the Wagner Family tree at http://person.ancestry.com/tree/27957315/person/26442887163/facts.

Margaret Schmitt

Andrew's mother, Margaret Schmitt, was born in Shafton, North Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of John Schmitt and Barabara Klein. Johann and Barbara arrived in the United States on March 28, 1882, with their oldest two sons, Paul and Jacob. They had four more children all born in the Shafton/Irwin area. Barbara was widowed and living in North Versailles Township, Allegheny County by 1900, but I haven't found any death information for her husband Johann.

The records for their first two sons include birth locations in Germany. Jacob's World War II draft registration said he was born in Nalbach, Germany. Actually the record said "Nolbaugh" but I think that reflects the influence of the Pennsylvania Scots using their hard "gh" for the German "ch", as in Steinbaugh = Steinbach.

Jacob's older brother Paul's petition for naturalization said he was born in "Bilsteck" Germany. There is a Bildstock in Saarbrucken, Saarland, Germany, about a 1/2 hour ride from Nalbach. Interestingly I found an account about a World War II skirmish in the area of "Bilstock" so this might be the Americanization of the German town's name.

At any rate, I would look in the Saarland for this Schmitt and Klein family.

Conclusion

There is a lot more detail about the Conrads, Donahues and Schmitts in the Pennsylvania Families tree on this website

. If you are a relative or descendant of Andrew or Catherine Conrad you are welcome to download the class picture and pass it on.

Bernice Hurley, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland

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Bernice
Hurley,
1922

This website includes a picture of the 1922 second grade class at Holy Name Parish on Broadway on the southeast side of Cleveland. My mother was in that class and identified most of the children in the picture. She identified the third young lady from our left in the back row as Bernice Hurley. There was a Bernice Hurley living in the area, described below, who is probably her.

Bernice was born July 22, 1914, in Cleveland, the daughter of Edward Hurley and Catherine Sadler. In 1920 she was living at 9408 Cassius Avenue with her parents and her maternal grandparents, William and Anna (Heffernan) Sadler. Also in the household were three of her mother's brothers, and Bernice's sister Edna May. She was still at home with her parents in 1930, at 9337 Harvard Avenue.

On July 22, 1938, Bernice was living at 4234 East 116th when she married Stanley J Mack. They were at 3311 Archwood in 1940. She died March 13, 2002, at a long term care facility in Westlake. Her home address at the time was 3078 W 137th St, Cleveland. She is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Brook Park, along with her husband who died in November of that year. From the records it looked to me like they had at least two daughters, evidently born after the 1940 census.

The Sadlers

Bernice Hurley's first cousin, Peter Bolan, was also in this second grade class. His mother, Elizabeth Sadler, was Bernice's mother's sister. So for what I know about the Sadlers, which isn't much, you can see his article, Peter Bolan, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland, or the database Trees > Ohio Families on this site.

The Hurleys

That leaves Bernice's father, Edward Hurley's, side of the family. He was born January 30, 1892, in Cleveland, the son of Michael Hurley and Anna Durkin. And that is about the end of the story for the Hurleys. Michael Hurley's death record didn't include his parents' names or birthplaces, and his death notice didn't mention brothers or sisters. If I had access to more of the Cleveland City Directories, I might have been able to spot a possible brother or cousin living at the same address as Michael, but I only had the 1916 edition.

One thing I did come across, though, is that the Hurleys were from County Mayo. That information was in a Wikipedia article about Edward Hurley's son Joseph Patrick who became the Catholic Archbishop of St. Augustine, Florida.

The Durkins

I did a little better with the Durkin family. That same Wikipedia article, Joseph Patrick Hurley, said that Anna Durkin was from County Sligo. Her death record said her parents were Peter Durkin, Anna McCafferty, which turned out to be "close, but no cigar." I looked for people who died in Cleveland with parents that matched "Durkin, McCafferty" and found her brother Peter. His death notice mentioned Anna and a brother John. And Peter's death record said their parents' names were Patrick Durkin and Bridget McCafferty.

With that information I was able to find Peter Durkin's probably birth record on August 8, 1864, in Mintiagh [old spelling: Montiagh], Achonry, Sligo, son of Patrick and Bridget. And a birth for John not far away in Sargard, Aclare, County Sligo, on February 20, 1867. [I'm thinking the family didn't actually move, but registered the births in different places. I might be wrong.]

Ann Durkin always seemed to be the oldest of the three when looking at the records, so she was probably born before the civil registration of births began in 1864. I wasn't sure enough of her brothers' records to include them as their actual birthdates in the database, but they are in their notes.

If anyone has even a clue where Sargard is, please let me know. I didn't find a trace of it.

There is also a likely naturalization record for John Durkin in March 1893, which says he was born in Curry, Ireland. Curry is not far from Aclare and Mintiagh. The baptism records for the Catholic parish of Curry are not available before 1867, which could explain why none of the three children could be found in the baptism indexes online.

Conclusion

So there you have it. For the details and the sources, see Trees > Ohio Families mentioned above.

If anyone knows where exactly in Mayo the Hurleys were from, I would like to know. And I would especially be interested in any information about the Sadlers and Heffernans. I've struck out twice on them.

Daniel Orschak, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland

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Daniel Orschak,
1922, Newburgh,
Cleveland

This website includes a picture of the 1922 second grade class at Holy Name Parish on Broadway on the southeast side of Cleveland. My mother was in that class and identified most of the children in the picture. She identified the fourth young man from our left in the front row as Daniel Orschak. There was a Daniel Orschak living in the area, described below, who is probably him.

Daniel Orschak was born May 31, 1912, the third child and first son of Fred W Orschak and Margaret Isabel Kearney. His two older sisters were named Henrietta and Angela; his younger sister was Beatrice.

In 1920 Daniel and his father were living with his father's brother Herman at 2538 East 23rd Street. Henrietta was living with her uncle Charles Clark (formerly Orzechowski/Orschak) and his other two sisters were boarding with the Hugh Donahue family on Force Avenue. I didn't find Daniel's mother on that census.

In the 1922 City Directory, Daniel's father Fred was listed at 9324 Richmond Avenue, and in 1930 the whole family was at 9120 Bessemer Avenue except for Henrietta, who had married Roy Borgman in 1928.

Daniel was living at home in 1940 at 3939 East 93rd, and working at road construction for the government. He was employed as a kitchen worker in 1942 when he enlisted in the Army. I'm not sure if he returned to Cleveland after the war; he wasn't in the 1954 City Directory. Daniel died on March 12, 1967 in Erie County, Ohio. He had never married. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Warren, Ohio, the same cemetery as his sister Angela, and near to his mother's grave in Saint Mary's Cemetery.

The Orschaks

This was my second try at tracing the Orschaks' ancestry—I didn't get very far the first time. It turned out that Daniel's father's generation changed the name from Orzechowski to Orschak about 1897, or at least by the time the 1898 Cleveland City Directory was issued. I don't think the name was ever spelled the same way twice, so please overlook any variations in this article. If you research the family, beware of the possible differences in spelling.

In the 1895 Cleveland City Directory Daniel's father, Fred Orzechowski, was listed at 33 Nursery Street with his brothers Charles and Herman. In 1898 all three were at the same address with the surname Orschak. This was their parents' home until they died—Henrietta (Wizotzki) Orschakovski on November 29, 1892, and William Orschakovski on June 26, 1893.

From what I can tell, William, Henrietta and family arrived in the United States about 1873, although I didn't find William in the City Directory until 1878, when he was living at 34 Berg Street. Their daughter Henrietta, or "Minnie", was born in January 1872 in Germany and their son Fred William was born in October 1873. Unfortunately the Bremen passenger lists for this era have been destroyed if I remember right, but I didn't find them on the New York arrivals either.

William and Henrietta may have been from Strasburg, West Prussia, now a part of Poland. The 1880 census said they were born in Prussia, a birth record for their son Edward said Poland, and the rest of their records said Germany. If they were from Strasburg, then all of these statements are true. There is a record of a baptism of an Auguste Orzechowski on 12 Aug 1866 in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Strasburg whose parents were Wilhelm Orzechowski and Henrietta Wysocki. This could be them, but it would be nice either to find Auguste with them in America, or to find a baptismal record for their son Herman or daughter Minnie in Germany.

That is the best I could do for the "ancestral home" of the Orzechowskis with just the records online. William's petition for naturalization might have more information, and the baptismal records might be more complete for that church, but just not online yet.

There is more information on the Orschaks in the Cleveland Families tree on this site.

The Kearneys and McGowans

Daniel's mother Margaret Kearney was the daughter of Daniel Kearney and Bridget McGowan of Youngstown, Ohio. That Daniel died, apparently in Youngstown before 1891, and Bridget remained there until at least 1900.

Bridget came from a large family. One source said that her parents Charles McGowan and Mary Logue had twelve children, all born in Ireland and that they all emigrated to Youngstown. The ones that I found definite proof of were Mary McGowan, born April 1836, who married a Mr. Patterson; James, born in 1845, who died single in Alabama in 1912; Susan, born in 1840, who marrried a Mr. Dailey, and a brother William.

There is a Mary McGowan who died at the age of 84 in Youngstown in 1891. She had been born in Donegal, Ireland. If this is the mother of the family, then that is where they probably were from in Ireland. A number of trees at ancestry.com say they were from there, and a posting on Facebook says that the son William was born in Ballyshannon, Donegal.

If you are a relative or descendant of Daniel Orschak you are welcome to download the class picture and pass it on. If you would like a larger image, with possibly better resolution, contact me.

Sources

Cleveland and Youngstown City Directories and censuses, at ancestry.com, familysearch.org, and HeritageQuestOnline.com.
Ohio Deaths, Ohio Marriages, Ohio Births, at familysearch.org
facebook.com
findagrave.com
Rootsweb.com, Donegal General Message Board, "MCGOWAN, LOGUE of Donegal," posted 17 July 1998, http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.britisles.ireland.don.general/738/mb.ashx

Evelyn Presgrave, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland

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Evelyn
Presgrave,
1922

I've done a few of these classmates already, but this one has to be the easiest, as you will see. In 1920, Evelyn was living at 11321 Miles Avenue, Cleveland, with her father Lee, mother Lillian, and brothers Raymond and Ralph. Her father was managing a garage. By June 5, 1917 when Lee registered for the draft, the family had moved one block east, to 11410 Miles. He was working at a liverance company at 8101 Harvard. From then until the 1940s not much changed. On the 1940 census, Mr Presgrave said he was the proprietor of an expressing and moving business. When he registered again for the draft in 1942, he was still at 11410 Miles, but the business, Presgrave Brothers, Inc., had moved across the street to 8114 Harvard.

Evelyn was single and living with her parents in 1930 and 1940, but in 1940 there is a note that she was absent from the household and working as a companion in a private home. I believe she is the Evelyn "Presgrove" living in the Ralph Dunn household in Radnor Township, Delaware, Pennsylvania. The information says that she was born in Ohio living in Cleveland in 1935.

Whatever the case, Evelyn returned to the Cleveland area, where she died, at Southwest General Hospital on October 30, 1996. That record provides the information that she had been born November 14, 1913, in Maumee, Ohio, and had been employed as a manager or administrator in—guess what—the trucking industry. She had never married.

Her parents

Usually I try to trace the ancestry of the children in the class as well, but in this case all you need to know is: Evelyn Presgrave page at familysearch trees. Someone has provided her parents' genealogy back quite a few generations, so there is no point in me re-doing it here.

I told you this one was easy.