Susan Brennan, Kilfeaghan to Cleveland

2018-10-09T00:00:00-04:00

Susan Brennan was born, probably between 1873 and 1874, the daughter of Peter Brennan and Ann Savage.^{1, 2} She was very likely born in Kilfeaghan townland, Kilbroney District, County Down, Ireland. The first Valuation Revision Book for Kilfeaghan shows that Peter Brennan took over the tenancy of parcels 28Bc, 29A, and 29B in 1873 from a Bridget Brennan. (Search form at: http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/val12b.htm.

On September 12, 1910, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Susan Brennan married John McGee.¹ Susan died at home, 3596 E. 106th, Cleveland, before Dec 19, 1955, the date of her on line death notice.³ John McGee is buried in Calvary Cemetery;⁴ likely Susan is also. Susan and John had no children.

farmland, Kilfeaghan

When Susan was naturalized in 1937, she said that she had been in Cleveland for 44 years.² I did not find her first arrival in the United States, but on October 4, 1898, there is a Susan Brennan returning to Cleveland aboard the Scythia. She is 24, a servant, who had been in the US before. Her destination was 1555 Yuklet Ave [sic]. Her previous residence was written down as "Rostnim", which could have been a misunderstanding of "Rostrevor."⁵ In 1900 there is a Susan Brennan working as a live-in cook for the Dr. Harry W. Osborn family at 1555 Euclid Ave.⁶ She is the same person who was aboard the Scythia, and could be the Susan Brennan from Kilfeaghan.

As mentioned, Susan married John McGee in 1910. At the time she was 28, a seamstress living at 9208 Crane Ave. Her parents' names are stated on the record as Peter Brennan and Ann Savage. Susan and John were married by James J. Quinn, a Catholic priest.¹ They were evidently married at St. Catherine's church, since that is the address of James J Quinn on the 1910 Census, namely 3443 East 93rd.

I was able to trace Susan (Brennan) McGee back to Killowen through her nephew John's information. In 1930 John Brennan was a boarder with the McGees at 3596 East 106th. He was 25, born in Northern Ireland, working as a carpenter, and had arrived in the United States in 1927.⁶ John Brennan's information at Ellis Island shows that he actually arrived October 5, 1925, on the Adriatic. On the manifest he states that his father is John Brennan of Kilgeaghan [sic], Killowen, Co. Down, Ireland, and he is headed to his aunt, Mrs. McGee, at 9916 Aetna, Cleveland, Ohio. "Kilgeaghan" should be "Kilfeaghan."⁷

Susan's brother John had a number of children who came to Cleveland, namely:

John T Brennan, who married Martha McGovern,
Marie Brennan, who married James J. Connolly,
Margaret Brennan who married a McCarthy,
Susan Brennan who married a Pringle, and
Peter Brennan who married Julia Jordan.⁸

As mentioned, Susan died in December 1955 and was buried from St. Catherine's on December 20. Her brother John, in County "Dawn" Ireland, is mentioned in her death notice.⁹

For information on Susan's husband, John McGee, see John McGee, Kilkeel to Cleveland.

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Picture of the farmland at Kilfeaghan Road is © Copyright Eric Jones and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Footnotes

"Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Marriage Records and Indexes, 1810-1973", image at ancestry.com.
"Ohio, County Naturalization Records, 1800-1977," index and images, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K8H9-5Q2 : accessed 03 Sep 2013), Susan Mcgee, 1937.
Death Notice for Susan (Brennan) McGee, in the Cleveland Library News Index.
John McGee's death record at "Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X6PX-SBS : accessed 02 Sep 2013), John J Mc Gee, 1953.
"Ellis Island Records", http://ellisisland.org/search/passRecord.asp?MID=06162514290001337952&pID;=602942010030
Start at http://stevemorse.org/ for Ellis Island searches.
"United States Census, 1900," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MMZ9-F54 : accessed 03 Sep 2013), Susie Brennan in entry for Homer W Osborn, 1900.
New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 http://interactive.ancestry.com/7488/NYT715_3732-0324/2001545919?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3dnypl%26cj%3d1%26rs_f86__date%3d2%26rank%3d0%26hc%3d50%26rg_f86__date%3d1927%26pcc%3d2%26year%3d1500%26rs_81004011__date%3d2%26gsln%3dbrennan*%26yearend%3d10000%26gsfn%3djohn*%26rg_81004011__date%3d1905%26fh%3d0%26netid%3dcj%26o_xid%3d0002370638%26o_lid%3d0002370638%26o_sch%3dAffiliate%2bExternal&ssrc;=&backlabel;=ReturnSearchResults
Death Notice for John Brennan, April 27, 1973, in the Cleveland Library News Index
Death Notice for Susan (Brennan) McGee, in the Cleveland Library News Index.

My Old Ohio Home - Brennan

Susan Brennan, Kilfeaghan to Cleveland

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