My Old Ohio Home - Chicago

Christina O'Rourke, Killowen to Chicago

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

Continued from Some Children of Michael Rourke and Alice Cunningham.

Besides the children we mentioned in the last article, Michael Rourke and Alice Cunningham had two other sons and another daughter listed in the Kilbroney Church Records. they are:

John Rourke, baptized December 5, 1844, sponsors: Murtagh Cunningham and Sarah Chronicle
Mary Rourke, baptized November 27, 1845, sponsors: Bernard Rorke and Ann Sloan
William Rourke, baptized September 30, 1847, Patrick Chronicle and
Catherine Cunningham.¹

In turn, this William Rourke married Margaret McVeigh and had three children listed on the Church Records:

Michael Rourke, baptized May 1, 1877, sponsors: James McVeigh and Margaret Rorke
John Rourke, baptized September 19, 1878, sponsors: Richard Rorke and
Selina McVeigh
Mary Ann Rourke, baptized January 27, 1880, sponsors: John Fearon and Mary
Rourke¹

Did William and Margaret have any other children?

As we saw in the first article, William's son Michael J O'Rourke emigrated to Cleveland and was living with his aunt Annie (O'Rourke) in 1900. A posting on Genforum in 2004, said the following:

"At the time of his death (1919) Michael had a sister living at 5603 Princeton Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. There are very few pieces of correspondence, and none of them mention this sister's name. She is simply referred to as sister."²

Another posting in 2005 said:

"Looking for any info on Thomas Flood, born 1883 in County Mayo, Ireland died in 1942. Also any info on Christine O'Rourke born 1885 in County Down, Ireland whom he was married to. We are also trying to find any info on John Flood, a merchant who aided in the Cherry mine disaster in Illinois."³

Putting the information from both posts together, we can look for a Thomas and Christina Flood living in Chicago. Could this be Michael's sister?

Well yes, it is. In 1920, Thomas and Christina Flood were living at 5603 Princeton Ave, Chicago, with three children: Thomas (age 6), William (4), and George (2).⁴ By 1930 they had three other children: Margaret, Maurice, and Michael. In 1930 and 1940 they were living at 5530 South Shields Ave.⁵
Christina died in January 1970 and is buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.⁶

Did Christina have any other siblings? It seems so, at least one more anyway. Christina is on the 1901 Census of Dunnaval (Mourne, Down) in house 22 with her grandfather, a sister, and a cousin:

Residents of a house 22 in Dunnaval (Mourne, Down)
Mc Veigh, John, 88, head, widower, Farmer
O Roarke, Johanna, 10, grand daughter, scholar, single
O Roarke, Christina, 16, grand daughter, farmers Gr. Daughter, single
Doyle, James, 26, grand son, labour, single

All were Roman Catholic. All were born in Co. Down. None spoke Irish. All but John McVeigh could read and write. He could do neither.⁷

Note the spaces in the surnames. I think that affected how they were indexed.

The birth or baptism records for Christina and Johanna would have to be consulted to be sure, but for our purposes here I think it is safe to say that they are sisters. They would both be daughters of William Rourke and Margaret McVeigh.

Unfortunately, the only other record I could find for Johanna O'Rourke was an indexed reference to a death record of a 21 year old woman by that name who died in the first quarter of 1911 in Kilkeel.⁸ This would match her age and last known location. Again, the record might provide more information.

Conclusion

Look back up at the baptismal records and you will see the name Selina McVeigh as godmother to Margaret McVeigh's son John in 1878. Remember that name—next stop is the McVeighs.

Continued in Selina (McVeigh) Kelly, of Kilkeel and Chicago.

Edited March 2018

With the civil birth registrar online, I found records of more children of William and Margaret. The records confirmed that Christina and Johanna were part of the family, as well as Francis (b 1882), James (1885), and Margaret (1887). And that was their daughter Johanna who died in 1911, January 28 to be exact, of diphtheria. So we reached the right conclusions, in a round about way.

Footnotes

Kilbroney Church Records, transcription of Rourkes, received from researcher in 2009.
Patricia Patterson, August 31, 2004, "Re: Michael James O'Rourke of Rostrevor b. 1877" in O'Rourke Family Genealogy Forum.
Debra Flood, September 19, 2005, "Thomas Sieford Flood/ Christine O'Rourke" in Flood Family Genealogy Forum.
"United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MJ76-YZX : accessed 21 Nov 2013), Thomas Flood, Chicago Ward 31, Cook (Chicago), Illinois, United States; citing sheet , family 151, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1820348.
"United States Census, 1930," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XSLP-7HR : accessed 21 Nov 2013), Thomas S Flood, Chicago (Districts 0501-0750), Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 0653, sheet , family 148, NARA microfilm publication .
Social Security Death Index, and Chicago Tribune, February 1, 1970, "Death Notice of Christina Flood." at http://interactive.ancestry.com/50000/642263912/1394301?backurl=http%3a%2f%
2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgst%3d-6&ssrc=&backlabel=
National Archives of Ireland, www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Down/Mourne/Dunnaval/1236714/
"Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FRJ4-FY3 : accessed 22 Nov 2013), Johana O'Rourke, 1911; citing vol. 1, p. 441, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 0101605.

Selina (McVeigh) Kelly, of Kilkeel and Chicago

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

When Christina O'Rourke, age 22, who was born in Killowen, arrived in the United States on October 6, 1906, she said that she was headed to the home of her aunt Celina Kelly, at 122 East 4th, Chicago, Illinois ---

We arrive at Selina (McVeigh) Kelly by way of her niece Christina (O'Rourke) Flood, whom we discussed in the last article, Christina O'Rourke, Killowen to Chicago.

The names Selina M'Veigh and Bernard Kelly are both listed on the same page of the Civil Registration Marriage Index for the second quarter of 1882 in Kilkeel district. The actual marriage record should confirm that they married each other, and not any of the other five people on the page.²

Edited March 2018. They were married May 4, 1882, in the Catholic chapel at Massforth.

There is a birth record for a child, Annie Kelly on May 8, 1888, in Lake, Cook County, Illinois. Her parents' names are Salina McVeigh and Barney Kelly.³

In 1900, there is a Bernard and Salina Kelly at 546 or 548 West 42nd St., Chicago, with a daughter Annie and six other children. In 1910 they are at 5629 Grove Ave. They have boarding with them a Patrick Doyle, age 24. Patrick could be Salina's nephew if he is related to the James Doyle who is in the John McVeigh household in Dunnaval, Mourne, County Down, in 1901. ^{4, 5} See the previous article, mentioned above.

In 1920 Selina, now Celia, Kelly is widowed and living at 6508 King Ave with daughters Anna, Mary, and Helen still at home.⁶

Finally, there is a death record for a Celia Kelly born in County Down who died May 12, 1926, in Chicago. She was widowed, and her spouse was Bernard Kelly. There is no image available online and her parents' names are transcribed as John McGee and Mary McVeigh. I would be surprised if the names on the actual record weren't actually Mary McGee and John McVeigh instead.⁷

So I think it is safe to say that this Selina (McVeigh) Kelly is a daughter of John McVeigh and Mary McGee of Dunnaval Townland, Kilkeel, Ireland, and is the sister of Margaret McVeigh, wife of William Rourke in Ballyneddan Townland, Kilbroney. Work backward to see the earlier articles in this series.

Selina's birth date is difficult to determine. Her death record says she was born August 15, 1866. Her 1900 Census information says she was born in December 1873 but had been married 18 years. Her 1910 and 1920 censuses would put her birth year about 1863 or 1864. And there is a Selina Kelly, age 21, who passes through Castle Garden in 1884 that may be her. My guess is she was born about 1862 or 1863.

Concluded in John and Mary (McGee) McVeigh of Dunnaval Townland, Kilkeel.

Footnotes

1. Ellis Island Records, arrival of Christina O'Rourke, 1906.

2. Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958, Volume 1, page 714. For Selina: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FYWM-34F, and for Bernard: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FYWM-RNG.

3. "Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates, 1878-1922," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NQYK-MPR : accessed 22 Nov 2013), Salina Mcveigh in entry for Annie Kelly, 08 May 1888.

4. "United States Census, 1900," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MSQG-JFC : accessed 25 Nov 2013), Annie Kelly in household of Bernard Kelly, ED 878 Precinct 17 Lake town Chicago city Ward 29, Cook, Illinois, United States; citing sheet 5A, family 48, NARA microfilm publication T623, FHL microfilm 1240280.

5. "United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MK8C-TYJ : accessed 25 Nov 2013), Bernard Kelley, Chicago Ward 31, Cook, Illinois, United States; citing sheet , family 209, NARA microfilm publication T624, FHL microfilm 1374290.

6. "United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MJ7N-VL9 : accessed 25 Nov 2013), Celia Kelly, Chicago Ward 32, Cook (Chicago), Illinois, United States; citing sheet , family 249, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1820349.

7. Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947, ancestry.com.

James McAneny of Cleveland: his death record

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

While I was going back through the information on my mother's side of the family, I solved one mystery: what ever happened to Catherine Rodgers' first husband, James McAneny? She remarried shortly after their last child was born, but I was never able to find James' death record. Why? Because I was looking in Cleveland and he died in Chicago.

Here is an image that was once at Familysearch.org:

James McAneny's death record

So Catherine was a month or so pregnant with James' last child, Lillian, who was born in April 1911. Here is an summary of the information on his death record:

James McAneny, age 38, white male, married, born in Ireland, birth date and parents unknown. Length of residence in US, Illinois, and Chicago all unknown.
Died Aug 12, 1910.
Occupation: Boiler maker, Chicago & Northwest Railway, which he worked at from 1905 to 1910.
Usual residence: 4123 Carroll Ave
Died at Monroe Street Hospital of shock and scalds, suffered while cooking a flue on C & NW Ry Co. Engine 1334. Determined by an inquiry by Peter M Hoffman, coroner or coroner's physician.
Burial: August 15, 1910, in Cleveland

Edited to add: A descendant of Lilian McAneny has confirmed that James died in Chicago. He remembers seeing the telegram that his grandmother Catherine received informing her of the news.