My Old Ohio Home - Cleveland

Ann Ellen (Sloan) O'Leary, Kilkeel to Cleveland

2026-09-01T00:00:00-04:00

Introduction

When my mother's cousin Nan (Gallagher) Fleming researched our family history, she included a note next to her grandmother Anna Cunningham's sister Bridget saying that Bridget married a Sloan and that she was "Ellen O'Leary's mother." Nan Gallagher evidently knew Ellen O'Leary and expected the rest of her family to know as well, since she didn't include any further explanation. So I looked for someone by that name living in Cleveland.

Anna O'Leary in Cleveland

I found an Anna E. Sloan marrying a Dennis O'Leary in September 1882, most likely at St Augustine's Parish, Cleveland. That church is located on West 14th, but by 1883 when their first daughter was born, they were living on Broadway on the Southeast side, not far from the Rodgers clan in Newburgh. They later moved to Newman Avenue, off East 65th Street where they remained at least until Dennis' death on February 11, 1920. Ann was living around the corner on East 65th when she died, July 15, 1939.

On the 1910 Census Ann is called "Ann Ellen," in 1920 she was "Anna L," and in 1930 "Helen". Her death record called her Ann Ellen. So I am sure this is the person Nan Gallagher was referring to.

But Ann (Sloan) O'Leary's records consistently said she was born in Canada. How could she be the daughter of Bridget Cunningham, who was from either Ballymadeerfy or Ballygowan Townland, Kilkeel, County Down, Ireland?

The Canada Connection

Some years ago, on Ros Davies' County Down Website, I found a listing for a Bridget "Biddy" Cunningham of Kilkeel who married James Sloan on May 20, 1846, at the Catholic church in Kilkeel and was the mother of Bridget, born 1868, and Sarah, born 1871. (Since then, I have found the marriage in the Kilkeel parish records at Catholic Parish Records, Kilkeel and the births in the civil records at IrishGenealogy.ie.) What I should have noticed at the time was the long gap between the marriage date and the two births.

A few months ago I started working on this family again. Either more databases have come on line since I looked at them last, or I was a little more diligent in searching. Whatever the case, I found two of their children baptized in Kilkeel in 1849 and 1851, filling in the gap between their marriage and the birth of Bridget a bit.

More important, I found a James Sloan and Bridget Cunningham in London, Ontario, in the mid to late 1850's. They had three children baptized at St Peter's Cathedral between 1854 and 1859, but none before or after those dates. One was a son named Henry, born September 18, 1855 and baptized November 18. Then in the Irish civil records, I found a Henry Sloan, age 9, who died in Glenloughan, Kilkeel, on November 18, 1864, son of James and Bridget Sloan.

Since I have a lot of confidence in Nan Gallagher's research, young Henry's birth and death records were enough for me to conclude that Henry's parents, James and Bridget "Biddy" (Cunningham) Sloan, began their marriage in Ireland and then spent some years between 1851 and 1863 in Canada before returning to Ireland. Making it quite possible for them to have a daughter Ann Ellen, born in Canada, yet from a family in Kilkeel.

Conclusion

I never found the baptism record for Ann Ellen Sloan herself, despite browsing every page of the St Peter's Cathedral parish registers from 1855 to 1863. Perhaps her parents moved out of that parish and into another whose records are not online. Still, Nan Gallagher seems to have been a very careful researcher and her information has always proved true, so there is no reason for me to doubt that the lady in Cleveland belongs to the family in Ireland.

Rose Sloan and Richard Farrell, Killowen to Cleveland

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

SS Campania

This is a reworking of an older article. What's new:

the death information of Rose's father
Richard Farrell's birth information
elimination of a few candidates for Rose's mother

Rose Sloan and Richard Farrell were married in the Roman Catholic Chapel of Our Lady in Rostrevor on January 2, 1896. Rose said she was of full age, living in Ballincurry, the daughter of Daniel Sloan, a laborer, who had died.

So far I haven't found a birth or baptism record for Rose or for any child of Daniel Sloan from 1868 to 1874, and whoever provided the information for Rose's death record did not know her mother's name.

Rose's father is likely the Daniel Sloan on the Valuation Revision Books of Ballincurry from 1865 to 1892. He is renting a small parcel, consisting only of a house and garden, from Hugh Brennan. There were no out-buildings. Daniel died June 22, 1889, in Ballincurry at the age of 75. Rose was present at his death and provided the information for his death record.

In 1892 the parcel passed into the hands of Daniel's representatives. In 1907 the parcel went from Daniel Sloan's representatives to Rose Brennan and there is a note in the margin that says "House not quite down as reported"–if I read it right. Rose's mother might not have stayed in Ballincurry after her husband died. I don't see her there in the 1901 census. She isn't Rose Brennan, since that woman had a 25 year old son named Brennan in her 1901 household.

On the other hand, Rose's mother may have died before her father, and she might have been named Rose also, who knows. But she is not:

Rose Sloane d 28 February 1871 in Mayhereagh (?), a spinster
Rose Sloane d 19 June 1876, Drummond, a spinster
Rose Sloane d 24 April 1883 Greencastle
Rose Sloan 19 Oct 1884 in Tullyframe
Rose Sloan d 20 Jan 1893, Ballincurry, wife of James
nor any other Rose Sloan who died in Kilkeel Registration District between 1870 and 1894.

I haven't yet looked for the death of a female Sloan not named Rose during those years.

Richard Farrell's marriage information said he was living in Ballinadoalty at the time and was the son of William Farrell, a butcher. His birth record shows that Richard was born April 19, 1875, in Benagh Townland, Kilkeel, to William Farrell, a butcher, and Margaret George. Whether Upper Benagh or Lower could be determined by looking at the Valuation Revision Books again.

Richard and Rose (Sloan) Farrell were on the SS Campania when it arrived June 9, 1900, in New York from Liverpool. Between them they had $50, but were not holding tickets to their final destination, which they said was Albany, New York. They were travelling with James O'Rourke, James Murney, and Matthew Sloan. All five of them said that their last residence in Ireland was Newry. However the three young men with the Farrells were from Killowen, Rose said she was living in Ballincurry when she was married, and Richard said he was of Ballinadoalty at the time of his marriage.

Rose was 28 and Richard was 24 when they emigrated. They said they were going to the home of Mary Pearl, Richard's sister in law, at 115 Jefferson Street, Albany. There was a Mary Pearl in Albany who had been born in Ireland about 1830. She was the widow of John Pearl, and had sons Thomas (born in New York in July 1852) and John (born in Ohio about 1860). She was living at 8 Jefferson, Albany, in 1898 and 1899, but she died on March 27, 1899. I have not determined her maiden name or county of origin in Ireland. I think the Farrells actually went straight through to Cleveland with the others.

What we do know is that in the 1902 Cleveland City Directory Richard Farrell was listed at 2059 Cannon, which corresponds to about 9200 Cannon in the current numbering. In fact he might be in the 1901 Directory as the Richard Farrell at about 8000 Burke, according to the modern numbering. Both of these streets are in the Newburgh section of Cleveland. The city directories reflect the previous year's information, so that could put the Farrells in Cleveland in 1900.

Having arrived in Newburgh, the Farrells didn't go far. They were at various addresses on Cannon until at least 1935. Richard worked in a "wire mill" and a "steel mill", which sounds a lot like American Steel and Wire. In 1910 Rose said that she had been married 14 years and had given birth to one child, but it was no longer living. I didn't find a record of this child's birth in Cleveland. Their census records say that Richard and Rose had no other children.

As for births in Ireland, the civil records are on line, and I have also eliminated the following children:

Not female Farrell, d June 6, 1897. She was the daughter of John Farrell, a farmer of Carrickbroad.
Not Elizabeth Farrell, d May 8, 1899, daughter of Catherine, a farmer's wife, of Carrickbroad.
Not Peter Farrell, d December 14, 1899, son of Mary Ellen Farrell, a laborer's wife, of Rostrevor.
Not John Francis Farrell, d July 25, 1900, son of John, a laborer of Rostrevor.

Conclusion

Rose died at home, at 9220 Cannon Ave, Cleveland, on Nov 24, 1935, of complications from chronic myocarditis, which had affected her for six months. Richard died on July 16, 1937, at 4055 East 91st, of the same condition. He was working at Allyne-Ryan Foundry when he died. They were both buried in Calvary Cemetery from Donlon's Funeral Home on Miles Ave.

Sources

Manifest of the SS Campania in the Ellis Island records.
"United States Census, 1870," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M8JN-ZZ5.
"New York, State Census, 1892," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X366-GX1; 1898-1900 Albany City Directories at ancestry.com; and 1900 Census of Ward 16, Albany, Series T623, Roll 1005, page 252, at HeritageQuestOnline.com
Cleveland City Directories at ancestry.com.
"United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/ML8G-VLT and "United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MDRT-NFC
"Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FTDD-7PX : accessed 18 Sep 2013), Peter Farrell, 1899; citing vol. 1, p. 449, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101600.
"Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FT8B-YZK : accessed 18 Sep 2013), Female Farrell, 1897; citing vol. 1, p. 579, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101599.
"Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8HT-ZLF : accessed 16 Sep 2013), Richard Farrell in entry for Rose Farrell, 1935.
"Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XZXR-661 : accessed 16 Sep 2013), Richard Farrell, 1937.
"Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FYCJ-KNP : accessed 17 Sep 2013), Richard Farrell, 1896; citing vol. 1, p. 707, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101258.
"Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FYCN-9XQ : accessed 17 Sep 2013), Rose Sloan, 1896; citing vol. 1, p. 707, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101258.
Ros Davies County Down Website, transcription at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/SURNAMES/S/SloanKW.htm.
Ros Davies County Down Website, transcription at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/SURNAMES/S/SloanAJ.htm.

Credits

Photo of the SS Campania is from Wikipedia.

Mary (Rodgers) Kelly Anderson, of Cleveland, Ohio

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

When I started researching Edward and Anna Rodgers' daughter Mary, she was mostly just s legend. It went: "She was married to a Patrick Kelly and a Dudley Anderson. She was on stage. We had a picture of her with Lillian Russell." Well I haven't found any pictures at all of her, but there is enough information to fill out the rest of the story.

First, her birth record is now online: Mary was born February 23, 1866, in Kilkeel Parish, County Down, Ireland, the daughter of Edward Rodgers and Ann Cunningham. Next, Mary was recorded as five years old when she arrived in New York from Liverpool with her mother Ann and her brother William on April 15, 1872. And she is fourteen, attending school, and living in her parents household in Newburgh, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, in 1880.

After that the trail gets a little harder to follow. Let's start with her first husband,

Patrick Kelly

I couldn't find a record of the marriage of Pat Kelly and Mary Rodgers, but their son Patrick was born in Cleveland on December 4, 1885, at 1784 Harvard. Both parents were said to be living at that address. The 1885 through 1887 Cleveland City Directories say that was the home of Mary Rodgers' parents, but there is no record of Patrick and Mary at that address themselves.

Patrick's age on the birth record was 25. His son's 1900 Census in the Rodgers' household said that Patrick (Sr) was born in Tennessee. And the son's marriage license said that the son himself was born in Nashville, Tennessee. We know he was born in Cleveland, so when he said "Nashville" he might have been referring to his father's birthplace by mistake. Or his future wife was the one who applied for the license.

At any rate, I couldn't find a match for Pat Kelly, born about 1860, in Nashville. He is not the man who died in Nashville on September 15, 1885, age, 31. That man was single.

A comment at the Miko Family Tree at ancestry.com once said this about Mary Rodgers' first husband:

Mary's first husband was Pat Kelly who was a minor league baseball player. They had one child. Pat died tragically from being hit in the head by a thrown baseball.

I have no reason to doubt that information. If Patrick Kelly died in Cleveland, he could be the man who died in a hospital on March 31, 1887, of an accident. He was married, age 30y 3m, and said to have been born in Ireland. His parents were named Michael and Mary. The "accident" part fits the family story about his death, but the death record called him a laborer. That was a blanket term for a lot of occupations back then, but I don't know if it would include ball player. Then again, if he was a ball player he could have been on the road and died anywhere.

In the 1886 Cleveland City Directory there is a listing for a Patrick Kelly, catcher, living at 2274 Fayette St. Fayette became E 76th after 1906, so this was the Rodgers' neighborhood. In 1888 there is a Michael Kelly at that address, but his father's household in 1860 and 1880 did not include anyone named Patrick.

The Miko Family tree next adds:

Upon his death, Mary follows her acting passion which takes her to NYC where she meets Dudley Anderson. They marry, have a child, Edward (my grandfather) and leave him with Pat Kelly's mother and pursue their Vaudville passion/money.

Which brings us to Mary's second husband,

Dudley Anderson

I don't know where Mary Rodgers met William D Anderson of Richmond, Virginia, but there is a marriage record for Mary Kelly, age 21, and Dudley Anderson, 21, on the 28th of June, 1887, in Oil City, Venango County, Pennsylvania. The occupation of both: "Performer in show." Perhaps they were appearing at the Opera House in Franklin, PA, eight miles down the road.

They took a bit of "artistic license" with the information on the application. Mary's father was listed as P.H. Kelly and her mother was Mrs. E. Rodgers. "Date of death of former husband: none. Date of divorce of woman at any time: None."

1887 Marriage Record, Mary Rodgers and Dudley Anderson

Their only son, Edward Anderson, was born August 16, 1888, again at the Rodgers' home on Harvard. He and Mary's first son, Patrick Kelly were living with Mary's parents in 1900.

The Miko Family Tree concludes by saying that Mary and Dudley Anderson pursued their career

by moving to Butte, Montana where Dudly ends up having an affair with another performer and running off to Chicago to start a new life. He left Mary without funds where she eventually dies of Scarlet fever.

There was a little more to it than that, as we shall see.

Mary Rodgers' Career

Mary Rodgers and Dudley Anderson were performing together by at least 1887. This clip from the Baltimore, Maryland, Sun of October 24, 1887, advertises their appearance at a matinee performance at the Odeon Theatre that afternoon. Mary's stage name was Minnie Kelly and Dudley's was Bobby Carroll.

October 24, 1887, Baltimore Sun, page 1

"How do we know those are they?" you might ask.

As the article about William D Anderson of Richmond, Virginia, mentioned above, explains, the transcription at familysearch.org of Dudley Anderson's death record (Chicago, March 19, 1932) says "alias Bobbie Carroll." It gives his birthplace as Richmond, Virginia, and his parents' names match closely enough to those on his marriage record with Mary Rodgers. So Dudley Anderson equals Bobby/Bobbie Carroll.

A 1893 newspaper clipping, included below, refers to a lady as "Mrs Bobbie Carroll, alias Minnie Kelly." Mary was married to Dudley at the time, so Mary Rodgers equals Minnie Kelly.

And now, back to our story. I found another appearance in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in January 1889, but after that I think they did move west, as the family said. In August 1890, they are in Butte, Montana, billed as Bobby Carroll and Miss Minnie Kelly, comedy sketch artists:

August 9, 1890, Butte, Montana, Daily Post, page 1

Then comes this news report from Deadwood, South Dakota, in April 1893:

Mrs Bobby Carroll, alias Minnie Kelly, one of the Gem stars, during a fit of melancholia yesterday morning drank a large quantity of carbolic acid with suicidal intent. When she realized what she had done she changed her mind and called lustily for help. A doctor was soon on hand, who after hard work got her out of danger.

April 22, 1893, Deadwood, South Dakota Black Hills Daily Times, page 7

What prompted Mary to drink carbolic acid was not mentioned in the story. But whatever it was, I think that was the end of the line for the Rodgers-Anderson marriage and for the Bobby Carroll-Minnie Kelly partnership. They were not mentioned together again. In January and April 1895, the Elwood, Indiana, Daily Press refers to Bobby Carroll's wife as "Caroline Gardner" not Minnie Kelly.

Mary stayed in Deadwood for a while. A June 1893 review from that city refers to Minnie Kelly executing her character part in fine style. And the October 17, 1895, Deadwood Weekly Pioneer-Times reported the arrest of a Bill Chadwick on complaint of Minnie Kelly who claimed that he had struck her. He was fined $5 and costs.

Her next stop might have been Missoula, Montana. The March 22, 1896, edition of the Missoula, Montana, Missoulian stated:

An exceptionally fine program will be given at the Cremorne this week. Two new stars Misses Minnie Kelly and Mamie Castle, who have been creating a furore throughout the east with their grand duetts and character songs will make their initial appearance before a western audience.

And this ad comes from the April 1 Missoulian:

April 1, 1896, Missoula, Montana, Missoulian, page 1

They were still there on May 2.

I don't know what Mary Rodgers, aka Minnie Kelly, was doing between May 1896 and her death in November 1897. She may have been performing somewhere–not all old newspapers are available online. But the next mention of her was this sad announcement on page 5 of the Anaconda, Montana, Standard, November 12, 1897:

Minnie Kelly, aged 27, died yesterday at St. James hospital. The funeral will occur Sunday at 2 o'clock p.m. from Sherman's undertaking rooms.

November 12, 1897, Anaconda, Montana, Standard, page 5

followed a few days later by:

Butte Has More Than Its Share of Sad Processions
The last sad rites were performed yesterday over the remains of four residents of Butte who had passed away during the previous week. ... Minnie Kelly, formerly a variety actress at the Casino, from Sherman's undertaking rooms. ...

November 15, 1897, Anaconda, Montana, Standard, page 7

Her death certificate (November 11, 1897, Butte, Montana), recorded under the name Minnie Kelly, said she died of pneumonia and was buried in the Catholic cemetery. This probably refers to St Patrick's Cemetery, Butte, since I think that was the active Catholic cemetery in the city at the time. I might be wrong.

Conclusion

So, finally, some closure for Mary Rodgers' short, sad life. She left a brief show business legacy, but more importantly she has descendants through her son by Dudley Anderson, and more grand-nieces and nephews than I can count. Now if we could only find that photograph with Lillian Russell.

For Mary Rodgers' family and the genealogy sources, find Rodgers in the Ohio Families section of this website.

Sources

Irish Civil Registrations
Ellis Island Records
1880 and 1900 US Census of Cleveland
Ohio County Birth Records
The Miko Family Tree, at ancestry.com
Ohio Deaths and Burials, familysearch.org
Cleveland Public Library News and Necrology File
Pennsylvania County Marriages, familysearch.org

Joseph Whalen of Lockport and Cleveland

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

Joe Whalen, 1915

To a genealogist, siblings are your friends, as illustrated by the case of Catherine Rodgers' husband Joe Whalen. His death notice on February 5, 1968 said that he was survived by a brother Fenton. It was through Fenton that I found Joe Whalen's ancestry.

Of course it helped that when Joe married Catherine Rodgers on June 29, 1912, he mentioned that his parents were Joseph Whalen and Catherine Delaney, and that he was born in Lockport, New York. But there is not much trace of Joe in Lockport, only the 1892 State Census with his parents and family, as shown here:

1892 New York State Census, Lockport, Niagara County, Ward 2, ED 2
Joseph Whalen, 42, citizen, carpenter
Cathrine 37
Jennie 15
Mamie 14
Joseph 11
John 9
Alice 7
Marie 6
Fenton 2
Catherine Delaney, 65, born in Ireland, a citizen
all others were born in the US.

Fenton Whalen, age 2, proved to be the key to the family. He showed up on other records with his family, including a World War I draft registration where it says his occupation was "baseball player."

I had never heard of the name Fenton before, so I assumed it was a name that had been passed down in the family. It turns out that Joe and Fenton's grandfather was named Fenton also. He is seen here in 1870 with sons John, Joseph and, you guessed it, another Fenton:

1870; Census Place: Lockport Ward 2, Niagara, New York; Roll: M593_1054; Page: 222A

Finton Whalen 60, laborer, Real Estate: $3500, Personal estate: $500, born in Ireland
Jane Whalen 56, born in Ireland, cannot read or write
John Whalen 22, works in sash factory, born in Canada
Joseph Whalen 20, works in sash factory, born in Canada
Jane Whalen 12, born in New York
Maria Whalen 8, born in New York
Finton Whalen 6, born in New York

This is probably getting confusing, so here is a tree from the first Fenton down to the Joe Whalen who married Catherine Rodgers:

Fenton Whalen (b. 1810, Ireland - about 1875, Lockport NY)
...+ Jane Hughes (b. abt 1814, Ireland - Oct 3, 1896, Lockport NY)
.........Joseph Whalen (July 3, 1849 - 1918, Lockport NY)
.............+ Catherine Delaney (Dec 4, 1853 - May 26, 1898, Lockport NY)
......................Joseph Whalen (about 1881 - Feb 3, 1968, Cleveland)
.........................+ Catherine Rodgers (May 1, 1877 - April 18, 1966, Cleveland)
..................................Joseph Whalen (b. about 1914 - )
..................................William Whalen (b. about 1916 - )

Did you notice that in 1870 the information said that the first two children were born in Canada? Sure enough, I found a marriage record for Fenton Whalen and Jane Hughes in Gore Roman Catholic Mission, Peel County, Ontario, on September 2, 1844. There was also a birth record for a son Martin who died before 1870. Peel County is now part of York County and was near Toronto.

While I was waiting to hear from the Lockport, New York, library I thought I would put "Fenton Whalen" into a search for records in all of Ireland. On Griffith's Valuation of Ireland, taken about 1850, there were only two Fenton Whelans in the whole country, and both of them were in Ballyadams Civil Parish, Co. Laois.

Of course neither could be the same Fenton who was in Canada at the time, but there is a very good chance that they are relatives who were named after the same common ancestor. So for now, the most likely county of origin for the Whalen family is Co. Laois. It will be difficult to prove, however, unless there is a mention of a birthplace in one of the American records.

The moral of the story: you may be stuck with your family, but if you are interested in your ancestry then "siblings are your friends."

Edited September 27, 2020, to add:

You can find more information about the Whalens in the Ohio Families section of this website.

John and Henry O'Rourke—Kilkeel to Cleveland

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

Aerograph of Collinwood Yards, Cleveland(footnote)The aerial view of the Collinwood Railroad yards comes from the Michael Schwartz Library, Cleveland State University and is found at The Cleveland Memory Project.

While looking for the John O'Rourke who came with William O'Rourke from Killowen to Cleveland (see William O'Rourke, Killowen to Cleveland), I found another John O'Rourke in Cleveland instead. This man and his brother Henry were from Kilkeel. The evidence is a bit circumstantial, but I think it is solid enough to put the family together. I'll sketch it out here—the details are in the Trees > Ohio Families section of this site.

John was baptized December 3, 1846, in Kilkeel Catholic Parish, the son of John Rourke and Catherine Rourke (that was her maiden name.) His death record in Cleveland said he was born December 6 of that year, but 1) people didn't always know their exact birth date, 2) sons don't always remember their deceased parents' information, and 3) I don't think all priests remember the exact date they baptized a child. His death record did say that his father's name was John, but didn't give his mother's name.

John's brother Henry was baptized August 27, 1848, in Kilkeel. His death record said he was born August 25, 1849, but, on the plus side, listed both parents: John O'Rourke and Catherine O'Rourke. In fact, there was an "ok" next to Catherine's name, as if to say "yes that is her maiden name."

Also tying them to Kilkeel is the fact that John married a woman named Anna Rodgers, and Henry a woman named Selina (Sloan) Sands.

If Anna was from Kilkeel and if her baptism was recorded, then she might be either the daughter of James Rogers and Anne Brennan, baptized May 5, 1850, or the daughter of Pat Rogers and Ellen Carroll [or Farrell], baptized July 21, 1854. Her American records would favor the earlier of the two.

Selina Sloan, according to her death record, was born November 12, 1849, the daughter of Henry Sloane and Catherine Colgan. This couple lived in Ballymadeerfy Townland, Kilkeel, and have four of their children on the baptismal records—but not Selina. Selina was first married to Thomas Sands, who came back to Ireland for the marriage January 11, 1870. Thomas took Selina back to Cleveland in March, and their only child, Mary, was born there in November. Sadly, Thomas died the day after their first anniversary, leaving Selina a widow and a mother at the age of 21. She remarried Henry by early 1873.

On their later censuses, both John and Henry said that they had arrived in America in 1871. They both settled in the Collinwood section of Cleveland, and both worked for the railroad. Although neither of their death notices named the other, the naming patterns of their sons match closely enough to link them as brothers as well.

John died in December 1929 and Henry in the following April. Both are buried in Calvary Cemetery, Cleveland. There were other children in their birth family, but I wasn't able to find any of them in Cleveland. They may have gone elsewhere, but elsewhere is a pretty big place to look.

Updated June 2, 2019: The parents of these two men were living in Corcreaghan Townland, Kilkeel, when their sister Catherine was baptized in 1857.

Mary Burke of Cloondergan, Galway, and Cleveland, Ohio

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

It's hard for me to pass up looking for an Irishman's county of origin, so after finding Another James O'Rourke, Killowen to Cleveland, I thought I would try to find his wife, Mary Burke, in Ireland.

There were, and probably still are, a lot of Mary Burkes in Ireland. So first I looked for Mary's siblings. At ancestry.com I searched for anyone named Burke living in Cleveland whose parents' names were the same as Mary's, namely Martin Burke and Nora O'Toole.

This found two results in the Cuyahoga County Marriage Records: Winifred Burke who married Peter Corrigan in 1930,¹ and Sarah Burke who married Jeffery O'Donohue in 1936.² Since James and Mary (Burke) O'Rourke named a daughter Winifred, this looked promising.

The next step was to search the Ellis Island records using stevemorse.org as a starting point. I found a Winifred Burke arriving Sep 29, 1924.³ She was the daughter of a Martin Burke in Cloondergan, Dunmore, County Galway, and was headed to 6800 Lucerne Ave, Cleveland. In 1920, this was the home of Michael J and Mary Burke.⁴

Then I searched immigration records at ancestry.com and found a Sarah Burke arriving 2 May 1927. She was also the daughter of a Martin Burke and was also headed to 6800 Lucerne Ave.⁵

To close it out, I looked in the 1911 Census of Galway and found a Martin and Oney Burke family, with daughters Marie, age 10, Winfred 9, and Sarah, 6, along with other children. In 1901 "Oney" is listed as Nora. They were living in Cloondergan, Addergoole, Galway.⁶

Believe me it is not always this easy but ...

Edited May 5, 2019

Mary (Burke) O'Rourke, 1940

It wasn't that easy to find Mary's immigration record. First I found a Mary Ellen Burke, age 21, arriving in 1922, daughter of Martin Burke of Cloondergan, Galway. Gotta be her, right? She was going to New Jersey, but she was the first of the family to arrive, so maybe she went on to Cleveland. Wrong. There were two Mary Burkes in Cloondergan with fathers named Martin. "Ours" turned out later to be Mary Teresa.

Then I found Mary's Declaration of Intention (she was naturalized on her own account), and it said she arrived August 22, 1921, in New York, on the SS Baltic. Guess what. There were two Mary Burkes on the ship, but at least one was from Mayo, leaving "our" Mary, from Galway, finally found.

... if this were my family, this is the first place I would look for birth records for Mary Burke.

Edited September 16, 2018

And so I did. Mary was born on September 20, 1901, Winifred on June 20, 1904, and Sarah on August 22, 1906, all in Cloondergan/Clondergan Townland, Galway, daughters of Martin Burke and Nora/Oney/Honor Toole/O'Toole. Martin and Honora were married in the Catholic chapel in Milltown, Galway, on March 11, 1899.

I don't know if any more of this family emigrated and, if they did, whether they came to Cleveland or not. I'll leave that for another day or another person.

Edited May 5, 2019

It's the same person, but another day. Mary's brothers Thomas and John also came to Cleveland. I lost track of Thomas after his arrival (1922), and of John after his petition for naturalization (1941). I don't know what became of their brother Michael, born in 1909. Martin, the youngest known child so far, born 1912, evidently kept the farm, as he was the informant on his parents' death records.

The details and other sources for this family are in the Ohio Families section of this site. See the sidebar for the link.

Footnotes:

Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Marriage Records and Indexes, 1810-1973, Marriage of Winifred Burke and Peter Corrigan.
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Marriage Records and Indexes, 1810-1973, Marriage of Sarah Burke and Jeffery O'Donahue.
EllisIsland.org, Winifred Burke arrival, Sep 29, 1924
"United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MDT9-HF3), Michael Burke, Cleveland Ward 22, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States; citing sheet , family 231, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1821371.
5. Ancestry.com, New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957. Arrival of Sarah Burke, May 2, 1927.6. National Arvhives of Ireland, 1901 Census. Residents of a house 8 in Cloondergan, Addergoole, Galway. http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Addergoole/Cloondergan/1398061/.
National Archives of Ireland, 1911 Census. Residents of a house 11 in Cloondergan, Addergoole, Galway. http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Addergoole/Cloondergan/474539/.

Eileen Quinn, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland

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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

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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.

My Paternal Old Ohio Home

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My father told me that when he moved to Cleveland in the 1930's he first lived in a boarding house run by Fred and Dorothy Goodsmith. All the boarders gambled and bet on horses. My father said that when they played gin rummy and Fred was about to go gin he would always give it away by starting to whistle the same tune every time.

One day my father went for an eye examination, but the rest of the boarders thought he went to the track. When he came home he said, "Great news! I had 20-20 vision!" Someone looked up and said, "Oh yeah, so what did he pay?"

In 1930 Fred and Dorothy were at 2310 Selzer Ave, but this didn't ring a bell with me. However in the 1939 to 1943 city directories, their address was 1917 E. 75th. This was the area of town that I associated with my father's early years in Cleveland. So it was with some satisfaction that I found that address in the 1940 Census and saw that the whole crew was living there: my father, Fred, Dorothy, and an old racetrack friend of my father named Bill Middaugh.

The Goodsmiths

Fred Goodsmith was born in Newburgh on Oct 9, 1884, the son of F.J. and Catherine (Delfing) Goodsmith. Dorothy Jacobs was born October 25, 1893, in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of August Jacobs and Susan Taylor. Fred had two children by his first marriage to Gertrude Egert. They appear to be separated by 1918 and were divorced in February 1921. Fred and Dorothy were married that June. They had no children.

By 1918 Fred was in the restaurant business, working as a proprietor for an Anthony Cartwright at 12814 St Clair. He apparently remained in this line of work until his death–all records call him an employer, proprietor, etc., and list his places of business as lunch rooms or restaurants. Occasionally on the records he or Dorothy gave their employment address as their residence.

Fred was still at 1917 East 75th in 1942 when he registered for the World War Two Draft, but died in Georgia on 8 Oct 1944. His obituary in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on October 11 reads:

Goodsmith, Fred, of 1917 E. 75th St., beloved husband of Dorothy, father of Evelyn and Virginia, brother of Mrs Charlotte Freeman, passed away suddenly. Funeral Thursday, October 12, at S.J. Kubu & Son Funeral Home, 3271 East 55th., at 2 p.m.

Dorothy Goodsmith died "suddenly in Florida," on December 11, 1952. A death notice appearing in the Cleveland Press on Dec 17, 1952, named her late husband Fred, her brother Hershel Jacobs, and her sisters Nellie Staugler, Mary Dixon, Gertrude Dixon, and Florence Tharp. Most of the family was "of Datyton, O." Graveside services had been held at Hillcrest Cemetery, Bedford Heights, on the 16th.

There was also an obituary for Dorothy in the Dayton Daily News, December 15, 1952. It reads:

Mrs Dorothy Goodsmith
Services for Mrs Dorothy Goodsmith, 59, former Dayton resident, will be held at 1:30 p.m. Monday at the Meyer and Boehmer funeral home, 1733 Brown St. Burial will be in Cleveland, Ohio.
Mrs Goodsmith died Thursday at her home in Hollywood, Fla.
Survivors include four sisters Mrs Nellie Staugler, Mrs Gertrude Dixon, Mrs Mary Dixon, all of Dayton, and Mrs Florence Thrper of Tharp, S.D., and a brother Hershel Jacobs of Dayton.

Fred and Dorothy Goodsmith are both buried in Hillcrest Cemetery, Bedford Heights, Ohio.

Credits

My thanks to the maintainer of the garym28 database at rootsweb, for pointing me toward Fred's death date.

The horse racing drawing is courtesy of debspoons at freedigitalphoto.net.

Vincent Hurley, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland

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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.