My Old Ohio Home - Keating

Cornelius Keating of Cleveland, Ohio

2019-02-20T00:00:00-05:00

Ned Rodgers usually had a boarder or two in his house at 4025 East 89th, Cleveland, Ohio, in addition to his family of nine. His daughter Margaret Cushing kept up the tradition. Margaret owned the home in 1920, and besides herself, her mother, two daughters, her sister and her four children, plus another two nieces, she had a boarder named Con Keating. I've written articles about the other Rodgers' boarders, so here goes the article about Mr. Keating.

According to his death record, Cornelius Keating was born on May 11, 1859, in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of John Keating who had been born in Ireland. In the course of my research I found that Cornelius' mother's name was Sarah, but I didn't find her maiden name.

The family was at 2553 Bluff on the southeast side of Cleveland by 1876. That became 2553 Bissell, then 86 Bissell, and then 4134 East 76th Street. John Keating died there in 1892, and Sarah Keating was still living there in 1920. She died in 1923 at the Little Sisters of the Poor home on Superior Avenue but was buried from Holy Name, so I imagine that East 76th was her home address when she died. Her death record did not name her parents. I didn't find a record of her husband John Keating's death.

Cornelius himself married Mary Downs on March 28, 1900. They had three children but only one, John, lived to adulthood. Mary (Downs) Keating died March 28, 1913, and Cornelius on May 26, 1927. They are both buried in St Joseph Catholic Cemetery, Cleveland.

When Con's wife Mary died in 1913, they were living at 4018 East 89th, so it was a short step to the Rodgers' home at 4025. He was found at that address in the 1916 to 1921 Cleveland City Directories. When he died in 1927 Con was living with his son John at 1389 Penhurst on the northeast side.

I'd hoped to find the Irish place of origin for the Keatings, but could not from the available records. That's twice that I've drawn a blank on someone named Keating. Edited March 9, 2026: the Keating Family Tree at ancestry.com, says that Cornelius' father, John, was born 5 April 1828, in the parish of Moyne and Templetouhy, Co. Tipperary. I don't know what their source is for that information.

What I did learn along the way was that the name was probably originally pronounced something like Cat'n with a long A. The earlier records often had spellings like Caton, Cating, etc. In fact the 1880 census had John and "Conroy" listed as "Kayton." Cornelius signed his wife's death record as "C. Kating."

So there you go, just about all I know about Cornelius "Con" Keating, one of the many boarders at 4025 East 89th over the years. He is the last that I know of—I wonder if any more will turn up.

Sources and a little more information can be found on Cornelius Keating's page in the Ohio Families tree on this site.

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.

Marguerite Tulley, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland

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

Marguerite Tulley,
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 woman from our left in the second row as a a young lady named Tully. There was a Marguerite Tulley living in the area, described below, who is probably her.

Marguerite Tulley was born April 25, 1913, in Cleveland, the daughter of Simon F Tulley and Mary Keating. In 1920 the family was living at 4140 East 139th Street, and Marguerite's father was a rivet worker. They also had a son Simon Francis Tulley, born in 1914. The family was still at that address in 1922, the year the photograph was taken.

Marguerite Tulley was living at 1403 Irene Road, Lyndhurst, on August 30, 1934, when she and Peter Kurzeika were married in Cleveland. Peter was a radio technician living on East 65th. They were separated by 1942 when Peter enlisted in the army, and were divorced by June 25, 1948, when Peter died.

Marguerite evidently married again to a man named Farrell, because that is the name on her death record information as transcribed at ancestry.com. She died in Cleveland on September 16, 1996. She had at least one child, a son, although she might have had more since her mother's obituary said she was the grandmother of six.

For an article about one of Marguerite's great grandmothers, see Elizabeth Lawler, Kilkenny to Cleveland.

If you are a relative or descendant of Marguerite Tulley you are welcome to download the class picture and pass it on.

Timothy D Keating of Baltimore, Maryland, and Rockchapel, County Cork, Ireland

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

1942 letter from Rockchapel, Co Cork, to Baltimore, Maryland

In 1942, Mr Jim T. D. Keating of 2121 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, Maryland, received a letter from D. C. Keating of Rockchapel, County Cork, Ireland. Better eyes than mine say that the letter was postmarked Seipeal Na Carraige, which is Irish for “chapel of the rocks”, according to Wikipedia.

Can this postmark and letter help us locate Mr Keating’s origins in Ireland? As it turns out, yes.

The American Records

The 1930 census of Baltimore shows a Jim T D Keating and family at 2121 West Baltimore. Also in the household was a Margaret Keating, age 34, sister to Jim. She was been born in Ireland and had arrived in the United States in 1922.

I searched the Ellis Island database, using stevemorse.org as a starting place, and found a Margaret Keating, age 25, arriving aboard the SS Carmania on July 9, 1921. The letter helped identify this woman as Jim Keating’s sister, since her birthplace on the passenger manifest was listed as Rockchapel, Cork. Her nearest relative in Ireland was her father, David Keating, in Rock Hill, Rockchapel.

Her destination raised some doubt in my mind, since she wasn’t headed to her brother’s home. Instead she was going to the home of her sister Mrs James Lane at 53 Bromfield St, Lawrence, Massachusetts.

That doubt was cleared up when I found the marriage record for Catherine Keating, 27, and James Lane, 30, in the list of marriages registered in the city of Lawrence, Massachusetts. The two were married 28 November 1906; James’ residence at the time was 59 Bromfield Street, and Catherine’s parents were David [Keating] and Nellie O’Connell.

The Irish Records

Having narrowed down Mr Keating’s Irish origins from thirty-two counties to one townland, I decided to look for the Irish vital records.

Margaret, daughter of David Keating, a carpenter of Rockhill, and Ellen Keating, formerly Connell, was born 26 May 1896, in Rockhill.

Mr Keating was on the 1910 and 1940 censuses of Baltimore not as “Jim” but as “Timothy D”. We find that Timothy, son of David Keating, a carpenter of Rockhill and Ellen Keating, formerly Connell, was born 24 July 1874, also in Rockhill.

Though I didn’t find the birth for their sister Catherine, later of Lawrence, Massachusetts, she was not completely missing from the Irish records. The informant for Margaret’s birth was “Katie Keating, sister, present at birth.”

Their parents were married April 29, 1873, by W P Hennessy, a Roman Catholic priest, at the Roman Catholic Chapel of Rock, Union of Kanturk, County of Cork. The witnesses were James Lane and Matt Connell.

The writer of the letter may have been Timothy’s brother Daniel, who was born May 20, 1887. He was also the informant when his father David died, a widower, February 17, 1931. Ellen (O’Connell) Keating had died January 23, 1927. Daniel himself passed away on December 12, 1959.

Timothy Keating's likely death

Timothy D Keating, of Baltimore, who received the letter, may have died December 12, 1948. There is an entry for that name and date in the Death Record Index at the Maryland State Archives. The Baltimore Sun of December 15, 1948, carried a notice that the Holy Name Society would assemble on Tuesday the 17th to say the Rosary for him. A copy of the death record would prove our guess right or wrong. There was nothing at findagrave.com that matched this man’s death.

Conclusion

Having the postal cover from Rockchapel, County Cork, definitely helped us trace Timothy’s roots back to the right place in Ireland. Without it we may have overlooked Margaret Keating’s arrival in 1921, since she was headed to Massachusetts, not Maryland.

At least one of Timothy’s daughters, Mary Ellen, married and had children, so hopefully he has descendants out there somewhere who will find this article helpful.

Sources

The family was relatively easy to find at familysearch.org, especially once I started looking for “Timothy D” Keating and not “Jim.” His sister Margaret’s arrival can be found by starting at Steve Morse’s Ellis Island Passengers Gold Form, following the directions, and narrowing the search to 1921.

The only slightly difficult bit of research was locating the possible index reference to Timothy Keating’s death at the Maryland State Archives. Googling for “Timothy Keating, Baltimore, 1948” located the OCR version of the Baltimore Sun, December 15, 1948, page 25.

Lastly, the Irish civil records, despite what the link says, are at: Irish civil records.

Credits

The image of the postal cover is used by permission of the owner of PHILGEN: Philatelic Genealogy. To see it there, click on Search Database in the left column and enter “Keating” in the search box. The image originally appeared at the Jim Forte Postal History site. I am not connected with either site.