My Old Ohio Home - McCartan

Bridget McCartan—Kilkeel to Cleveland

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

As mentioned in her husband's article, John Mcavoy—Rostrevor to Cleveland, I was pretty sure that Bridget McCartan was from the Rostrevor - Kilkeel area of County Down, but I couldn't prove it using only her records. What made the difference in her case was her death notice. It called her the aunt of Michael White and the late Thomas Fearon. That clinched it as far as the locality was concerned, but I had to work backward from Michael and Thomas to finally find everyone in Ireland. More on that in a minute.

When John McAvoy died in 1916, Bridget must have moved in with her sister Mary McCartan at 8801 Walker Avenue. They are there on the 1920 Census. But by 1921 when Bridget married Michael Downs, she was back at 9536 Meech Avenue. The landlord must have liked her as a tenant.

Michael had three children remaining from his first marriage to Bessie Perdew in Youngstown: Beatrice, Paul, and William. His first child Amy, named after Bessie's maternal grandmother, died in 1910, and Bessie herself died in Youngstown in January 1919. (For more information about Michael's son Paul see Paul Downs, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland.)

Michael and Bridget Downs remained on Meech, Michael dying there in 1936, and Bridget still there with her stepsons in 1940. By 1945 she was back again with her sister Mary on Walker Avenue, when Mary died. Bridget herself died at that address in 1958. She and Michael Downs had no children together.

Michael White

I don't remember exactly how I went about researching Michael White. He was living at 9536 Meech Avenue, the home of his aunt Bridget (McCartan) Mcavoy Sands, when he married Agnes McIntyre in 1939. His death notice mentioned that he was the cousin of Thomas Ferron and Bridget's step-children. Neither gave me his parents' names, though, or his exact place of birth. I think at that point I just went for broke and looked for him in the Kilkeel birth register.

And he was there, born June 17, 1909, in Lisnacree, the son of Thomas White and Maggie McAlinden. Neither was named McCartan, though, so how could Michael be Bridget's nephew? I went back another generation and found that Thomas White was the son of Michael White and Rose McCartan. Rose, Bridget, and four siblings are on the baptism records in Kilkeel parish. So Bridget was technically the great aunt of Michael, not his aunt. Michael White died in 1964; he and Agnes McIntyre had no children.

Thomas Fearon

What about Thomas Fearon, who was also mentioned as Bridget McCartan's nephew? If you are still with me, here goes. Michael White's father Thomas had a sister named Catherine. Catherine married John Fearon in Newry on September 28, 1893. They had a number of children including Thomas, born June 4, 1899, who came to Cleveland and married Mary Driscoll. Thomas died in 1957; he and Mary had at least one child, a daughter.

As a bonus, the research helped clear up the four Patrick Fearons in Kilbroney on Griffith's Valuation. Thomas' father John was living in Ballinran Townland in 1901 and had a sister Bessie and an aunt Mary McGivern in his household. Working backward it turned out that John was the youngest son of Patrick Fearon and Bridget McGivern of Ballinran. Three of his brothers, William, Thomas and Daniel left for Cleveland and John took over the family's land when his mother died in 1891. See Thomas, William, and Daniel Feran—Killowen to Cleveland.

Sources and details for all these families are in the Trees > Ohio Families section of this site.

John Mcavoy—Rostrevor to Cleveland

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

While I was working on Bernice Hurley, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland, I came across John and Bridget (McCartan) Mcavoy living on Elmo Street, Cleveland, in 1900. Both of their mother's maiden names were Sloan. With surnames like those going for them, they almost had to be from the Rostrevor - Kilkeel area of County Down. It took a little while but I was able to trace them back there. I'll discuss John in this article.

John and Bridget were married November 9, 1897, in Cleveland, most likely at St Agnes Church. As mentioned, in 1900 they were at 2455 Elmo, Ward 26 of Cleveland, in 1900. They moved to 9536 Meech Avenue by 1916. John was hit by a train on July 7 of that year and died at the age of 54. Bridget remained at that address for most of her life. They had no children.

John's death certificate listed both his parents: Patrick Mcavoy and Elizabeth Sloan. With that information I went to familysearch.org and looked for other people with those parents. I found his sisters Elizabeth, Margaret, and Mary in Cleveland, and brothers Peter and Daniel on the Irish birth registers. The Cleveland death notices mentioned another sister, Rose.

Elizabeth's death certificate said she had been born in "West River" Ireland. Since there isn't any such place, and since I was already leaning toward South Down as their place of origin, I figured the informant–another Elizabeth Mcavoy, by the way–meant to say Rostrevor.

From there I went to the Irish civil and parish records and found most of the family, except for John himself. His parents Patrick and Elizabeth are on the 1901 Census of Rostrevor with daughter Rose still in the household. And Patrick Sr.'s death record named another daughter, Sarah Sloan, who provided his information.

Someday I might write an article about all the men in Newburgh who died being hit by a train. John Mcavoy is the fourth I have found. But for now, we will go next to his wife, Bridget McCartan—Kilkeel to Cleveland.

Sources and details for John Mcavoy's family are in the Trees > Ohio Families section of this site.

Paul Downs, 1922, Newburgh, Cleveland

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

Paul Downs,
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 man from our left in the second last row as Paul Downs. There was a Paul Downs living in the area, described below, who is probably him.

Paul Downs was born October 7, 1912, most likely in Youngstown, Ohio, the son of Michael Downs and Mary Elizabeth "Bessie" Perdew. Paul's mother died in January 1919 of influenza–probably the Spanish influenza outbreak–and his father moved to Cleveland with his three remaining children—Beatrice, Paul, and William. His oldest daughter, Amy, died as an infant in Youngstown.

Michael Downs re-married in 1921 to Bridget McCartan, a widow with no children. Bridget's first husband, John McEvoy, had died in 1912. The Downs family settled at 9536 Meech Avenue, in the Newburgh section of Cleveland. Paul's father died on Meech Avenue in 1936, but Paul and his brother William were still there in 1940 with their mother Bridget. Their sister, Beatrice had married Louis Ptak about 1928 or so.

Paul was "single, with dependents" when he enlisted in the Army in 1942, and remained single the rest of his life. His death notice in the Cleveland Press of February 3, 1972, mentions his brother and sister as survivors. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery.

Michael Downs

When I write these articles on the members of the 1922 second grade class, I usually try to learn their ancestry as well. I wasn't very successful with the Downs side of the family.

Michael's death record–with his daughter Beatrice Ptak providing the information–said that he was born January 1, 1873, in Warren, Ohio, the son of Thomas Downs and Mary Daley. I found two sisters of Michael who were born in Warren as well, Mary and Celia, and a possible third, Sarah, who was born in Wheeling, West Virginia. The three girls all died in 1872 or 1873, Mary at age 7, Celia at 2, and Sarah at 22. If Sarah is part of this family, then Michael must have been the youngest or nearly youngest child.

But there the trail ended. I couldn't find a trace of Thomas Downs and Mary Dailey in Youngstown or Wheeling except for the death records of their daughters.

The Perdews

Paul Downs' mother, Bessie Perdew, was born most likely in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, about August 1882, the daughter of Urbanus "Vance" Perdew and Elizabeth Keefer. She had two younger brothers Herbert and Charles, and a younger sister Effie.

I did about as well with the Perdew family as I did with Michael Downs' parents, namely not well at all. About the only conclusion I came to was that the Perdews seem to be based in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, which is where Urbanus might have been born. Based on the births of his children and the remarriage of his wife, I figure that he died between 1891 and 1899, probably in Fayette County.

The Keefers

There was a lot more information to be had on the Keefer/Keifer/Kiefer family. Bessie Perdew's mother Elizabeth Keefer was born about August 1859, again probably in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of John Godfrey Keefer and Amy Ann Whipkey. After her husband Vance Perdew died, Elizabeth married William H Channing, a widower. Together they had two children, Sarah and John.

An interesting side point that tied Elizabeth Keefer's records together was a note I found on the "Younkin profiles" page on minerd.com regarding Sarah Channing's marriage. It read:

Edward C. Showman (1902-1974) was born on March 29, 1902 in Springfield Township. On July 5, 1922, at the age of 20, he was united in holy matrimony with 20-year-old Sarah Elizabeth Channing (1902-1984), a native of Springfield Township and the daughter of William Henry and Elizabeth Keefer (Perdew) Channing. Their nuptials were held in Cleveland, Ohio, with a brief announcement published in the Connellsville Daily Courier.(footnote)"Younkin profiles" page on minerd.com

And guess where Sarah Channing said was her residence in Cleveland? 9536 Meech Avenue, the home of the Downs-McCartan family.

This family tree at familysearch.org has a lot of research for Elizabeth Keefer's parents. Rather than just copying it all here, I will refer you to: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LV6B-V42?1=1&spouse=LRSY-RYH.

Conclusion

There is a bit more about the Downs, Perdews, and Keefers in the Trees > OH Families section of this site. For those interested, there is an article about Bridget McCartan here: Bridget McCartan—Kilkeel to Cleveland.