My Old Ohio Home - McGee

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

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

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

John McVeigh was born in County Down, Ireland, about 1813. As we have seen in the article Christina O'Rourke, Killowen to Chicago, John was a widower living in Dunnaval Townland in 1901 with granddaughters Christina and Joanna O'Rourke and a grandson James Doyle.¹ John had been on parcel 38A and 38B in Dunnaval from 1866 onward according to the Valuation Revision Books.²

In his will written June 12, 1904, John leaves a certain amount "for masses to be said or offered from time to time for the repose of the souls of the testator & his wife Mary & their son James." He leaves his property to "my grandson James Doyle (who now lives with me)." According to the indexed summary at the Will Calendars site, John died October 15, 1906, and his grandson received the property March 22, 1907.³ See Will of John McVeigh of Dunnaval Townland, Kilkeel.

This helps us to fill out the family of John McVeigh. We now know for certain that his wife's given name was Mary, and that they had a son named James who died before John. In the earlier articles, we identified two other children of John and Mary, namely Margaret (McVeigh) O'Rourke, the mother of William, Christina, and Joanna; and Selina (McVeigh) Kelly, of Chicago, Christina's aunt.

Can we find any other children for this couple?

For starters, the parents of this James Doyle who inherits John McVeigh's farm could be Jane M'Veigh and John Doyle, both listed in Volume 1, page 715, for 1870 in the Ireland, Civil Registration Marriage Indexes.⁴

There is also Thomas McVeigh born August 19, 1864, in Kilkeel, son of John McVeigh and Mary Magee. And Daniel McVeigh born November 13, 1866, in County Down, son of John McVeigh and Mary (Magee) Mcveigh.⁵

We'll have to stop there. It has been a long way from a single O'Rourke--Farron connection in Cleveland, Ohio, to the McVeighs of Dunnaval Townland. But it illustrates how to use records from both sides of the Atlantic to piece together a family from the documents. And it also shows how much more information is available online now than there was a few years ago when I started researching.

Footnotes

National Archives of Ireland, 1901 Census.
Valuation Revision Book Search, at http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/val12b.htm
Search at Will Calendars, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, at http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/will_calendars.htm. Transcribed on my site at: Will of John McVeigh, of Dunnaval Townland, Kilkeel.
Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958, Volume Number 1, Page Number 715
for Jane M'Veigh:
"Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FYSK-HJ9 : accessed 25 Nov 2013), Jane M'Veigh, 1870; citing vol. 1, p. 715, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101251.
for John Doyle
"Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FYSP-9ZX : accessed 25 Nov 2013), John Doyle, 1870; citing vol. 1, p. 715, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin, Ireland; FHL microfilm 101251.
Ireland, Births and Baptisms, 1620-1911.
For Thomas: FHL Film Number: 101090. search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&new=1&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=angs-g&gsln_x=NP&msfng0=john&msfns0=mcveigh&msmng0=mary&msmns0=mcgee&cpxt=0&catBucket=rstp&uidh=hti&cp=0&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=103570&recoff=25+26+37+38&db=FSIrelandBirth&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1.
For Daniel: FHL Film Number: 101135,
search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&new=1&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=angs-g&gsln_x=NP&msfng0=john&msfns0=mcveigh&msmng0=mary&msmns0=mcgee&cpxt=0&catBucket=rstp&uidh=hti&cp=0&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=112744&recoff=24+25+37+38&db=FSIrelandBirth&indiv=1&ml_rpos=2l Townland, Kilkeel

John McGee, Kilkeel to Cleveland

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

Edited April 3, 2016: see comment below with additional information about John McGee, his ancestry, and family.

John McGee was born October 7, 1875, most likely in Tullyframe Townland, Kilkeel District, County Down, Ireland, the son of James McGee and Mary O'Hare. He was baptized that same day; the record is on the Kilkeel Parish Register. On September 12, 1910, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, he married Susan Brennan. John died January 19, 1953, in Cleveland.

Tullyframe sand quarry

John arrived in Cleveland by 1905. In the next year's city directory he is listed as a laborer living at 4007 E 89th. Like many of the people I have found in the Newburgh neighborhood, he didn't move very far away from where he started. In 1907 and 1908 he was at 9116 Harvard, and in 1909 and 1910 he was rooming in the Edward Rodgers household at 4025 East 89th. His death record listed him as a retired melter at American Steel and Wire.

John made a trip back to Ireland and returned on October 17, 1908 into New York aboard the SS Mauretania. His manifest information gives us his townland and county of origin: It states that he was born in Kilkeel and that his closest relative in Ireland was his mother in Tullyframe.

John's marriage information gives us his parents' names. He is described as a 31 year old laborer, living at 9208 Crane Ave, born in Ireland, the son of James McGee and Mary O'Hare. Neither he nor his wife Susan had been married before. They were apparently married at St. Catherine's church. James J Quinn, a Catholic priest, performed the ceremony; he is listed at 3443 East 93rd in the 1910 Census.That is the address of St. Catherine's.

John and Susan lived at 9208 Crane, 10104 Aetna, and 9916 Aetna before buying a home at 3596 East 106th about 1924. They remained there until they died, John in 1953 and Susan in 1955. They had no children.

John is buried in Calvary Cemetery, and Susan likely is also.

John's death notice said that he was survived by two sisters: Mrs. John Joy and Mrs. Thomas Powers, both of New York City. I couldn't find any more information on John's sisters.

For more information on John's wife, Susan Brennan, see Susan Brennan, Kilfeaghan to Cleveland.

Comments

Dear Ed

I recently came across your website by accident while searching for something else.

I was intrigued by the inclusion of John McGee from Tullyframe in your records as I have been researching my own family background and there is a connection with him. I have learned for the first time that he emigrated and ended his days in Ohio.

Indeed I am astonished by the amount of information you have collected and impressed by the very interesting way it has been presented. As I have been writing my own family history, I appreciate the effort that is required to research past records and I'm sure I share your frustration when gaps cannot be filled.

I don't wish to over-burden you with more information which you may find irrelevant but I can give you some more detail on John's background. My late father was born in the same area although I now live in the small seaside resort of Newcastle, County Down, which is about 20 miles from there.

I have kept the McGee spelling in this information although we use the Magee variation but, as you know, both versions are found in old records as well as Maghee and McGhee.

John's parents James McGee and Mary O'Hare [variants O'Hear, O'Haire or without the O] married in Kilkeel on 7th February 1869 witnessed by Pat Quinn [neighbour presumably] and Hugh O'Hare [Mary's brother probably and most likely to be the same named as sponsor at John's christening]. James's father was Patrick, mother unknown and Mary's father was Neal [or Neil], again mother unknown.

I have found records of 4 children: Catherine [b. 11 Feb 1870], Mary [21 May 1871], Patrick [28 Nov 1872] and John [7 Oct 1875]. With a 3-year gap between the last two it is possible that a fifth child was born.

The family is missing from the 1901 and 1911 Census in Ireland and that was a puzzle to me until I saw your information which would seem to imply that the whole family emigrated to America before 1901, perhaps by way of England. However I have not been able to find evidence of that. On FamilySearch.org I found William E Powers [b. Cincinnati, Ohio] who on 10 Apr 1928 married Rose Simon. His parents were given as Thomas J Powers and Mary McGee, so that might tie in with the Mrs Powers mentioned in John's obituary.

[My note: The mother of this William E Powers consistently says she was born in Ohio. So she is probably not the sister of John Magee who married Susan Brennan in Cleveland.]

As you know, James McGee was born in Tullyframe townland but the small cluster of houses where the McGee family lived had the Gaelic name of Bar an dá Shruth meaning 'top of two rivers'. This was anglicised and my father pronounced it as Bardarough.

The James McGee mentioned above had a first cousin also called James [to avoid confusion!], so they had a common grandfather most likely named Patrick, Thomas or James. This other James [father also James] was my great-grandfather and, strangely, he married two days after his cousin on 9th Feb 1869 to neighbour Kate Trainor [variants Treanor, Traynor] whose father was Bernard. They had 3 children: my grandfather Thomas [1870-1927], John [1872-73] and James, of course, [1874-1950]. This John survived for just over 9 months. There were no more children as Kate died one month after the birth of James.

My grandfather Thomas married Mary McVeigh [variants McVeagh, McVey, McVay] from Tullyframe in 1908 and they had 3 girls and 2 boys in the family including my father, also named Thomas [1914-1973].

We also have family connections with Killowen as Annie - the sister of my grandmother, Mary McVeigh, mentioned above – married Felix O'Rourke [variants Rourke, Rorke, O'Rorke] from Ballintur. Their youngest child – Nellie – reached her 100th birthday in January of this year. You have this family listed on your site. Felix [1872-1950] was the only surviving child of 3; parents were Thomas [1831-1911] and Catherine Sloan [1835-1925] from Tullyframe who married in 1867 witnessed by Thomas Sloan, Ballintur & Alice Sloan [Nicky], Tullyframe. There were 9 children: Mary [1903-?], Thomas [1904-1992], John [1906-? Australia], Kathleen [1908-1965], Peter [1910-1911], James [1911-1977], Annie [1912-1990], Rosaleen [1913-2012] and Nellie already mentioned.

It's a small world, as the saying goes, and in this tiny part of it we are nearly all related somehow if you could research back far enough. As you are aware, the records do not go much beyond 1830 and, as so often happens, we did not make good use of the memories of the older generations while they were alive.

Thomas Magee

Credits

The image from Kilkeel can be found at http://www.geograph.ie/photo/583397 and is copyright Albert Bridge and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Sources

Kilkeel parish registers, Ellis Island manifest, Ohio death record, Cleveland Necrology File, US Censuses. See the Cleveland Families tree for details.

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.

Credits

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.