Friday, November 6, 2020

Different Language

(This post is part of a genealogy 'challenge' by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow, to write about one's family history: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. This week's challenge is "Different Language.")

My dad's mother, Bridget ("Bea") Harrington [McLaughlin], was born and raised in Ireland, in Glann in the Parish of Kilmovee, County Mayo. She was the third of seven children. Below is a map of Ireland, with County Mayo (from Wikimedia Commons) in green. My Grandma Bea lived in the eastern part of the County, not near the Atlantic Ocean. Her family were farmers.


She was born on March 1, 1902. Here's the family house. This picture of the home was taken some time in the late 1930s. It had TWO rooms. In the 1901 cenus, before she was born, her maternal grandmother is recorded as the head of family there. Her parents lived there as well as her two oldest siblings; Grandma Bea wasn't born yet. There were some other outbuildings on the farm, too. However, by the 1911 census....

...ten people were living there! Her parents, six children, AND both grandmothers, Mary Harrington, age 73, and Mary McGuinn, age 78. Can you imagine? Ten people in a two room house? Oh my! Here's a layout map of the house and grounds of the Harrington property from one of my Harrington cousins in the UK.


Below are pictures of my Grandma Bea's mother, Hanoria (McGuinn) Harrington, taken in the late 1930s.

On both the 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses, the grandmothers are recorded as speaking Irish and English. Also my grandmother's father, Patrick Harrington is recorded that way, too. Grandma Bea said the only thing she really remembered in Irish was, "Shut the door." I thought that was such a funny thing to remember! But old people get chilly easily, and I guess with six children in the house, they were frequently having to tell the children to keep the door shut! My Grandma must have heard it so much it's what she remembered in her older years. 

Here are images of the family the 1901 and 1911 censuses, from census.nationalarchives.ie



More to come about Grandma at a future date...








Saturday, September 5, 2020

Maria Margaret "Peggy" Kilgariff McLaughlin


 Maria Margaret "Peggy" Kilgariff McLaughlin

My Mom's Early Years 

My mom was born in Brooklyn, NY. She was born in the Methodist Episcopal Hospital. (As was my dad, myself, and two other of my siblings!)

(From Hometalk the Star, Brooklyn, Fri., 24 Aug 1928, pg 14; from  Newspapers.com va Ancestry)

(Photo in the possession of author; professional photo by Valeche, Brooklyn  

Her mom, Margaret "Pearl" Charles McCann, was born to Irish immigrants, but her dad, John Francis Kilgariff, was born in Ireland and came to American in 1920. Her parents were older. Her mother was 42, her father 38. She had no siblings. She lived in a 4-story brownstone at 91 Fourth Avenue, on the edge of Park Slope, Brooklyn:

(Courtesey NYC Municipal Archives)(via 1940s.nyc)

Her aunt and uncle and five children lived on the bottom two floors. Her grandparents lived on a floor. I think she and her parents lived on the top floor.
The view from the backyard. You can see the fences separating yards.

She and her family attended St. Augustine Church in Park Slope at 116 Sixth Avenue. She was baptized there, went to elementary school there, confirmed there, and was married there. 

(From http://www.nycago.org/Organs/Bkln/html/StAugustineRC.html)

Notice my grandmother's gray hair! She was 42 when my mom was born. And my mom has no hair (just like we kids did and my children, too)

In front of the house on Fourth Avenue. I love my grandmother's coat (raccoon?) and flapper hat.


Toddling on Fourth Avenue, below. Further below, mom with her tricycle by the steps outside her house.


Elementary school picture, but I don't know what grade. About 2nd? 3rd? 


(Family snapshots in the possession of the author)


Saturday, July 4, 2020

Sisters in Telegraph Service

Sisters in Telegraph Service

This blogpost is part of the challenge of Amy Johnson Crow, genealogist's "52 Ancestors, 52 Weeks." I post sporadically. The prompt was "service."

My grandmother, Margaret ("Pearl") Charles McCann Kilgariff, and her sister, Mary ("Minnie" and later, "Mamie") Catherine McCann Holzmann were just under 
3 & 1/2 years apart. 

Aunt Mamie was the first child of Joseph McCann and Catherine Sherlock. She was born in Belfast, Ireland, on 4 August 1882. Her baptismal certificate:

 Mary "Mamie" Holzmann McCann's birth certificate
Image of certificate rec'd from her daughter, Gerry Holzmann Cassidy

The family emigrated to America in that same year; specifically, to New York City.

Then my grandmother was born, on 11 December 1885. Or, possibly the 12th. See the note she wrote on the side of her birth certificate:

Margaret Charles McCann birth cert
Certificate in the possession of myself, Carol Neilson, granddaughter

Here is a family photo of the two sisters together when they were young. I would guesstimate about the age of 7-10? Maybe younger? It's not the best because it's a photo of a picture on fabric in a frame. The photo on frabric is, we think, from the late 1800s. It's in a fragile state. My grandmother is on the right. Aunt Mamie is on the left.

(Framed photo in the possession of Joan McLaughlin, 
granddaughter of Margaret)

Both sisters went to work after eighth grade, and eventually ended up as telegraph operators for Western Union. One thing they got to do was work at the Jersey shore, operating the telegraph offices in the hotels. They would send out messages for customers, and pass on messages they received. They also had to write important incoming news on a chalkboard outside the telegraph office. Aunt Mamie was working when she received the news that President McKinley had been shot, on September 6, 1901. 


This is a picture of my grandma, looking very much in fashion of the late 1800s-early 1900s. This is they style of clothing Margaret and Mary would have worn around 1901.

(Photo in the possession of myself, Carol Neilson, granddaughter)

In later years Margaret moved into other departments at Western Union. Her sister, Mamie, stopped working after she married and had children. However, she still knew her Morse code. When one of her sons was learning Morse code and would practice in front of her she would correct him when he made an error.


SOLO

SOLO

Some of my posts have been part of Amy Johnson Crow's genealogy challenge: 52 weeks, 52 ancestors. I participate lightly. This week's challenge is "solo" and here's my family connection to that word.

My mother, Margaret "Peggy" (Kilgariff) McLaughlin took flying lessons after high school! She was living in Brooklyn, NY, at the time and the lessons were taken at Donovan-Hughes Airport in Staten Island, which no longer exists. Below is a map of where the airport was on Staten Island. It's about dead center on the map.

Map image from http://www.airfields-freeman.com/NY/Airfields_NY_NY_StatenI.htm

On September 28, 1948, she soloed! I don't know what newspaper this is from. 


Below is her pilot's license, front and back. 



Funny thing about my mom, she didn't like to fly (although she would). She said she was fine if she were the pilot, but not as a passenger.

As a pilot she also had to have a medical certification, like a clearance, to make sure she was medically fit to fly a plane:


These pictures aren't of her when she soloed, but within a couple of years of it.


When I was in high school I wore her pilot's jacket regularly. I wish I had taken a picture of it. It was taupe on the outside, and red on the inside. It zippered up the front, and had an elasticized waist. It came to the hips.

My parents met because of their love of flying. Dad (John McLaughlin) was working at the same airport to pay for lessons at the same time my mother was taking her lessons. I don't know when he soloed. When we were kids he took up flying again and got his license back. I flew with him at least once, over the New York area!


(All documents and photos are in my possession, except for the first image.)

Saturday, April 18, 2020

The American Dream

The American Dream
Great Grandpa Joseph McCann, January 1859-1 March 1950

Great Grandpa Joseph McCann was born in Ireland, emigrated to America, and lived the American dream. This picture above, was taken after retirement, in about 1933. But let's go back to the beginning of his story.

Joseph was born to Susan McIlvenna and Neal McCann in the Toomebridge area of County Antrim, Ireland in approximately January 1859. Below is his baptism, recorded in the Catholic church of his area (now called Sacred Heart Church, in Cargin). The last name is given as M'Ann. His mother's maiden name says M'Kenna. Sponsors were John & Charlotte M'Neill. These were most likely his mother's relatives.
From Ancestry.com

He had 7 siblings that I have found: John, Maria, Catherine, Charles, Elizabeth, Daniel, and Jane.

I don't know much about the family's life in Ireland. Family lore says the government took the 'family' home on Lough Neagh from them, but...? And although we have this photo of the house there, I don't have any information on the true circumstances of the family living there. Did they themselves live there? Did other relatives live there? I don't know. It's at Doss Point on Lough Neagh. My grandmother took this photo of it in the late 1930s when she visited Northern Ireland. No one in our family was living there at that time.
Taken by Margaret McCann Kilgariff, circa 1935, Co. Antrim, No. Ireland

Joseph came to America in February of 1881 according to the Oath of Citizenship he signed in 1887. I haven't been able to find any information on his coming to America. 


From Ancestry.com
But then in September of 1881 he was back in Ireland, getting married! He married Catherine Sherlock in Belfast, Ireland on 15 September 1881 in St. Matthew's Catholic Church. Their witnesses were Catherine's brother John and Nellie Donnelly, John's future wife.
From St. Matthew's Catholic Church, Belfast, Northern Ireland

I believe these are their wedding photos. These are photos of tin types.

Joseph had a trade, carpentry. It was listed on his civil marriage registration. Specifically, he was a joiner. That is someone who builds cabinetry that is affixed to walls, usually. I don't know where or how he learned this trade. As a result, though, when he came to America, he was in carpenter's union and worked predominantly for Western Union.

When the family of three settled in America--their first child, Mary was born in Belfast--they were living in the southern part of Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan. Three addresses found where they lived were 315 W. 35th Street, 456 W. 35th Street, and 565 W. 37th Street. Their first son, Neil, born in 1884, and second daughter Margaret, born in 1885, were born when they lived in this area. By the time their son Charles was born in December 1892, they were living in northern Manhattan, in Harlem at 302 W. 118th Street. The image below is from 1920, but it shows about the type of structure the McCanns would have been living in in Hell's Kitchen. These addresses are 327, 325-321 & 319 W. 35th St. 

from oldnyc.org/#712249f-a accessed 4/18/2020

In 1899 Joseph was able to buy a brownstone in Brooklyn, and the family had moved to 91 4th Ave., in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn. They lived on one floor, the other three floors were rented out.

By 1912, Joseph had prospered enough that he was able to buy land to build a summer home in Lindenhurst, on Long Island, NY, for $200. In 1913 he had a house and boathouse erected. 

From the South Side Signal, 9 May 1913, pg 8, from https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/ accessed 4/18/2020 

His tale certainly is one of the American dream. To top it off, he was brought out of retirement to build the cabinetry of Western Union's offices in the Empire State Building! Here is a write up of him from their employee magazine mentioning his work on the Empire State Building.
 Copy rec'd from Geraldine Holzmann Cassidy, granddaughter of Neil McCann
from Western Union employee magazine




Saturday, February 1, 2020

So Far Away


This is my grand uncle, Henry Kilgariff, my maternal grandfather's older brother. He died in WWI and is buried in France, so far away from home...


Henry was born in Dromore, Tyrone, (Northern) Ireland (as was my grandfather). His father was a "draper" which is a person who sells cloth and dried goods.

He had four older siblings (Mary Anne, Patrick, Francis, Joseph) when he was born, and would see seven born after him (Winifred, Dominick, Margaret, Bridget, Elizabeth, Peter, and my grandfather, John, the youngest).

Henry was about 16 when my grandfather was born in 1890. By 1901, Henry had emigrated to Glasgow, Scotland. I don't know when Henry emigrated there. Perhaps when he was 18, in 1898?
If so, he and my grandfather wouldn't have known each other very long.

I found Henry in the 1901 Census of Scotland, living in a boarding home, and working as a spirit shopman in Glasgow.


By the 1911 Census however, he was in the British Army, and was serving with the Royal Irish Rifles, stationed on Andaman Island  (850 miles east of India, in the Indian Ocean). His occupation was mortarman. He wasn't married. Another document said he'd enlisted nine years before WWI (which was 1914 for Europe), so he enlisted around 1905 or 1906.


I don't know what battles Henry may have participated in, if any, previous to his death, but he died on April 28, 1916 from wounds received from incoming. His unit was in the area of Souchez, trenches Q89-92.  He died in Casualty Clearing Station 30, in the area of Vimy Ridge in France, though that famous battle was fought a year later. The yellow box near Arras is the approximate location of where he was killed.




He is buried in Aubigny Communal Cemetery Extension, near Arras, France. It's southeast of Calais, near the Belgian border. It's not a very large cemetery, as you can see from the map. Some day I hope to visit.


 A Northern Ireland newspaper printed a tribute to local fallen servicemen. Henry is listed in this one.

He had made out his will in 1915, leaving all effects to his mother, Mary (Mannion) Kilgariff.





When I was researching about Uncle Henry, I found a website online that lists WW1 memorials in Europe. Dromore, the town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, where Henry was born, had one. He is listed on it.


Rest in Peace, Uncle Henry. 














Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Another Favorite Photo


This is another neat photo in the family. I love the outfits from this era! This photo was taken in 1910 according to the postmark on the card. Since there are palm trees in the back, this must have been taken in a studio. New York doesn't have palm trees. So I assume the car in the background is also a photo backdrop.

My grandmother, Margaret "Pearl" McCann [Kilgariff] (b. 1885) is on the right. On the left is her maternal aunt, Mary "Minnie" Sherlock (b. 1876), and her husband, Michael James "Jim" McCann (b. 1870) is in the middle. They were visiting from Belfast, Ireland.  Minnie is the sister of Teenie, who was in the photo in the previous post.

Minnie and Jim were married in St. Brigid's R.C. Church, in Belfast in 1898. They had a dispensation to be married, but I do not know why. For those who don't know, a dispensation means they had to get special permission from the bishop of their diocese to marry. There may have been some problem such as Jim wasn't Catholic. Or they were related in some way. In the Catholic church you can't marry a first cousin, for instance, without a dispensation.

Minnie's sister Christine "Teenie" was a witness to the marriage, as was Jim's  brother, Daniel McCann. My grandmother's father was from Belfast, but I don't know if this Daniel McCann and my grandmother were related in any way.

Jim passed away in Belfast in 1933. Minnie passed away in Belfast in 1961. They didn't have any children.

Grandpa John Kilgariff in WWI

  John Francis Kilgariff 14 August 1890 – 25 July 1955 My maternal grandfather enlisted and served in WW1 with the Royal Irish Rifles an...