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 (b. 1884) and second daughter Margaret (b.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 structures 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 was living at 91 4th Ave., in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn. From the 1900 census it looks like they lived on two floor, and rented out the other two floors.

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 

employees magazine

FIRST!

FIRST

     My maternal grandmother lived with us from the time I was ten. Her parents had emigrated from Ireland to the US in the early 1880s. My grandma's husband, who died before I was born, as well as my father's parents, also emigrated to the US from Ireland, but in the 1920s. The FIRST to come was Joseph McCann, my grandma's father. He was born in the civil parish of Duneane in the Union of Balleymena in an area near Toomebridge, in Antrim, Northern Ireland. He was baptized in Sacred Heart Church in Cargin, near Belfast, on 2 January 1859. His parents were Neal McCann and Susan McIlvenna (sometimes recorded as McKenna).
     He emigrated to the U.S. (New York) sometime in 1881 according to his Oath of Citizenship. He ended up back in Ireland later in that year because he was married in Belfast on 15 September 1881 to Catherine "Kate" Sherlock at St. Matthew's Catholic Church, Holywood (pronounced the same as Hollywood in Los Angeles), in the Belfast area. Their witnesses were Rose Anne Neeson and John Sherlock. Kate had a brother John, so I assume it was he who acted as witness.
     He and Kate had four children: Mary Catherine, who was born in Ireland in August 1882 and called May, although I always knew her as Aunt Mamie. The other three children were all born in New York City: a son, Neil, born in April 1884; a daughter Margaret (grandma), called Pearl, in December 1885; and another son Charles, born in December 1892.
     When Joseph FIRST brought his family to New York, they started their life in New York in Hell's Kitchen. They lived in at least two apartments in that area, and later lived in Harlem. By 1900 the family was living in a home he had bought in Park Slope, Brooklyn, at 91 4th Avenue. It was a four story building which still stands today. The building came with a built-in tenant, an immigrant woman from Ireland (no relation). Later on, the bottom floor was rented out to someone who operated a store there and Joseph's married daughters each lived with their families on a floor of their own. Of course, Joseph and Kate lived on one floor. Their son Neil and family lived around the corner early on in their marriage. After their younger son Charles' marriage, he and his family lived across the street and over one block. (Two of his children, now in their 90s, are still living in that house today.)
     On both his marriage record and Oath of Citizenship Joseph gives his occupation as carpenter and that is the occupation he had in New York. He worked mostly for Western Union as a joiner, and was known as 'Mack' at work; a nickname many Irishmen received. A joiner is someone who makes cabinetry that primarily is fixed and not movable. Joseph was a member of the carpenter's union and told his granddaughter Peggy (my mother Maria Margaret Kilgariff McLaughlin) that he took part in the FIRST Labor Day parade in New York City, which was on Tuesday, September 5, 1882. He was brought out of retirement to help build cabinetry for the Western Union offices in the Empire State Building when it was being built. A number of his children and grandchildren worked for Western Union, too, into the 1960s.
     Joseph's success in America led him to be able to buy a summer property in Lindenhurst, Long Island. It came with a screened wooden cottage on stilts, but with the help of his sons and friends, Joseph built a two story house with a cellar and detached garage. It had a grape arbor with a swing underneath. He harvested the grapes to make his own wine. The property was located near a canal that led out to the South Oyster Bay. The house is still there, though totally made over to be a year-round home and is unrecognizable as the small house he built in the 19teens. Joseph sold his property in the late 1940s when he became too old for the upkeep of the place.
     I have found records that indicate that at least twice he and Kate returned to visit family members in the Belfast area. Upon his second visit in 1935 he had erected a monument to his parents and deceased siblings. It stands in the churchyard of Sacred Heart; the same church where he was baptized.
     Joseph passed away on 1 March 1950 in Brooklyn at the age of 91. He is buried in St. John's Catholic Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens, NY, Section 24, Range G, Grave 108. Funeral arrangements were handled by the John E. Duffy Funeral Home, Coney Island. His wife preceded him in death. His funeral mass, and hers, were celebrated at St. Augustine Church on Sixth Avenue in Park Slope.
     Rest in Peace my FIRST immigrant grandparent, Joseph McCann.

Joseph's baptismal register, Sacred Church, Cargin, Antrim, No. Ireland.

Joseph's marriage certificate, St. Matthew's Catholic Church, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

I assume this to be taken around the time of his wedding in 1881.

The monument he had erected to his family in the Sacred Heart Churchyard in Cargin, Antrim, Northern Ireland. This photo is from 1935.

Funeral card for Joseph McCann. The "A" was for Arthur. I have never found evidence for this middle name anywhere, just family lore, but perhaps he liked it and just added it to his name.