COUSINS (52 Ancestors 52 Weeks Challenge)

My mom, Margaret "Peggy" Kilgariff McLaughlin, was an only child. Her parents, Margaret "Pearl" McCann and John Kilgariff, were older. She grew up in a 4-floor three-family home in Brooklyn, NY. She and her parents lived on one floor, her mother's parents, Joseph McCann and Catherine "Kate" Sherlock, lived on another floor, and her mother's sister, Mary "Mamie" McCann Holzmann, her husband, George, and five children lived on the two other floors. 

Her mother's younger brother, Charles McCann and family lived a block away. So, even though my mom was an only child, she had playmates: her cousins. 

The grandparents who lived in the same building as my mom, also had a summer house out in Lindenhurst, on Long Island. My mom's parents both worked when my mom was little, so she would stay with them a lot at that summer house. A lot of the photos of my mom and her cousins are at that summer house. 

My mom is in the front, her first cousin Geraldine "Gerry" Holzmann Cassidy is behind her. Gerry is the daughter of my mom's Aunt Mamie who with her husband and family lived in the same building as my mom, is behind her. I don't know who the other girl is. It may be one of Geraldine's sisters. This photo was taken out on Long Island at one of the beaches near the summer house.

My mom with cousin Gerry again. Gerry was her babysitter. She was eight years older than my mom. Photo taken in the back yard of the summer house.

My mom is on the very right, holding on to the back of the 'rumble' seat. I don't know whose car this is. It might have been her Uncle Charlie's, the father of most of these kids. It might have been her Grandfather Joseph's. The rest of the girls and one of the boys are her first cousins, the McCann kids, children of Uncle Charlie. One of the boys is unknown. These same kids are in the photo below where I have ID-ed them. Photo taken at the summer house.

Standing: my mom, McCann cousins: Catherine, Mary, Charles, Jr., Josephine. Seated: unknown boy, Helen. Photo taken in the front of the summer house.

My mom and her first cousin Josephine McCann. Photo taken at the summer house. 

This picture was taken in Brooklyn. I assume in the backyard of the house my mom lived in. I believe this may be one of her Holzmann cousins, who lived in the same building, but I could be wrong.

Taken in Montreal, Canada. My Grandma Pearl, my mom's friend, my mom, and her cousin (1st cousin, once removed) Kathleen O'Rourke Weiner.

My mom with her cousin. I'm not sure if it's a McCann or a Holzmann...or an O'Rourke!

This is my mom with her doggy and one of her male cousins--a Holzmann, or McCann? O'Rourke? This may be the same cousin in uniform, above. I wish I knew...It was taken in front of her house on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn.

My mom is the dark-haired woman in the blue, her first cousin Virginia McCann Allaire is next to her. Their husbands are 'switched'--Virginia's husband Doug is on the left next to my mom, my dad John McLaughlin is on the right next to Virginia.

My mom's first cousins: Josephine McCann, my mom, Eileen Allaire (Sister Mary Isaac Jogues), Geraldine Holzmann Cassidy, Mary McCann Katan, Helen McCann. These ladies were all in the photos above as children, except for cousin Eileen.
This was probably the last time my mom saw Eileen and Mary. When I would visit my mom we would visit Helen and Josephine in Brooklyn, and Geraldine on Long Island. 

MY MOTHER'S TRAVELS (52 Ancestors 52 Weeks Challenge)

This story challenge is about Travel, and I'm going to write about my mother's childhood travels. She got to travel to Europe, across the US, to Mexico, and Cuba. All on regular working people's salary. How was this possible during the Great Depression? It's going to take a little explaining... 

My mom, "Peggy" [Maria Margaret Kilgariff McLaughlin], was born in 1928. She was an only child and her parents were older. Her mom, my Grandma (Margaret Charles McCann Kilgariff), worked from about age 14. Grandma had married at age 36 and kept working. She had my mom at age 42. I don't know for sure, but I assume she stopped working while pregnant. After my mom was born, Grandma stayed home till Mom was born...kind of.

I need to digress to explain about their living situation before I can explain the "kind of." They lived in a 4-story, multi-family house: Grandma's parents who were immigrants from Ireland (Joseph McCann and Catherine "Kate" Sherlock McCann) owned the house. I think they bought it brand new. They lived on one of the floors, I think the bottom one that you entered under the stairs. Grandma's sister, husband (Mary Catherine "Mamie" McCann Holzmann and George Holzmann), and five kids they lived on two floors. I think the second and third floors.

Here's a photo of the house at 91 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. The house right in the middle is theirs. The top floor windows have awnings. I think that's the floor where my mom and her parents lived. 
 

(NYC.gov/records, NYC tax record images from 1940 for 91 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY)

So now, we can get back to Grandma working till Mom was born. About a year after Mom was born, Grandma, who remember, had worked since she was 14, went back to work! Not back to Manhattan working for Western Union, oh no. She bought a small 'candy store' across the street from where the family lived. The store would have sold newspapers, candy, snacks, cigarettes/cigars, ice cream, soda, and maybe some grocery staples--milk, butter, canned and boxed goods, bread. I don't know much about it, just that she had one and ran it. I don't know if she ran it alone, or had people she employed. She could work because *her* mother and sister were living right across the street, watching my mom. Once my mother was in first grade, Grandma sold the store and went back to work for Western Union in Manhattan. Grandma was a clerk for W.U. Her husband was a fare tender in the subway in Brooklyn.
Below is a photo of a candy store from about the 1940s.

(Photo from Pinterest)

Now think about this. My mom and her family were living in a family-owned house. My mom's parents were both working. They have only one child. It was the depression, but they were set up pretty well. This is how they were able to travel.

 And now, on to the pictures. The first set are from summer 1935 when my mom, her mom, and her parents went to visit Ireland for the 100th(ish) birthday of Patrick Sherlock, my mother's great-grandfather.  [mom-->grandma-->her mom--> her dad Patrick] These were in Northern Ireland.

Top Left: The photo page from my grandmother & mom's passport book. Top Right: Somewhere in Northern Ireland. Bottom right & bottom: In Belfast somewhere. The bottom photo is my mom, her mom, and her mom! Notice my grandmother, in the middle, above, is carrying a movie camera in her right hand. Here is a badly-deteriorated 'video' (it was film) that she took on that Trip to Ireland

Above: Mom and her grandmother in Paris. Below: Mom at a different fountain in Paris

All the photos below, from the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Mexico, were, I believe, all from the same bus trip. Notice how my grandparents are dressed. 

This trip would have been on a bus with NO air conditioning. Can you imagine taking a trip like that in the summer? 

Above & below: My mother at the Grand Canyon, and with her parents. 

Below: At the Lodge at Yellowstone.

Below: In Tijuana Mexico

Below: A 1940 trip to Natural Bridge, Virginia
 

Below: In Cuba, my mom and her dad. It looks like she is wearing the same dress as in Virginia, so perhaps this was a trip down the east coast? And after Florida they flew to Cuba?

I thought I had a couple of photos of a trip to Montreal, Canada, with her mom and a cousin, but I could not find them. At some future point if I find them, I will add here.

All in all, an amazing series of trips for a girl who grew up in the Great Depression. She was a lucky girl. 

The Family "Homestead"

Ok, the title is a bit misleading. My family does not really have a homestead. But during all my growing up years the house my mother grew up in was somewhat of that for me. Not that I ever got to go into it. No, by the time I was of age to remember, the house my mom grew up in was not in the family. 

However, my mom's widowed maternal uncle lived a block away. Two of his daughters lived with him, also his brother-in-law. We visited them regularly. We could step outside and see my mom's house from the front of their house.

I last saw it in 2023 when I was visiting two of the cousins who still lived there. But today, I found out mom's house is gone. Actually, the whole row of houses is gone, from one corner to the other. Here's what the block looks like!

The house was built in 1899. My mom's maternal grandfather most likely bought the house new! He was an immigrant from Ireland. In the 1900 Census my mom's mother, her three siblings (two girls,
two boys), and parents lived there on two floors. People rented out the other two floors. 

(1900 U.S. Census, Ancestry.com)

When my mom was born, she and her mom and dad lived on one floor, and my grandmother's sister with her husband and five kids lived in the two-story unit. My great grandparents lived on one of the other single-unit floors. My grandmother's two brothers, now married, lived nearby. My mom was an only child, but she had lots of cousins in the neighborhood. Here are the relatives in the house in the 1930 census.

(1930 Census, Ancestry.com)

This photo of the house is from the 1940 NYC tax records:

(New York City Tax Records, nyc.gov/records, 1940 for 91 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY)

As I said, above, one block away is a three-story brownstone which my grandma's youngest brother bought in the early 1920s and where his last child still lives! She is in her early 90s. Her sister who had lived in the house with her since being born, passed away last year. They lived in that house all their lives. My mom was an only child and they filled kind of a sibling slot for her. I have always had a love of history, especially family history, thus this blog. When I was in this neighborhood, knowing I was where my family had such roots was always a wonderful thing for me...and now the next time I visit Brooklyn, part of that is gone...

Family Business [52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge]

My mother's paternal grandfather was Patrick Kilgariff (c.1846-1904).  He had his own business having something to do with selling cloth. In various records he is listed as a dealer, draper, cloth dealer, or pedlar (the British spelling). A draper was a retailer or wholesaler of cloth, mainly for clothing. Perhaps he also sold items associated with that such as thread, buttons, ribbons, cording, scissors. I think he may have perhaps been an itinerant dealer?

I think he may have been itinerant for this reason. Traditionally, young people in Ireland in this time would have married other young people from nearby farms or villages, places within walking distance or cart-ride distance. Patrick was from County Mayo, but Mary Mannion was from County Sligo. In the 1850s her family lived in Strandhill, a coastal area west of Sligo town. Patrick and Mary's locations were at least a full day's walk from each other, about a twelve hour walk. So, it's not likely they would have come across each other from their home areas. They certainly could have met if Patrick were an itinerant peddler.

Strandhill, County Sligo to Ballaghadreen, which was in County Mayo in my great grandfather's day, but is now in Country Roscommon.

At any rate, when Mary and Patrick married, their addresses were in the town of Sligo itself.  Of their eleven children, two were born in Sligo (the first and seventh child). The rest of their eleven children were born in County Tyrone, though two different areas of County Tyrone, from 1874 to 1890.

Sligo town, County Sligo, Ireland, Google Maps

From the civil records it seems my great grandfather Patrick could not read or write. He left his "mark" if he was the one reporting the births of his children. It boggles my mind that he could run a business without knowing how to read and write. He must have been able to do some math, at least? However, things did not go well, as you will see further on. Here is his wedding register with his "mark" highlighted. The registrar is a witness to Patrick's mark...but he forgot to write the word "mark," he only wrote the word "his." (Also, interesting--notice his father's last name is spelled Gilgariff)

He is listed as a draper in the Dromore section of the "Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory" for 1892, found on Ancestry.com. This is the town where he and his family lived. Most of his children were born in Dromore, including my grandfather, John, the youngest, in 1890.

Here is a notice of my great-grandfather Patrick going into bankruptcy in 1895. However, here he promises to pay what he owes in three installments rather than actually go through with the bankruptcy.

(The Commercial Gazette, London, pg. 211, 2 Jun 1895. From Newspapers.com)

Here are the people to whom he (apparently?) owed money because this notice was in the same newspaper (or dealer magazine?) on the same day as the above notice.

(The Commercial Gazette, London, pg. 283, 12 Jun 1895. From Newspapers.com)

Coates & Co., is an existing company which makes yarn. Aitken, Campbell, & Co. may have had something to do with textiles as I found an exhibit in a museum from a few years ago which had two pieces of cotton cloth by a company with the same name. I also found online a company by the name of Hamilton & Co., but it seemed to be American-based, not UK-based company, selling women's clothing. I could not find any information about any of the other companies/names. 

On Family Search I found more information which, to be honest, I can't decipher even though it's in English. It's in 'Legalese'. It's a conveyance record, but I'm not sure if my great grandfather is taking out a 99-year lease, or giving one up? This record is in County Tyrone, in 1885, where the family lived at this time, which was five years after my grandfather's birth. If you can figure it out, leave me a comment!

From 1882 to 1896 Patrick was listed (bottom of the page) in the Northern Ireland Valuation Revision Books in Dromore, Tyrone. There's always taxes to be paid.

(Northern Ireland, Valuation Revision Books, 1864-1933, Ancestry.com)

In 1899 and 1900 he is listed as a "dealer" and living at 2 Holmes Street, in the Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory. So the family had left Dromore by then, and were living in Belfast.

In the 1901 Census, below, the family was living on Silvergrove Street in Belfast. Three of the oldest children had emigrated away from Ireland to NYC where they were staying near a maternal aunt. The next three sons had already left for Glasgow, Scotland, even though the family counted two of them as being with them in Belfast! I don't know if the family had any contacts in Glasgow that the brothers may have been with.

(The National Archives of Ireland)

Notice Patrick says he is clothes dealer. I don't know, though, if he was actually still working in the trade. However, in the Lennon-Wylie.co.uk 1901 Belfast/Ulster Street Directory, snip below, Patrick is listed as being a clothing dealer, so maybe he was still working from the home.

At any rate, in 1904 Patrick passed away. I have not found any obituary which might reveal any further information. He was only 58. His civil death registration is below. Cause of death: "Cardiac disease, 1 month." I am thinking it meant he'd had a heart attack and managed to hang on for a month.  

(Irishgenealogy.ie #4584038, entry #493)

 MOST

Of all my grandparents, my maternal grandfather, John Kilgariff, had the most siblings. He was the youngest of twelve! His parents were Patrick Kilgariff (the records have variations on the name), originally of County Mayo, Ireland, and Mary Mannion (Manion, Manning, Manen, Mann, and other variations) of County Sligo. They were married in Sligo town in the Catholic church there, on 28 December 1870. Their marriage record below is from https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/

Photo of Mary Mannion Kilgariff in possession of author

His siblings were:

Mary "Minnie" (1871, County Sligo--1959, NY) [married, 1 child, no offspring]

Patrick James (1874, County Tyrone--1906, NYC) [never married]

Francis (1875, County Tyrone--1908, NYC) [married, 2 children]

Joseph Daniel (1877, County Tyrone--1945, Scotland) [married, 2 children]

Henry (1879, County Tyrone--1916, Flanders) [never married, no heirs, died in WW1]

Winifred (1880, County Tyrone--1965, NYC) [married, 2 children]

Dominick (1882, County Sligo--1961) [married, 5 children]

Margaret Jane (1884, County Tyrone--1904, Belfast, Ireland) [never married, no offspring]

Bridget (1886, County Tyrone--?) [married, 4 children]

Elizabeth (1888, County Tyrone--1957, Belfast, Northern Ireland) [never married, no offspring]

Peter (1889, County Tyrone--1886 County Tyrone) [died in infancy]

AND, finally, my grandfather, born 14 August 1890 in County Tyrone, Ireland [married, 1 child]. The family moved to Belfast at some point in time, and by the 1901 Irish Census, these siblings were still living at home: 

Joseph, Winifred, Dominick, Margaret, Bridget, Elizabeth, and John

Mary, Patrick, and Francis, had already emigrated to New York City, and were living with who they named as an aunt and uncle (James and Margaret Foley), though I have not made a connection as to how that couple is actually related. Henry apparently had already emigrated to Scotland.

In the 1911, their father Patrick was already deceased, and these siblings were still living at home:

Bridget, Elizabeth ("Lizzie"), John      

Bridget married in 1911, and my grandfather emigrated to NYC in 1920, and Elizabeth would have been the only one left at home with her mother. Elizabeth never married, so she would have been with her mother until the end.

By the time my grandfather was an adult, his brothers Joseph, Henry, and Dominick had already emigrated to Scotland and Patrick and Joseph had already emigrated to the USA and died. Once my grandfather emigrated to the USA, he interacted with his sister Winifred, but not with his sister, Mary, who had emigrated to the US when he was a child. Makes a bit of sense being as she was the oldest child, and he was the youngest. She had left home when he was about 6 & 1/2. He didn't really know her. 

The only photos of the siblings that I have are of my grandfather, and his sister Winifred.

                                      John, probably in the 1920s           Winifred in 1953

Both photos held by the author

Lastly, of all these siblings, the only two have descendants who still have the last name Kilgariff: Joseph and Dominick. 

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 and Royal Irish Fusiliers as part of the UK military, 7 August 1914 to 1 August 1919. He was an Irish citizen at the time, living in Belfast with his parents and siblings.

John Francis Kilgariff, Royal Irish Fusiliers (the emblem on his cap).

The chevrons on his right sleeve indicate this photo was probably taken in Egypt towards the end of his service since one chevron = one year of service overseas.

Photo from the private collection of granddaughter Carol McLaughlin Neilson

He served in the War in the Balkans, including service in Gallipoli, and later in Palestine.

                    http://digitalcollections.trentu.ca/exhibits/fowlds/fnum1cdnhosp.htm                           https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/egypt-and-palestine-campaign

My grandfather’s military papers say he volunteered early in the war, with the Irish Rifles. According to my cousin Chris King, they would have been part of the 6th (Service) Battalion which was formed in Dublin in August 1914, and went through these evolutions and battles:

-Unit attached to 29^th Brigade in the 10^th (Irish) Division

-February 1914: moved to the Curragh (a flat, open plain in County Kildare used by the military as a training camp)

-May 1915: moved to Hackwood Park (Basingstoke) in Hampshire, UK, to continue military training

-7 July 1915: embarked at Liverpool and sailed to Gallipoli via Mudros. Mudros was on the island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea (see above).

-29 September 1915: moved to Salonika, arriving 4-5 October.

[-31 October 1916: My grandfather was wounded; recuperated through at least December 1916; perhaps longer.]

-September 1917: moved to Egypt for service in Palestine

-15 May 1918: unit disbanded at Deir-el-Nidham, Palestine

-1 August 1919: Demobilized, transferred to Reserve 

Info from:  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10th_(Irish)_Division#:~:text=It%20included%20battalions%20from%20the,travelled%20of%20the%20Irish%20formations

According to his Casualty Card extract [Fig 1] he was wounded 31 October 1916. No full casualty record is available due to WWII bombings of London. But the casualty card extract does tell the places he went when wounded. I put the events in chronological order and added additional information here to make it more understandable.

31 Oct 1916 - Wounded 31 October Reported by ob Battalion

2 Nov 1916 - Sto abdomen admitted 1^st Canadian Stationary Hospital [on Lemnos, Greece]

(I don’t know why the 2 Nov incident appears before the 31 Oct incident on the card?)

6 Nov 1916 - Transferred to Hospital Ship Braemar Castle 6 November 1916 [Fig 2]                                                        a week later the ship struck a mine in the Aegean Sea  

11 Nov 1916 - Sto R Thigh Admitted Admiral Baviere Military Hospital, Malta [Fig 3]

18 Dec 1916 - G Sto R Thigh transferred to Convalescent Camp Ghain Tuffieha, Malta [Fig 4]

Fig 1 - John Kilgariff's Casualty Card. From Ancestry.com

This First Aid wagon is the type of vehicle my grandfather would have been placed in to be transported               from the battlefield to the field hospital, then to the ship that took him to Malta.

This photo of my grandfather (x) and his fellow soldiers would have been taken 

when he was convalescing on Malta. 

Photo in the private collection of Carol McLaughlin Neilson, granddaughter. 

Fig 2 – the Braemar Castle as a hospital ship - https://bandcstaffregister.com/page197.html - accessed 16Mar2023

This is the ship that transported my wounded grandfather to the island of Malta, to recuperate. A week later this ship struck a mine and exploded.

Fig 3 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auberge_de_Bavi%C3%A8re accessed 16Mar2023

The hospital where he recuperated, on the east side of Malta (blue pinpoint).

                                 FIG 5­­­4- http://www.maltaramc.com/imgmaps/mltahosp1915.jpg accessed 17Mar2023

Convalescent Camp Ghain Tuffieha on Malta, location circled in yellow, where he went to convalesce.

In 1917 his unit moved to Palestine for service in that region. At one point during his time in Palestine, he participated in celebrating the Feast Assumption of Our Lady on 15 August 1918. He saved a pamphlet of it, below.

     ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~

Release from the military 1 August 1919. Certificate from ancestry.com

As a result of his service in the military he was awarded three medals, shown on the next page.

 British War Medal -for all who served overseas

Front: shows the King George V, bareheaded coinage effigy, facing left, with the legend: 

GEORGIVS V BRITT : OMN : REX ET IND : IMP :

Reverse: there is a horseman, St. George, armed with a short sword (an allegory of the physical and mental strength which achieves victory over Prussianism). The horse tramples on the Prussian shield and the skull and cross-bones. Off-center, near the right upper rim, is the sun of Victory. The dates 1914 and 1918 appear in the left and right fields respectively. 

        

    

        British Victory Medal                                                                             British 1915 Star                                                                                                                              For all who served in a theater of war                                                                                                                            before 1914

For further information on the Irish in WW1 in the Balkans: 

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-irishman-s-diary-on-the-10th-irish-division-and-salonika-1.2457673

For further information on the 6^th (Service) Battalion:

https://www.nickmetcalfe.co.uk/the-evolution-of-the-regular-and-service-battalions-of-princess-victorias-royal-irish-fusiliers-1914-1918-part-4-the-5th-6th-5th6th-11th-service-battalions/ 

For further information on the 10th (Irish) Division in WWI: 

https://archive.org/details/tenthirishdivisi00cooprich

for further information on experiences of British soldiers in Egypt and Palestine:
http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/68411/1/23.pdf.pdf