Home from FGS Conference

Well. . .  I had an absolutely wonderful time at the recently concluded FGS conference.  The sessions were challenging, informative, and available later as a CD or MP3 download in case you couldn't decide between  the options or your notes were too sketchy.  I ordered several.

My first day as I planned was spent at the State Archives. After an initial misstep when I went to the  archives at the Univ. of Illinois, Springfield.  There I discovered that this location contained predominantly local records and that I needed to be at the IRAD located only a few blocks from the convention center.  Trusting my GPS, I headed downtown and navigated the one way streets, even finding a parking spot without circling the block. The problem was that I only had enough change to park for a little over an hour.  My plan was to get change and re-feed the meter.

After walking around the Museum once, a helpful lady noticed the perplexed look on my face and steered me to the Archives in a separate building at the back and to the side. Finally!  I entered, went through security and put my bag in the locker provided.  They allowed me to take my camera in as long as I removed it from the camera bag.

When I told the archivist that I was interested in the Spanish American War records, she let out a big sigh and warned that they were a bit problematic.  She retrieved two rolls - the Muster In and Muster Out.  I started with the Muster Out and she took me to the microfilm reader.  They were organized by regiment and unit - so I thought - and after a bit of going back and forth, I found the first records.  I was looking for my great grandfather, Edward P. Kennelly and his cousin, John W. O'Connor who, conveniently, were both in the 7th Infantry, Company K.  The dilemma was that the regiments and companies were listed on the beginning pages of each section and then not identified on each succeeding page.

When I started on the Muster In film, this problem began to be apparent. I found John W. O'Connor as he was a sergeant and listed at the beginning of the unit, but Edward was nowhere to be found.  The names were arranged alphabetically so I was confused.  I went out to ask for assistance, and it was suggested that I might have the wrong company, but I explained that I found the information in three separate resources including The Adjutant General's Muster Out book that I had accessed through Google Books.  Why, it turned out they had that book, so they pulled it from the shelf, and we verified that Edward was indeed in the 7th Infantry, Company K and they then suggested that maybe the book could guide me to my record.  By this point I had four archivists who were making suggestions and trying to help me. This is when I discovered the problem. The film followed the book exactly then suddenly, the soldiers were completely different.  These soldiers were not listed anywhere in Company K. The pages had become mixed up when placing them on the film and since the regiment and unit are not identified at the top of each page, you might not realize that they are transposed unless you follow the book as I did.  I now realized that I would have to pick through page by page, but at least is was alphabetical so I could skip to the K's. Somewhere in the middle of all this I ran out to move my car to the free parking lot another block over before my time on the parking meter expired.

While I was picking my way through the film, one of the archivists came in to tell me that they had retrieved the original book for me to look through.  At first, I didn't comprehend this, then when I saw him with the book, my mouth dropped open.  It was a VERY long book.  I couldn't believe it when they put it on the table and told me that I could look through and find my records.  As I carefully paged through, I realized what a privilege this was.  It did not take long to find my great grandfather.

On May 8, 1898 Ed P. Kennelly was 5'71/2" - let's not forget the half - with ruddy complexion,  blue eyes, light hair and earned his living as a butcher.

 

He lived at 439 Carroll Ave. with his mother Mrs. Margaret Logan and mercifully had no physical defects to be listed for posterity to read.  I found it interesting that his signature looks so similar to his son, my grandfather's signature.  Could handwriting be an inherited trait?

I was allowed to take these photos, and when I hesitantly asked if it was possible to get a copy, they told me it was.  It would just take two of them to hold the book.  Each page took three copies to get it all in. I am so grateful to the archivists for all of their help.  Seeing the original record was a wonderful experience.

With my primary objective met, I decided I still had enough time to look up two death certificates before they closed at 4:00.  Once I had those, I headed for the convention center.  The vendor mall was open until 8:00 and Susan from Nolichucky Roots  and I had made tentative plans to meet for dinner then go to the Geneabloggers meet-up together.

Tombstone Tuesday. . . John W. O'Connor. . . I think we might be related.

John W. O'Connor

Sgt. 7th Illinois Infantry

October 20, 1910

Calvary Cemetery, Evanston, Illinois

Long before I read the suggestion of other bloggers that you should photograph the headstones around your relative's, I found that I naturally look around at all of the cemetery neighbors of my ancestors.  I admire the style of their markers. I read their names and dates of birth and death. I read about their religious beliefs or military service.  That is why, this headstone grabbed my attention.  As you can see, I even had the caretaker dig around the stone that was being overtaken by grass for a better photo. His headstone is located a few steps away in the block of graves next to my aunt, Margel Kennelly, and gr-gr-grandmother, Margret Kennelly Logan.  I wrote about this adventure here. But what drew me in? What made me care enough to clear the grass for the photo?  It was the name O'Connor.  My gr-gr-grandmother's maiden name was O'Connor. Of course, I knew this could be a coincidence.  After all, Irish names in Chicago are as numerous as the blades of grass at the cemetery.  But just take a photo and check on it later, I told myself.

I assumed from the date that he was possibly in the Spanish American War so my first visit was to the online Illinois Archives database of Spanish-American War veterans . Well, I'll be gosh darned, there he is.  My great grandfather was a veteran of the Spanish-American War, so next I needed to check his files to see what unit he was in. . . Amazing, it was the same unit.  The coincidences are now mounting, but I still needed to sort out the relationships.  After all, what is the chance that a soldier with the same name as my gr-gr-grandmother, and in the same unit as her son, my great grandfather would be buried  next to her? He is buried with his father William (d. 12 Dec 1908 and his mother, Catherine (d. 13 Jan 1919) who survived him.


His death certificate was available on the Family Search website so from this I found out that he died at age thirty-one of tuberculosis.  He was never married , and he was in a hospital in Arizona when he died. I wonder why he was in Arizona?  His mother gave the information for the death certificate and so I learn that her maiden name was Morris.  Will this help me prove or disprove his relationship to my ancestors?  He was a very young man, younger than my grandfather,  to be made a sergeant. What skills or accomplishments did he have to recommend him for this elevated rank? Oh wait. . . I forgot this was Chicago. He might have had "connections".

Later when I was searching for information about my great grandfather, Edward P. Kennelly's war service, I found the Adjutant General's muster out rolls for Illinois volunteers 1898 &; 1899 on another of my favorite resources - Google Books.  Naturally, I looked up John W. O'Connor also.  According to the muster out rolls he was mustered in as a sergeant in April 1898 and reduced to a private June 1 per paragraph no. 1, per S.O. (standing order?) no.10." then July 1 appointed sergeant from private per SO no. 21 and then sick to quarters by July 31. Something tells me there is a story between standing order numbers 10 and 21. On Aug. 1 he was transferred to a hospital where he was on sick leave.  When he mustered out, he was overpaid by .90 and the record shows that he still owed the government seventy-three cents.  But. . . did he contract tuberculosis during his military service? 

So next  time you find yourself wandering around the tombstones, look for familiar names and click a few extra photos for later research.  Thank goodness for digital photographs because I take a lot of photos.

This could still be a coincidence.  John's last name, the location of his grave next to my gr-gr grandmother's, and his military service in the same unit as my grandfather might be stacked together by the fates to mislead me.  But for the present, I think of him as family.