Thursday's Leftovers

Most nights at my house we have leftovers from the evening meal. These leftovers are occasionally packed  for my lunch at school the next day.  It's very handy that my classroom has a refrigerator, six stoves, a dishwasher and at least enough dishes, glasses and mugs for 60 people. When my granddaughter lived with us we never knew how many of her friends would just hang around and stay for dinner.  Her father was working nights and so he would also come home from work and search the refrigerator looking for the dinner leftovers to reheat.  Occasionally, we planned a extra amount with the intent to have it for two nights - like chili.  I can't even imagine trying to make just exactly the right amount. And every now and then, if the stars were in alignment as I was trying to decide what to make for dinner, I would open the refrigerator and notice that we still had leftovers from the previous few nights.  All together this amounted to a considerable pile of food. Hmmmm. . . Well, if I warmed it all up, I would have an easy dinner, I would exercise my frugality gene, and clean the refrigerator all at the same time.

So today's blog post is like my leftovers. A few little bits that I forgot to mention in a previous post, or a thought that  floated through my brain but didn't relate to what I was writing at the time.  I refer you here to my previously admitted disorganized tendencies.  I have started several posts and left them in the title and first sentence stage thinking that I would get back to them, but they are still sitting in my que waiting for my return.  I haven't lost the idea, just the enthusiasm to write about them for the moment.  So today is about tidbits put together to make a proper post.

First, I have to admit that I check my stats.  Silly isn't it?  Did I have two page views or five? Where in the world did they originate?  Really - Latvia and Slovenia??  It blows my mind that anyone finds me. After all, I rather enjoy my anonymity. It's seems easier to write that way, and it certainly means there is no pressure to post on any type of regular schedule.  This brings me to my dilemma.  I like the feeling of my blog the way it is.   It's comfortable and reasonably private.  But . . . I loved when a Guilfoil cousin found me and told me about a whole other connection that was previously unknown.  I would love to hear from someone in my mother's graduating class, but I know that probably won't happen if I stay in my secluded little corner of the internet.  Many of the blogs I've read push increasing your followers, joining social networks, and spreading a wide net to make a lot of connections. I find this uncomfortable.  Facebook gives me the creeps. Yet . . . I get a thrill when someone comments on one of my posts.  I get a kick out of reading my mini-stats.  How can I stay the same yet make some connections?  Where is that blissful middle?  I don't want to ruin what I find so fulfilling.

The Dunbrody Famine Ship I visited in Ireland

 My last blog post was about my search for my gr.gr.grandfather, Owen William McDonnell's roots in Ireland.  As I read the post again, I realized that I made it sound like this was just one visit to the Irish History Foundation's website.  Not true, that post was a distillation of a multitude of visits and searches for information in Ireland. The Cork Ireland GenWeb site gives the traditional naming patterns for Irish families and so the possibility of Julia Cunningham as the mother of Owen McDonnell  is one that needs much more research.  I wish I really understood Excel since I think a grid of information my help me sort out the dates, names and parishes.  I was reading the blog On a flesh and bone foundation  and she echoed my thoughts on the Irish History Foundation -  expensive and difficult to narrow down the results. While she gave multiple other ideas for Irish internet research, the links are most helpful for ancestors who are more recent immigrants.  My family all came over during the mid 19th century or earlier with many of them from the Counties Cork and Kerry.  There aren't as many options for this information.  I am listening if you have suggestions, because I keep telling myself that I need to go back to Ireland.


Do you like my new colorful blog?  I love it.  The quilt was made by my gr. grandmother Anna Mae Allen Moldt Shelko.  It was a bit of a wrestle trying to get it on the scanner and trying to scan a place that showed the most pattern.  Then I took it into my photo software and softened the edges.  I could mess with stuff like this forever.  It takes forever because I don't know what I am doing.

Well these aren't many leftovers, but I need to finish this and go to work.  I am a slow blogger, and I "wordsmith" posts to death.  Strange that I still find so many mistakes after I post them.  Originally, this was titled Monday's leftovers, then Tues. and . . . well you get the idea.

On the Trail of Owen McDonnell . . . a.k.a. Anatomy of a Search

My g-g-grandfather's name was Owen McDonnell, Owen  William McDonnell to be exact.  And that is important because in our family there are plenty of Owen McDonnell's.  He was the father of Mary McDonnell Kennelly ,my gr.grandmother, who lived at 2338 W. Washington Blvd. The photo at left is titled "The Three Owens".  It is Owen William, his son, Owen Jerome, and his grandson, Owen James.

May 16, 1921 - Clinton Advertiser

 According to his obituary he was born in Grenagh, Ireland in 1837 and immigrated when he was 18 years of age.  The problem is that his headstone has 1833 chiseled into it.  Which to believe??  Family lore says that he was born a "stone's throw" from Blarney Castle. Hmmmmmm. . . . . . Grenagh is close but not that close to Blarney Castle.  Census records give a mixture of years for his immigration as census records often do.















When did he immigrate to the U.S.?  The Federal census images below show an immigration year of 1852 in 1910 & 1920, but 1849 in the earlier 1900 census.

1900 Federal Census

1910 Federal Census

1920 Federal Census

My dream is to find a record of Owen William's family in Ireland.  I want to know when he came to the United States and on what ship.  I want to know if he came alone or with his three brothers who also lived in Iowa - John, Michael, and Bartholomew. I want, I want, I want. . . . . . . .I know, I know, family historians are never satisfied.

Recently this digital chase has become an obsession.  Some of my answers and more of my questions have come from my research at the Irish Family History Foundation. They only have an index so the information you can access is minimal and to see the full record costs 5 euros (that is $6.97 including a .23 foreign transaction fee for those readers in the U.S.). This means I REALLY need to narrow down the many pages of result to find MY family. The search options at the Irish Family History Foundation are: county, surname, first name, year (with a range), and if you are looking for births there is a place for mother's name and parish.  All of this sounds wonderful, however most of this is information is what I am hoping to find in the record!!  But, move over Sherlock, I'll give it a go.

The 1860 Federal Census for Elk River, Iowa shows Michael, age 34 (b.1826), his wife Ellen, along with John, age 30 (b. 1826) and Bartholomew, age 26 (b. 1834) residing together.  If I presume (I know that isn't a good thing to do, but I have to start somewhere!) that the birth date for my Owen is 1837, then he would be 23 in 1860.  I have not yet found a census record that I am certain is him.  I will use this birth order as a guide in my record checking.

1860 Federal Census for Elk River, Iowa

At the Irish Family History Foundation website, the first thing I do is login and go to the search box.  I select the Birth and Baptism record, check the box for county Cork and enter the date range typing Owen"s first and last name.  Hmmm. . . four hits - not too bad but still expensive.  Then I try Bartholomew since I am hoping that this is a less common name than Michael or John (Warning! Don't use the Irish Sean as it won't work).  I still put in a date range because it seems that exact dates weren't of great importance to my ancestors.  I used 3 years.  Two hits, but the date is 1831.  I put in the father's name of  John as the family claims it is.  One hit.  This is great.  Now, let's see if we can identify the parish.  Grenagh is listed in Owen's obituary so let's start there. I choose the Advanced option but  no luck.  There are 90+ parishes and so I begin to try and locate the parish that the one Bartholomew is registered in.  An eternity later - it shows up as Mourne Abbey rather than Grenagh.  I wonder how far apart these are?  Is this a "stone's throw" from Blarney Castle?

View Larger Map

When I check on Google Maps it shows the distance from Mourne Abbey (B) and Grenagh (A) as 8 km. which is very doable.  If I search for Owen in Mourne Abbey will I find him also?  I need to confirm that it is my family.  Did you hear me scream??  There is an Owen born in Mourne Abbey with a father named John between  1829-1839.  But I need to confirm the birth date so I keep changing the birth date with no range and discover that this Owen (I am not yet ready to claim him as mine) was born in 1830.  I feel deflated.  This is so far outside my presumed range that it cannot be correct.  I decide to take a chance that the birth record for Bartholomew will help, so I buy this one record.  

 

So his mother's name was Jula . . . back to the Advanced Search, and I put in Jula for the record for Owen.  Yes!! This is the same family, but is is my family. Both Michael and my Owen William named daughters Julia so this could be confirmation of a family member named Julia - perhaps a mother?   I wish I could see the original records to tell if the dates could be wrong. Now I check to see if this John and Julia had a Michael and John.  Nope!

This is where it gets messy.  What about John and Michael, the two eldest sons? I cannot find records for any parish with a John McDonnell father and a Julia mother for a John and Michael McDonnell. I can find all kinds of variations of this information by mixing and matching, but nothing really lines up.  Did they move?  Family information claims that the father, Sean (John) McDonnell came from County Tipperary.  One interesting bit of information is that in researching the name Julia Cunningham, I found a Julia Cunningham born to a Bartholomew Cunningham . . . . . ahhhhhh!, so plausible, but . . . the search continues.

Saturday Morning before Putting Up Corn

Today, is corn day.  During our recent family research to Clinton, Iowa we saw people sitting in lawnchairs with plastic bags of corn selling  for $3/dozen.   My daughter had already mentioned that we "really should put up corn again"  since it tasted so good. I admitted that it had been a long time, since I had done this, and the best part of her comment was that she also offered to help!  I can't turn down an offer like that, and she is right that it does taste fabulous!  If you have only had frozen corn from the store, you are missing out on one of life's great foods.

This morning I went to my local farmer's market and paid $4/dozen, but the corn looks amazing and is so huge that I will get a lot for my money.  I had scoped out this vendor at last week's market, comparing to other places during the week.  Nothing looked as good, so today I had a plan.  I checked last night to make sure that my daughter was free to help. 

Since I am tied up for the rest of the day, I wanted to write a short post. Geneabloggers, designates today as Surname Saturday.  What surname should I choose. . . . .hmmmm.

Owen William McDonnell & Bridget O'Callahan

Wedding certificate of Owen & Bridget

I have finally decided on O'Callahan. Why?  Because I can use more of my Ireland photos.  Bridget O'Callahan married Owen William McDonnell in 1864 in Whiteside, Illinois.  I wondered why several family members married in Illinois, rather than in their own town of Clinton, Iowa.  When I visited last week, I asked at the Historical Museum.  One woman said, depending on where they lived in Clinton, such as Lyons, it would have been closer to cross the bridge and go to Illinois.  At last a common sense answer.  Look at the location of the photographer in their photograph.

A display at the Cobh Heritage Centre

Family stories, tell me that Bridget immigrated from Cobh, Ireland and that she was a bond servant in Cleveland, Ohio (Edit 8/19: Family photos seem to point to Cinncinnati, Ohio as the location instead of Cleveland, Ohio.) before her marriage to Owen William McDonnell.  They had eleven children and only two of them married.  The unique fact here is that I am biologically related to their son Owen Jerome and his wife due to my grandparent's marriage. My grandfather's uncle, Owen Jerome McDonnell married my grandmother's aunt, Elizabeth Bernette Allen. TaDa!

When in Ireland recently, I visited the Cobh Heritage Centre  hoping to find out a little more about her.  The research available was marginal, but they sent me up the hill (It must have been a million steps) to the city museum.  Now this was asking a lot of my non genealogy interested companion, but she is a good sport and went along. 

She looked around the museum and enjoyed the hand made lace while I pulled book after book off the shelf quickly scanned the many pages of names of those who emigrated from Cobh during the appropriate years.  Sadly, I had no luck.  But luckily she is still my friend.

We then took the train back to her daughter's house in Kinsale. 

I guess these aren't the most picturesque photos of Ireland, but they go along with the blog content so . . . . .

On the Slea Head drive traveling around the Dingle peninsula

I will post just one fabulous photo.  How difficult it must have been to leave this beautiful place.  I need to just spend a few days boring you with beautiful photos of Ireland.  You, of course, can choose to ignore the post, but it will be terribly satisfying for me.  I wish I knew how to do a collage on here.