Finding the 1940 Kennelly Family Home

Let me first explain that I have an aversion to facebook.  Maybe it is because I am too old ,but it has always seemed so confusing and is always changing.  Oh gee, that really did sound like an old lady statement!  Several years ago, I jumped on the facebook bandwagon and accidently  offended a good friend.  I didn't realize that the email I received was just a copy of a post on my facebook wall and that my response (whch I thought was private) would also go on my facebook wall.  After that, I closed and blocked everything I could.  But . . . time went by and organizations that interest me used facebook to send messages to members.  My son and his wife post their vacation photos on facebook to share with friends and family.  And so I am a reluctant and infrequent facebook user.

Then about a year ago, I took the bold step of joining a facebook group . . . Chicago Genealogy.  I mostly lurk but now love the fact that I get emails of each post.  If you have Chicago ancestors . . . and I have a boatload . . . I highly recommend this helpful and informative group.

Last August I posted the following:
 Now that I have found my mother and her family in the 1940 census records for Chicago, I hoped to see if the building is still standing. They lived in the Garfield Park area - about two blocks away from the park. The address is 3918 W. Monroe. It appears that there is a building there, but sadly, there is no street view for Google in that area so I cannot tell if it is the same. Any suggestions for getting a photo? I have only partials in the background of photos of people. Thanks!

Almost immediately  Michelle Gobert responded, not just with a suggestion, but with a link to the photo at right. It came from the Cook County Assessor's Office, property search  

Catherine Keckeisen then suggested using the Cook County Geographc Information System.  

Warning that it could be a bit complicated she posted step-by-step instructions for how to use the system.  First go to this website. "Then under "Online mapping with Cook Viewer" click on "Cook Viewer Mapping Application".  Scroll down when it will let you and click on "Accept" (of course after you read all their rules, etc.).  On the next screen that appears, type in the address.  I typed 3918 W. Monroe.  For the city, I typed Chicago.  Click on Search. A new box will appear that shows a bunch of information about the property.  Make sure it has the same address.  Your property is 99 years old for instance.  Make sure you jot down the Parcel Pin number as it can be helpful to get other information from Cook County on this property." ". . .Look down in that second box on the right and click on PHOTO and there you have it! Exciting, huh???"  

And it was!

The next step was to compare the partials (mostly the front porch) with the current appearance of the house.  I am sure my grandparents rented because I don't remember that they ever did anything else.  The information from the above sites indicated that the building is now two apartments with a combined total sq. footage of just under 2700 sq. feet.  The current value is listed as $180,000.

Left side of the porch

Right side of the porch

When I compare the current view of the building and its companions on either side, I can tell they have been modernized . . . and not for the better!  But who am I to criticize. . . I like old stuff. 

The photo at left of my Uncle Ed in his Bishop Quarters uniform shows a beautiful and substantial stone front porch with ionic columns and an arched window with decorative stone detail below.  The current view shows a replacement porch of wimpy wrought iron and a shingled roof with a white plastic chair blocking the view below the window.  Do you think that beautiful architectural detail is still there - or was it sold to a salvage yard . . . worse yet, dumped in a landfill??  

Home to the left

Home to the right

Sadly, the same modernization trend seems to have attacked the buildings on either side of my mother's former home.  The building on the right also had the stone porch removed to be replaced with 1970's chic, but a search for the building to the left (3922 W. Monroe) shows that its stone porch has survived although the building has been painted white.  Architecturally, this is a wonderful block of buildings.  I hope my photos have given you a flavor of the neighborhood that used to be here.

Wait!  Can I see the window detail still there in the photo of the 3922 property??

Both methods ended with the same photo, but depending on the property, one might work better than the other.  So now you have, not just one, but two ways to find Chicago properties courtesy of the facebook group - Chicago Genealogy!  

A Family History Haze

Gloria Kennelly Chicago 1942

I think I am starting to emerge from the haze of an unexpected family history overdose.  

Last week was "closet cleaning week".  I always have a list of cleaning projects that I intend to finish over my summer before school starts in the Fall. No comments from my brother!  I had finished the hall storage closet, and my bedroom closest was next on the list.  My clothes are swapped, stored, and sorted each season, but the floor had a pile of random "stuff" and my top shelf held who knows what.  It had been years. . . many years. . . since I had pulled down the recycled cardboard boxes assuming that they held the usual assortment of mementos from my children's youth . . . drawings, projects, report cards, and Halloween costumes.  I was feeling particularly smug because I was finishing earlier than usual.  Most years I put off these projects until the week before school starts and then frantically try to "accomplish something" before returning to school.

The first two boxes held the expected, and after sorting, and re-boxing, I lifted down the final box expecting to finish the job quickly and pack them away in the attic. But when I opened it, I was glad I was sitting down  because music started playing and a bright light emanated from the contents  this is what I found . . . OMG, Holy ?#%, Momma Mia, what the?

My actual reaction was a gasp and stunned silence!  After a few moments of just staring at the contents, I started lifting up and looking through the top photos, I realized then that there were albums at the bottom.  How did I not know this was in my closet for the last five years while I have been consumed with the family history and totally ga ga over old photos??  I spent the next 3 hours looking through the box, and at the end my face hurt from smiling. The photos were 1940's and earlier.  Also included were many large format (from 2x2 to postcard size) single image black and white negatives.

This was overwhelming. I found teen photos of my mother and her brother, fun pictures of my grandparents, the earliest photo I had ever seen of my great grandmother (about 1890), and multiple pictures of my father including my parent's wedding day. It also presented some new questions.  Not a single photo had names on the back.  I have no idea who many of the individuals are, and some of them are obviously family.  It was definitely more than I could scan in an afternoon, but I wanted to share at least a bit of what I found with family. . . at least those that love the family history.  My daughter's reaction was still "un huh", and "yeh, nice", accompanied by an eye roll when I forced her to look at them. It was hard to choose, but I selected a few, scanned them, uploaded to Flickr, and began to write numerous emails to my family historians to let them know.  I like Flickr because it allows each person to download just the photos they want in the size they want.  It is easier for me than sending attachments in multiple emails.

Just as a sample

Gloria Kennelly on left in front of Providence Catholic H.S. for girls, Chicago - 1942. Now combined with St. Mel's

If you know where I can locate a 1942 yearbook for Providence, I would love to identify these girls!

Gloria Kennelly about age 12 or 13

I am sure this is in Chicago.  Can you identify the location?

Earliest known photo of my gr. grandmother Anna Mae Allen on left, b. 1873

If you are a family member and can identify the girl on the right, PLEASE contact me!

Love this photo of my grandparents, Ed and Berenice Kennelly!

My uncle, Eddie Kennelly who I never knew liked football.

And sadly. . .

Berenice Moldt and her brothers, Edward T. (aka Doc) and Harold.

 The family photo scratcher strikes again! - Can this be fixed?

Lastly, the box contained three rolls of sound Super 8 film I had taken of my children 30+ years ago.  The cells were so tiny that, even holding them to the light, I couldn't tell what the years or events were.  That sent me on a multi-day search for a business that could transfer them to DVD.  The dilemma was that I did not want to send them away.  I didn't want them thrown in a bag with 50 other orders and then on a truck with 500 other orders.  These were irreplaceable. I wanted someone who could do it locally.  I called everywhere and visited multiple locations that thought they could do it, but needed to actually see the film.  The fly in the ointment was that they are sound recordings and everyone offered to do it without the sound . . .  Really, why would I want that??  Finally, when I was very discouraged, I found Band Wagon Video and left a message on the answering machine since it was after hours.  The next day I spoke with the owner and TA DA! he could do it sound and all.  Amazingly, he was less expensive than anyone else.  This was a bonus, and I made an appointment to take my videos over that afternoon. That sent me on a search for the other videos I knew I had "safely tucked away" somewhere.  In fact I had 22 more rolls which I mentioned at our meeting.  He offered to lend me a video editor, at no charge, so I could put my videos in time period order and to do four of them so I could be confident of the quality before I committed. The next day I spent going through the additional 22 rolls. My discovery was stretching out into days and days of related activities.  

BTW. . . Only yesterday did I finish my closet and finally put the boxes in the attic.  And. . . sandwiched in and around all of this was planning for my yearly research trip to Clinton, Iowa.  Whew!

Ancestor Approved. . . But Would They Really?

I am speechless very honored to have been awarded the Ancestor Approved by Nolichucky Roots.  While I have seen this on many blogs, I didn't pay close attention to what it was.  Often my blog reading is done through Google Reader, and I miss all of the extraneous awards and links in the side columns.  There are so many good blog writers out there in genealogy land, and Nolichuchy Roots is one of my favorites.  After a bit of investigation and following the link in her blog post - duhhhh - I discovered the following.

Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here began the tradition and said. "As a recipient of this award I ask that you list ten things you have learned about any of your ancestors that has surprised, humbled, or enlightened you and pass it along to ten other bloggers who you feel are doing their ancestors proud.

My dilemma is that I don't read ten other blogs that have not received the award already.  This "passing on" will have to wait for a bit.

Now, on to the challenge at hand.  I am such a haphazard genealogist and I think my list will reflect that.

1.  I have a strong Quaker (Society of  Friends) heritage on my father's side of the family and their obituaries confirm that they were not shy in expressing their opinions. - I wondered where I got that trait!

2.  Whenever I start to feel like life is beating me up, I think of the hardships endured by my ancestors as they traveled to a new world, moved their families multiple times to avoid living  in slave states, and watched helplessly as their children died of diseases such as diptheria.

3.  According to an obituary of my g-g-grandfather I am a direct descendant of Charles Carol of Carrollton, a signer of the Declarationm of Independence, and who had a fortune to lose by signing.

4.  I come from a family of strong women and flawed men. 

5.  Headstones can sink so deep that there is no indication they are there.  Always include a metal rod in your cemetery kit. 

6.  When I traveled to Ireland last summer and walked around a replica famine ship, The Dunbrody, I could not comprehend taking a family on such a voyage in such conditions.  They were allowed on deck only 30 minutes each day to build a fire to cook their bread and dispose of waste.  If it rained, they had to eat the dough raw.  I get shivers as I write about it.

7.  My g-g-grandfather, Isaac Walker, enlisted in Company D, 8th Kansas infantry with his oldest son and when this son contracted measles and died at Iowa point, he borrowed a wagon and horse to take his body home for burial.  After a long journey, he stopped short of his destination, exhausted and sorrowful.  A message was sent to his home by a local settler and his youngest son, my g-grandfather traveled with an ox team to meet him.  Together they brought the body back to Frankfort.  Isaac then returned to his regiment until a caisson ran over his leg and broke his ankle.  He suffered with this his entire life.  He enlisted because he was a staunch believer in the evil of slavery. He acted on his beliefs. His wife plowed the fields and kept the farm going while he was gone.  This makes me proud.

8.  Isaac Walker took two boys when the Orphan Train came through Kansas.  I wish I knew they were treated well, but I haven't been able to discover any information.  I am confused by this information.  It shows that people and relationships are complicated  - then and now. 

9. Lots of the women in my family, sewed for a living. My g-grandmother Mae Allen Moldt owned a dressmaking shop during a time when women did not work if they were married.  She always was a modern lady.  My g-grandmother Mary McDonnell Kennelly was a personal seamstress for Mrs. Potter Palmer in Chicago.  My paternal grandmother, Gertrude McCoy, was a milliner back in the day when every respectable woman wore a hat, and it didn't ruin you hairstyle if you did.  My mother, Gloria Kennelly Perry, sewed every garment I ever wore except underwear and swimsuits.  She was always on the cutting edge of fashion.  My passion for sewing must have a genetic link.  I'm sure it will be acknowledged by scientists any day now.

10. I am more Irish than I realized and my American roots go farther back than I ever imagined.

A Tale of Two Margels

My name is Margel (prounced Marge-l). I have never gone by any other name.  Not Marge or Margie,  just Margel unless you count the times my mother got mad at me, and then it was "Lady Locket".  I have NO idea where that came from?When I was growing up my classmates had names like Linda, Sally and Barbara with a Carla or Beth sprinkled in.   As a young child I remember wanting a name "like everyone else."  I always held my breath and waited as attendance lists were called knowing that there was a 90% chance that they would say Mar- Gel with a hard G and the emphasis on the second syllable.  My only decision was to correct them, and the whole group would turn to look at me, or let it go. "Is that what you go by or do you have a nickname?"  Nametags would inevitably be a conversation starter with the question, "Where did that name come from? Is it a family name?"  But if they asked, I told them . . .

I'd always known where my name came from, but it wasn't until I was a teenager that I began to really think about it more.  Margel was my mother's sister, but my mother never knew her because she died before my mother was born around age two of spinal meningitis. At some point in my teenage years, I became very proud of carrying this family name and of being a living reminder of a very special little girl.  As a teen, I remember asking my mother where she was buried.  Why didn't anyone visit her grave?  "Oh, her grave washed away long ago." my mother replied, "There's nothing to visit"  I had visions of coffins floating down a river.

Margel Florence Kennelly

Then a couple of years ago, I became interested in family history.  Finding Margel was at the top of my list.  At that point in time, I assumed that I would enter her name in the search engine for Cook County, and the information would magically pop up on the screen.  But, oh no, Cook County vital records database had no record of her.  The wheels in my head started spinning.  Could she have died somewhere else?  There were lots of photos of her with the family in Clinton.  Maybe she died there.  But they had no record of her death either.  Then a chance encounter with another researcher at my local library introduced my to CyberDrive Illinois and the searchable online databases of the Illinois Archives.  This time when I typed in her name and, hit enter, I found the record!  Back I went to the Cook County website with the record number . . . . again it was not to be as they had someone else listed with that record number.  Frustrations, frustrations.  Then when I was unsure of what to do next, a post on the Ancestry.com  Cook county message boards suggested that I contact Cynthia at Chicago Genealogy so I did.  Yippeeee!  She found the death record and the price was very cheap reasonable.  Unexpectedly, I cried when I opened it.  I have used Cynthia's services through her genealogy lookup service Genlighten several times since then and always been immensely satisfied. 

Now that I had the death record, I found that Margel was buried at Calvary cemetery in Evanston and IT'S LOCATED ON LAKE MICHIGAN.  It turns out that there was a scrap of truth to my mother's story of the grave washing away - it is located near water.   Next, I called the cemetery to find out how I could locate a grave if I would travel there for a visit.  The wonderfully helpful man told me that there was a kiosk that I could type in the name, and it would print a map of the grave location if I came during the hours the office was open.  Fabulous!  Now . .  how could I talk my brother into traveling with me to the Chicago area to find her grave?  I better get more information about other family members so that I could sell this as a package deal.

I began to assemble a list of Chicago family members and the cemeteries where they were buried. In addition to Margel, I found three ancestors who were buried at Calvary - Margret Kennelly Logan (my g-g-grandmother), John J. Kennelly (her son and my great grandfather's brother who was unknown to most family members), and Edward Kennelly (possibly my g-g-grandfather and Margret's first husband).  Then last Fall, when I knew winter was fast approaching and I might have to wait another six months, I talked my brother into committing to a weekend in Chicago. Remember, he does the driving and at that time, had the only GPS. Besides, this would be way more fun if we could share it.  This seemed like a good opportunity to also visit with another cousin of my mother's if she was available. We originally met at a funeral and so didn't have much time for conversation, but we emailed a few times, and she sent me a large brown envelope full of family photos, obituaries, and newspaper clippings.  She told us that no one in her family wanted them, and she had already thrown some away.  I was thrilled.  Luck was on our side, and she was free on the Sunday afternoon we would be in Chicago. She would go with us to Calvary.

Calvary Catholic Cemetery - Evanston, IL

The Saturday of our trip was spent traveling to Chicago and then going to several of the other cemeteries on our list.  Again, my sister-in-law was a good sport tramping up an down rows of graves helping my brother and I find our family.  We managed to find most of the people on our list, but finding the graves would have been near impossible without the kiosks and maps.  It is a great system.  We needed to quickly stop by Calvary while the office was still open so we could get the map for the next day.  I typed in the name Margel Kennelly, but the information on the screen said that no one by that name was buried there.  WHAT!  But the death certificate said she was buried there.  I approached the counter and told the man of my dilemma.  He asked for the information that I had and disappeared into a back room. A few moments later, he reappeared with a record in hand.  It seems that she was listed as Margaret and the age was incorrect due to a very poor copy of the death certificate.  Here's the bonus:  The record he copied for us had a list of everyone who was buried in that block of graves, the dates of death and identified James Logan, Margret's second husband, as the owner of the block.  Margel, Margret Logan, and John Kennelly were all buried in the same block.  This was a goldmine that I have still not sorted out.  "Did you have any other graves you were looking for" he asked.  "Why, yes I do." was my speedy reply as I handed him the death certificate of Edward Kennelly.  Again, he went to the back and came out with a complete listing of everyone in that block of graves.  We explained that we wouldn't be able to look for the graves until the next day, and he told us to look for the cemetery custodian who went through every hour if we had any difficulty. I was so excited.

The next day, we stopped by one more cemetery before we went to our cousin's house.  When we arrived, we found that she had invited her sister to join us - how wonderful!  She told us so many family stories and pulled out more photos.  It was almost too much to absorb and we loved it.  Then we got in the car and headed for the cemetery.  It was a very cold windy day, and we were not prepared for it.  I only had on a thin jacket when I really needed mittens and a wool hat.  If you have ever been to Chicago, you know how the wind can blow off the lake, and the trees only slowed it down a little.  We walked to where we thought the map showed the grave, but there were no Kennelly graves in sight.  We spread out farther.  No luck.  There seemed to be lots of missing headstones.  Maybe we weren't in the right section, I suggested hopefully.  I did not want to get this close and not find her.  When our fingers were numb from cold and we were just about to give up, a truck came towards us on the cemetery road - the custodian, I thought as I flagged him down. 

With a smile on his face he asked if he could help us find a grave.  We handed him our map, and he walked us over to the correct area.  My heart sank, still no headstones, only grass.  He told us to wait, and he drove back to the office garage.  A few minutes later he was back with a shovel, a brush, and a long metal rod.  Quickly, he stepped off a measurement from the road then took the shovel and tapped the ground until there was a thunk.  Using the shovel he revealed a circular stone marker with numbers which indicated the block of graves and explained how we could read them to find our block.  Then he started to probe the ground, explaining that early graves would have had wood coffins that would have rotted away by now.  It had rained recently and the ground was very soft.  He took his shovel and again went along one side vigorously tapping the ground.  Nothing, nothing, clunk!  This would be a headstone, he told us.  So he pushed the shovel into the ground feeling for the edge of the headstone.  The level grass showed no evidence of a headstone below. When he had gone all the way around, he knelt down and peeled back the seven inches of grass and dirt to reveal . . . MARGEL KENNELLY.  She shared a headstone with her great grandmother, Margret Kennelly Logan, and her uncle, John J. Kennelly.  I couldn't believe it.  The headstone looked like new.  I quickly knelt down and started brushing the excess dirt from the top.  It may sound silly, but it felt like I had reached into the abyss and pulled her out.  Then I noticed the dirt and roots that had been peeled back.  The names were clearly visible in the roots that had filled in their names.  When I asked, how we could have the stone lifted, he told us to call the office and they would take care of it. "How much will it cost?" I asked.  "No charge."  What a nice surprise.  As I looked around the grassy cemetery, I envisioned the multitude of stones hidden beneath the surface. I hope others will heed this lesson and check for sunken headstones before they give up like I almost did.

It was getting late, and we had to go.  We had a long trip home and our cousin, Kitty, had dinner waiting for us at her house.   The grassy plot of Edward Kennelly would have to wait for another visit.  We never even checked for any other stones in our block.  We were so excited, we didn't think about any others, but I noticed the headstones in the block next to theirs was O'Connor.  Hmmm . . . Margret Kennelly Logan's maiden name was O'Connor.  Do you suppose they're relatives?  I took a few photos just in case, but that is another story.

The search for Margel was a roller coaster ride with a satisfying and exciting end.  It was very late that night when we arrived back at my house, but this still remains one of my most emotional experiences.  How can anyone think genealogy is boring?

Oh, who is that girl in the photo at the top you ask??   Why she is the third and original Margel.  She was my grandmother's school friend at Mount St. Clare college, and so she named her first daughter, Margel Kennelly, after her.  I don't know her last name, but this was taken at Lake Delavan according to my grandmother's photo album. This is a special photo for obvious reasons.

Where is 2338 W. Washington Blvd.?

Now that I have introduced the family who lived at 2338 W. Washington Blvd., I would like to show you a photo of the house . . . or any house where they lived. Unfortunately, none of them seems to exist anymore, and I have not been able to find a photo - yet. Another huge issue is where are the addresses actually located. Chicago has changed the street names several times so I am not positive of the location. I know there are lists that tell which street names were changed, and then I used a city directory to find the location of the specific address. It quickly became very confusing! I have looked at Google maps and there is a Chicago school bus blocking the empty lot that WAS 2338 W. Washington Blvd. However,I assume that it was similar to the houses across the street, and so I "walked", through the technology of Google Earth down the block to St. Malachy's where my grandfather, Edward Phillip Kennelly, was listed as a graduate in the June 26, 1915 Chicago Daily Tribune.

But what about other homes? My first entry showed his family in front of a door with the numbers 1418 written in what appears to be chalk. This would indicate that it was an address that had been recently changed. They were listed as living at 1418 Fulton Street in the 1910 census and 1910 city directory. As I check Google Earth again,it zooms to a lone apartment building that looks possibly old enough but there are trees blocking a good front view so I can't compare it to the photo easily. If this is not the place then it was most probably identical. They rented and this definitely looks like a multi-family dwelling. I wish I knew how to download an image from Google Earth. I am almost as consumed with following and finding my ancestor's housing as I am about finding them. An image of 2338 W. Washington Blvd. exists only in my mind. House genealogy. . . . hmmmmm?

What Did Grandpa Kennelly Really Know?

The wedding certificate for Edward P. Kennelly and Mary Winifred McDonald makes me wonder how much he really knew about her when they married. I don't know how they met. Maybe they met at church?? She moved from her home in Clinton, Iowa to Chicago to work for Mrs. Potter Palmer as a seamstress. My passion for sewing must be in my genes! I do know that she was sensitive about her age. This is not to be confused with telling a lie. On her wedding certificate,11 Dec 1898, she lists her age as the same as his - 24 years old. By the 1900 census, she was two years older and born in 1871. In 1910 she is three years older and born in 1870. In 1920 she is two years older again. In 1930 she is listed as 80 and that would make her born in 1870. The only problem is that in the 1870 census her parents claim that she is four and her death certificate says she was born 30 Oct 1865. That would make her 33 when she married. She was a dear sweet person, and she outlived her much younger husband by 31 years!
Note: McDonald and McDonnell were used interchangeably at that time but the family finally settled on McDonnell the most used option. I wish I had know this fact when I first started my research.