Thursday, October 26, 2017

OTD: Oct. 26: Ambrose Edwin Moynahan Died

I have been using "On This Day" (OTD) each month as a way of recognizing my ancestor's birth, marriages and deaths (BMDs) with the intention to review and update their files with any new information that may be available on ancestry.ca.

My FTM 2017 October calendar for my Moynahan family tree

In the case of remembering, reviewing and honouring Ambrose Edwin Moynahan (1876-1954), I found myself falling further and further "down a rabbit hole" where I soon realized that I had been corresponding with Ambrose's granddaughter in 2002 on an Ancestry message board!


Headstone for Ambrose Edwin Moynahan. Located in Section 2, Block 17 of Mount Olivet Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, Jefferson County, Colorado.Source: Find A Grave Memorial# 113903832
Mining engineer Ambrose Edwin Moynahan is descended from the Colorado Moynahans that I have written about in detail before:

52 Ancestors No. 10: James Moynahan (1842-1919) Civil War Soldier & Colorado Miner http://moynahangenealogy.blogspot.ca/2015/03/52-ancestors-no-10-james-moynahan-1842.html

 52 Ancestors No. 30: Department Commander James Moynahan 1917

1899: James Moynahan Remained True To Lincoln

Moynahan Fire & Hose Company - Alma, Colorado


James Moynahan is my Colorado 1st cousin (4x removed) (1842-1919) Source: eBook screenshot: Google Books: Park County By Park County Local History Archives

The Colorado Moynahans
As I fell further and further down this rabbit hole, I came across this 1940 photo (below) and I wondered if the man in the photo was Ambrose so I wrote to the South Park National Heritage Area and learned that the man in the photo below is NOT Ambrose but instead, this is Ambrose's brother James William Moynahan (1878-1957)

2718. Alma – Houses. 1940s. Spring house is in background. Back row left to right: William Moynahan, Glendour Moynahan, Nell Kelly, Elma Gates, Edna Moore, Laura Craig. Front row left to right: Jane Kelly, Frank Kelly, Betty Craig, Thelma Gransbury. Source: Park Co. Archives: http://www.parkcoarchives.org/photos/photos1/photos_alma_house.html
Read: Behind the Façade: The James  Moynahan House in Alma; Page 4/10; http://www.parkco.us/Archive/ViewFile/Item/1040 )

Ambrose Edwin Moynahan is buried very near his brother William (and William's wife Glendour) and many other Moynhans in the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, Jefferson County, Colorado

Headstone for Ambrose Edwin Moynahan. Located in Section 2, Block 17 of Mount Olivet Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, Jefferson County, Colorado.Source: Find A Grave Memorial# 113903832
From the South Park National Heritage Area:
Hello Cindi, 
I volunteer with the Park Co. Local History Archives and was asked to answer your email to the South Park Nat'l Heritage Area. Our office has a number of historic photos but unfortunately, none of Ambrose. We only have one that I know of of James.

The Moynahan family was so prominent in Park County as I'm sure you know. 
Also, I have obits on a Capt. James Minihan and his son Ralph. The Minihan obit says he was a cousin to James Moynahan so I thought you might like to see them which I've attached. Photos of their headstones also attached.  

Ambrose Edwin Moynahan's Family



As I tracked down more and more records about Ambrose Edwin Moynahan and his children and grandchildren, things got very interesting when I came across an old Ancestry message board message to me from Ambrose granddaughter June Frances Woeber in 2002 (see below)

 
Sadly, June Woeber who had contacted me through Ancestry, passed away in California in 2014. June never married (nor did her eldest sister and one brother), however, she did leave behind an extremely rich account of her Moynahan-Woeber family who moved from Colorado to California.

Because I have no idea what happened to all of June's genealogy work over the years (no longer on ancestry.com), I share it here in her honour.


Ambrose Moynahan's Grandchildren: 
The Woebers 
 
The Woeber family

The Woebers: Front Row: Lorenz, Philip, Zelda; Back Row:Edwin, James and June

June and Her Brothers

Jim and Ed both flew in the United States military and later flew as commercial airline pilots for thirty years each, (Jim with Delta and Ed with Western and Delta airlines). Ed never married and was reported in 2002 "in Nebraska hunting birds with his two hunting dogs." (Ed died in 2009.)

The Woeber siblings: June, Jim, Ed and Phil.

June Woeber (1930-2014)
In this message board entry below by June Woeber in 2002, she tells the story about how her parents met, how they made their way from Colorado to California and a some of what she remember from her paternal roots (Woeber-Stapleton)


The Older Sister: Lorene Woeber (1924-2014)

Lorene, the eldest child of the Moynahan-Woeber family, never married (like June) and the two sisters took care of their mother Zelda (Moynahan) Woeber who turned 101 years old on January 31 2002 (she died February 27, 2002).

Both sisters, after their mother passed in 2002, eventually finished their days moving in to the assisted living residence Hallmark Assisted Living in California in 2014 (where Lorene died eight months later and June died seven months after that)
 
This Post in Memory of June Woeber 
1930-2014

As I researched Ambrose Moynahan's grandchildren and discovered my 2002 connection to June Frances Woeber, I feel eternally grateful for our brief  encounter with one another and I dedicate this post about her grandfather to her.

June is buried with her sister Lorene 

 at Hillcrest Memorial Park Bakersfield Kern County California, USA GPS 
Find A Grave Memorial# 172004005
 
Burial: Hillcrest Memorial Park Bakersfield Kern County California, USA Find A Grave Memorial# 172004005


A Further Mystery?

Who are "Capt. James Minihan and his son Ralph. The Minihan obituary says he was a cousin to James Moynahan"?

Capt. James Minihan as pictured in
"A brief history of the Tenth Michigan Cavalry by Trowbridge, L. S., 1836-1912"
This is yet another Colorado cousin "genealogical rabbit hole" that will have to wait for another blog post in the future. For now, I leave you with the pictures that were sent to me by the South Park National Heritage Area

 They wrote, "The Moynahan family was so prominent in Park County as I'm sure you know. 
Also, I have obits on a Capt. James Minihan and his son Ralph. The Minihan obit says he was a cousin to James Moynahan so I thought you might like to see them which I've attached. Photos of their headstones also attached. 
Another Colorado cousin: Capt. Jas Minihan and son Ralph Minihan buried beside one another in Colorado (Source: South Park National Heritage Area)


Another "Colorado cousin": Capt. Jas Minihan (Source: South Park National Heritage Area) See: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSsr=121&GScid=57190&GRid=21574323&
Another Colorado cousin: Ralph Mininhan South Park National Heritage Area
Ralph Minihan's sad obituary (from the Fairplay Flume Newspaper dated 1894 December 6, page 4
): http://coloradogravestones.org/view.php?id=21851

Minihan, James; Capt. Jas. Minihan; CO. D.; 10 Mich. Cav.
Notes:  Buried in fenced area with Ralph C. Minihan .
 
Minihan, Ralph C.; Ralph C.; Son of James & F.E. Minihan, Died Nov. 
30, 1894; Aged 23 Yrs, 27 Ds; Minihan
Notes:  Enclosed in a fenced area with Capt. James Minihan; Son of 
James and F.F. Minihan
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=21574289

Source:  
Buckskin Cemetery, Alma, Park County, Colorado
http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/park/cemeteries/buckskin.txt

Some Park County, Colorado Links.
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