The Thomas of Cork - Found At Last!

In 1900, eighty-seven year-old Timothy Moynahan (1813-1902) sat on his Mercer St. (Windsor, Essex, Ontario) porch for a Detroit Free Press photographer to take his photograph. Speaking with a "bit of the brogue - just enough of the rippling dialect of the Kerry man" Timothy described his journey from Ireland to the Americas when he "was 9 years of age" in the 1820s.

 Detroit Free Press Detroit, Michigan 25 Nov 1900, Sun  •  Page 37

I first located this news article in the 1980s in the Detroit Public Library - Burton Collection and I was delighted to learn of the details of the voyage,  

"The Thomas of Cork, Captain Bamfield , master, was the ship upon which we sailed. She was an old war remnant, as slow as molasses in January and the trip occupied six weeks and three days."

"A lonely voyage it would have been too if it had not been for the fact that there were sixty-two women, a flute player and a piper aboard. The women were wives of soldiers that were serving the crown in this country, and they were coming over to join their husbands."

"Between the women and the musicians, the time passed pleasantly. The piper was an untiring Highlander, and he succeeded in driving all the rats from the old schooner. The music of the Scotch bagpipes will do that same you know.” 

For over thirty years I have searched every emigrant index in the hope of finding the ship "The Thomas of Cork" or the Captain "Bamfield" to no avail until this week when I found this advertisement on "Find My Past - Irish Newspapers"

 

Moynahan Bowling Stories

One of my favourite parts of family history research is collecting stories from family members. 

Recently I came across a newspaper clipping about my grandmother Rhea (Coughlin) Moynahan (1902-1992) bowling in 1952. (The newspaper refers to her as Mrs. Ernest Moynahan as was the practice in the 1950s)

The next time I spoke with my father on the phone, I said, "I didn't know Grandma Moynahan was bowling when she was fifty years old, and that she won trophies and was the Vice-President of her bowling League!" (In the final paragraph, it is reported that she was elected President at the banquet!)

CLIPPED FROM The Windsor Star  Windsor, Ontario, Canada 06 Jun 1952, Fri  •  Page 35

My father said, "Yes, she was very involved in the Catholic Women's League at Immaculate Conception parish and they organized a 5-pin women's bowling league at the Wyandotte Bowling Alley." 

He added, "And I bet you didn't know that my brother John and I worked as pin-boys at the St Angela Merici bowling alley that was in the basement of the church and that John organized a pin-boy strike there for higher wages."

I wanted to learn more about the Moynahans and bowling in Windsor, Ontario in the 1940s and 1950s.

September 2021 Conference

The BRITISH ISLES FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY OF GREATER OTTAWA will be hosting a virtual conference “Irish Lines and Female Finds” exploring Irish records, female ancestors and genetic genealogy. (Only $45 for the week) September 19-26, 2021 Link: https://bifhsgo2021.ca

I am pleased to announce that I will be participating in one of several virtual breakout rooms (under “Conference Connect”) Tuesday afternoon and Thursday night to discuss “Female Ancestors”.

Link: https://bifhsgo2021.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Conference-Connect-program-12-Sept.pdf

National Grandparents Day 2021

Grandparents Day is celebrated in various countries and on various dates around the world. In North America it is celebrated on the first Sunday in September following Labour Day. 

The official flower for Grandparents Day is the Forget-Me-Not which echoes the work of genealogists and family historians who aim to record, preserve and share our ancestors stories. Grandparents are key in helping genealogists build family trees and understanding cousin relationships.

“Grandparenthood” is a universal status that has changed throughout human history. These days, grandparents are likely to be healthier, wealthier and longer-lived than ever before. In some cultures, grandparents live with grandchildren and play an active and direct role while in other cultures, grandparents step in when needed and called upon.

I was lucky to have known all four of my beloved grandparents:

1. Rhea (Coughlin) Moynahan (1902-1992) who made the best date squares, sewed summer tops for her grandchildren, wrote each of her grandchildren's names on vintage metal drinking glasses, and had cousins play penny and dice games on her kitchen table, etc
   
2. Ernest Joseph Moynahan (1900-1974) who had strong hands, smoked a sweet-smelling tobacco, would give the grandchildren pocket change to go to the corner store and would listen to Detroit baseball games on his transistor radio sitting on his Marentette Avenue veranda, etc
   
3. Dorothy (Moreland) Creighton (1909-2000) who told us about our England connection, stories about Halifax, crocheted and knitted slippers, scarves, mitts and doilies, made the best English trifle, etc
   
4. Frederick Douglas Creighton (1907-1996) who worked at the Halifax shipyards, loved playing cards (especially cribbage), quizzed his grandchildren with questions about life, etc

Below is a vintage movie taken on a visit to our Moynahan grandparents home in Windsor, Ontario. These visits were always filled with much happiness, love, laughter and so many good memories. (YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaqEVyq2NAQ ) 

) 

By sharing family stories, grandparents can be key in building resilience in their grandchildren ... especially when they share " the stories about the hard stuff endured by our ancestors (like "we came here with nothing"). Hearing about our ancestor's setbacks and losses (and how they got through them) can be a "secret super power" for children when they have to overcome some inevitable obstacle in their life." (Source: "Telling My Settler Stories")

Four Moreland Children - Three Continents

I often refer to the four Moreland children (Jemima, Catherine, John and Mary Jane) as "orphans" but that is not entirely true.

The children's mother, (my 2nd great grandmother) Agnes Bell (Hind) Moreland died at thirty-three years-of-age in 1888 in Springburn, Glasgow, Scotland. The children's father Charles Moreland was a steam ship fireman sailing between England and Australia and away at the time of his wife's death. Agnes' aunt Mary (Bell) Weir (1825-1893) was the informant on their mother's death registration and took charge of the children in the father's absence.

Springburn, Glasgow as seen from Breeze Tower (Source: Lost Glasgow FaceBook)

Grandaunt Mary (Bell) Weir (1825-1893) would also ultimately decide the fates of the four children Jemima (11 years), Catherine "Kate" (9 years), John (7 years) and Mary Jane (5 years) and by 1914, these children would be located on three continents: North America (Canada), Europe (Scotland) and Australia.

What follows is their story of separation, reunion and many unknowns.

NEWSFLASH: British Newspaper Archive FREE

Yesterday, one million pages on the British Newspaper Archive site have become free and DO NOT require any subscription payment to view. There are 158 titles currently on offer, ranging from 1720 to 1880.

Image source: https://blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2021/08/09/introducing-free-to-view-pages-on-the-british-newspaper-archive/

 

Final Resting Place: John Miller Moreland (1882-1940)

   In July 2021, returning home to Ottawa from Toronto, I decided to stop and visit the Cataraqui Cemetery in Kingston, Ontario for the very first time to pay my respects to my great grandfather John Miller Moreland.

The Olympics: "Faster, Higher, Stronger"

Congratulations to Canada’s Andre De Grasse who won GOLD yesterday in the Men’s 200m with a time of 19.62 seconds making him the first Canadian to win gold in the 200m since Percy Williams in 1928!!

 

Joseph Foreman at the 1956 Olympics.

 

Most Foreman descendants are unaware that Joseph Foreman (1933-1999) also competed in the Olympics in the 200m race in 1956!

Colorizing and Animating Ancestor Photos

I recently shared an animation on social media of my 2nd great-grandmother (2nd GG) Mary (Brennan) Moynahan (1841-1926) (based on the photograph below) using MyHeritage Deep Nostalgia™, video reenactment technology

2nd GG Mary (Brennan) Moynahan (1841-1926) pictured on the right with unidentified woman. Photo Source: Frank Lyon Photo Collection

I enjoy exploring and sharing new Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications and technologies to use with my old photographs, however, nothing could prepare me for the mix of reactions I received when I animated and posted my 2nd great-grandmother Mary (Brennan) Moynahan's photo online! 

 "Not liking it.", wrote one woman. "This is awesome", wrote another. What could explain these contradictory reactions?

Black Forty-Seven: The Brodericks Atlantic Crossing

I didn't want to get my hopes up when I learned new details about my 3rd great-grandfather Michael Broderick's (1801-1889) emigration from Ireland to Canada. 

After all, Michael Broderick's obituary said that the family sailed from Ireland to Quebec in 1847. Over 400 ships sailed to Quebec in that year referred to as "a black page in the annals of the sea"! 

Rev John A Gallagher  (who wrote "The Irish Emigration of 1847 and Its Canadian Consequences") said that "The Irish themselves have written this year (1847) down as "Black Forty-Seven" -- a year black with Famine, Disease, Death and Exile from the land of their birth." Gallagher added, "The manner of transporting the Irish emigrant of '47 fills a black page in the annals of the Sea. Anything that could float or hold a sail was used to carry the emigrant across the sea. ... Dr. Douglas, the medical Superintendent of Grosse Île, estimated that 8,000 died at sea in 1847.

What could I learn about Irish emigration to Canada in 1847? What kinds of records exist that could help me piece together the Broderick family's journey?

Ontario Township Papers For Matthew Moynahan (1770-1860)

Piecing together the story of our ancestors has become increasingly more convenient as many records are digitized and made available online.

The Archives of Ontario's most popular collections have been digitized by Family Search International and made available for free.

Thanks to the Kent Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, when I reviewed the Ontario Township Papers for Sandwich, Ontario, I discovered 23 pages of correspondence dated 1835 to 1848 from my 4th Great Grandfather Matthew Moynahan (1770-1860)

Ancestry Adds The Casey Collection

In October 2020, I blogged about a wonderful presentation by the Olde Sandwich South and Area Historical Society OSSAHS regarding the Irish settlement in Sandwich South, Ontario and how it was connected to the Blackwater area of Cork and Kerry, Ireland.

Screen Capture of Essex OGS Pesentation (21:27)

When Obituaries Get It Right (And Sometimes Wrong)

In building my Broderick family tree, I have relied upon obituaries to fill in many of the blanks. Recently, with the discovery of my 3rd Great Grandfather Michael Broderick's obituary, I contacted my fellow Broderick researchers (and DNA matches) to ask them a question:

Is it possible that Marcus ("Mark") Broderick (1838-1912) pictured below with his son Marcus (1868-1945), was not my 3rd great-grandfather Michael Broderick's nephew, but rather his son?

Photo source: American cousin T.S.: Broderick Father and Son: Marcus Sr. and Marcus Jr Taken about 1895 in Holland, Ottawa Co., Michigan, USA

Randy Majors "Ancestor Search" Yields Surprising Results

Randy Majors created an online tool called "Ancestor Search" for genealogists and it is one of the BEST search engines that I regularly use and one that often yields surprising results. 

Today, while using "Ancestor Search", I found another Broderick family history researcher (at Irelandxo) AND an obituary for my 3rd great-grandfather Michael Broderick (1801-1889) for the very first time.

Those two findings inspired this blog post in the hope that this method can help others locate their ancestors as well.

Update For Subscribers By Email

In April, 2021 Google announced that the Feedburner service (that has been automatically generating emails about this blog) would be discontinued in July 2021.

I have been researching alternatives to FeedBurner and reviewing the two options that would be best for my subscribers: migrate all current subscribers OR request that subscribers sign up all over again?

I have chosen the email subscription service offered by follow.it. I chose follow.it because:

• it is committed to no email SPAM
  
• the basic level of subscription is 100% free for both emails and RSS readers
  
• it's a mature operation and not a start-up
  
• it takes the EU GDPR seriously - unclear about applicability for Canadian privacy/data protection
  
• it offers choice to the follower re what their preference is for how they want to follow
• N.B. above points originally appeared on blog Making A Mark  along with several other recommendations

If you were a previous subscriber, 

please subscribe again using the 

"Follow by email" form on the right. 

 

Please let me know if you have any problems and thank you for your patience

My May 2021 Webinar: "Finding Our Female Ancestors"

In May 2021, I was invited by the Essex Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society to present a webinar entitled "Finding Your Female Ancestors". This one hour presentation is now available on the Essex OGS Ont YouTube channel.

Link to Webinar on YouTube: https://youtu.be/KisqCSGOsZU

Below is a brief outline of my remarks as well as links to the two handouts that I created that include worksheets and links to resources.

Mortimer ("Morty") Moynahan (1833-1881)

Police arrived at the tenement house No. 445 Cherry Street in New York City in July 1874 and inside they discovered Mortimer Moynahan "in a dying state while the dead body of his wife lay in an adjoining apartment". 

The initial headlines of the day reported "Husband and Wife Commit Suicide As A Relief From Poverty"

Source: Clipped from Boston Post Boston, Massachusetts 14 Jul 1874, Tue  •  P

Something did not seem right to me about this story. As I dug deeper, and with the help of William Casey at the Skibbereen Historical Society, I came to learn that Mortimer Moynahan was a dominant leader in the Fenian Uprising in 1867.

Despite O’Donovan Rossa’s words, today Mortimer Moynahan is largely forgotten in all of the history books.  

I am so thankful that William Casey has examined Morty Moynahan's life and work in the hopes that it "will go a small way to redressing that ‘treason’" and I am happy to include Morty Moynahan's story in the Moynahan Scrapbook. section of my blog

The Minahan Titanic Story

I have collected A LOT of "Moynahan" stories  (and all spelling variants of the surname) over the years. The Moynahan/Minahan stories where I have not yet established a DNA or paper trail linking them to my Moynahan family roots are filed in my "Moynahan Scrapbook". 

This is the story of Dr. William Edward Minahan who decided in 1912 to take a six-month vacation with his wife and sister Daisy to their ancestral Ireland. While away, Dr. Minahan's sister Daisy was suddenly stricken with appendicitis while they were in Italy and Dr. Minahan rushed her to Paris to perform the operation.

Dr. William Edward Minahan

The family decided to cut their vacation short after visiting Killarney, Ireland and return to the port of New York to make their way home to Green Bay Wisconsin. They purchased tickets on the Titanic.

They were the only First Class passengers to board the Titanic at Queenstown (now called Cobh, Ireland). They paid £90 for their ticket and were assigned to cabin C-78

Part II: The Curds of Dover, England

My maternal grandmother Dorothy Claire (Moreland) Creighton (1909-2000) never really knew her mother Florence Mary (Curd) Moreland (1886-1915) because Florence died at the very young age of 28 years after suffering for two years with pulmonary tuberculosis.

Dorothy Claire (Moreland) Creighton (1909-2000) and her mother Florence Mary (Curd) Moreland (1886-1915)

What I love about the Curd family story is how loved and close Dorothy felt to her mother's sisters (Dorothy's three aunts: Frances, Alice and May) despite the fact that Dorothy's mother died when she was only six years old and Dorothy was born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia and her aunts lived their entire lives in England.

Florence Mary (Curd) Moreland's sisters Frances, Alice and May Curd of Dover, England (Source: Chandler Family Archives)

An eBay Photograph Leads Me (Incorrectly) To Minehan DNA Matches

The Scene: It's Monday morning and I'm clearing my email inbox and I come across an eBay alert for Minahan's Wendell Inn at Crooked Lake, N.Y." dated 1914.

eBay Item: Antique Postcard: Minahan's Wendell Inn, Sand Lake,  New York, (note the Model T Car) ( $29.99 USD)

So naturally, I looked at all of the  Minahans in my family tree and ran some newspaper searches for the "Wendell Inn".

One thing led to another and, fast forward five hours later, this lovely 1914 photo had led me from New York to Massachusetts to Michigan to Texas and to several Ancestry DNA matches! I immediately created and posted a blog post in all of the excitement only to confirm hours later that the DNA match family tree had several significant errors

Below is the chronological description of my discovery, excitement and the reality check that all was NOT what it appeared.

Daniel J. Coughlin's Elgin Pocket Watch

 During the period of COVID-19 in 2020 when all of the archives and museums around the world were forced to close, many museums and individuals started posting photos with the hashtag #MyMuseum on twitter .

In particular, I was inspired by the tweets being posted by @farmersfriend who shared a photo and story of an item from his personal museum every day on twitter. He wrote, 

"As we grow older 

many of us create

our own museum of things.

The idea of sharing photos from our personal museums inspired me to create this new genealogy series entitled  #OurMuseum. 

 

Here is the story of an Elgin Pocketwatch that was given to Daniel J. Coughlin as a retirement gift and has been lovingly handed down over the years.

 

Daniel John Coughlin (1874-1948)

The Coughlin China Cabinet

During the period of COVID-19 in 2020 when all of the archives and museums around the world were forced to close, many museums and individuals started posting photos with the hashtag #MyMuseum on twitter .

In particular, I was inspired by the tweets being posted by @farmersfriend who shared a photo and story of an item from his personal museum every day on twitter. He wrote, 

"As we grow older 

many of us create

our own museum of things.

The idea of sharing photos from our personal museums inspired me to create this new genealogy series entitled  #OurMuseum. Here are some of the treasures and trinkets in #OurMuseum that have meaning for members of our large extended family. 

This is the story about Daniel J. Coughlin's China Cabinet pictured below (on the right) in June 1946 beside the Shea-Coughlin-Pucino family dinner table (Manchester, Connecticut)

This photo was colorized at My Heritage https://myhr.tg/1pxyyjWC

Oh the conversations that China Cabinet must have witnessed!
 

The Indiana Covered Bridges Road Trip

Due to COVID-19, the Creighton sisters (my aunts Barb and Deb) have not visited each other since October 2019. One sister lives in the United States and the other one lives in Canada. The borders between the two countries have been closed to non-essential travel since March 2020.

Barb and Deb have had to rely on regular telephone conversations and during a recent call, they reminisced about that time back in September (28-29) 2016 when they both headed off to Indiana to see how many covered bridges they could visit.

The "Indiana Covered Bridges Road Trip" was a trip rich in wonderful memories for the two sisters and this is a photo record of that trip.

Elizabeth (Moynahan) Burke (1959 - 2018)

In memory of a dear cousin Elizabeth (Moynahan) Burke (March 31, 1959 - March 5, 2018)

The shock of Elizabeth's sudden passing on March 5, 2018 in her Windsor, Ontario home was felt far and wide. Anyone who had ever met her will tell you that she lit up the room with her positive energy, generous spirit, loving heart and incredible sense of humour.

Elizabeth, nicknamed "Liz" and "Bummer", was a force to be reckoned with.This page is written in remembrance of her.

A Moynahan Horse Tale

We hope that the reader enjoys this horse tale that begins one cold January winter night in 1971 at a farmer's auction in Snelgrove, Ontario. 

The Moynahans had not gone to Snelgrove to purchase a horse. In fact, no one in the Moynahan home ever even said "I wish we had a horse" (although a nunnery eagerly recruiting young girls may have played a small part)

On Wednesday January 13, 1971,  E.J. Moynahan purchased a horse and this is their "Moynahan Horse Tale".

COVID Lockdowns and Genealogy Gold!

In 2020, because of COVID lock-downs and staying at home, I finally tackled a storage closet on my third floor that had boxes that had not been touched in over a decade!

I read and sorted through over thirty years of genealogy notes and letters and a letter from my first cousin (2x), fellow artist and genealogist Evelyn (Lennon) Janice (1916-2009) is pure gold.

Evelyn (Lennon) Janice (1916-2009) (lower left) writes about her connection to Timothy Moynahan (1813-1902) (seated upper write)

Evelyn’s letter connects the Maidstone Moynahans to Timothy Moynahan (1813-1902) who lived at the corner of Mercer & Tuscarora (Windsor) and had a spare room for a grand niece (Catherine (Moynahan) Lennon) who needed a place to stay so that she could attend Windsor Collegiate (Goyeau and Elliott)

Great Sport: John Moynahan (1849-1904)

I collect "Moynahan" stories whenever I find them and I share them online in my "Moynahan Scrapbook"

When I first read about John Moynahan "a famous sport" I thought it would be easy to find information about him. After all, he had made a fortune for the famous boxer John L.Sullivan. But it wasn't easy to find information about him at all.

Fort Scott Weekly Monitor Fort Scott, Kansas 02 Mar 1904, Wed  •  Page 3

When I wrote to history author and writer Christopher Klein (who wrote "The Life and Times of John L. Sullivan, America’s First Sports Hero.") he said that "I'm afraid I've never across a mention of John Moynahan in my research into Sullivan.". I just knew that I needed to create a blog post about  John Moynahan (1849-1904)   

Deck The Halls: Create A Family Tree Christmas Tree

Since 2015, I have been posting my Family Tree Christmas Tree annually on social media (on my twitter and Facebook). This year many folks were curious about how I created it so I thought I would create a quick tutorial on how to turn your family tree into a Christmas tree using word cloud generators.

The Essex Land Registry Office

In October 2020, the Ontario government ended counter services at all 54 Land Registry Offices (LROs). That means that access to valuable genealogical material (Crown patents, deeds, wills, etc.) can no longer be achieved in person and must be done online through the new OnLand / ONtario Land Registry Access portal.

SWODA (1905) Image: Essex County Registry Office, Sandwich, Ont.; The Township of Sandwich: Past and Present (1909) by Frederick Neal. Page 89

This nostalgic blog post looks back at the old days when three Askins (Col. James Askin, John Alex Askin and J. Wallace Askin) served successively for a total of eighty-three years as Essex county registrars. It is possible, in searching for your ancestors Essex county records, you have come across their names.

The Windsor Star Windsor, Ontario, Canada 12 Sep 1925, Sat  •  Page 24

In 1801, "on the third of June at 10 o,clock in the forenoon, a rider drew up before a tiny building in Sandwich, Ontario, dismounted and walking inside, laid a paper on the table."To be registered please", he said.

He had come over the trails from the British fort at Amherstburg and the paper he bore with him was one of the world's little known treaties - one of the numerous land exchanges between the British Crown and the Indian nations..."

Colorado Mining Town & A Famous Burro

My brother is reading the memoirs of James Moynahan  (1842-1919) (now available on Amazon in paperback or as an eBook) and he shared with me a collection of Historic South Park County photos in a slide show on YouTube (see below).  

James Moynahan, (grandson of Matthew Moynahan of Maidstone, Ontario) was mayor of Alma, Park County, Colorado and the video offers glimpses of the landscape, the buildings and the people in the area during James lifetime.

Source: South Park City: the amazing, authentic restoration of a Colorado mining Boomtown.

James Moynahan (and his many enterprises) are featured in the video as well as a photo of a very famous burro (small donkey) "Prunes" who worked (and later roamed freely) in the South Park area during James' lifetime from 1867-1930.