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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Ancient Faces

How many people have joined the site ancientfaces.com?  Initially, I thought this was such a great idea.  You've got a library of old family photos at your fingertips.  The only issue is that it's not my family.  I can only offer this suggestion, it does not really add value to one's family tree to have a photo library online when the photo is not directly connected to the actual tree.

Personally, I uploaded one photo to this site as an experiment.  Mary Catherine Flanagan's headstone photo at Tulocay Cemetery was that photo.  I can look at my own uploads and find it but when I search the site, there are just too many photos to sort through to find it in a regular search.  I am glad that I did not add other photos.

A search for other family surnames just does not produce any "finds".  What I mean by "finds" is that I was hoping to maybe find someone of my family line.  Because the photos are not very well identified by location, dates, and the person's full name, it is like finding a needle in a haystack.  I also think the needle is probably not in the stack I'm searching in. 

In my opinion, it's time to move on.   I like old photos but love my own family's old photos.  I'm not likely to post them on that site any time soon.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Ride for Heroes

Ride for Heroes

A Personal Fundraising Page by Dennis McLaughlin 
Benefiting Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.
 

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Charles McGuire

If I ever thought that there were a lot of Frank McGuire's in New York City circa late 1800s, early 1900s, how about those Charles McGuire's?  Yes, there were a lot.  I pulled the Charles McGuire's death records for NYC off the Italian Genealogy site.   Italian Genealogy NYC Death Records

Below I have copy and pasted all of the Charles McGuire's that I could find in NYC.  Mind you, I did search all of the counties/boroughs.  Brooklyn is in Kings County.  There really aren't a lot of Charles McGuire's in Brooklyn.  At least, not who died there.  Trust me, there are still McGuire's in Brooklyn and probably Manhattan, alike.  They could be my distant relatives even today.  I wonder.

With all of these Charles, how in the world can I find my great great grandfather, Charles McGuire?  Well, I can try to narrow things down.  Any young tyke or young adult could be eliminated.  Note that the Charles McGuire who died in Manhattan at the age of 3 years old on January 19, 1908 is almost with 99% certainty, my grandfather's brother.  My own grandfather and an aunt indicated that he died when he was three or thereabouts.  My aunt actually pointed me to this site to find him.  Find him I did.  Now, I want to try and find Charles McGuire, my great great grandfather and the McGuire Irish immigrant in my direct line.

I have poured over census and might have discovered that Charles died when Frank Joseph McGuire, one of his son's, was quite young.  I might have found that he was born around 1844.  I might have found him in Pennsylvania too.  Now, I think I might be getting way off track.  Back to square one! At least I bothered to capture the information below.  I'm not exactly sure where I want to go from here.  For now, I "table" my research....no pun intended. 

Kings - 1900-1920

Surname Given Name Age Month Day Year Certificate
Number
County Soundex
McGuire  Charles  75 y  Dec  11  1909  22911  Kings  M260 
McGuire  Charles  1 y  Jan  18  1902  1225  Kings  M260 
McGuire  Charles  1 y  May  27  1902  9416  Kings  M260 
McGuire  Charles  4 y  Jan  1914  260  Kings  M260 
McGuire  Charles F  3 y  Apr  1910  7399  Kings  M260 
McGuire  Charles P  40 y  Oct  26  1901  19725  Kings  M260 







































Manhattan - 1900-1920

Surname Given Name Age Month Day Year Certificate
Number
County Soundex
McGuire  Charles  39 y  Jan  1900  845  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  32 y  Jan  13 '03  1903  1670  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  1 y  Aug  28  1905  27645  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  56 y  Oct  1905  31628  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  3 y  Jan  19  1908  2248  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  8 y  Dec  1908  35102  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  5 d  Jan  1909  891  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  62 y  Nov  14  1909  33208  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  1 m  Sep  20  1910  28848  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  19 y  Feb  23  1911  6431  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  17 y  Oct  13  1911  30930  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  34 y  Sep  20  1907  30686  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  45 y  Jan  25  1906  3065  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  4 y  May  1913  14400  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  51 y  Sep  1913  26890  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  45 y  Dec  17  1914  35289  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  85 y  Jan  1918  1182  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  70 y  Apr  1919  12868  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles J  61 y  Feb  18  1914  5489  Manhattan  M260 
































































Manhattan - 1870-1899

Surname Given Name Age Month Day Year Certificate
Number
County Soundex
McGuire  Charles  32 y  Apr  1870  57003  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  34 y  Dec  1874  193064  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  47 y  Sep  28  1880  360333  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  2 m  Mar  17  1881  376305  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  1 y  Jul  17  1881  389693  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  36 y 

1884  503452  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  60 y  Oct  1885  542672  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  25 y  Jul  20  1888  23263  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  59 y  Jan  13  1889  1568  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  39 y  Mar  1893  8242  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  7 m  Jul  1896  22355  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  2 m  Aug  10  1896  27207  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  28 y  Sep  22  1896  32705  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  28 y  May  15  1899  14317  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  3 m  Jun  26  1899  18238  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  3 m  Jan  13  1891  1443  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  32 y  Jun  1891  19784  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  47 y  Aug  10  1891  28270  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  4 m  Jan  14  1895  1989  Manhattan  M260 
McGuire  Charles  67 y  Sep  18  1892  34139  Manhattan  M260 

















































Kings County - 1870-1899

Surname Given Name Age Month Day Year Certificate
Number
County Soundex
McGuire  Charles  43 y  Sep  23  1873  8646  Kings  M260 
McGuire  Charles  40 y  Feb  1890  2446  Kings  M260 
McGuire  Charles  67 y  Feb  10  1891  2155  Kings  M260 
McGuire  Charles  17 y  May  14  1892  7714  Kings  M260 
McGuire  Charles  1 y  Jul  1893  10702  Kings  M260 
McGuire  Charles  3 m  Aug  25  1899  14676  Kings  M260 
McGuire  Charles J  22 y  May  1894  6752  Kings  M260 






















Saturday, May 19, 2012

Francis Robert and Francis Joseph McGuire

My McGuire and Romaine (or is it Rohman?) line almost completely evade me.  I have found that I might actually have more definitive information about my Romaine's as opposed to my McGuire side.  The irony is killing me because my given last name is McGuire.  Of all the surnames in my line, my own last name is the one that gives me fits.

Francis "Frank" Robert McGuire (1908-1993) was my grandfather.  I have notes from when I interviewed him about his family line.  The best he could offer were his siblings names, parents names, and his McGuire grandparents' names.  While that was pretty good at the time given the disjoint in the family, I am now wanting much, much more.

The disjoint that I refer to is my grandfather's own father, Francis "Frank" Joseph McGuire (about 1878-about 1946).  He had some problems.  Most likely drinking.  He took off to the "high seas" and did not return to his wife and four living children.  I have not truly been able to figure out when he baled on the family but by 1930, he was not in the picture.  Whatever happened to Frank Joseph McGuire?  Well, he was in Long Island City according to my uncle.  My uncle is one of the oldest grandchildren and he indicated that the "high seas" was actually Long Island City.  That's certainly a big clue.

Another clue that I have is my grandfather's Certificate of Baptism.  I almost want to say this is better than a birth certificate or a death certificate.  The following is my transcription:

Certificate of Baptism
Church of St. Louis
This is to Certify that Francis Robert McGuire
Child of Francis J. McGuire
and Mary Romaine
born in Brooklyn, New York on the
22nd day of February 1908 was Baptized
on the 8th day of March 1908
According to the Rite of the Roman Catholic Church
by the Rev. J.R. Farrenkopf
the sponsors being John Romaine
and Margaret Connors as appears from
the Baptismal Register of this Church.
Dated October 8th, 1935

Signed, Rev. Joseph P. Herbert, Pastor

This duplicate certificate was probably obtained before my grandfather got married.  Mind you, St. Louis Catholic Church was in Brooklyn, New York.

So, that's a pretty good source document.  It has a lot of great information that I already knew.  In the way of new information, I gleaned the church name off of it and, very likely, my great grandmother's brother's name.  My only question is, where are the McGuire's?   While Frank J. McGuire is indicated, there's no McGuire sponsor.   I guess I have to move on to something else.

The next bit of information that I have is the parents of Francis Joseph McGuire.  They were Charles McGuire and Sarah McGrath.  My grandfather indicated that Charles was from Fermanagh, Ireland.  I have to admit that seems rather generic to me knowing now what I know of Irish geography.  The McGuire name and County Fermanagh are almost synonymous with each other.  It probably is actually harder to find a McGuire in Brooklyn (and I don't think you'd have to look too far) than in Fermanagh.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

How Common - McGuire?

Just how common is the surname McGuire?  Well, in most of the U.S. you do find the name in any city directory.  While it may not be the most common name ever in California, we are around here.  Now, let's travel back in time to Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York circa 1880.  The name was certainly there.  Let's cross the bridge into Brooklyn for that same time period.  GOOD LORD!   How many  McGuire's were living in Brooklyn?  Were they all related to each other?   That name was pretty common at least in part of Brooklyn.

Now, I won't get into location details because I'm just not the best with the geography of Brooklyn circa 1880-1900.  Let's just say there were "a lot" of people living there.  Isn't that an understatement and compare it to today.

So, how lost am I on my McGuire line in New York City.  And, yes, let's just pull in all of the five boroughs of New York City to make it all fair and good.  I don't want to lose any ground right now but I might just get lost walking those streets.  Where's the subway home?

In my past, I could probably manage to navigate lower Manhattan to the subway which would go to Jamaica and then bus it to Franklin Square.  Yes, I just bypassed Brooklyn all together and often wonder if I have truly ever set foot there.  I guess I've driven past/through it and been to Coney Island as a tyke.  I often find great humor when comparing Jamaica, Queens to the island of Jamaica.  They have so little, yet so much in common.  Ocho Rios, Jamaica, v. Jamaica, Queens?  I could pass on both anytime in my future and wish that I could wipe them from my past.

Back to those McGuire's, they evade me as do my Romaine's.  Oh, wait a minute, that's all the same side of my family.  At times the search seems dismal.  I really think church records would be my only solution.  That darn church in Brooklyn never did call me back.  My gut tells me that trapped somewhere in their records is my family line.  From St. Louis Catholic church that closed and records rolled to St. Lucy's that closed, to St. Lucy's-St. Patrick's who have all of those church records, I believe that I'd find so much of what I seek.

Can someone go there and find out for me?  I don't know what else to say.  It's probably a daunting task but I don't live nearby Brooklyn and am not sure when I might get there.

End rant....Now, onto some real as can be McGuire research.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

My Love of Old Photos

I love old photos, especially when they are of my family.   I know that I've said it before.  In reading some of the old letters that I have, I found a wonderful comment about photos made by my great, great uncle.

"It is a most useful art, this photographing, by which one can from one end of the world to the other [send] a pretty correct representation without writing a word about it."

---Michael Flanagan, written in 1873

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The Essence of Genealogy

Here you will find a poem that I found in a "Birthday Book" that belonged to my Grandma. It was the book's dedication by Rev. Hugo W. Hoffmann. I think it represents some of what genealogy is all about.

"If stories of dry and learned lore we gain,
We keep them in the memory of the brain;
Names, things, and facts - whate'er we knowledge call -
There is the common ledger for them all;
And images on this cold surface traced
Make slight impression, and are soon effaced.
But we've a page, more glowing and more bright,
On which our friendship and our love to write;
That these may never from the soul depart,
We trust them to the memory of the heart,
There is so dimming, no effacement there;
Each new pulsation keeps the record clear;
Warm, golden letters all the tablet fill,
Nor lose their lustre till the heart stands still

Saturday, May 5, 2012

O'Brien's - Griffith's Valuation

Near Castleconnell, Limerick, Ireland around 1864
 
Stradbally, Limerick:
 
O'Brien   Bridget             Park                             
O'Brien   Connor              Derrylusk 
O'Brien   Cornelius           Lacka                            
O'Brien   Daniel              Coolready                        
O'Brien   Daniel              Lacka                                 
O'Brien   Denis               Montpelier Vill of Montp            
O'Brien   Denis               River Shannon                     
O'Brien   Honoria             Cln&comms (Castleconnell)             
O'Brien   John                Montpelier Vill of Montp          
O'Brien   Matthew             Ballynacourty                        
O'Brien   Michael             Park                                 
O'Brien   Morgan              Cln&comms (Castleconnell)            
O'Brien   Patrick             Sallymount                           
O'Brien   Thomas              Carrowkeel                           
O'Brien   Thomas              Drominboy                            
O'Brien   Thomas              Lisnagry                          
O'Brien   William             Cln&comms (Castleconnell) 
 
Gleeson          John                Coolready                        
Gleeson          Mary                Gooig 
Gleeson          Terence             Knockbrack East 
Gleeson          Terence             Knockbrack West 
Gleeson          Thomas              Gooig                            

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

O'Brien's in Ireland to Australia and onto California - Part 6

At this point in the game, I hope for more information about Kate O'Brien's family in Australia.  I certainly long to know her full origins in Ireland.  What I have is a good start.  Photos are always one of my favorite parts of genealogy.

The following is a Flanagan photo but in reality all of the people in this photo are also O'Briens.  Kate is here with all eight of her children.  For the life of me, I do not know why Patrick Flanagan, her husband, is not in the photo and do long for a photo of him.

Kate Flanagan (Catherine Mary O'Brien) with her children. Click on this photo to see it larger.