My Irish Ancestors

    Yesterday I wrote about my current projects. I did however leave off the work I'm doing on my Irish ancestors. I have names and dates for all of my 3xgreat-grandparents, except for the parents of my 4 Irish 2xgreat-grandparents. Each of them came from a different one of the 4 provinces of Ireland and I have only limited info on their exact birthplaces (important information to have when trying to go back into Irish records). The Kain's and the Kennedy's lived on adjoining farms in Clinton County, Iowa. 

 John Kain 1819-1893 Province of Ulster

    According to his Clinton County, Iowa grave marker, John was from Armagh, County Armagh. I have no info on who supplied that information, so it's something I need to look into. 

    The info I have on his birth date is very consistent across the years, 11 June 1819. 

    His first-born son was named Thomas, perhaps a clue to his father's name. 

    In 1860 and 1870 a David Kain, born in Ireland, was also iving in Clinton County, Iowa. In 1870, aged 60, he was living and working on the Hampshire Township farm of Catherine Fox, widow of Thomas Fox who may have been Mary Kain's brother (see below). The Fox/Kain connection supports the conjecture of a relationship between John and David Kain.  There are other Irish Kain's who appear in Clinton County records of that time, so these collateral lines are something that I can try to research. 

    I have paid for research to be done by Irish experts in County Armagh based on the info that I have and they could find nothing that was useful. Not a good sign.

 

Mary (Fox) Kain 1823-1819 Province of Connacht  

    Mary and John were married in 1848 in St. Louis, Missouri. The only source for her birthplace of Country Leitrim is her grave marker, which is also the source for her birth date of 20 September 1823. I do not have a name for a parish where she might have been baptized.

     I have no info of possible names for her parents.

    There are two possible brothers for Mary: Thomas and Patrick. A Thomas Fox was living in St. Louis at the same time as John and Mary. He moved his family to Clinton County just before John and Mary. He died in 1863 at the age of 44. There is also a Patrick Fox who was living with John and Mary in St. Louis in 1850. There are 2 Patrick Foxes living in St. Louis at that time; one was a teamster and the other owned a book shop. The teamster seems a more likely candidate to be Mary's brother.  I have researched his descendants ( a very interesting crowd) in the hopes of identifying a surname that shows up in my DNA matches. No such luck.

 

John Kennedy 1826(?)-1913 Province of Leinster

     According to John's Clinton County grave maker, he was from King's County (now County Offaly). I have a document of written notes from one of his descendants that gives his parish as Rosegray. There is a parish of Roscrea in that county, which may be  the one I want. I have not been able to find any records for his birth or baptism to date. His year of birth is very fluid. In 1850 he was possibly 25 and living in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In 1860 he was 35. In 1870 he was 44. In 1880 he was 53. In 1900 he was 65, 10 years younger than he should have been. In 1910 he was 83. At the time of his death in 1913, he was supposedly 93 years old. I think the earlier records are probably more accurate, 

    I know the names of his parents because he left money in his will for masses to be said in their remembrance and HE NAMED THEM right there in his will: Michael and Julia. A maiden name of Noland is given as his mother's maiden name on his death record.

    John has two siblings that appear in Clinton County: James and Mary. John's oldest son, Michael appears in a census record living with his uncle James Kennedy. Mary was married first to Stephen Lawler in Chicago. They later lived in Clinton County, where Stephen died. Mary then married a man named, wait for it, John Kennedy. Yes, that's right, she married a man with the same name as her brother. Her link to her brother is established by his living with Mary's daughter and listed as her uncle. Mary's description of her coming to America differs than the one for her brother. It is possible that the parents came to Chicago from Ireland with their children.

    As you can imagine I have a lot of avenues for research on this line, and so far nothing has turned up.

 

Hanora (Collins) Wallace Kennedy 1830-1888 Province of Munster

     Again the only evidence of where in Ireland she was born comes from her grave marker: Parish of Glenbrohane, County Limerick. Her birth date is given as 25 March 1830. 

    Mary was married to a man with the surname of Wallace in Ireland. They had one daughter in Ireland and one in America. Mr. Wallace probably died sometime shortly after the birth of his second child and Hanora married John Kennedy in Chicago in 1854, in the same church where Mary Kennedy married Stephen Lawler. Wallace's first name is given as John on one of his daughter's death records, but there is a marriage record for a Hanora Collins and a Thomas Wallace in County Limerick at the right time to be this couple. The informant for the death record may have confused her step-father's name for her father's.

    Again there are several possible line of research on Hanora.

 

Summary 

    I have included links to the WikiTree profiles for these four people. John Kain's is the only one that I have worked on cleaning up. The rest are on my Genealogical To Do List.

    As you can tell, I have a lot of research paths on my Irish ancestry. They will require more determination and focus that I can give them at this time. It may be left for future researchers to take up this work and take it forward. Hopefully I have left enough breadcrumbs.

. 

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 15 "Solitude"

It was hard to think of an ancestor that I associated with this week's theme of solitude. After some thought I have decided to write about one of my Irish immigrant 2xgreat-grandmothers: Hanora (Collins) Wallace Kennedy (my pamamama). She immigrated from Ireland in 1852 or 1853 with a husband and an infant daughter. After the birth of their second daughter, her husband presumably died. She was left alone in a foreign country with two daughters under the age of two. That sure feels like solitude to me. 

According to her grave marker, Hanora was born on 25 March 1830 in Glenbrohane Parish, County Limerick, Ireland. She married John Wallace in Ireland in about 1850. On 1 August 1852, their daughter Ellen "Nellie" Wallace was born somewhere in Ireland. Sometime between her birth and the birth of their next daughter the family came to the United States. On 31 May 1853, Hanora "Nora" Wallace was born, probably near Beloit, Wisconsin.

I assume that John Wallace died sometime in 1852 or 1853, because on 10 November 1854, Hanora married John Kennedy at Old St. Mary's catholic Church in Chicago, Illinois. I have no idea how or where they met. Shortly before the marriage John Kennedy had acquired land in Clinton County, Iowa, where the newlyweds soon settled. They went on to have four children together--the first born 9 September 1855. 

Hanora died on 24 November 1888. She was only 58 years old. Her daughter Julia, who had become a nun died three years before her. 

Hanora sure packed a lot into her brief life. I hope she found enough happiness to offset all the losses she experienced and that any traces of solitude disappeared with her second marriage and their life together raising children and farming in Clinton County.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 12 "Membership"

My great-grandfather Frank J. Kain (pamapa) was a member of the Knights of Columbus in Creighton, NE. I know this thanks to the book "Knights of Columbus - Nebraska State Council Proceedings, 1905-1926." This book has been transcribed and appears on the Nebraska GenWeb Resource Center site under "Religious Information" and "Catholic Church." As far as I can tell, this is the only place in the universe that you can find it. Neither Worldcat nor Family Search has any mention of it. This mystery book contains the proceedings for each annual Nebraska Knights of Columbus state council held in May between 1905 and 1926.

Francis J. Kain (1861-1930)

According to the book, the Creighton Council sent its first delegates in 1907. Frank Kain attended for the first time as a delegate from Creighton in 1913. He went that year with his brother-in-law J.J. (John) Kennedy, who was also attending for the first time. They had known each other since childhood, having grown up together on adjacent farms in Clinton County, Iowa. In the following year of 1914, J.J. went as a Creighton delegate but Frank did not. 

Frank then attended in 1915, 1916, 1918, and every year of 1920 through 1929. J.J. and he attended together as the Creighton delegates in 1915 and again in 1927. Frank was on the Committee on Resolutions in 1915 and was also an alternate to a member of the Supreme Council that year. In 1916, 1918, and 1920 he was on the Credentials Committee. In 1924 and 1925 the other delegate from Creighton was B.J. Huigens, brother of Frank's son-in-law Joe Huigens (my grandfather). 

The book only goes through 1926. However, I did find Creighton newspaper articles from 1927, 1928, and 1929 that show he attended those years. In the 1930 US Census, Frank and his wife are living with their son in Yankton, SD. Frank died in December 1930 so 1929 was his last state council. 

1927

1928

1929

Frank is listed as a Grand Knight (the highest elected leader of his council) in 1921 and 1924 and as a Past Grand Knight in 1925.

But his shining moment appears in the 1921 proceedings:

Among the meritorious activities of Nebraska Knighthood must be included the courageous effort of Grand Knight Frank J. Kain of Creighton, unanimously supported by the entire membership of Count Creighton Council, to enlist the Supreme Officers in [sic] behalf of suffering Ireland. The correspondence on this question has been printed and circulated by the Creighton Council, and it shows upon its face that this council, in the interchange of letters and arguments with the Supreme Advocate, had decidedly the best of the controversy. And it bore fruit, for no sooner had the last letter of Brother Kain been received at headquarters, than telegrams from the Supreme Knight were despatched [sic] all over the country calling upon the state officers to enter vigorously into the campaign for Irish relief, In my opinion, the thanks of this State Council should be expressed and recorded toward Brother Kain and his council for their determined and successful efforts on behalf of the heroic victims of the most heartless and damnable militarism that has ever yet cursed the earth.

Both of Frank's parents were Irish immigrants, so this must have been an issue close to his heart. In May of 1921, when this state council was held, the bloody Irish War of Independence, begun in 1919, was nearly at an end. "Brother Kain" may have even known of cousins back in Ireland who were involved. For him, this "courageous effort" was personal. Good on you, great-grandpa. Good on you.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 3 "Out of Place"

 In the book "The History of Clinton County, Iowa" from 1879 (The History of Clinton County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns &c., Biographical Sketches of Citizens. United States: Western Historical Company, 1879.) my 2xgreat-grandfather John Kennedy (1826-1913) said that he married Honora Collins (1830-1888) on 10 November 1854, but he named no place. It also says that he moved to Wisconsin in 1849 and in 1854 moved to Clinton Co. 

Hanora Wallace (1853-1911), Honora's second daughter, from her first marriage to John Wallace was most likely born near Beloit, Wisconsin in 1853. That puts both John Kennedy and Honora in Wisconsin at the same time. That was where I have spent the last several years looking without success for a marriage record for them. 

Then one day I was looking through the records from Old St. Mary's Catholic Church, the first Catholic church in Chicago. I had determined that John Kennedy's sister Mary (1837-1899) had married her first husband, Stephen Lawler (1831-1866), in Chicago and had found a baptism record for a son of theirs in 1856. I was looking for a record of their marriage when I came across this entry from 1854:

Imagine my surprise! I quickly checked that it was the right date and sure enough I had accidently stumbled across a record of John and Honora's marriage. I have no idea what they were doing in Chicago. That was not where I had expected to find them.

John's sister's obituary says that she came to the US as a child and settled in Chicago. John made no mention of Chicago in his county biography. More research is required into this Kennedy family's history in Chicago. Also I need more information on the movements of Honora, especially after the assumed death of her first husband in 1853 or 1854.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 1 "I'd Like to Meet"

For 2023, as a way to get back into blogging, I'm going to try to take part in Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" challenge. This week's topic is "I'd Like to Meet."

I don't have any one ancestor I'd like to meet. My focus this year is on my four great-great-grandparents who came from Ireland in the mid-1800's and settled on adjacent farms in Hampshire Township, Clinton County, Iowa. These are the only 2xgreat-granparents that I have not been able to take back to the next generation. I would love to meet any one of them as they might be able to tell me not only about themselves, but also their spouse and their neighbors.

John Kain (1819-1892) and Mary Fox (1823-1890) were married in St. Louis, Missouri in 1848. They came to Clinton County in 1852. According to their grave marker they came from County Armagh and County Leitrim, respectively.

John Kennedy (1826-1913) and Hanora Collins (1830-1898) were married in Chicago, Illinois in 1854. They went to Clinton County that same year. According to the information on their grave marker, Hanora came from County Limerick. John's birthplace of King's Count (now County Offaly) comes from his obit in the Clinton newspaper. 

I have no idea how accurate the information on the grave markers is. For example, John Kennedy's age varies quite a bit in the records as he got older, so it is hard to pin down his birth year. 1826 is my best guess, but that is not what is on his marker. One of the items on my research list is to see if I can track down who had these markers erected and see if that might lead to the source of the info.

It would save me so much time and effort if I could talk to one of these Irish ancestors. It would be like a ladder over these backwalls and back to specific spots in Ireland. 

1940 US Census Finds

I found my great-grandparents, John and Mary Huigens in Creighton, NE on ancestry.com:

While looking for them, I also found the families of their sons' BJ and Ed, my grandmother's uncle, John Kennedy, Jr. with his wife and kids, and my grandmother's sister Iona with her husband Fred Dostal. There are probably a lot more relatives in Creighton. They will have to wait until there's an index.

I then found my 13-year-old dad with his family in Sheridan Co., NE. The census taker spelled the name Higgins, but that's them all right. I'm surprised to see that my grandfather had completed 2 years of high school. That's unusual for a farm kid back then.

I'm still looking for my mom's first appearance in the US Census with her family on a farm near Pine Ridge in Shannon Co., SD. Only the NARA has the SD pages on-line but it is a slow hit-or-miss proposition on each page and there are 8 Enumeration Districts to choose from. It may take awhile, but I'll find her.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Week 13 - Local Societies

Week 13. Local Societies: Local genealogical and historical societies are the lifeblood of genealogy. Members and volunteers give their time and money to preserve local history and promote family history. Tell us about a local society for which you are thankful.

I am most thankful for the Clinton Co.IA Historical Society. I've only visited there once, but I found Clinton and Lyons city directories that helped me place my Iowa Irish ancestors over the years. Plus they have a huge county map from 1865 that shows the location of the Kennedy and Kain farms in Hampshire Township. The one thing they have that I need to go back for is a book of wills that has a will for a John Kennedy. I'm hoping it's my John Kennedy and his brother-in-law of the same name.

The other historical society that is a must visit for me some day is in Creighton, NE.  I've corresponded with someone there, but have yet to get out there. They have photos and other information that covers the area where the two halves of my father's ancestry linked up. They also have the wedding dress of the bride of my grandmother's uncle, John Kennedy, Jr. I'll get there some day and spend a day or two absorbing information about and photos of my ancestors and relatives.

Surname Saturday: My Irish Lines

For St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd recap my Irish lines of Kain, Kennedy, Fox and Collins.

1. Kevin Joseph HUIGENS

2. Joseph Anthony HUIGENS
3. Shirley Ann OGDEN

4. Joseph Andrew HUIGENS (b. 9 Mar 1891 near Creighton, Knox Co., NE, m. 18 Feb 1914 at St. Ludgers Catholic Church in Creighton, Knox Co., NE, d. 8 Nov 1957 in Rushville, Sheridan Co., NE)
 (b. 19 May 1896 in Knox Co., NE, d. 29 Apr 1979 in Rushville, Sheridan Co., NE)

10. Francis Joseph "Frank" KAIN (b. 14 Oct 1861 in Clinton Co., IA, m. 14 Feb 1888 at St. Iraneaus Catholic Church in Lyons, Clinton Co., IA, d. 12 Dec 1930 in Yankton, Yankton Co., SD)
11. Margaret H. "Maggie" KENNEDY (b. 9 Sep 1864 in Clinton Co., IA, d. 8 Dec 1831 in Creighton, Knox Co., NE)

20. John KAIN (b. 11 Jun 1819 in Armagh, County Armagh, Ireland, UK, 2 Jul 1848 at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in St. Louis, St. Louis Co., MO, d. 16 Nov 1893 in Lyons, Clinton Co., IA)
21. Mary FOX (b. 29 Sep 1823 in County Leitrim, Ireland, UK, d. 12 May 1890 in Lyons, Clinton Co., IA)

22. John KENNEDY (b. 2 Jun 1826? in King's County, Ireland, m. 10 Nov 1854 in ?, d. 6 Nov 1913 in Clinton, Clinton Co., IA)
23. Hanora COLLINS (b. 25 Mar 1830 in Glenbrohane, County Limerick, Ireland, d. 24 Nov 1888 in Clinton, Cinton Co., IA)

44. Michael KENNEDY (b. ? in Ireland, m. ? in ?, d. ? in ?)
45. Unknown NOLAURD? (b. ? in Ireland, d. ? in ?)

Future research plans include getting Iowa death records for all four of my Irish great-greats. I also need to look for the will for John Kennedy at the Clinton Co. Historical Society. I want to do more research on Mary Fox's brothers: Thomas, who died young in Clinton Co. and Patrick, who I believe was a teamster in St. Louis.  I also need to reconcile John Kennedy's account of his early years in the US with that of his probable sister, Mary (Kennedy) Lawler Kennedy. I also need to find out more info on Hanora (Collins) Wallace Kennedy's early years in the US with her first husband. Naturalization records for John Kain and John Kennedy are also on my to do list. Once all that is done, I can begin the search back in the Old Country.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Week 10 - Genealogy Road Trips

Week 10 – Genealogy Road Trips: No two genealogy road trips are the same but they’re always fun and meaningful. Describe a memorable trip in your past. Where did you go? What did you find (or not find)? Did you meet any new cousins? What did the trip mean to you and your family?

In June 2006, I went with my girlfriend on a genealogy road trip to Clinton, IA. It was our first trip together after meeting on eHarmony a few months earlier. It was my first trip to Clinton since I had discovered that it was where my two sets of Irish great-great-grandparents had settled. Anne Marie also had a connection to Clinton that I stumbled across while doing preparatory research. Her grandfather had been in the house moving business and had moved a 26-room mansion up the side of a hill in Clinton in 1902. It took three months to move the house eleven blocks and up the side of a very large and steep hill. The path was near where my great-great-grandfather, John Kennedy was living and both men were Irish Catholics, so it's possible that our ancestors met over a century before us.

The trip was wonderful. We went to the Clinton library where I visited the Roots Cellar genealogy resource for the first time. I gathered a ton of useful information and only managed to scratch the surface of what is available there. The librarian was very help and was even able to provide Anne Marie with lots of information on the Lamb House. She let us know that the house had burned down a few years before, so we weren't able to see it, but we did visit the site where it was moved to and followed the route the house had taken. We still marvel over how they got it up the side of that hill.

We also visited the sites of my ancestors' farms, which were adjacent to each other, the Catholic churches my ancestors were associated with, the county historical society and the cemetery, where we found the grave markers of my ancestors and other relatives.

That weekend there was a big hot air balloon festival in town. On Sunday morning, we went for the early morning mass launch of dozens of balloons. A most impressive sight.

All in all, it was a marvelous time filled with laughter. I enjoyed myself so much that I decided that Anne Marie was someone I would enjoy spending the rest of my life with. A few months later I proposed to her. She accepted and we were married in Sept. 2007.

Fearless Females: Day 2

March 2 — Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo?

This is a photo of my great-grandmother, Margaret (Kennedy) Kain. She is my father's maternal grandmother. Her parents were Irish immigrants. I don't when the photo was taken, but since she died in 1931 at the age of 67, it was probably taken sometime in the 1920s. I chose this photo because it's the only one I have of her. I wish I had more. I have pictures of most of my other great-grandparents when they were younger, but only this one of her. 

Fearless Females: Day 1

Since I'm trying to keep up the pace of a blog post a day, I guess I'll take advantage of Lisa Alzo's Fearless Females blog prompts for Women's History Month.

March 1 — Do you have a favorite female ancestor? One you are drawn to or want to learn more about? Write down some key facts you have already learned or what you would like to learn and outline your goals and potential sources you plan to check.

My favorite female ancestor is my Grandma Julia, but she is not the one I want to learn more about. If I had to pick someone for that, I'd go with Hanora (Collins) Wallace Kennedy, one of my Irish great-great-grandmothers.

 What I know comes partly from her grave marker and partly from hand-written notes made by her granddaughter, my Grandma Julia's cousin. Hanora or Nora, was supposedly born in the parish of Glenbrohane in County Limerick. Her first husband's last name was Wallace (or Wallis). She had two daughters with him, Ellen/Nellie born in Ireland and Hanora/Nora in the US. She later married my great-great-grandfather John Kennedy and they settled near Clinton, IA and had four children. I've requested a records search in County Limerick for records of Hanora Collins and Ellen Wallace, but they turned up nothing. Her obituary provided no additional clues.

The next steps are county death records to look for parents' names, a search for marriage records in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin and a search in those three state for death records for a male Wallace of about her age dying between the birth of their last daughter and her second marriages. I'd welcome an other suggestions of  how to find more information about her.

SNGF: Two Degrees of Separation

1) Using your ancestral lines, how far back in time can you go with two degrees of separation? That means "you knew an ancestor, who knew another ancestor." When was that second ancestor born?

All of my great-grandparents had died before I was born. So the middle person will have to be one of my grandparents. Here are the earliest born ancestors that each of my grandparents may have known.

Joseph Andrew Huigens (1891-1957) had to have known his grandmother, Anna Helena (Schmitt) Fitzler (1833-1904). They both lived near Creighton, NE according to the 1900 US Census. He would have been 13 when she died. It's possible he also met his other grandmother, Katherine (Toemmes) Huigens Wend (1827-1899). She died in 1899, when he was eight. In 1895 she was living in Iowa with her daughter's family. She died four years later in a mental hospital in Illinois.

Mary Julia (Kain) Huigens (1894-1979) only had one grandparent who did not die before she was born, her maternal grandfather, John Kennedy (1826-1913). She would have been 19 when he died. I have no idea if she ever made the trip to Clinton, IA to meet him, if he ever came out west to Nebraska or if they met somewhere in the middle in Iowa for a family gathering at her aunt's.

Emery Julius Huigens (1896-1984) probably knew all of his grandparents. He was 14 when the first of them died. They all lived near each other in south-eastern South Dakota. His paternal grandfather, James Robert Ogden (1836-1910), was the oldest and the first to die. Emery would have been 14 then. It's also possible but unlikely that he met his great-grandfather, John Jacob Adlebusch (1817-1901). He lived in Sheboygan Co., WI and was almost 80 when my grandfather was born. I doubt that my grandfather was taken to Wisconsin or that my great-great-great-grandfather made the trip to SD at his age.

Esther Louise (Johnson) Ogden (1902-1984) probably knew all three of her grandparents who were alive when she was born. The oldest of them was Harriet Alice (Howard) Strayer (1829-1914). They all lived in the Quad City area in Iowa and Illinois where my grandmother was born.

So I'm pretty sure the farthest back I can go is Esther Louise Johnson to her maternal grandmother, Harriet Alice Howard, born in 1829. There are two other definite possibilities in 1826 and 1827 with a very, very slim chance of 1817.

Thanks, Randy, for another great topic.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Week 5: Life Experiences

Sometimes the challenges in life provide the best learning experiences. Can you find an example of this in your own family tree? Which brick wall ancestor are you most thankful for, and how did that person shape your family history experience?

I learned a lot early in my dabbles in genealogy from my great-great-grandfather John Kennedy. First I learned all about name variations while trying to track him down in the US Census records, (John Canada? Really, Mr. Census Taker?) 

After having tracked him down in the census, I discovered an online biography from an 1879 county history for Clinton Co., IA. The children listed in that biography left out two who were listed in the census records, Ellen and Hanora. This was puzzling and I love puzzles. I eventually concluded that they might have been his wife's children from a previous marriage. It turned out that my mother had a couple of pages of hand-written notes from my grandmother's cousin that answered the question about their aunts and their grandfather.

This confirmed my hypothesis--Hanora Collins had been previously married a man with the surname of Wallace. 

This is what hooked me on genealogy. I love the research, the detective work, the puzzling over facts and hypotheses, developing theories and testing them out. I also love collecting, not just ancestors and relatives, but documents, sources, photos. It's the perfect hobby for my temperament and I'm grateful to have found it  and grateful to my great-great-grandfather for being so difficult.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Week 4: Free Offline Genealogy Tools

For which free offline genealogy tool are you most grateful? How did you find this tool and how has it benefited your genealogy? Describe to others how to access this tool and spread the genealogy love.

I had a hard time figuring this one out until I read some other posts. Then I had lots of ideas.

But the first thing that occurred to me was the Clinton IA Public Library Root Cellar. My Irish immigrant ancestors settled in Clinton Co., IA. I've made a couple of trips across Illinois to visit this library and go down in the basement to the Root Cellar. It has been a tremendous resource in discovering details about my Kain and Kennedy ancestors. It was there that my wife and I learned about the possibility of the crossing of paths of my great-great-grandfather, John Kennedy, and her grandfather, Albert Crowe. I have a long list of resources to check there the next time I find time to cross the Mississippi River into Iowa. The Root Cellar librarians are very knowledgeable and helpful. I wish I lived even closer so I could spend more time there.

Surname Saturday - 45: Nolaurd?

That's right -- "Nolaurd." How's that for a typical Irish surname. Yet that's what it states on the microfilmed transcription of the Clinton Co., Iowa death register for John KENNEDY, one of my Irish great-great-grandfathers.  Maiden Name of Mother: Nolaurd.

I'm not sure what to make of that. It's like breaking through a brick wall and finding...another brick wall. 

The informant was John Sheppard. He is the husband of Anne (Kennedy) Sheppard. John Kennedy was living with the Sheppards when he died. In the 1900 US Census, he is listed in their household as "Uncle." I believe he's Anne's uncle, the brother of her mother, Mary (Kennedy) Lawler Kennedy. In the 1910 US Census he is listed in the Sheppard household as a boarder.

It's possible that John Sheppard got the information about his wife's grandmother's maiden name wrong. I know that information about my wife (Lynch and Kuntz), but stuff like that is important to me. Maybe John Sheppard wasn't all that interested in genealogy. I don't put much trust in the information he provided.

The other possibility is that it's a transcription error.  Maybe it's "Nolan" or something more common in the original death records. A trip to the Clinton County courthouse is in my plans. That will be on my list of things to look into.

Of course, if it is "Nolaurd" that will be a real break. An uncommon name will make it more likely when I find someone that they are the person I'm looking for.  Not like Kennedy. 

Surname Saturday - 11: Kennedy

Kennedy was the maiden name of my paternal grandmother's mother. My grandmother felt a strong connection to JFK and his family because of the possible relation. Since our Kennedys came from County Offaly and the famous Kennedys from County Wexford, we're probably not related.

1. Kevin Joseph HUIGENS

2. Joseph Anthony HUIGENS
3. Shirley Ann OGDEN

4. Joseph Andrew HUIGENS (b. 9 Mar 1891 near Creighton, Knox Co., NE, m. 18 Feb 1914 at St. Ludgers Catholic Church in Creighton, Knox Co., NE, d. 8 Nov 1957 in Rushville, Sheridan Co., NE)
5. Mary Julia KAIN (b. 19 May 1896 in Knox Co., NE, d. 29 Apr 1979 in Rushville, Sheridan Co., NE)

10. Francis J. "Frank" KAIN (b. 14 Oct 1861 in Clinton Co., IA, m. 14 Feb 1888 at St. Irenaeus Catholic Church in Lyons, Clinton Co., IA, d. 12 Dec 1930 in Yankton, Yankton Co., SD)
11. Margaret H. "Maggie" KENNEDY (b. 9 Sep 1864 in Clinton Co., IA, d. 8 Dec 1831 in Creighton, Knox Co., NE)

22. John KENNEDY (b. 2 Jun 1826? in King's County, Ireland, m. 10 Nov 1854 in ?, d. 6 Nov 1913 in Clinton, Clinton Co., IA)
23. Hanora COLLINS (b. 25 Mar 1830 in Glenbrohane, County Limerick, Ireland, d. 24 Nov 1888 in Clinton, Cinton Co., IA)


44. Michael KENNEDY (b. ? in Ireland, m. ? in ?, d. ? in ?)
45. Unknown NOLAURD? (b. ? in Ireland, d. ? in ?)

The name of John Kennedy's father and his mother's maiden name comes from a transcription of his death record found in the Clinton Library's genealogy department. The informant was John Sheppard, the husband of John Kennedy's neice, Anna (Kennedy) Sheppard. When he died, John was living with them across the St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Clinton. I'm not sure how accurate the information is. I can find no record of anyone with a last name of Nolaurd in any on-line source.

The beginning of the information on John Kennedy came from two hand-written sheets of family history from his granddaughter Eileen Kennedy. John also has a brief biography in an 1879 history of Clinton County.

John Kennedy's birth year is a mystery. Most of the earlier census records point to 1825 or 1826. As he got older, it switched to 1820. His obituary used that date and list 93 years old. That is also the year used on his grave marker and on the death record.

Hanora was a widow with two young daughters when John married her. In his biography he gives the date of his marriage, but not the location. It may have been in Iowa, Illinois or Wisconsin.

Anna Kennedy's mother was very likely John's sister, Mary. She first married a Stephen Lawler in Chicago, then a John Kennedy in Clinton. Her obituary contradicts a lot of the information given by my great-great-grandfather in his bio. It also contradicts some of the census records. No surprise there. Lots of opportunities for further research into this line as a way of getting over this brick wall, just wish they didn't have such common Irish names in a heavily Irish place like Chicago.

The Kains and Kennedys had adjoining farms in Hampshire Township in Clinton County, just west of Lyons, IA. Frank and Maggie had known each other from childhood and were married on Valentine's Day, 1888 at St. Iraneaus Catholic Church in Lyons.

Fearless Females: Day 4

Today's prompt for the Fearless Female Women's History blog challenge is:
March 4 — Do you have marriage records for your grandparents or great-grandparents? Write a post about where they were married and when. Any family stories about the wedding day? Post a photo too if you have one.

Let's see where I stand with having sources.

Grandparents

Joseph HUIGENS and Julia KAIN, 18 Nov 1914 probably at St. Ludgers Catholic Church in Creigton, Knox Co., NE. I do not have church or civil records for this marriage. I do have a picture, though.
Emery OGDEN and Esther JOHNSON, 19 Mar 1929 probably at Morse Memorial United Methodist Church in Rushville, Sheridan Co., NE. Again, I don't yet have civil or church records for this marriage.

I have a newspaper clipping from the Rushville newspaper of 22 Mar 1929. The hand-written correction was made by my mother.




I also have a picture that was supposedly taken on their wedding day.

Great-grandparents

John HUIGENS and Mary FITZLER, 1 Feb 1884 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Henry, Marshall Co., IL. I don't have any church records for this marriage and I have a surplus of civil records. Many years ago my mother sent off for a Certificate of Record of Marriage from Marshall Co. The date on that is 29 Jan 1884. A few years ago, I also sent off for the same record. Ther version I received states 24 Jan 1884. Clearly the people who transcribed the record had different opinions on that one character. To add to the confusion, the wedding announcement from the Henry Republican on 7 Feb 1884 states "Married, in the city, Feb. 1, at the German Catholic Church, by the Reverend Father Hout, JOHN HIGGINS and Miss MARY FITZLER." So is the date on the original certificate the date they obtained the license? I need to get to the courthouse and see the original marriage license.

Frank KAIN and Maggie KENNEDY, 14 Feb 1888 at St. Irenaeus Catholic Church in Lyons, Clinton Co., IA. Again, no civil or church records. Not even a picture.

William OGDEN and 1) Mary HERREN, 25 Jan 1895 in Elk Point, Union Co., SD, 2) Mary CHARBONEAU about 1939. No records or pictures for these either.

Gustaf JOHNSON and Rosabell STRAYER, 4 Sept 1899 in Rock Island Co., IL. No details and no church records, but I do have a marriage record index from an on-line database of Illinois marriages. And I have a picture.
So I really need to get busy gathering records, transcripts and originals at courthouses. I do have some church records and civil records for some of my great-great-grandparents.