There must have been some sort of sickness in the Connell house in 1873. On March 13, 15-month old Frances passed away. Just 6 days later, her 6 week old little brother, William, died. If not a sickness that afflicted the children, perhaps this was a tragedy related to the recent birth - a post partum depression or an inability to provide adequate care for the infants. The next Connell born, Daniel in 1874, would also die young. He was about 14 years old in 1888 when he passed away. All three of these children are buried with their parents in St. Patrick's cemetery in Lodi. (As with the other family members buried at St. Patrick's, all their headstones say O'Connell.)
Although chronologically out of order, there are two other children about whom there is little to say. John is 18 years old and in school when last seen with the family in Lodi in 1880. James is a 12 year old school boy that year, then seen just once more as a 31 year old unemployed salesman living with his mother in Portage in 1900. It is likely that they are in census and other records that I have seen, but their names are so common that I can't tell which ones are our family unless I find a mention of a mother's maiden name. For now, they remain unknown.
Friday, January 20, 2017
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Katie Connell 1859 - 1944
Katie Connell was the oldest of George and Johanna's children, born in 1859 in Lodi. It's curious that per the 1940 census Katie had an 8th grade education, while the 1880 census says that 20 year old Katie was attending school. She moved to Chicago where she met Henry Heseltine, a recent immigrant from England. They probably married in about 1894, the year he became a US citizen. Their daughter, Elizabeth was born in March of 1896 and Henry died just three months later. The census says Catherine was a "compositor" - a typesetter for a printer - until at least 1910. I assume that Catherine struggled financially, since they moved from town to town, always near Chicago - Cicero, Oak Park, Harvey, Chicago, Villa Park - and her work changed to housework/servant/janitor. Elizabeth attended two years of college and became a public school teacher, living with her mother until her marriage in about 1921.
Elizabeth married Herman Kaehler, a Chicago cab driver. Herman was a military veteran, though I don't know which conflict, if any. He was a widow with four children - Ruth, Hazel, Marjorie and Patricia - aged 11 to 4 when he married Elizabeth. They had all been living with his parents in 1920, and the kids were not with him in subsequent censuses, so I wonder if they were raised by their grandparents. I may have found Hazel (married name Miller) living in Deerfield with her husband and about four kids. I believe she passed away in 1998. I could not find the other kids as adults.
Herman Kaehler and Elizabeth Heseltine married in about 1921 and by 1930 had four children. I'm not posting their names since some of them may still be living. I think that life was hard for Herman and Elizabeth, too, though this may have been the norm during the Depression. I can't find the family in 1930 in the census. In 1940, Herman claimed a profession of brick layer, but had not worked in over a year. He was receiving some income, perhaps from a veteran's pension. Elizabeth had a public works job as a nursing (?) school director. Their 17 year old daughter was still in school, but their 16 year old son was not. With an occupation of "new worker", not having found work in 13 weeks, with a 9th grade eduction, and being only 16 his prospects were probably not good. I was not able to find the kids as adults, nor death information for Herman and Elizabeth. Elizabeth's mother, Katie Connell Heseltine, passed away at the age of 85 while living in Villa Park, near Elmhurst. She may have been living with the Kaehlers. She is buried in Mt. Carmel cemetery in Hillside, Illinois.
Elizabeth married Herman Kaehler, a Chicago cab driver. Herman was a military veteran, though I don't know which conflict, if any. He was a widow with four children - Ruth, Hazel, Marjorie and Patricia - aged 11 to 4 when he married Elizabeth. They had all been living with his parents in 1920, and the kids were not with him in subsequent censuses, so I wonder if they were raised by their grandparents. I may have found Hazel (married name Miller) living in Deerfield with her husband and about four kids. I believe she passed away in 1998. I could not find the other kids as adults.
Herman Kaehler and Elizabeth Heseltine married in about 1921 and by 1930 had four children. I'm not posting their names since some of them may still be living. I think that life was hard for Herman and Elizabeth, too, though this may have been the norm during the Depression. I can't find the family in 1930 in the census. In 1940, Herman claimed a profession of brick layer, but had not worked in over a year. He was receiving some income, perhaps from a veteran's pension. Elizabeth had a public works job as a nursing (?) school director. Their 17 year old daughter was still in school, but their 16 year old son was not. With an occupation of "new worker", not having found work in 13 weeks, with a 9th grade eduction, and being only 16 his prospects were probably not good. I was not able to find the kids as adults, nor death information for Herman and Elizabeth. Elizabeth's mother, Katie Connell Heseltine, passed away at the age of 85 while living in Villa Park, near Elmhurst. She may have been living with the Kaehlers. She is buried in Mt. Carmel cemetery in Hillside, Illinois.
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
George and Johanna Cussen Connell in Lodi, Wisconsin ca. 1870
I sat down for a few hours to gather more information on the children of Johanna Cussen Connell. Four days later, I'm posting some articles about these families. As usual, dates and places only tell me where they lived. If you are related to any of these families and can share stories or more information, please contact me (find my e-mail in my "profile" link) or post a comment.
Johanna Cussen was born in Galbally, Ireland in 1836, travelling with her family to Newfoundland, Boston, and Fort Winnebago by about 1848. In about 1858 she married George Connell/O'Connell, I believe a recent immigrant from New Brunswick, Canada, and they settled in Lodi, about 25 miles south of Fort Winnebago. They were farmers. From 1860 to 1876 they had thirteen children in Lodi. George died in 1877, leaving Johanna with 11 children between the ages of 1 and 18. Information is sparse, but I assume that life was difficult. Usually, someone stays with the elderly parent and works the farm, but by 1895 Johanna had moved to Portage, presumably having sold the farm, where she remained until her death in 1923. She is buried in the Catholic cemetery there with her husband, George, the three kids who died as children (Frances, age 2, William, age 1 month, Daniel, age 14), Mary, the lone daughter who remained in Lodi as an in-home servant and nurse her entire life, and Nellie, the only child to be returned to Lodi for burial.
I initially thought this family name was O'Connell. Indeed, I stumbled across Johanna on FindAGrave.com, where volunteers post inventories of cemeteries, usually with photographs. Johanna Cushing O'Connell's grave marker is shown there, in St. Patrick's cemetery in Lodi, Wisconsin, as are five other members of the O'Connell family. Having just extensively searched for George and Johanna's descendants, however, I now know that the cemetery is the only place where the name O'Connell was used. All appearances in the census, newspapers, birth, marriage and death records, etc., use the name Connell. The use of O'Connell in the cemetery is a mystery to me. I would suspect that a well-meaning descendant just got it wrong when they replaced headstones, but the stone for George appears to be an original (at least it looks very old), and it does say O'Connell.
I'll trace their descendants in the following posts.
Johanna Cussen was born in Galbally, Ireland in 1836, travelling with her family to Newfoundland, Boston, and Fort Winnebago by about 1848. In about 1858 she married George Connell/O'Connell, I believe a recent immigrant from New Brunswick, Canada, and they settled in Lodi, about 25 miles south of Fort Winnebago. They were farmers. From 1860 to 1876 they had thirteen children in Lodi. George died in 1877, leaving Johanna with 11 children between the ages of 1 and 18. Information is sparse, but I assume that life was difficult. Usually, someone stays with the elderly parent and works the farm, but by 1895 Johanna had moved to Portage, presumably having sold the farm, where she remained until her death in 1923. She is buried in the Catholic cemetery there with her husband, George, the three kids who died as children (Frances, age 2, William, age 1 month, Daniel, age 14), Mary, the lone daughter who remained in Lodi as an in-home servant and nurse her entire life, and Nellie, the only child to be returned to Lodi for burial.
I initially thought this family name was O'Connell. Indeed, I stumbled across Johanna on FindAGrave.com, where volunteers post inventories of cemeteries, usually with photographs. Johanna Cushing O'Connell's grave marker is shown there, in St. Patrick's cemetery in Lodi, Wisconsin, as are five other members of the O'Connell family. Having just extensively searched for George and Johanna's descendants, however, I now know that the cemetery is the only place where the name O'Connell was used. All appearances in the census, newspapers, birth, marriage and death records, etc., use the name Connell. The use of O'Connell in the cemetery is a mystery to me. I would suspect that a well-meaning descendant just got it wrong when they replaced headstones, but the stone for George appears to be an original (at least it looks very old), and it does say O'Connell.
I'll trace their descendants in the following posts.
Monday, March 14, 2016
Mary Lang
Here is an example of how much work can be spent chasing down a relative that turns out to be unrelated.
While browsing through census records for information about my Donnelly (and related) family, I found a Mary Lang living with John and Catherine Gorman Murphy. Catherine is a granddaughter of my great great great grandparents, Patrick and Nancy Larkin Donley. Mary Lang is described as a niece. So I embarked on a search for the relationship between the Langs and the Gorman or Murphy family.
A search of historic newspapers revealed that Mary Lang was also a niece of the Murphys' next door neighbors, Alexander and Elizabeth Creighton, and that Mary was from Minnesota or Wisconsin. I'll skip all of the convoluted search details, but it included searches through newspapers, census records and cemetery records. After assembling a tree of over 100 people, I was finally able to find a distant link between families.
Mary G Lang was the daughter of Nicholas Lang and Mary Ann Dinnenny, born in 1885, probably in Waddington, New York. In 1890, Mrs. Lang moved the family to Felton, Minnesota. I have not found any news of Nicholas, so am not sure whether he died or whether they split up. Living in Felton was Christopher Dinnenny and family, whom I believe to be Mary Ann's brother, and probably the reason for moving there. Mary Ann married Albert Fox in 1895. In 1908, Mary G returned to Waddington and spent the next four years with her aunt, Elizabeth Dinnenny Creighton. I'm not sure why she was living next door at the Murphys' in 1910. Perhaps she was renting a room at their house. I'm guessing she was described as a niece of the Murphys because the true relationship was too complicated.
Mrs. Catherine Gorman Murphy's much younger first cousin on her father's side, John Augustus Gorman, was married to Anna Fay. Anna's first cousin on her father's side, James Fay, was married to Mary Creighton, daughter of Mary Lang's aunt Elizabeth Dinnenny Creighton. Said another way, Mary Lang's first cousin's husband's first cousin's husband's first cousin is Mrs. Murphy. Or Mrs. Murphy is the first cousin of the husband of the first cousin of the husband of Mary Lang's first cousin. Mrs. Murphy is not Mary Lang's aunt, but the term was used to describe a generation difference in age and some not-simple relationship.
Even though all this work did not lead to Mary Lang being related, it did allow me to answer another difficult question in my family tree. Bridget Donley and Thomas Gorman's daughters, Catherine and Mary Ann, both married Murphys, John and Michael, respectively. I was able to establish that John and Michael Murphy were brothers, sons of Elizabeth Stafford and Moses Murphy. While many of the individuals in this research are not related to me, I have added them to my family tree in order to show the string of relationships between the Murphys and their "niece", Mary Lang.
While browsing through census records for information about my Donnelly (and related) family, I found a Mary Lang living with John and Catherine Gorman Murphy. Catherine is a granddaughter of my great great great grandparents, Patrick and Nancy Larkin Donley. Mary Lang is described as a niece. So I embarked on a search for the relationship between the Langs and the Gorman or Murphy family.
A search of historic newspapers revealed that Mary Lang was also a niece of the Murphys' next door neighbors, Alexander and Elizabeth Creighton, and that Mary was from Minnesota or Wisconsin. I'll skip all of the convoluted search details, but it included searches through newspapers, census records and cemetery records. After assembling a tree of over 100 people, I was finally able to find a distant link between families.
Mary G Lang was the daughter of Nicholas Lang and Mary Ann Dinnenny, born in 1885, probably in Waddington, New York. In 1890, Mrs. Lang moved the family to Felton, Minnesota. I have not found any news of Nicholas, so am not sure whether he died or whether they split up. Living in Felton was Christopher Dinnenny and family, whom I believe to be Mary Ann's brother, and probably the reason for moving there. Mary Ann married Albert Fox in 1895. In 1908, Mary G returned to Waddington and spent the next four years with her aunt, Elizabeth Dinnenny Creighton. I'm not sure why she was living next door at the Murphys' in 1910. Perhaps she was renting a room at their house. I'm guessing she was described as a niece of the Murphys because the true relationship was too complicated.
Mrs. Catherine Gorman Murphy's much younger first cousin on her father's side, John Augustus Gorman, was married to Anna Fay. Anna's first cousin on her father's side, James Fay, was married to Mary Creighton, daughter of Mary Lang's aunt Elizabeth Dinnenny Creighton. Said another way, Mary Lang's first cousin's husband's first cousin's husband's first cousin is Mrs. Murphy. Or Mrs. Murphy is the first cousin of the husband of the first cousin of the husband of Mary Lang's first cousin. Mrs. Murphy is not Mary Lang's aunt, but the term was used to describe a generation difference in age and some not-simple relationship.
Even though all this work did not lead to Mary Lang being related, it did allow me to answer another difficult question in my family tree. Bridget Donley and Thomas Gorman's daughters, Catherine and Mary Ann, both married Murphys, John and Michael, respectively. I was able to establish that John and Michael Murphy were brothers, sons of Elizabeth Stafford and Moses Murphy. While many of the individuals in this research are not related to me, I have added them to my family tree in order to show the string of relationships between the Murphys and their "niece", Mary Lang.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Elizabeth Langham Cushing Most Interesting Person in Portage Wisconsin, 1931
I just stumbled across a recent article about Elizabeth Langham Cushing, wife of James Cushing of Fort Winnebago, Wisconsin, cousin to our great-grandfather Francis Cushing. It having been published earlier this year, I felt that copying it here would be a copyright violation. The article is located at http://www.wiscnews.com/news/opinion/column/article_42048805-a475-5bd9-b882-34c3a7f7d4ea.html . It cites an original article by Zona Gale, a well-known Portage author.
Briefly, Ms. Gale, who, by the way, was a close friend of Elizabeth Cushing, describes her friend as an exceptionally fair Justice of the Peace, and a single mother who, in addition to raising her twin daughters, provided food, shelter, clothing, a bath, etc. to a constant stream of down-on-their-luck people who showed up at her door. I'm not sure what was in Gales' original article and what was added by subsequent authors, but Elizabeth had also traveled in Europe, lived in Italy, lived in a Nevada mining camp for 20 years, and became a highly respected and prominent Justice of the Peace. My addition: She was a member of the Progressive Party and was active in the presidential campaign of Wisconsin senator Robert LaFollette. Her daughter, Rachel, once told me that Elizabeth was very active in women's rights causes. (According to her obituary, Rachel remembers having to carry a banner with her mother and sister in a march for a Women's Right to Vote. A neighbor called out "Mrs. Cushing, go home and cook dinner for your family", to which Elizabeth replied "I have a pot roast in the oven. I think I'll keep marching.")
Elizabeth died in 1932, one year after Ms. Gales' article appeared, from injuries suffered in an automobile accident.
The information in the recent online article originated in an article titled "Interesting People, Zona Gale Talks About The Most Interesting Person in Her Hometown", written by well-known Portage author Zona Gale, published in the November 1931 edition of American Magazine. It subsequently was used by Dorothy McCarthy for an article in her weekly "Tales of Old Portage" column in the Portage Daily Register (which appeared from 1958 to 1975). It's third incarnation is a collection of Ms. McCarthy's articles published by the Portage Historical Society in a book also titled "Tales of Old Portage". The fourth telling of this story is the recent WiscNews.com article by Joanne Genrich, posted earlier this year. I suppose this post might be considered yet a fifth account (a great grandchild of Gales' article?).
Briefly, Ms. Gale, who, by the way, was a close friend of Elizabeth Cushing, describes her friend as an exceptionally fair Justice of the Peace, and a single mother who, in addition to raising her twin daughters, provided food, shelter, clothing, a bath, etc. to a constant stream of down-on-their-luck people who showed up at her door. I'm not sure what was in Gales' original article and what was added by subsequent authors, but Elizabeth had also traveled in Europe, lived in Italy, lived in a Nevada mining camp for 20 years, and became a highly respected and prominent Justice of the Peace. My addition: She was a member of the Progressive Party and was active in the presidential campaign of Wisconsin senator Robert LaFollette. Her daughter, Rachel, once told me that Elizabeth was very active in women's rights causes. (According to her obituary, Rachel remembers having to carry a banner with her mother and sister in a march for a Women's Right to Vote. A neighbor called out "Mrs. Cushing, go home and cook dinner for your family", to which Elizabeth replied "I have a pot roast in the oven. I think I'll keep marching.")
Elizabeth died in 1932, one year after Ms. Gales' article appeared, from injuries suffered in an automobile accident.
The information in the recent online article originated in an article titled "Interesting People, Zona Gale Talks About The Most Interesting Person in Her Hometown", written by well-known Portage author Zona Gale, published in the November 1931 edition of American Magazine. It subsequently was used by Dorothy McCarthy for an article in her weekly "Tales of Old Portage" column in the Portage Daily Register (which appeared from 1958 to 1975). It's third incarnation is a collection of Ms. McCarthy's articles published by the Portage Historical Society in a book also titled "Tales of Old Portage". The fourth telling of this story is the recent WiscNews.com article by Joanne Genrich, posted earlier this year. I suppose this post might be considered yet a fifth account (a great grandchild of Gales' article?).
Monday, August 24, 2015
LaBrunes Arrive at NYC in 1833
 |
| LaBrunes on passenger list of ship Robert Morris, arriving in New York City on November 7, 1833. |
First, why I think this is our family. From the 1840 and 1850 US census records of our Philip LaBrune, I have the following family in 1833:
Philippe, b. 1794 in France
Ann, wife, b. 1793 in France
George, son, b. 1824 in France
Unknown, son, b. between 1825 and 1830, probably in France
Nicholas, b. 1831 in France
[born later were:
Unknown, daughter, b. between 1835 and 1840, in France or the US
Jean-Baptiste, b. 1840 in Ohio]
The passenger list shows the following family:
Philippe (probably), 38 years old (b. 1795), male, Weaver, French citizen
? ends in -ria or -nn or -nna, 39 years old (b. 1794), female, French citizen
? ends in -ne M., 14 years old (b. 1819), female, French citizen
? ends in -orge, 11 years old (b. 1822), male, French citizen
? ends in -un C., 7 years old (b. 1826), male, French citizen
? ends in -los, 5 years old (b. 1828), male, French citizen
There is some uncertainty in the names, but what is shown matches well with the LaBrunes whose names we know, the birth years and countries match well, and the arrival fits in the window we thought to be between 1831 and 1840.
They arrived on a ship called the Robert Morris, sailing out of Le Havre, a very large port on the north coast of France, and arrived on November 7, 1833 in New York City. The 153 passengers were mostly from France and Bavaria and included several weavers, seamstresses and shoemakers, as well as bakers and farmers.
This passenger ship record adds some new information about the family. The LaBrunes immigrated in 1833. Philip was a weaver in France. He and Ann had a daughter, name ending in -ne and middle initial M, born in about 1819 that was no longer with the family when we first found them in Ohio in 1840, when this daughter would have been about 21 years old. My guess is that she married, so there is another branch of the LaBrune family somewhere. Philip and Ann's second son's name ends in -n, his middle initial is C, and he was born in about 1826, probably in France. Nicholas may have been born a little earlier than the census indicates, in about 1828. Their youngest daughter, born between 1835 and 1840, was probably born in the US.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Double Cousins
I recently came across a report of a Dooley cousin in St. Louis - Alex Dooley, Hamburger Man in St. Louis - (though I haven't yet contacted this family and they may not be aware of our connection). My Legacy Family Tree software tells me that Alex's children are my fourth cousins, through two different paths, i.e., double fourth cousins. I set out to find out what that means genetically and if there is some sort of metric to allow me to compare a "double fourth cousin" to the more common single fourth cousin. There is a Coefficient of Relationship, R, related to degrees of relationship, but the math might be too much, so first I'll skip to the results, then try a brief basic explanation, then point to some resources for more information, if you're interested.
Single relationships
Siblings have about half of their genes in common, the degree of relationship is 1 or first, and the corresponding coefficient of relationship, R, is 1/2. Advancing one generation: first cousins have in common about 1/8 of their genes, the degree of relationship is 3, and the corresponding R is 1/8. Each consecutive generation shares just 1/4 as many genes as the previous generation, the degree increases by 2, and the corresponding R is only 1/4 as large. The following table shows these values through fourth cousins.
Our double relationship
So, where does the "double" come in? Back in 1863, William Dooley married Elizabeth Martin in St. Louis. In 1887, William's niece, Anastasia LaBrune, married Elizabeth's nephew, James Hogan. This created a double relationship between the Dooleys and the Hogans. William and Elizabeth's son, Thomas, was a first cousin to both Anastasia LaBrune on his father's side and James Hogan on his mother's side. As an aside, since Thomas was an only child AND the Dooley's were Anastasia's only family in St. Louis AND Thomas and Anastasia were only four years apart in age AND James Hogan was also family AND the Hogan kids and Thomas' kids were all close in age, the Hogans and Dooleys were probably very close, akin to siblings, at least in their teen and adult lives. In the next generation, Thomas' kids were second cousins to the Hogan kids, once through Anastasia and the Dooleys and again through James and the Martins. This made them double second cousins. The next generation were then double third cousins, and so forth. How does that change the values in the table? Basically this means that instead of having one set of ancestors in common, they have two, both the same number of generations back, so the descendants of Thomas Dooley and of James and Anastasia LaBrune Hogan all have twice as many genes in common. The degree of relationship for double fourth cousins in 8, R is 1/256, and they have about 0.4% of their genes alike. According to one of the sources listed below, this is about 117 genes of the approximately 30,000 in the human genome.
More about quantifying relationships
If you'd like to know more, perhaps about how to include half siblings, or how to trace out any relationships, here are some explanations on the WWW:
Genetic and Quantitative Aspects of Genealogy
A thorough explanation of the Coefficient of Relationship (R) and related subjects.
Quantitative Consanguinity
A less through explanation with more applications to genealogy, but they only show degrees of relationship through 7, whereas a fourth cousin is degree 9.
Degrees of Relation and Number of Genes Shared
Not thorough, but relates R to the number of genes shared for various relationships.
Single relationships
Siblings have about half of their genes in common, the degree of relationship is 1 or first, and the corresponding coefficient of relationship, R, is 1/2. Advancing one generation: first cousins have in common about 1/8 of their genes, the degree of relationship is 3, and the corresponding R is 1/8. Each consecutive generation shares just 1/4 as many genes as the previous generation, the degree increases by 2, and the corresponding R is only 1/4 as large. The following table shows these values through fourth cousins.
| Relationship | Degree | R | % genes in common |
| Self or identical twins | 0 | 1 | 100 |
| Siblings | 1 | 1/2 | 50 |
| 1st cousins | 3 | 1/8 | 12.5 |
| 2nd cousins | 5 | 1/32 | 3.1 |
| 3rd cousins | 7 | 1/128 | 0.8 |
| Double 4th cousins | 8 | 1/256 | 0.4 |
| 4th cousins | 9 | 1/512 | 0.2 |
Our double relationship
So, where does the "double" come in? Back in 1863, William Dooley married Elizabeth Martin in St. Louis. In 1887, William's niece, Anastasia LaBrune, married Elizabeth's nephew, James Hogan. This created a double relationship between the Dooleys and the Hogans. William and Elizabeth's son, Thomas, was a first cousin to both Anastasia LaBrune on his father's side and James Hogan on his mother's side. As an aside, since Thomas was an only child AND the Dooley's were Anastasia's only family in St. Louis AND Thomas and Anastasia were only four years apart in age AND James Hogan was also family AND the Hogan kids and Thomas' kids were all close in age, the Hogans and Dooleys were probably very close, akin to siblings, at least in their teen and adult lives. In the next generation, Thomas' kids were second cousins to the Hogan kids, once through Anastasia and the Dooleys and again through James and the Martins. This made them double second cousins. The next generation were then double third cousins, and so forth. How does that change the values in the table? Basically this means that instead of having one set of ancestors in common, they have two, both the same number of generations back, so the descendants of Thomas Dooley and of James and Anastasia LaBrune Hogan all have twice as many genes in common. The degree of relationship for double fourth cousins in 8, R is 1/256, and they have about 0.4% of their genes alike. According to one of the sources listed below, this is about 117 genes of the approximately 30,000 in the human genome.
More about quantifying relationships
If you'd like to know more, perhaps about how to include half siblings, or how to trace out any relationships, here are some explanations on the WWW:
Genetic and Quantitative Aspects of Genealogy
A thorough explanation of the Coefficient of Relationship (R) and related subjects.
Quantitative Consanguinity
A less through explanation with more applications to genealogy, but they only show degrees of relationship through 7, whereas a fourth cousin is degree 9.
Degrees of Relation and Number of Genes Shared
Not thorough, but relates R to the number of genes shared for various relationships.
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