My Newest Quest: Patrick Whelan

I am searching for two Patrick Whelans of Chicago who served in the Civil War and were both born in Kilkenny. Here is the information I've gathered from the Illinois Secretary of State's website.

Patrick Whalen, Rank Private, Company G, 23rd Illinois Infantry. He was 35 years old, 5' 8", brown hair, gray eyes, unmarried. He was a moulder.

Patrick Whalan, Rank Private, Company G, 90th Illinois Infantry. He was 26 years old, 5' 4", brown hair, blue eyes, unmarried. He was a drayman.

The reason I am so interested in these 2 soldiers, is that my ancestor, Timothy Whelan, was also from Kilkenny. And I found Timothy and a Patrick Whelan together in Chicago in 1857. The city directory listing for them from the 1857 Gager’s Chicago City Directory was:

Whaling Patrick, drayman, Hinsdale bet Franklin and N Market Ire 7 y
Whaling Timothy laborer, Hinsdale bet Franklin and N Market Ire 7 y

The "Ire 7 y" indicated they both came to Chicago from Ireland 7 years earlier.

Bailey’s 1864-5 Chicago City Directory listed the following:
Whelan Patrick, soldier, h. 36 Hinsdale

My ancestor Timothy lived at 34 W. Hinsdale for many years. So I believe that my Timothy may have been related to at least one of these Patrick Whelans. I hope that the pension files and service records for these 2 soldiers will provide information that will help me determine how (and if) they were related to Timothy, and where in County Kilkenny they came from.

Whelan Headstone

Happy Halloween!

In honor of Halloween, I am posting cemetery photos this week. This is a photo of the headstone of my great-grandparents Timothy and Catherine (Markey) Whelan (or Whalen) and their son John. Like my parents, they are buried in Calvary Cemetery, Evanston, Cook County, Illinois.

I was very glad when I found out where my great-grandparents were buried, and was able to take a picture of the headstone. Even more exciting was the copy of the cemetery record that I received. (See below.) This is a 3 grave lot with 11 people buried in it. Seven of the burials were of children or infants. In fact, this cemetery record led me to discover that there were 3 sets of twins born to Timothy and Catherine. Most of the children did not survive long enough to appear in any census record. However, those born after the Chicago Fire of 1871 did appear in baptism records of Holy Name Cathedral. Who would've expected a cemetery record to lead to a baptism record? I sure didn't when I first saw this burial record, many years ago.

Whalen Headstones

These photos are of two Whalen graves at Calvary Cemetery, Evanston, Cook County, Illinois. The graves are located in Lot 35, Block 23, Section U. I don’t know yet if these Whalens are related to my Whelans, also buried at Calvary Cemetery, but I hope to find out one day. Here are close-up photos and transcriptions of the headstones:



Michael Whalen
Husband of
Mary E. Whalen
Born Aug. 15, 1847
Died March 8, 1925
Rest in Peace



Mary E.
Wife of
Michael Whalen
Born in Chicago
May 25 1847
Died Jan. 13 1889
Rest in Peace