St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago

Long before they started dyeing the Chicago River green, the Irish in Chicago were celebrating the patron saint of their homeland. Below is a transcript of an article published in the Chicago Democrat on March 31, 1843.

CELEBRATION OF ST. PATRICK’S DAY.
Friday last was celebrated in a very becoming manner by the friends of Ireland as the anniversary of the birth of its patron saint, the great and good St. Patrick. The Montgomery Guards, under Capt. Kelly, with the Chicago Band, came out in full uniform, making a splendid appearance. The Catholic Temperance Society also came out with its banner and badges. As also did the Repeal association. These joined in one procession under the very appropriate direction of John Davlin, Esq. paraded through our streets from the Saloon to the Catholic Church, where a very able and interesting sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. St. Pallais in explanation of the history and virtues of St. Patrick. Mass was then celebrated in the most solemn and affecting manner and with the best sacred music we have ever heard in our city. In speaking of the music of the Catholic Church heretofore, we wrongfully attributed it to the Chicago Band, when it should have been to the Catholic Choir alone, under the direction of Rev. Mr. Fisher with Mrs. Strangman upon the organ. After the services were closed, the procession again formed and proceeded to the Saloon, where a very learned and eloquent address was delivered by Dr. W. B. Egan the President of the Chicago Repeal Association and founder of that institution, upon Ireland and her wrongs, eliciting loud, frequent and protracted applause from an overflowing house. The company then dispersed and the remainder of the day passed off in quiet, as if there had been no display and no gathering of the people. The whole celebration, from beginning to end, was admirably conducted, and the most fastidious could find no fault with the order preserved throughout the day; and, whilst it reflected honor upon all concerned in it, and upon all Irishmen as a class, it had a tendency to awaken a spirit of enquiry into the history of Ireland in the minds of hundreds and in very many the deepest sympathies for her home population now peacibly struggling for freedom from oppression the most cruel.

If there are any native Americans in our city, whose minds are prejudiced against old country men, let them reflect that the only uniformed company in our city is solely composed of Irishmen; and, furthermore, that this same St. Patrick, worshipped as the patron Saint of Ireland, was not himself an Irishman but a Frenchman carried to Ireland as a slave. We hope the custom of celebrating this day will be kept up hereafter and that much good will result therefrom in wakening American sympathies for the suffering countrymen of Emmet, O’Connell and Mathew.

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Ellen McSorley

In honor of Women’s History Month, I am posting a mini-biography about my 2nd-great-grandmother, Ellen McSorley.

Ellen was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in about 1815. Nothing is known of her childhood years. She immigrated to the United States, and settled in Newark, New Jersey. Ellen was 18 years old at the time of her marriage to Timothy Bestick, an Irish immigrant from County Longford. They married at St. John’s Catholic Church in Newark on 7 January 1833.

The names of Ellen’s parents are unknown, but it is certain that Ellen did not leave all her family behind in Ireland. Several McSorleys are found in Newark records associated with Ellen. In particular, Susan McSorley was enumerated immediately after Timothy Bestick in the 1840 census. Susan was the head of a household of 6 persons. Other McSorleys are found in the records of St. John’s Church, including Rosanna McSorley who was the baptismal sponsor to Ellen’s son James.

In the 1850s and 1860s, Ellen cared for her three children and the boarders who lived with the Bestick family. She was also a business woman. Ellen is listed in several Newark city directories as a milliner. It appears that her career as a milliner enabled her to purchase real estate. On 14 June 1864, Ellen purchased property on Academy Street in Newark from Thomas Paulin and his wife for $2,100.00. The deed mentions that Ellen is the wife of Timothy Bestick, but he was not a party to the agreement.

Ellen was 59 years old at the time of her death due to old age on 4 September 1872. Her funeral was held at St. Patrick's Pro-Cathedral, Newark. Ellen was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, East Orange, in a plot owned by James Cox, who is believed to be her nephew. It is noteworthy that Ellen was buried in the same cemetery, but not in the same plot as her husband and children. The reason for this remains a mystery.

In keeping with the month of March being National Women's History Month, the topic for the 68th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will once again be: A Tribute to Women. To find tributes to other women, look for this carnival on Jasia's Creative Gene blog.

Patrick Whelan Cemetery Record

Patrick Whelan, the brother of my ancestor Timothy, was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Evanston, IL, along with several members of his family. In fact, I count 26 names listed as buried in this 3 grave plot. Many of them were children and infants. I have seen other plot cards from Calvary with 10 or more people in a 3 grave plot. But I guess 26 was the limit. The staff typed "NO ROOM FOR FUTURE INTERMENTS" on the card in 2 places.



This plot was used by the family for over 100 years. The first burial was Mary Whelan on 11/30/1861. The last burial was Mary Whalen on 11/21/1964.

Other points of interest:
1. The surname Whelan is spelled 3 ways on this card: Whalan, Whalen, and Whelan.

2. Other surnames on the card are Martin, Landy, Reardon, and Maloney. The first 3 surnames include known in-laws of Patrick Whelan.

3. There are 6 Mary Whelans buried in this plot.

I'm looking forward to finding obituaries and/or death certificates for some of those buried here.

My Favorite Thing about Irish Genealogy

This is my entry to the 12th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture. This edition is open to anything and everything about Irish heritage, genealogy and culture. To learn more about the carnival and find links to other posts, visit the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture.

There are many things I love about doing Irish genealogy. My favorite thing about Irish research is being able to go to Ireland to do it. I’ve only been to Ireland twice, and I enjoyed it both times. I’d go back every year if I could!

My last trip was in 2006. We called it the “Library Tour of Ireland” although it was the “Playground Tour of Ireland” for my kids. I only visited 3 libraries, for less than 8 hours each, but it was great!




In Dublin, I visited the National Library of Ireland. I had a consultation with a member of the Genealogy Service staff. I also looked at church records on microfilm.

In Longford, I visited the county library. I looked at periodicals and a local history collection that is not available elsewhere. I found an interesting clue about the Bestick family of Longford: a mother’s name on a headstone transcription, which was no longer visible on the headstone itself.

I visited the Meath County Library in Navan. I looked at newspapers on the microfilm reader. (I could read old newspapers for hours!) I also looked at books and periodicals in the local history section.

(I have to admit, I also used the computers at the county libraries to check my email. I wonder if they will have wifi by the time I make my next visit.)

I’ve already been making plans for my next trip to Ireland, although I don’t yet know when it will be. 1) I plan to visit PRONI (the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland) to search for my McSorleys from County Tyrone. I also want to look at estate papers in their collection that might relate to ancestors from other parts of Ireland. 2) I’d like to visit the Louth County Library and the Louth County Archives. I have ancestors who were from the parish of St. Mary’s-Drogheda, and many records and local history sources for Drogheda are at the County Louth facilities. 3) I can’t go to Ireland without a visit to Dublin. There are several facilities in Dublin that I’d like to visit. I will decide where to do my research depending on how much time I’ll have for research and where I am with my research at that point. But the National Archives of Ireland is calling to me, so I have a feeling I’ll be stopping there. I can’t resist a good manuscript collection.

As David Rencher and David Ouimette tell the students in their Irish Research courses: It isn’t that you have to go to Ireland to do research, it’s that you get to go to Ireland to do research.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

My Favorite Photo of Dad

This is my favorite photo of my dad, Edwin F. Brady. It isn't really a very good picture of him--you can't even see his face. But it shows him enjoying himself. He was on vacation in Colorado, feeding a chipmunk. My dad liked to travel in his younger days, and he always loved animals and nature. So this photo represents him very well.

My 100th Post

I began my blog on October 6th, 2008. Here I am, just over 5 months later, writing my 100th post. So, here's a look back, and then a look ahead at what's to come.

Blogging has been a great experience! Some of the good points of blogging: It has gotten me to write about some of my ancestors that I had never written about before. Blogging has helped me start to organize my genealogy research and the family photos I've received from my mom and my Aunt Rita. I've discovered that I had duplicates of some of the old photos, sometimes in assorted sizes. And sometimes with different information written on the back of the different copies.

Blogging helped me begin to solve one of my brickwall problems that I've had since I started researching my family history over 30 years ago.

I've met some neat people who are fellow genealogy bloggers. Some I've only met online, and others I've met in person.

I've connected to other researchers who are interested in the same surnames I'm researching. I've gotten help from people who have read my blog, and I've been able to help some of my readers too.

Blogging is great fun. I wish I had more time to spend on it. There are topics I've planned to blog about that I haven't gotten around to yet. And I have many more photos to post--I haven't even started on the ones we got from my husband's Grandma Betty.

Looking ahead, this month is my Mainly Irish Month. I'll be posting photos and other items related to my Irish ancestors, Irish research and other things Irish. I'll also be devoting a week to my Lithuanian ancestors who worked in coal mines in Illinois and elsewhere.

For the remainder of the year, I will be posting more Civil War documents related to my ancestors. I will post information from some probate and land records of my Chicago Whelans. I have documents and photos to post about my Lithuanian ancestors. I'll continue to participate in various Blog Carnivals, and post new discoveries.

The blog is hungry! I must keep feeding the blog!

Mom and Her Siblings

My mom, Ann Skrobul, was one of 8 children. And from what I saw of them, they all got along well. I know my mom loved them all, and felt loved by them. The photo above shows my mom goofing around with her 2 brothers, Stan and Putt (aka Tony).

I have alot of photos of my mom with 1 or more of her siblings. In the photo below are Stella and my mom standing, with their oldest sister Josephine seated. The photo was taken in April, 1957. My mom is standing behind Aunt Jo because she was a little bit pregnant at the time.



The next picture shows Veronica, Ann and Jule Skrobul standing in front of the family home in Beckemeyer, Illinois.


Here is one more photo of my mom and some of her siblings. From left to right, Stella, Veronica and Ann are shown spending a quiet evening together knitting.



I only have one photo of my mom with her siblings when they were children. It is a picture of the 5 sisters that I have posted here. I have no picures of the sixth sister, Maria, who died as an infant.

My mom was very lucky to have grown up with so many great brothers and sisters, and to have stayed close to them as adults.

To see more photos and comments about brothers and sisters, look at the 11th edition of Smile For the Camera, posted by the footnoteMaven.